Growth

On Discipleship

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This past week I continued preaching from Mark 8 at our weekend worship gathering.  The passage is a hinge text for the whole Gospel of Mark.  It is a hinge between seeing the power of Jesus and seeing the weakness of Jesus.   It turns us from the question of Who is Jesus? to the question of What kind Messiah will Jesus be?  In the answer to those questions we realize what it means to be Jesus’ disciple.

I did not share all of the following quotes in the sermon, but I have been affected by them.

“The disciples cannot know who Jesus really is without accepting the necessity of his suffering and death.  And they cannot be his disciples unless they accept that fate for themselves.”  William Lane

“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.  Once more, all that self-denial can say is ‘He leads the way, keep close to him.'”  Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship p. 97.

“The cross is the heart of the gospel, and bearing a cross is a central requirement of discipleship.”  David Garland, NIV Commentary

Are you beginning to see how radical Jesus is?  It’s not a matter of saying, “I’ve been a failure, I’ve been immoral, so now I’m going to go to church and become a moral, decent person.  Then I’ll know I’m a good person because I am spiritual.”  Jesus says, “I don’t want you to simply shift from one performance-based identity to another; I want you to find a whole new way.  I want you to lose the old self, the old identity, and base yourself and your identity on me and the gospel.”  I love the fact that he says “for me and for the gospel.”  He is reminding us not to be abstract about this.  You can’t just say, “Oh, I see: I can’t build my identity on my parent’s approval because that comes and goes; I can’t build my life on my career success; I can’t build my life on romance.  Instead I will build my life on God.”  If that’s as far as you take it, God is almost an abstraction; and so building your life on him is just an act of the will.  The only that can reforge ad change a life at its root is love.

 

Jesus is saying, “It’s not enough just to know me as a teacher or as an abstract principle; you have to look at my life.  I went to the cross–and on the cross I lost my identity so you can have one.”

Once you see the Son of God loving you like that, once you are moved by that viscerally and existentially, you begin to get a strength, an assurance, a sense of your own value and distinctiveness that is not based on what you’re doing or whether somebody loves you, whether you’ve lost weight or how much you’ve got.  You’re free–the old approach to identity is gone.”    Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 105.

 

The end of fate

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The Christian world view is vitally optimistic.  Our Sovereign God has purposes that prevail and glory that will be manifest in all Creation.  He has granted the human experience a capacity that was not meant to be ruled by fatalism.

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  Jonah 3:1-4

Our active participation in life with Him means we become authors in His story.  The story of Jonah is not just about a city that repents (Jonah 3) but it is also of a man who has trouble with the character and will of God.

Culture, nationalism, prejudice, and love of self, conspire to create resistance.  When violence and oppression is normalized we yield to fatalism.  The “good” act like “those evil people” will never change.  The “evil” act like they have run out of choices.  Until God interrupts our lie, we will not know the end of fate.

God gave grace to the king of Nineveh.  The king recognized a God who was rightly angry.  We would say there is a God who cares that all is not right in the world.  The king said, “Who knows?  God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

Fate would require no opportunity.  But we have a God who creates opportunity.  For three days His prophet traversed that great city with a warning.  The city repented  This is the end of fate.  People can change.  They can be changed through an experience of the grace of God.

Ultimately we have Jesus who traversed heaven and earth to conquer the greatest liar and prince of death, Satan.  Jesus is the end of fate.  He invites us into His Kingdom of life.

Thank you Lord for the grace to hear and know you.

Following God One Yes At A Time

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Cesar felt abandoned by his dad and betrayed by life.  By the time he was 25 years old, Cesar was angry all the time, running with a bunch of tough guys, working a dead-end job and looking for life playing soccer for five Toronto teams.  His mother began attending a church and three teenagers came to visit him.  Mary told him, “He  loves you; He died in your place to pay for your sins; He wants to come in to your life.  Will you let Him in?”  When the truth about Jesus was shared with him Cesar invited Jesus into his life and he began a new journey into God’s provision for a changed life.

It was soon tested.  Connie Cavanaugh writes about that first test in Following God One Yes At a Time:

Even though he felt different, like something had happened to him when he hasked Jesus in, Cesar didn’t think it would last.  Nothing ever had.  But the next day, on the soccer filed, a strange thing happened.  A player on the opposing team, a new guy who obviously didn’t know Cesar’s reputation, tripped him and then, for good measure, kicked him in the ribs.  Everybody froze. Neither team wanted to miss the beating Cesar would deliver once he got back on his feet.

Jumping up and facing his attacker Cesar balled his fists but before he could take a swing, something stopped him.  God loves you and gave His Son to die for you, he remembered.  You are a new creation.  His hands relaxed.  He shook his head and told his opponent who was crouching, ready to defend himself, “Iss okay, man.  Fogedaboudid.  Less play.”  He ran back to his position.  Shockwaves rippled across the field.  Cesar’s first Christ-like act generated so much buzz that he eventually introduced almost every player on his team to Jesus.  Nobody had told Cesar not to fight; it was the voice of the Holy Spirit he heard and said yes to.  He was beginning to grow in the simple way God designed–one simple, immediate, possible yes at a time.

