In Jesus Holy Name June 27, 2010
Text: Luke 9:57-58 Redeemer
“Casual Discipleship…. Not an Option”
Today’s message is not about “the way to heaven”. The text before is about our “walk with Jesus”. Christian discipleship.
What is discipleship? What does it mean to “follow Jesus”? What does it mean to be a disciple?
Dallas Willard in his book “Divine Conspiracy” states: “….discipleship is real-life apprenticeship to Jesus.” If we are students of Jesus then we must be with him. If I am an apprentice, a disciple, that means I must be with him to learn from him, how to be like him.
To take an illustration from ordinary life; a child learning to multiply and divide numbers is an apprentice to his/her teacher. Children are with their teachers learning from them how to be like them. The same would be true for a student of piano, or voice, or tennis. The “being-with” by watching and hearing is an absolute necessity.
Rev. John Stott in his book The Contemporary Christian
Writes: “discipleship is a many faceted lifestyle, an amalgam of several ingredients. In particular, it includes worship, faith, obedience and hope. Every Christian is called to worship God, to trust and obey him, and to look with confident hope towards the future.” It is our duty to worship God in public and private.
Rick Warren states: “You were created to be like Jesus. This is your destiny. From the very beginning, God’s plan was to create human beings to reflect His image. God announced his intention at Creation: “Then God said, “let us make mankind in our image and likeness.”
The bible tells us that all people, not just believers, possess part of the image of God; that is why murder and abortion are wrong. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the exact “likeness of God, the visible image of the invisible God.”
The bible tells us that “God is love.” The Greek word is “Agape”. It was this image of “agape, selfless love” that was lost when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s oldest lie…. “you will not die you will be like God.” Many religions and New Age philosophies still promote this old lie that we are divine or can become gods. When Adam and Eve broke God’s law….Selfishness replaced selflessness in the human heart. This image of God in which all human beings were created has been distorted by sin.
Jesus came to redeem humanity. He took humanity’s place on the cross and canceled the punishment we deserved, taking upon himself God’s wrath against sin. This is “Objective justification”. When we place our faith in Jesus then God transfers to us all of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus…..that is called ‘subjective justification.’
As we have noted over the past two weeks Christianity is more than “just forgiveness”… We are called to “follow” Jesus. We are invited to be a disciple, to be an apprentice. Jesus calls his disciples to a life of obedience. But how can we obey him, unless we know his will and commandments which guide our behavior, or character.
Luke writes:
“As they were walking along, a man came up to Jesus and said: “I will follow you where ever you would go.” The first “would be” disciple offers to follow Jesus. Jesus’ response is a warning … “You do not know what you are doing.” … for he is on his way to the cross. His whole life is summed up in the Apostle’s Creed by the word “suffered”. “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have no place to lay my head.” In other words….there is no safe place. Are you really ready for that kind of life? Fred Danker in his commentary writes: “Association with Jesus is not a popularity contest.”
Maybe this man saw the miracles, observed the adulation that came with association with Jesus. Maybe he thought that if he followed Jesus he would have perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, instant relief from problems…. Maybe this is still what many Christians believe when they hear the promise of Jesus and his offer of the “abundant life.”
Remember earth is not heaven. To be a disciple means to “develop the kind of character Jesus describes in the beatitudes. It is what Paul describes in Galatians. “the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.”
That’s why Jesus says: “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have no place to lay my head.” There is no job security. Are you really ready to be a disciple?
The second would-be disciple wants to bury his father before he starts to follow. He is bound to Jewish law.... “In Jewish society, burial took precedence over all other religious duties. To leave it undone, would be an unthinkable offense.” (The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer, p. 60-61) My guess is that his Father is not dead but still alive; for if his father were dead, he’d already be home making arrangements. The Jewish law becomes the barrier between Jesus and the man. He wants to put his discipleship off to a later time.
The third would-be disciple makes an offer to follow Jesus but names his own terms. He is ready enough to follow Jesus. To him, discipleship would be a great opportunity but only after his own conditions have been met. He places himself at the Master’s disposal but at the same time wants to retain the right to dictate his own terms.
