“Dumping Baggage”

January 23, 2011

Isaiah 9:1-4 Matthew 4:12-23 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

During the summer of 1984 I travelled to Fort Dix, New Jersey and passed through eight weeks of torment that
the Army kindly refers to as, Basic Training (my opinion of New Jersey had never been quite the same). Now in
my family, while my grandfather, my father, my oldest brother and several uncles were all in the military, I am
the only one who was crazy enough to enlist. Everyone else… was drafted (okay, I admit that my cousin Dana
enlisted, but he got to ride around the world in the backseat of cool Navy jets). I have lots of stories from my ten
years in the Army Reserve, but today I want to tell you about the day we were preparing for a little campout
known as our bivouac. There we would continue with the daily classes but we would pitch tents, dig foxholes
and learn many outdoor lessons that we had not yet learned. On the evening before our departure we were
packing our duffle bags for the trip and our drill sergeant wandered into our room. He looked around the room
and then just stood there for a while, leaning on the frame of the doorway, watching us pack. After about five
minutes of this he very casually made this comment: “You know, whatever you take with you, you will carry on
your back… (a very long pause) …during our 20 mile road march.” All activity in the room stopped. All
conversation halted. After a few seconds his message sank in and many of the men who, moments before had
been trying to stuff things into their bags, suddenly began throwing things back out of their bags and into their
lockers. Clothing that moments before had been considered to be vitally important, had suddenly become excess
baggage. We all knew that we were going on a bivouac. Many of us had been in Boy Scouts or had grown up
camping with our families and so we thought we had a good idea of what lay ahead of us. At least we thought so
until our Drill Sergeant dropped that last little bit of news on us. There had been rumors about a road march or a
hike of some kind but a twenty mile road march was news. That we would carry all of our gear on the trip was
definitely a surprise. Some of us had been packing lightly to begin with, but the news that we would carry all of
our gear for twenty miles caused us to reevaluate everything we had packed in an entirely new light.

Whether we are in the military or not, we all carry burdens with us every day. We hold on to things that we think
are important, we carry the responsibilities of our families, our homes and our debts. We bear the loads that our
governments lay upon us so that they can pay for things like our military, our legislators, police and fire
departments and all the other government programs that we think are important. People carry all sorts of burdens,
some are of our own choosing but those people whose countries are ruled by despotic dictators or by hostile
foreign nations can carry terrible burdens. In Isaiah 9:1-4, we are told that help for our burdens is coming.
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Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea,
beyond the Jordan—
2
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
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For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

Isaiah tells of a day when Israel will no longer have to carry the burdens that have been placed upon them by their
oppressors but he also tells of the coming Messiah who will take away a great burden from all of humanity.

In Matthew 4:12-23, we again return to the story of Jesus calling his disciples and we are reminded that our
burdens are not always the things that we think they are…
12
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and
lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said
through the prophet Isaiah:
15
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
17
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
18
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother
Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I
will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a
boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and
their father and followed him.
23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and
healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people
brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those
having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem,
Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Jesus’ sacrifice allows us to leave behind burdens like fear and sin and death but as we watch Jesus call his first
disciples we realize that they left something else behind to follow him as well. Each disciple had a job and family
and friends that they left behind. For some of them, their departure could easily have meant the end of a family
business. In Hebrews 12, we hear this same message put another way…
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes
on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
The writer tells us that we must throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us.
Clearly, there are many things that can hinder us from accomplishing the tasks that God has assigned to us that
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are not sin. The disciples found that jobs and families and houses would have prevented them from doing the will
of God and so they willingly left them all behind to follow Jesus. As we consider these ideas together, we
struggle a little and we begin to wonder what things Jesus would have us leave behind in order to follow him and
to carry out the mission that he has assigned to us. Before we go too far with that line of thinking, let us hear one
more voice. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul addresses some things that were causing arguments
within the church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18) …
10
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one
another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and
thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels
among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I
follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I
did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of its power.
18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the
power of God.

The people of the church were arguing about which leader they preferred to follow, they were arguing about
which writer was the most authoritative, and Paul leaves us with the impression that they were arguing about
anything that could make one believer different from another. Paul’s response is to remind everyone that none of
that stuff is the most important stuff. The label over the church door is not the most important stuff. The name
of the person that first told you about Jesus is not the most important stuff. The name of the person, or the
church, that baptized you is not the most important stuff. In the end, the most important stuff, for each of us, is to
remember that it was Jesus that died for us and it was in the name of Jesus that we were baptized.

We have been commanded to throw off everything that hinders us from accomplishing our mission. Hindering
doesn’t mean stopping, hindering means to get in our way, to slow us down. We are commanded to dump our
baggage, to throw out and leave behind all of the stuff that slows us down in our journey toward Christ and in
whatever mission Jesus has planned for us.

This is, truly, a big deal. As we have seen, for some of us following Jesus will mean leaving behind homes and
jobs and families but it can also mean turning down a good promotion, taking a step sideways in our career that
will give us more time to volunteer, buying a smaller house or a smaller car or a smaller television so that we
have more money to give to the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ at this church or wherever Christ may put it
on your heart to give. Paul’s message tells us that inside the church we have lessons to learn as well. Arguments
about paint colors and carpet are a distraction and hinder us from the mission of Jesus Christ. Gossip and rumors
and arguments between Christians about petty things are a distraction from the mission of Jesus Christ.
Arguments between churches about baptism and the Internet and all sorts of things should not grow so large that
they distract our attention from our mission. I don’t have all the answers but I have to wonder how much money
and how many hours have been wasted by a dozen different churches arguing about homosexuality and abortion
and politics and other hot-button issues. Are they important? Certainly, they are important, but we are making a
mistake when we allow issues like these to distract and hinder us from focusing on our mission.

And so we ask ourselves, what is my mission? What is it that hinders me and what is it that I need to leave
behind? For each of us it will be different. Today I hope that each of us will spend some time doing what my
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fellow soldiers did before our bivouac in Basic Training. I hope that we will spend some time thinking about
what God has called us to do and to reevaluate how we’ve packed for the journey. Have we packed things that
we don’t need? Have we packed things that make us comfortable but will not help us to accomplish our mission?
Listen to what God is calling you to do. Let us lay aside the things that hold us back and slow us down. Let each
of us dump our excess baggage so that we can do all that we have been asked to do.
1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes
on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

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
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date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First.
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