Many years ago I spent a week at the United Nations attending a seminar on world hunger. Now during that week I had the opportunity to visit the Rockefeller Center in New York. By chance I entered the center through the east entrance and that’s when I noticed an inscription chiseled into the exterior wall. I was so impressed with the inscription that I wrote it down. That inscription reads as follows; “Man’s ultimate destiny depends not on whether he can learn new lessons, or make new discoveries and conquests, but on his acceptance of the lesson taught to him close upon 2000 years ago by Jesus.”

Man’s destiny is dependent upon Jesus, that’s a powerful statement isn’t it? I’m sure that there are some in this secular world that would like to sand blast this inscription off that wall, because it is blatantly Christian and who knows maybe it has been removed. I hope it hasn’t, but we do live in a very secular society, where we as Christians are really a minority so it wouldn’t surprise me if that inscription is now gone.

Well if it’s gone, it’s a shame because I believe that following Jesus does hold the key to our destiny. But I’ll tell you something if we are serious about following Jesus there will be a price tag, and that price tag is this, following Jesus will make us different. Did you hear that? Following Jesus will make us different from others.

Now in today’s world most people really don’t want to be different. We don’t want to stick out we want to blend in fact most will do what ever is possible to be just like everyone else.

I remember one time I was at a continuing education event with other clergy. There were about 20 of us seated around this huge conference table. We had begun working around 7:30 that morning and it was about 10:30 when a person came into the room with cart of fresh donuts. A moment later that same person was back again with a cart of fresh coffee and juice. Well at first the leader of the workshop seemed oblivious to the donuts and coffee and continued on with his presentation. But finally after what seemed like an eternity he paused and said, “I’d prefer to work through till noon but if some of you need to get some coffee or a donut now is the time.”

With that he looked at the woman sitting next to him. She didn’t move. Looking at the person next to her the leader said, “Do you need a break?” No I don’t need anything was the reply.

One by one the leader gazed around the table and no one moved. You see a precedent had been set by those first two people and now nobody wanted to be different.

Well I couldn’t believe it. The lady sitting next to me had serenaded me for about the two hours with strange and grotesque noises from her stomach yet she didn’t move either. Well there was no way I was going to pass on donuts and coffee, so I got up and walked over to the cart and loaded up, but I was the only one.

You see we want to be like everyone else. We don’t want to be different. We don’t want to stick out. But what we need to hear this morning is that we will be different if we follow Jesus and this is exactly what Paul is reminding us of in our scripture lesson. If you’re going to follow Jesus, said Paul, you can’t live like the Gentiles live. You can’t live like those in the secular world. The secular world lives for sensuality and lust said Paul, but if you’re going to follow Jesus you will need to put off these ways and put on a new way, a way of righteousness and holiness.

The secular world lives in falsehood, but if you’re following Christ you will speak truthfully. The secular world lives in anger, but if you’re following Jesus you will live in forgiveness. When those in the secular world look for ways to steal, time or money, or benefits, you as a Christian should be looking for ways to be helpful and giving.

When others start swearing and talking from the gutter, you as a Christian should speak words that build others up and benefits those who listen. When those in the secular world hold on to bitterness and slander, look for ways as a Christian where you can show kindness and compassion.

Yes Paul reminds the church in Ephesus and we here in Delavan that if we are going to follow Christ we are going to be different. We’re going to stick out, because we are going to walk with high ethic and react to others the way Christ reacted. I had a very interesting conversation with our youngest daughter recently. Marie decided to be a counselor at Sr High camp two weeks ago at Camp Tamarck which is our denominations camp.

Now most of you know Marie is twenty five years old and really is the perfect age to counsel church camp. Now although Marie has grown up in a Christian family, her faith and walk with Jesus is still forming like a lot of young adults. So she was concerned about her witness and her ability to respond to the faith questions that she might be asked by the girls that would fall under her care for that week. Now as we talked about her concern, Marie shared with me that she was so concerned about her adequacy as a counselor that she had a good heart to heart phone conversation with the senior high camp director the week before camp.

She told the camp director that she was still growing in her faith and that she might not be able to be the best witness for Christ. Well apparently the director told her that if she was concerned about her readiness to counsel at camp that she needed to spend more time in prayer, and that everyday she should get on her knees and come before God and if she did that, and opened her heart to God’s will all would be well and she’d do fine as a counselor.

I told Marie that the director gave her great advice and she should follow it. There was a pause over the phone and then my baby said this, “Dad, do people really talk the way that director talked? I mean she talked as if God were her best friend and do people really get on their knees and pray to God?” Of course I said.

There are a lot of people who talk the way that director talked and there are a lot of people who do get on their knees and pray to God. Do you do that, she said, do you pray on your knees? I have, I said, but not too often. But I do talk a lot to God through out every day and when I keep God centered in my day I’ve noticed that things go well.

The prolific writer Max Lucado writes this, “Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence.” Prayer is a wonderful resource, but recognize if you are really going to consistently tap into it, and please hear that word consistently, it’s going to make you different. It might even affect the way you talk.

Yes if we live the way Christ wants us to live, if we live the way Paul wants us to live we will be different from others, there’s no way you can get around that. How we spend our time, especially on Sunday morning will be different then most of our neighbors. What we choose to watch on TV or in the theatre will be different then the vast majority. How we treat others at work, what web pages we view on the internet, what we give financially, the things that we volunteer for, how we interact with minorities and those who walk to the beat of a different drummer, our faith will set us apart from the majority of those who live around us. To them I suppose we will be a bit strange.

But it won’t be strange to God for we will be living exactly the way God intended us to live. God doesn’t want us to be like everyone else. God wants us to stand out, not in pride but in service, not haughtiness, but in grace. God wants us to stand out so that we can gently guide others into a relationship with Christ.

If you want to be like everyone else, then maybe following Jesus isn’t for you. But if you don’t mind being different, and if you are interested in making this world a better place to live then come along with Jesus. Follow him as your savior. For when you come right down to it, that inscription on the Rockefeller Center says it all. Our destiny doesn’t lie in new conquests or discoveries, it isn’t found in the latest fashions or trends but it’s found in following Jesus and his example.