"WDJWYTDT?" "WWJD?" - Sermon for Easter 7 - Graduation Sunday

Sermon:

Text:

Graduates, People of God, Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who asks us what would he do?

            I graduated high school in 2000 and the joke was that we did all that work but it all amounted to nothing, zero. 2000, 00... hilarious. It was not that bad of course. You do sort of start life a new at graduation. It’s time to look forward, maybe it’s moving out of your parents place, maybe it’s heading for a job, or heading to college, tech school or vocational school. But, whatever it is that you are moving towards, which we’ll have you share in a little bit when we recognize you, it’s going to be different than how you had been living. No more going to school every day with your neighbors, you’ll be going somewhere else every day, a job or college. You won’t see all of your friends every day most likely, you may have to start learning how to cook and clean for yourselves. You’ll have to tell yourselves that it’s time to go to bed and make sure you get up for yourself.

            When I was in Middle School and High School was when the What Would Jesus Do? Bracelets became a huge thing. If I went through my high school memorabilia box at home, I bet I could find one still. WWJD. What Would Jesus Do?

            It became the saying on everyone’s lips. Especially to parents sending their kids out to parties during High School, and then sending them off to college. What Would Jesus Do? A older version of Santa Claus is coming to Town. "He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good, So be good for goodness sake! OH!...You better watch out, You better not cry You better not pout, I'm Telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.”

            Are you making a good decision? Better watch out! What Would Jesus Do?

            Looking at it that way, which is usually the normal way of looking at it, I’m not so sure that Jesus would want us to use the phrase as much as we do. It’s a very “Not a part of the world” thought. It's a "Don’t be tempted, Jesus would stay away from that" kind of idea.

            But, Jesus doesn’t tell us to stay away from the world. (He doesn’t tell us to go sin everywhere of course) But, the message of WWJD seems to be only, don’t do stuff, and that leaves out, what are we supposed to do.

            In our text from John we find Jesus in the middle of his last prayer before going to the Garden of Gethsemane where he will be betrayed by Judas. He is praying for his disciples, and in verse 18 we see, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” Jesus doesn’t call us to just sit in our churches on Sunday mornings, he calls us to get out there in the world!

            There’s a story I’ve told before of a group of people on a stormy coast who start a lighthouse to save people from the ocean. But, they eventually attract more and more people to the lighthouse, and they decide to decorate it, remodel, add comfy couches instead of life saving beds. Instead of life saving missions, they hold dinners and cocktail hours. They become so focused on their club they no longer go out to save people.

            It’s easy for us to do so too. WWJD? It’s easy to turn that into let’s stay away from all the things that could tempt us. Let’s go to church and then go home.

            I want to change it a little, or at least make a different line.

What does Jesus want you to do today? Not what are you going to stay away from, but what are you going to do? Where are you going to be sent?

There is a line of scripture from Genesis 12 verse 2. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” God is speaking to Abraham here, and it comes down to the phrase, Blessed to be a Blessing.

Why does God call Abraham? So he can be a blessing to others.

Why does Christ come to us? To save us yes. To give us eternal life yes. But, also, to send us out to be blessings to others.

What does Jesus want you to do today? To be a blessing to someone. To love someone. To help someone. To save someone. To go out, and be life changing to someone.

What would Jesus do? WWJD? What does Jesus want you to do today? WDJWYTDT? Ok, the other one is still catchier. But, let’s keep in mind then what it actually means. It’s not some moral compass to keep us from doing anything, it’s a starting point to send us into the world. What would Jesus do? He would go out and be a blessing. What did Jesus do? He came to us, meeting us where we are, here and out in the world, taught us, and died for us. He blessed us with his life, so we may have lives to bless others.

This graduation weekend, as we are thinking about new paths about to be begun, let's have that be our starting point. Amen.