Many people are happy to be disciples, followers of Jesus if they can set the conditions. “Don’t talk to me about money.” “Don’t require that I attend worship.” “Don’t ask me to give up my (gossip, pornography, alcohol, cursing or a little “grass”__________ you can fill in the blank”. “Do I really have to read the bible?”
Well, how else will you learn from Jesus how to behave as a business owner, an employee. How else will you learn how to behave with your family, friends and neighbors.
To be a disciple, a student, an apprentice of Jesus is to be learning from Jesus how to do your job as Jesus himself would do it.
You don’t become the “Christian-nag-in-residence”, the religious upholder of all propriety, the dead eye critic of everyone else’s behavior. Rather you are a gentle but firm not cooperating with things that everyone knows to be wrong. In Jr. High in High School, in college, in the working world….. when offered to __________________________________ You continue to be a non participant, remain in service to others, combined with constant prayer.
Consider your job, the work you do to make a living. It does not matter the specific work, whether it is making ax handles or tacos, selling automobiles or teaching kindergarten, investment banking or political office, running a Christian education program or teaching English as a second language. Of central issue to God is that the work be done well and that your character reflect His character.
A silversmith was asked: “How do you know when the silver is pure?” He replied, “When I see my reflection in it.” Paul in Colossians tells us that Jesus is the exact likeness of the Father. He is the image of the Father. Since God intends to make us like Jesus, he will allow us to experience circumstances that may not be so pleasant; that includes criticism, rejection, loneliness, temptation, stress… Wasn’t that his point to the three men who wanted to be disciples?
Every problem is a character building opportunity… The Apostle Paul wrote: “We know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character.”
Character building is a slow process. When ever we try to avoid or escape the difficulties in life, we short circuit the process, delay our growth, the shaping of our character into the image of Jesus. If you are facing trouble right now, don’t ask: “Why me?” Instead ask: “What do you want me to learn?” Then trust God to lead you into doing what is right.
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to produce Christ like character in you. The Bible says: “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.” This process of changing us to be more like Jesus is called “Sanctification”.
You and I cannot reproduce the character traits of Jesus nor reflect his image…in our own strength. New Year’s resolutions, will power, and best intentions are not enough. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to enable us to love, to be filled with joy, to experience peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The Bible compares spiritual growth to a seed, a building, a child growing up or fruit produced on a tree. Each metaphor requires active participation. A seed must be planted and cultivated, buildings must be built, children must eat and exercise.
While effort has nothing to do with your salvation, it has much to do with your spiritual growth. Your character is essentially the sum of your habits; how you habitually act. Spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, being a student an apprentice who desires to be like the teacher, Jesus, is neither instant nor automatic. The first disciples were a work in progress, so are we.
Every person who hears the call to follow Jesus: “is to obey and abandon the attachments of the world.“ To be a disciple, a follower of Jesus will place us into the daily battle against sin and the devil. New temptations will come every day. Temptations to greed, to gossip, to find short cuts, to be selfish.
Deep in the heart of every true Christian there is an awareness that we are on this planet for a purpose greater than having a career, paying bills, loving our families and being upstanding citizens. God wants us to first catch his love and then offer it to all who are willing to consider it. This is His plan.
Few have illustrated the process of imitating Jesus as an apprentice, a student, a disciple than Kirby Puckett, who was the centerfielder for 13 years for the Minnesota Twins baseball team. He had a career batting average of .318, made the All Star lineup ten years in a row, and won six golden gloves for defensive play. He was also a well known Christian.
Dennis Martinez, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, once crushed the left side of Kirby’s face with a pitch. Martinez assumed that Kirby would hate him. But when he had recovered a bit, Kirby called Martinez “my good friend” and blamed himself for not getting out of the way of the fastball. He was an outstanding community leader for good causes, and expressed his faith naturally in words that matched his lifestyle.
We can not restrict our “discipleship” to special religious times isolated from the majority of our waking, working hours. If you dislike or even hate your job, a condition epidemic in our culture, the quickest way out of the job, or to joy in it, is to do it as Jesus would. This is the very heart of discipleship….and we cannot be an effective apprentice, student of Jesus then we must be doers of the word and not hearers only.
