The Ministry of Jesus…

Challenging
Freedom

By Remy Diederich
Cedarbrook Church
Menomonie, Wisconsin

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The Ministry of Jesus: Challenging Freedom
Remy Diederich
Cedarbrook Church
6.13.10

About ten years ago a few of us started kicking around the idea of starting a new kind of church
that would dare to rethink church and how it was done…dare to leave behind what wasn’t
working…what wasn’t helping people connect with God and focus in on what did work.

We dreamed of a church that was casual and not formal so everyone felt welcome…a church
where we would focus on God and people and not meaningless ritual and a church where we
would serve others and not just ourselves. Plus, we dreamed of a church that was fun and full of
laughter.

You see, we believed that people hadn’t stopped going to church because they lost interest in
God. People stopped going to church because church was boring and irrelevant. And we thought
that if we could address the “boring” and “irrelevant” aspects of church then people would come
back to church.

Well, …that was our dream ten years ago. It took a few years to put it all together but when we
finally opened our doors in 2003 our dream struck a chord with people and they just started
coming…all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. We were at the Cinemagic Theater
for four years and then we moved to the Shops Off Broadway Mall for the last three and a half
years.

Two years ago we decided it was time to build our own building and now here we are today and
we are so happy to be here and happy that so many of you have joined us to celebrate this day.

You probably noticed that this building doesn’t look like a church. We intentionally built it to
look more like a lodge or a conference center. For some people that might be a problem but for
the people we are trying to reach, people who have given up on church but not on God… it’s not
a problem at all. In fact, they love it.

Now, we realize that Cedarbrook isn’t for everyone. We lack a lot of ritual that some people
expect in a church. And we have things that some people don’t want, like… a loud band! But
after seven years, we know that our approach has helped hundreds of people reconnect with not
only God but with a church community and we think that’s a good thing. God has used us to
rekindle people’s passion for God.

In fact, we just published a booklet called Cedarbrook Stories, the Early Years where 115 people
shared a brief story about how God has used Cedarbrook Church in their life. You can buy it at
the information table. But these stories prove that God is using this church to change lives.

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Well before I share my message today I’ve got a video for you. It’s really poking fun at
churches like ours. Some people think that churches like Cedarbrook are just shallow
entertainment…kind of like a rock concert with a feel good message. So let’s watch.

VIDEO: Sunday’s Coming

Okay, well…now you know how shallow we really are. We are just following a formula!

Actually, I think if you look under the surface around here that you’ll find the very opposite of a
shallow church. I think we are a church of deep conviction. I don’t know how you can read the
words of Jesus and ever stay shallow. In fact, that’s what I want to do this morning. I want to tell
you a story about Jesus that has guided me in my ministry and characterizes the culture of this
church.

The story is found in the book of Matthew, chapter 19 starting at vs. 16. Jesus had just finished
talking about how the kingdom of God is for people who come to Jesus with the simplicity of a
child. And then the next story is about a man who is the very opposite of a child. This man
comes with all kinds of religious baggage.
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get
(obtain, secure) eternal life?” Matthew 19:16

Now, this story is told in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke and they each tell it a little bit
differently. Between the three of them we learn that this man is young, he’s rich and he’s some
kind of ruler or government official. He asks a question that many people ask and that is…what’s
it going to take to get me into heaven? Have you ever asked that question?

His question tells me that he’s a religious man (and that’s not a compliment because I think a
religious person is someone who is more interested in rules and rituals than they are in knowing
God). Notice how he didn’t ask Jesus how he could know God better. That wasn’t his burning
question in life. His burning question was, “What do I do to make sure I make it to heaven?”
He’s looking for the magic pill, the formula, the ONE THING that would guarantee that he made
it into heaven. But that’s like one of my kids coming up to me and saying,
What good thing do I need to do to get my inheritance? Just tell me dad; what is it…mow
the lawn for life or make sure I take care of you when you get old? I’ll do anything you
want as long as I get your money.

You know, when I hear that I’m not exactly felling the love! The truth is…my kids don’t need to
barter with me for my inheritance. I’m not looking for my kids to DO anything. They’ll get my
inheritance simply because they are my kids. But what I really want is a relationship with them.
Isn’t that right? Isn’t that what you’d want as a parent? I’d hope my kids would come to me and
say, “Dad, I really want to get to know you better. What’s one thing that we can do that will help
facilitate that?” So this man is asking a very shallow self-serving question.

Now, how do you think Jesus answers him? I mean, this is a pretty simple answer for the
average Bible believing Christian. The correct answer is; you don’t have to DO anything to

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obtain eternal life. You just need to ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and ask him to come
and live inside of you and you are good to go.

