Category: Grace and Forgiveness

Follow Me

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Follow Me – A Parable: 

Reference: John 6:45-51, 58, 60, 66 and Matthew 4:18-20

We call ourselves Christians, but what does that mean? Wearing His symbol of a cross around our necks, is that a sign that we truly are following His commands? Or are we more causal about our faith; occasionally worshiping him on Sunday morning where we recite from rote memory the prayer, he has given us. Maybe we re-dedicate ourselves by reading the Apostles Creed. Do we listen or even stay awake during the sermon. Then what? When we leave the place of worship, are we His voice, His hands in the mission field?  Day after day, are we going on with Him, following Him?

“Follow me,” is what He said, and we may have answered, as Peter did, “Lord, I will follow you.” But that was before we discovered that the way could be lonely and dangerous and we could lose all trace of His footprints, left only with His voice saying, “Follow Me”. In our faith, we often fall short, as the disciples did.

The disciples had been with the Master from the beginning, when they first saw Him being baptized by John. From the moment that God said, “This is my beloved son, follow him,” they did just that. What a journey it had been! He taught, He healed, He was the source of miracles, and, while they didn’t always understand what was happening around them, they knew to keep following.

But now I stand on the portico overlooking the courtyard of Herod’s Palace, crowded with noisy men. There is Pilate, and, the convicted criminal, Barabbas, and beside him was my Master, although it was hard to recognize him, he had been so badly beaten. Surely the crowd down there in the Courtyard will turn him free, after all many of those gathered were ones who greeted him in triumph when he, entered Jerusalem, just five days ago. Surely, they’ll stand up. But I was wrong. The cry went up, to my shock and dismay, they shouted “Kill him! Kill him!” And another voice whispered, “Follow Me”.

I could not believe what was happening. They took my Master, stripped him, put a thorny crown on his head, and led him out of the Palace, out of Kishle Prison and onto the dirty street, beating him as he staggered along. The crowd followed shouting insults and throwing things at him.

I looked around seeking someway to make sense of what was happening. There on the far edge of the crowd stood Joseph and his friend Nicodemus. What are they doing here, looking alarmed and sad? Sad? They are Pharisees! Why would they be sad, they caused this! Here was Barabbas, the criminal freed by Pilate, standing next to me. I wonder if there is a reason for him being here or is he just curious. I wondered, should I even continue? And the voice said, “Follow Me”.

We followed the Master, staggering down the dirty street toward Damascus Gate. Jesus stumbled and fell. Another man was grabbed by a soldier and told “Carry His cross!” The man had no choice but to let go of the hands of his children, who cried out to their father. Without a thought, I reached, took their hands and told them their daddy would be back soon. Just stay with me, follow me, and, together, we climbed the hill to Calvary.

Now, it was much later in the afternoon, the children returned to their father, and my Master had died on the cross. I watched as the two Pharisees, the ones that were so sad, stepped up, took the body of my Master away, and placed it in a tomb. I could not understand all this. Just yesterday the Master told us to be at peace, and now all of this, and he is dead and buried and I am lost, but strangely at peace? How can that be? And the voice said, “Follow Me”.

Follow? Who? The one I followed is gone. I looked around for John, maybe he could help me, but he was nowhere to be found. He’d been sitting with Jesus’ mother and the other Mary, now all three were off somewhere, probably grieving. I still did not know where to go or what to do. And the voice said, “Follow Me”.

The parable continues:

It was the next morning when I sought out the hidden place, a safe room, a gathering of people who had been followers of Jesus. The room was filled with sad people; some were crying, some wailing, some simply praying. But there was Mary, the mother of my Master, amid grieving, angry, upset people, bringing a different message; smiling, reassuring, and saying something that I will never forget, “Remember who He is and what He told us, just days ago; Be at peace.” And in the remembering, I heard again the voice saying, “Follow Me”, and I knew I had found God’s Peace.

So, we, too, have tried our best to follow Him. But the way got rough. We ran into problems; people objecting to what the Master was teaching, even to the point of threatening his life, our lives. We kept our heads down, didn’t say anything, or if we did, we were polite and implied by our silence that “Oh, I’m not with him”, telling ourselves that we were ‘protecting’ Him. Protecting who?

We live in a violent time, a time where ego and wealth seem to be idols of choice, and where the worship of the Heavenly Father could bring wrath down upon your head. People have been beaten, as Jesus had been. People have been killed, as Jesus was. But people have also been resurrected into a new life because of it. And the voice is still saying, “Follow Me.”

Yes, sometimes the way of the Christian is difficult, and we are confronted with both opposition and difficulties that seem to hold us back. But the word from our Lord and Savior is simple, and we need to take it seriously. In a clear voice he tells us, Follow me.”

We, too often, grieve at length and get angry at the violence that is directed towards those who follow the Master, even unto death. And we cry out for blood when we should remember Jesus’ words, “Forgive them for they know not what they do,” and, in turn, celebrate the lives of those who showed the courage and faith to step up and say without hesitation “He is Lord and Savior, He is the creator God and I will only worship Him,” and because they did, I, too, will find the courage to heed the call to follow Him. May we have the strength of faith to do just that. Amen.

Stan Escott soli deo gloria. September 19, 2025

Prayer:

Precious Heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts and the knowledge it is only through your graces that we follow you. Sometimes it has been hard, but you have carried us through. Sometimes we have not seen the way and you have opened our eyes and showed us that you are the way, the truth, and the life. And again, we thank you Lord for the graces that not only enriched our lives but have given us courage and direction. May we follow you always, Jesus, in your holy name. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mun-Hee

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His name, we learned, was Mun-Hee, but we called him “Money”. He was 13 or 14, and his mother did laundry, by hand, along the Pukan River, for the guys in my unit, on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea. He was a happy goffer, ran errands, did small jobs and was generally helpful, and, in turn, we were generous.