It’s stories like this that  inspired me as I read Connie Cavanaugh’s book Following God One Yes At a Time: Overcoming the 6 Barriers That Hold You Back.  The life stories from her own life and that of her family and friends readily illustrate the biblical truth she presents to help us take a first step in following Christ again when we have gotten stuck.  God wants us to keep in step with Him.  But at different times in our lives we may find that we have a our feet nailed to the floor by fear, pride, guilt, shame, comparison or doubt.

Connie, who previously authored From Faking It to Finding Grace, has given us an book that is fuel for faith.  She celebrates discipleship in real life by rooting faith in two Gospel realities:  1)  Following Jesus is a call to say “Yes” to Him everyday of our lives.  And 2)  God is faithful to reveal Himself and provide enough for us to move on. You can learn more about this Canadian author at http://www.conniecavanaugh.com .  I enjoyed Connie’s book and was equipped and inspired to follow God one “Yes” at a time!

I want a career…

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You know the moment.  The person across from you has been talking away and the moment is serious.  But your mind is light-years away from their concern.  Rather your mind has been hijacked by another concern.  In fact you showed up for the conversation with another agenda.  And finally the person takes a breath and you cross the threshold and carve out a doorway to your heart.  “I want… Please tell… Do this for me!”

People like me interrupted Jesus. He often used the moment to address the heart concerns of many other people.  In Luke 12 Jesus had been teaching the crowd to avoid hypocrisy by trusting God with their fears, when a man in the crowd revealed his distress.  “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Practical Security

An inheritance in Jesus’ day was most often held in the family property or land holdings.  Traditionally the first son would receive two-thirds of the property as his inheritance.  The remaining one third would likely be sold and divided among all else who had a claim to it.  The “wisdom” of this approach developed out of the desire to maintain the ability of at least one member of the family to secure a future, a lifestyle, and an income for the family through the property that remained.  This younger brother’s request was likely driven by the desire to also have some security for the future.

When I poll University students at UBC and in Vancouver as to why they are pursuing school, its most often because they “want a good job” in the future.  They want a career that will bring some sense of security for themselves and for their family.  Although “the career” may be fading as a sure promise of security, it still holds power over many–especially those who are about to graduate.  The stress created moves them into the realm of worry.  Worry habituates us to what Jesus calls greed and a view of life because it rules out God from the equation.  Worry moves us to the center and displaces Christ.

Greed Consumes

A flashback to Wall Street reminds us that our societal message is that greed is good.  However, Jesus tells us “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:13  A career can be a wonderful journey.  However, we can miss the joy of work and the real purpose of life when wealth position, and security become the end-goals.  The story Jesus told of a  successful rich man getting ready to retire, yet dying “prematurely” was meant to confront the prevailing narrative of both brothers and the rich and poor in the crowd.  Life is about more than securing wealth for ourselves; wealth will fail us; life is about being rich toward God.

What happens when greed dominates life?

1.  My wants exceed my needs and become supreme.
2.  I will use people rather than love people.
3.  I will sacrifice the most important for the mundane.
4.  I will have a shrinking faith in God and His providence.
5.  I will create a self-righteousness that allows me to judge others who have less.
6.  I will fail to enjoy giving.
7. I will view hospitality as a chore or a way to ingratiate myself to others.
8. I will be possessed by my possessions.
9. I will be deceived into become small and insignificant rather than great.
10. As greed is a form of violence I will become habituated to injustice.
11. I will be persistently pre-occupied with security and therefore fear-full.

Jesus secures life

Greed is contrary to the knowledge of God.  In fact Jesus’ view of life and career is so different from ours and He knows it.  In light of who God is Jesus then exhorts His disciples:

1.  Not to worry about their life; what they will eat, drink, or wear.

2.  Not to set their hearts on what they will eat, drink, or wear.

3.  To pursue the Kingdom of God.

4.  To live generously–to sell their possessions and give to the poor.

So when thinking about our careers, Jesus would have us re-examine the question of WHO we are living for.  If we are at the centre you can be sure greed will find open space to take root.  If Jesus and His rule and reign is at the centre greed will find little rest.  I pray that we would truly know Jesus.  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  2 Corinthians 8:9  When Jesus tells us to pursue the Kingdom first, he then reminds us that our loving Heavenly Father has in fact and will continue to “give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:32  Jesus has secured what a career will never give us.

Praying for UBC on St. Patrick’s Day

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Well tomorrow is St. Patrick’s day but the festive attitude seems to already abound on the campus this evening.  Tomorrow I will be recalling this famous prayer from St. Patrick, the missionary to Ireland.

I invite you to pray it with me and walk with Jesus on the campus by praying “with Patrick” a portion of his famous Breastplate prayer.  I have included the prayer below.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to secure me—

against snares of devils,

against temptations of vices,

against inclinations of
nature,

against everyone who shall
wish me ill, afar and anear,
alone and in a crowd.

Christ to protect me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,  Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the
invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness towards the Creator.

Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of Christ.
May Thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.  AMEN.

 

This prayer is part of the Breastplate of St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland. Born 385 AD in England.  Enslaved in Ireland at age 16.  Escaped but returned to Ireland to proclaim the way of Jesus.  Died March 17, 461.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!