But that’s not the answer that Jesus gave him. You see, Jesus wasn’t so quick to offer a glib
answer just to make this guy feel better. He wanted this man to think about what he was asking –
to reflect on where he was at spiritually - so Jesus did what he always did when asked a
question; he asked a question in return.
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is
good. Matthew 19:17

What’s he doing? Why did he say that? What’s he getting at? I think Jesus wanted this young
man to acknowledge that his religion was lacking. Jesus wanted him to realize his spiritual
emptiness. And he wanted him to recognize that he came to Jesus because he could tell that Jesus
had something to offer that his religion couldn’t offer. Jesus was saying, “Look, if your religion
is so fulfilling then why did you come to me?” You see, before Jesus answered his question he
wanted to make sure that the young man was asking the right question.

Maybe you are like this young man. Maybe you are a religious person yourself. You believe in
God. You’ve always gone to church. You try to be a good person and obey all the rules but
there’s something missing inside of you and you know it. No matter how good you are…no
matter how religious you’ve been…there’s still something missing and maybe that’s what
brought you here today. And you have the same question this man had…what do I need to do to
get eternal life?

Well, like I said, Jesus wasn’t quick to solve this guy’s problem. Jesus knew better than most of
us do that faith is not a formula. It’s a journey. Faith takes time as we explore and work through
our various questions about God.

In reading the Cedarbrook stories that people sent me one person said that they’ve been at
Cedarbrook for six years and they just came to faith a few months ago. Isn’t that interesting?
You see, finding faith takes time. We are so impatient. God is way more patient with our journey
than we are.

So Jesus doesn’t give this guy some little formula to follow or a prayer to pray to answer his
question about eternal life. In fact, Jesus toys with him a little.
If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” Matthew 19:17

In other words, Jesus is saying…you are a good Jew. You know what the Bible says. Just do
what the Bible says. I think Jesus was smiling to himself knowing that this wasn’t the answer he
was looking for and that it would only frustrate him. And it did! The answer was too vague for
the young man. This guy wanted to know the exact commandments that Jesus was talking about.
And so he asks…
“Which ones?” Matthew 19:18

He’s wanted to make sure that he got it right so he took out his pen and paper and was ready to
write down the exact commandments that Jesus tells him. And Jesus said…

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 ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor
your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ “ Matthew 19:18,19

Well, those are just the Ten Commandments plus a command from Leviticus. He knew those
things. So he was disappointed. He was looking for the secret…some kind of inside information.
So he tells Jesus…
“All these I have kept,” Matthew 19:20

It’s like he was saying, “I know all that. Tell me something I don’t know.” So he asked…
“What do I still lack?” Matthew 19:21

I think that’s the question that Jesus wanted him to ask. What do I still lack? That’s the question
that Jesus wanted him to ask all along and was baiting him to ask. That’s the question that Jesus
wants all of us to ask. Our problem is that most of us are too self sufficient. We don’t think we
lack anything. So Jesus works at getting us to question ourselves and moves us to a place where
we feel the pain of our lack.

Jesus set the young man up to see the futility of his religion and then he offered an alternative.
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he
went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:21,22

I bet this guy never saw this coming. He was looking for a rule to obey or poor person to help.
Maybe a big check he could write. He never dreamed that Jesus could ask so much of him. No
other priest or rabbi had ever dared to ask that much.

So, here’s my first point: Jesus challenges the man. Jesus isn’t afraid to challenge people to the
very core of their being. In fact, if you’ve never been challenged to the core of your being then
you’ve never really heard from God because that’s what God does. He’s not interested in merely
enlightening us with an occasional lofty thought but radically apprehending us…capturing our
heart completely. This guy’s stumbling block to living a fulfilling life was his love of money but
we all have different things that cause us to stumble. A few chapters before this story Jesus
said…
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and
follow Me. Matthew 16:24

I think so often people look at Jesus as some kind of a light weight philosopher or moral teacher
passing out wise teachings for a better life. But he was much more than that. Jesus was God in
the flesh calling people to turn from their self centered lives to a life centered on him. You see
Jesus never asked anyone to be religious. He simply asked people to follow him…completely.

I mention this because my calling as a pastor and our calling as a church is to challenge people to
this very thing…to give up our self-centered lives and follow Jesus with everything we’ve got.
And amazingly, when we do that…we find the life that we’ve been longing for.

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About a year ago a number of women around here decided that getting a personal trainer was a
great way to lose some weight. And every one of them complained about how hard it was and
how hardnosed their trainer was. So I said, then why don’t you quit? Oh no, we can’t do that.
We’re finally losing weight. Exactly. They knew that they were losing weight because someone
was in their face challenging them to reach their full potential.

I mean, who would hire a trainer who didn’t challenge them to go beyond what they could do on
their own? Do you really want a trainer that sees one drop of sweat on your face and says, “Oh, I
apologize. I pushed you too hard. Let’s call it a day. Go shower up and we’ll try it again
tomorrow.” You might like that kind of trainer but you wouldn’t lose any weight, would you?
No, you want a trainer that pushes you farther than you ever thought you could go so you can
become the person that you’ve always wanted to become.

