The tragedy at Virginia Tech has touched lives from coast to coast. The senseless acts of a rogue individual has damaged hundreds and thousands of peoples lives forever. The sad thing is that is exactly what he set out to do.
Now we are in recovery mode and the first question people are asking is why. Why did he do it? Why couldn’t we see it coming? Why didn’t somebody do something? The truth is we never really know when someone is going to have a psychological breakdown. We can Monday morning quarterback all we want but the reality is we just can’t predict with certainly the actions of an individual. I will say this. The violence we see on T.V. and in the movies does make a difference. The murder Cho apparently acted out what he had repeatedly seen on an Asian film. Garbage in, garbage out. His role model was a fictional killer and he became a real one.
Our society has repeatedly and systematically taught people from grade school on up that there is no God. We learn that human beings evolved from cosmic goo and that there is no real purpose in life other than trying to live a happy life and die. Apparently Cho wasn’t happy. CNN and Fox News reported that Cho was a very disturbed man. He felt picked on and left out his whole life. He belittled Christianity and stated that the people whom he killed brought it on themselves. He was very deranged and in my opinion, had lost hope in people, society, and himself. Without any hope he chose to look for meaning in death. And in doing so he ruthlessly took the lives of 32 people before turning the gun on himself.
Jesus points to the source of Hope which pours out of the Father in abundance. In Christ, there is always hope. And our world is desperately in search of hope. We need hope as much as we need oxygen to fill our lungs and love to fill our hearts. Everybody wants to be somebody to someone and you and I are somebody to Jesus. That’s why he walked this earth and talked to people like you and me. The times have changed but everybody everywhere needs the hope that Jesus has to offer and he invites us to participate in being messengers of hope called disciples.
In the Jewish world becoming a disciple is a very difficult task that very few ever manage to become. A disciple was called a Talmid and you had to earn the title. Only the best and the brightest Jewish boys ever became talmid
I touched on this last week but let me refresh your memory. At age four or five a male was eligible to start elementary school called Beth Sefer. There was no public education system like there is today, every school was religious and only the brightest kids even got to go to school at all. Most kids never stepped foot in Beth Sefer and for those who did, they were expected to completely memorize the first five books of the Bible called the Torah in order to graduate. The drop out rate was very high and when a student dropped out they simply went back to work in the family business or as a hired farm hand for a neighbor.
Only the best and the brightest students even got into the school so only the best of the best students graduated Beth Sefer and went on to the Jewish version of middle school/high school called Beth Midrash. In Beth Midrash the students were expected to become fluent in their understanding of prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel and Daniel. Most of the students didn’t make it through Beth Midrash because of the high demands on them. For those that couldn’t make it they went back to the family business or to work as a hired hand for the neighbor. Only the best of the best of the best students completed their studies at Beth Midrash under a Torah Rabbi. And for the few students that did make it through they still had to apply to become a talmid under a well know rabbi.
Most students sought out the rabbis that they wished to follow. If a student wanted to study with a rabbi he would make his case to the rabbi and tell him why he should be chosen to follow him. The rabbi would consider the students potential to become like him and whether he was willing and dedicated enough to make the commitment necessary. It is likely most students were turned away. But the best of the best of the best of the best were invited to follow the rabbi. This indicated the rabbi believed the potential talmid had the ability and commitment to become just like him. Once the talmid was given approval to follow the rabbi it was a remarkable affirmation of the confidence the teacher had in the student. (followtherabbi.org)
The talmid would do everything with the rabbi. They lived with him, ate with him, walked with him, and sat under him. Privacy was obsolete. The students were passionately devoted to their rabbi and copied everything that he said and did. They attempted to line up their life with the rabbi in every way. As the rabbi lived and taught his understanding of the Scriptures the talmid listened and watched and imitated the rabbi in hopes of someday becoming just like him.
That was then, this is now. The term Christian means: Christ follower or disciple. So when someone professes to be a Christian they are stating they are a disciple or talmid of Jesus. But what does that really mean?
The Barna Research Group is one of the premier research companies in America and their research indicates that 72% of the U.S. population has made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important to their life today. This means that 72% of the population claims to be Christian in faith and practice.
George Barna himself believes that the findings reveal several insights about America’s faith. "For starters, it appears that most Americans like the security and the identity of the label ‘Christian’ but resist the biblical responsibilities that are associated with that identification. For most Americans, being a Christian is more about image than action.” (http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=203)
I believe that he is right. In following research Barna listed seven core beliefs that mirror those taught in the Bible to help separate those that claim to be Christians in name only to those who actually practice their faith.