What we didn’t know, was that he was a “slicky-slicky-boy”, part of a group of thieves, the scourge of companies throughout our Division, who would enter our tents, in the middle of the night, silent as a mouse, looking for anything of value; clothing, weapons, military exchange coupons, etc. The story was that many soldiers had their foot-lockers picked clean by these thieves, while the guys slept on. Continue reading

Touched by Grace

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In the course of our lives we will be touched by the passing of a friend or loved one.  We attend funerals and memorial services of those we love and respect, and are reminded of their quality, there importance in our lives and in the lives of the family.  We struggled to find the right words to say and maybe, because of our own experience, we know that the most important thing is your presence and support. Words are not crucial.

Over the past six weeks, I attended, participated in, or otherwise supported the memorial services for three members of my family and one friend and colleague. Each was a Celebration of Life and at each we heard story after story of the quality of that person, how they impacted so many lives. With each story, the thought may have occurred to some, I may not have known them as much as I such have. Our loss, adding to our grief. Continue reading

Small Minds

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I wonder if we have a problem between our opinion, free will and simple, clear facts?  This is true whether we are thinking secular or religious. Conflicts have brought stress and divisions, have taken away from the building up of our nation and our own spiritual growth.

It seems we just can’t learn. God tells us that religion is man-made, but he says we need to learn from each one, for each is unique and has value. But, what do we do?  Continue reading

God’s Love

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For nearly 35 years I’ve been a member of a number of Bible study groups. Over those years, we have studied most of the New Testament and many of the Old Testament books.  We have been fairly thorough, using multiple commentaries, digging deeply, trying to understand the vision and God’s message contained in each passage. It has been exciting and enlightening and, while we still continue on, there is a building sense of what God is saying to us. Continue reading

Writing Barabbas

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In a matter of hours, the notorious prisoner, Barabbas, is to be crucified. He is angry and frightened. He regrets the kind of life he lived and grieves that he will never be able to make things right. Suddenly, he is a free man, pardoned by Pilate. Within hours, he finds himself on Calvary, where he has an encounter with the crucified Jesus. This brings him face to face with his own violent past, and he begins his search for redemption.

 

That is a passage from my book, A Life for Barabbas. I am excited to share that it will be in bookstores on October 30! Continue reading

A Man’s Reach Should Exceed His Grasp

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Chicago. A week before Christmas, some years ago. It is cold!  Snow on the streets and sidewalks.

Then, I heard the voice of God say to me:  “Help him!”  I looked, there was no one there.  Then I heard the Voice again, saying “Help him!”, and I looked again and that is when I saw, lying in the middle of Clark St., an elderly man, unable to rise. Cars were driving around him.  So I acted, I helped, and the act became a focus point of my thoughts the remainder of that night and the next day. Continue reading

Moments of Beauty

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You are on a solitary hike in the mountains.  It’s an early day in spring, it is warm, the sky is deep blue and wild flowers are everywhere.  In short, it is a perfect day and you alone are there to witness this bit of God’s handiwork.  There should be a crowd, a huge crowd, the largest in the world to see this and feel the beauty of the day. But it is just you, and you sit and soak up the perfect scene, and you thank God. Continue reading

A Note in the Midst of Grief

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My dear friend,

Last week, I was the speaker in chapel at the retirement community where I live, part-time. I spoke on a familiar topic, God’s love for us, and how that love touches us in ways that we don’t always understand.  As you know, God’s love can sometimes seem hard and harsh.

In the middle of my talk, I said that Jesus knew the heart of the Father and Jesus knew that people last forever. I believe that. These bodies won’t last (Lord knows!), but our spirit does. At this point in my talk, completely unplanned, I spoke about the sadness and the goodness of Thanksgiving week, including the death of your husband (I’ll call him Mike), and the loving effect that his life had on all who knew him. His spirit lives! Continue reading

Perfection Not Required

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Recently, I had a casual conversation while on an elevator at a nearby hospital.  The person I was talking to told me she had visited her mother who just had surgery.  I explained that I had visited a friend of a friend, someone I didn’t know very well. Her comment was: “I could never do that!” I asked her why? She said she would be too nervous and she “could not do it right”!

“Could not do it right!”  I knew exactly what she meant.  I had similar thoughts over the years, whether standing in a reception line at a funeral, visiting an unfamiliar person in the hospital, or just trying to carry on a conversation with someone I did not know in an uncomfortable setting.  What to say at that particular time.  I guess I was worried about saying the right thing. Continue reading

God’s Inspiration

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Morning?  Evening? Or maybe, you find time in the middle of the day to spend with God, when you meditate and pray.  Or maybe, you’re like me who finds that time, most of the time, except when my day is so filled that…  But wait, I seem to recall Martin Luther saying when his schedule was so very busy, he doubled his time with God.

Well, I’m no Martin Luther!  Nor did I set out to write a confessional essay, about how undisciplined I am in my time with God. In fact, I wanted to write about daily devotionals and those times when God and my better angels speak. Continue reading

Barabbas, in His Own Words

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It was late when they finally arrested me.  At my trial I was charged with treason against Rome and a murder that was committed during the insurrection.  I was found guilty on both charges and was sentenced to death by crucifixion, a sentence that would be carried out in just a few days!

Now it is Friday.  My Execution Day. Here I sit in prison.  My wrists and ankles are chaffed by these chains.  I’m scared!   I always boasted that I feared nothing! But now, my mouth is dry, my heart is beating wildly and there are times when I can hardly breath.  Over the years I thought many times about this day, the day of my death, and I just dismissed it.  But this is different, and I’m not ready for any of this. Continue reading