That’s what Jesus did with people and we want to offer that same kind of challenge. There will
be times when you walk out of here that you feel uncomfortable and you might even think we’re
asking too much. But if you hang in there you’ll be a better person for it.

So that’s the first thing I see about Jesus’ ministry; he challenges people. But the second thing I
see here is that Jesus gave the man freedom of choice. If you remember, the man asked…what
MUST I do? But Jesus didn’t say…You MUST give away your possessions and follow me. He
said…IF you want to be perfect…that is, if you want to be complete as a person or whole…if
you want to be the most spiritual person that you can possibly be…then here it is…give
everything you have away and follow me.

Jesus didn’t say the man SHOULD do that. He didn’t say that he HAD to do it. It wasn’t a
command. It was a suggestion. He simply said…if you are asking the question then this is my
answer. Do you see that? So Jesus challenges the guy but doesn’t put the pressure on him to
take action. He leaves it up to him. In fact, what does it say? It says that the man went away
sad. Jesus gave him permission to disagree and even walk away. Jesus didn’t go running after
him begging him to come back.

Jesus wasn’t like some kind of door to door salesman that you can’t get rid of. He didn’t stick his
foot in the door and then wear the guy down until he finally agreed. Jesus let the man walk away.

Religious people have a hard time with this. Religious people don’t want the man to walk away.
They are looking for closure. They are looking for a convert. Maybe you know someone in your
life who desperately wanted you to be their convert! But Jesus is okay without having closure or
a convert. He’s perfectly fine with letting his words sit there and percolate in this guys mind for
a few days or maybe even a few years. In fact we never hear how this story ends.

I like that. I like that because it tells me that Jesus respected this guy’s ability to think and make
a decision on his own. I like it because it tells me that Jesus respects our dignity as a person. He
honors our humanity. He doesn’t just see us as a potential convert.

As important as his words are and as much as he knows that his life is the best life, Jesus never
wants to impose himself on us. He wants us to choose him voluntarily. He treats us like grown

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ups…not little kids that have to be told what to do. And then he lets us live with the
consequences of our decisions knowing that consequences often bring us back to him.

So, Jesus gave the man freedom of choice. And that’s what you can expect here at Cedarbrook
too. I promise you that if you come to Cedarbrook that we will challenge you to put Jesus first in
your life, we’ll challenge you to live a morally pure life, we’ll challenge you to be generous with
your time and your talent and your money. we’ll challenge you to read the Bible and obey it and
a number of other things.

We’re going to challenge you but then it’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do with the
challenge. It’s between you and God what you decide to do. We’re not going to sit in judgment
of you if you disagree with what is taught. We’ll still love you and respect you and hang out
with you.

You see, I think when you give people the freedom to choose that you give them freedom to
become TRUE converts and not just mindless clones. I might be able to coerce you or intimidate
you into agreeing with me but that doesn’t show you much respect, does it? And eventually
you’ll feel manipulated and probably reject what you agreed to. That’s why my final point here
is that coercion produces mindless clones followed by rebellion.

But when you are given freedom to disagree you also have the freedom to agree. That means that
you don’t agree because you have to but because you want to. And that’s what makes a true
convert…a person who agrees with their whole heart because they want to agree.

So challenge with freedom describes Jesus’ ministry and I think it describes the ministry of
Cedarbrook too. And as a result we have a wide variety of people here because people know that
their faith journey will be respected. No one is going to judge how fast or slow you are going or
pressure you to believe what you can’t believe.

I mentioned earlier the person who has been here for six years and just came to faith recently.
That kind of freedom is uncomfortable for some people. Some people feel more comfortable in a
church where everyone believes the same thing at the same time in the same way. But we’ve
found that offering freedom provides a healthy environment for people to grow spiritually.

Well, I hope this helps you understand Jesus a little better as well as this church. So, expect to be
challenged here but remember you will always have the right to disagree and the freedom to
decide what’s best for you.

Prayer:
Jesus, you never held back. You never minced words. You always made it plain that the best
thing we can do is to follow you with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. I pray for all of us
here today…no matter where we are at spiritually. I pray that we’ll take one step closer to you
today. Thank you for the freedom you give us to choose…thank you how you respect our dignity
and allow us to make choices in our own time without judging or condemning us. Help us to
offer each other that same dignity. Amen.

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Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflections or to discuss with your friends, family
and/or small group.

1. Many people stay away from church because they don’t like being told what to do. Is this
your church experience?
2. What is it about being told what to do that we find so offensive?
3. Jesus challenged people but he always respected their dignity. Look at these stories and
talk about how Jesus challenged people and how he showed them respect. Note also
what Jesus didn’t say that many people say when they are trying to get you to do
something.
a. John 3:1-21
b. John 4:1-26
c. John 8:1-11
4. Is there anything recently that you feel challenged to do by Jesus?