The core beliefs are:
1. My faith is very important in my life today.
2. I have a personal responsibility to share my religious beliefs with non-Christians.
3. Satan is real.
4. Salvation is by grace alone, not works.
5. Jesus lived a sinless life on earth.
6. The Bible is accurate in all that it teaches.
7. God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity that created the universe and still rules today.
When using these criteria to define a practicing Christian it narrows the percentage down to only 9%. Out of that 9% of practicing Christians only 15% of those who regularly attend a Christian church ranked their relationship with God as the top priority in their life.
In a broad sense this means if you were to walk into any American church on any given Sunday and ask: “is your relationship with God the highest priority in your life?” Only 15 out of every 100 people would say yes. This statistic is a generality meaning that one church may have a much higher percentage than another church but when they are all lumped together only 15% of those who regularly attend church would describe their relationship with God as their number one priority in life. As alarming as that finding was, its significance was magnified by research showing that on average pastors believe that 70% of the adults in their congregation consider their relationship with God to be their highest priority in life. (www.barna.org)
This means that most pastors are out in la-la land when it comes to understanding the churches we serve. We think that our congregations are full of Jesus disciples but according to the research they are not. I translate this to mean that we pastors have failed to communicate the relevancy and the significance of the Gospel to our congregations. We have not taught or modeled spiritual transformation and for that I am truly sorry. By and far Americans are Christian in name only and that bothers me.
But there is another group of people that are quietly and consistently actively living out their faith. These people are the best of the best of the best. Barna calls these people “revolutionaries” because they are actively following the rabbi by actually doing what Jesus taught them to do. They serve in their faith, give generously to support faith based ministry, read their Bibles every day, spend quiet time with God, experience meaningful worship every day, frequently commit their time and energy to helping disadvantaged people in their community, and have shared their faith with non-believers at least once in the past 12 months.
Barna states: these “Revolutionaries have a very different, faith-driven lifestyle, because they are more likely to take the Bible at face value, to feel a deep and genuine gratitude for what Jesus did for them on the cross, and because their beliefs lead them to attempt to be the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth. Your behavior is a result of what you believe, and the manner in which revolutionaries live corresponds to a Bible-centered perspective on life." (www.barna.org)
A startling 91% of revolutionaries perceive themselves as a "full-time servant of God." They are not involved in full-time paid ministry but they are engaged in ministry full-time meaning that they live out their faith everyday. Only about one in ten people who claim to be born again would be considered revolutionaries. These revolutionaries have chosen to follow the rabbi like the ancient talmid. They have chosen to live and teach and touch with God’s love just like their rabbit Jesus. Most of these revolutionary disciples didn’t have any professional training, they have simply responded to their rabbi’s invitation to follow him.
Why do these revolutionaries follow Jesus? Because they know that Jesus was a rabbi with what the Hebrew’s called s’mikhah. He taught with authority and touched with God’s love and it was powerful and life-transforming. When Jesus called his disciples, he didn’t call the best of the best of the best students to become his disciples. He called ordinary people like you and me his disciples, revolutionary disciples, who would become the best of the best of the best only if they followed the rabbi. Listen to how he called his first disciples and who they were.
The Bible says:
“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. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. 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, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” Matthew 4:18-23 NIV
Here is the best part. Jesus personally invites you and I to be his talmid. He actually believes in you and me so much that he invites us to follow him with our life. He invites us to become of this revolutionary talmidim, not just in name, but in practice.
A talmidim is a disciple and a disciple mirrors their master. They do what their master does and teach what their master teaches. And they go where their master leads them to go.
Jesus invites me to become his talmidim
A talmidim is a disciple.
A disciple mirrors their master.
By doing what their master does
By teaching what their master teaches
By going where there master leads them to go.
When Jesus invited Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him they dropped everything and followed the rabbi. None of these men were smart enough to pass Beth Sefer and Beth Midrash and out of the blue a master rabbi, a rabbi with s’mikhah personally asked them to be his disciples. It was such an incredible opportunity that they dropped everything and followed him and became revolutionaries.
Many people believe in Jesus, but only the best of the best become his revolutionary disciples and bring hope and healing to world that desperately needs it.
Three years after Jesus called his first disciples he died on the cross and was raised to life to prove that he meant what he said. Before he ascended into heaven he took his disciples aside and said: “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
What kind of a disciple are you? Are you a Christian in name only? Are you a wishy washy disciple? Or are you a revolutionary talmid, one of his fully devoted followers who live like Jesus and teach like Jesus and touch other people with God’s love just like Jesus?
What are you going to say to Jesus invitation to you? Are you willing to follow the rabbi? Are you willing to live like Jesus and teach like Jesus and touch other people with the love of God like Jesus? Are you ready to be a revolutionary and be the light of the world?
SKIT: Walk around the room and say “come, follow me” and have people follow me in a train. Each person will hold up a white board with writing on it saying “I’m a disciple and will shine Jesus light at ………… The people will go back to their seats but remain standing holding their signs. PROPS: White Board, flashlights.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
It’s time for a revolution. Follow the rabbi.
