One Who is Called by and Follows Jesus Christ
I don’t think I have ever digressed at the beginning of a blog before. That is until now. You see, I couldn’t help but think as I wrote the title for this blog that if this were Jeopardy, Alex Trebek would be reading out loud for $400 dollars, “One who is called by and follows Christ”, which would then be followed by a camera shot of three contestants standing at podium’s headlined with their own penned names, thumbing vigorously at those clicker things hoping the action would produce the lights and sound that would cause Alex to call their name so they could answer, “What is a Disciple?”
Yep… that is what I thought. OK… Moving on.
Around St. Johns the terms Disciple, Discipleship and the phrase Discipleship in as many places as possible have all been common. Alone the term disciple is easy enough to define. It’s not complicated, it’s not fancy, it’s simply a term used to refer to someone who has been called by and follows Jesus. Where it gets complicated, where it gets hard is when you start to use the term disciple as a verb or something that denotes action on our part. For the Lord Jesus whom we have been called by and follow said something like this…
“Go make Disciples of all Nations by Baptizing and Teaching them to Obey everything I have commanded.”
And so we are called to be involved in the making of disciples.
Before we go any farther let’s make sure we keep something straight. Jesus calls people into faith by the spirit and more specifically and tangibly through the waters of baptism. But we are involved with discipleship. Not just as those who are being discipled, but as those who are called to disciple. This of course leaves us with all sorts of questions and ideas as to how to do this. But have no fear, because there is a manual in our church library called “10 Easy, Quick, Painless, Fun, Self Esteem Building, Fat Burning Steps to Sure Fire, Bulletproof, Life-Changing Discipleship.” You can pick up a copy at the Church Office for the low, low price of Yeah Right! The reality is that there is no book, no sure fire, bullet proof method. Everyone has different ideas, different children, different neighbors and all of it is complicated and full of sin. But that wouldn’t sell very well in a book would it? All of us know we are supposed to be discipled and disciple. We know what a disciple is but in terms of making it happen with our kids, our spouses, our friends, our neighbors… This is where we get stuck and even intimidated.
And it’s not as if the target audience is small. Not only are we called to reach out to the lost and proclaim God’s Word, but we are called to reach out to the saved, which pretty much covers everyone. And this isn’t like painting a wall, in which at some point you will be done. Being disciplined by our Lord is something which is a lifelong endeavor. It never ends… Not for pastors, not for grandparents, not for parents, not for confirmands, not for children, not for anyone. As long as you are sucking air the blessing and burden of being called by and following Jesus Christ, is that every step of following God will happen while struggling against your sinful self. (Wow, sorry for blowing you away with my cheery optimism)
Yet, this is all described for us in scripture. One of the passages which describe this is Hebrews Ch. 12. I encourage you to turn to the book of Hebrews right now and read verses 1-12.
And so it is for us… no one likes discipline. No one likes to be disciplined in all things. It’s hard. It means that God intends for you to be called out when your sinfulness causes you to stray from His will. This might not be all that bad if it were only once or twice a year. But it’s not once or twice a year or even a month or even a day. It’s continuously. And especially for those of us who have been disciples for a while, because we know better. We know what we are supposed to say, we know how we are supposed to act and we are fully aware of the how our sinfulness is manifesting itself, but we just can’t stop it and we just can’t seem to do what we know we are supposed to do. This of course is followed by guilt. And then as if it weren’t complicated enough with the internal struggle we all have, God chooses to send imperfect Christian people living in the same struggle to call us to repentance. Which naturally leads to clumsy, insensitive or even rude admonishment, followed by less than helpful conversations filled with distrust, anger or passive aggressiveness that often ends with, “Go jump off a cliff?” Sound familiar?
The point? Discipleship is difficult for all involved. Discipleship is difficult because it means a denial of our self and a trust in Jesus Christ who calls us to put Him and others before our self.
This is what it means to be called by and following Jesus Christ.; to live through this struggle in his Freedom and under His grace as His child. You have heard often at this point in sermons or blogs or devotions, “But no need to worry, Jesus died for your Sins.” But do you know that what that actually means is that Jesus died for who you are, not just the things you do that are wrong? Jesus claims you as his child despite who you are at your core. For what you are apart from Christ’s love is Sin, the origin of Sin. And despite this, Jesus has claimed you as His own. You belong to him, you were called by him. He cherishes you and disciplines you and cares for you as a father does for His own child. He has already given his life for you that you may be with Him forever.
There is no doubt that being discipled and discipling others is difficult work. But it’s His work and it is good work. And over the next 30 years as a congregation we will work as diligent as possible to get better at his work by pooling our efforts, following our Lord, mucking through one another’s sinful messes and living in His Grace. Amen.
