Celebration worship
Jesus said “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”-Luke 9:23-24. As we continue our Lent series Jesus the Stranger, let’s explore what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. A disciple of Jesus is a person whose life reflects the character of Jesus Christ and extends the mission of Christ through relationships with God and neighbor. This definition is important. True discipleship is not only how we feel, what we think, or what we say, but also how we live. I will never forget attending my only Atlanta Braves baseball game as a high school graduation gift from my parents. The Braves were playing the New York Yankees, and Randy Johnson was on the mound. I was fired up at the sight of Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones hitting a homerun off Randy Johnson into the upper deck. I remember how the game looked and smelled. I had bought a hotdog with enough toppings to feed a family of 5, I had what was then an unknown drink that tasted just like Dr. Pepper, Mr. Pibb, and it all tasted amazing! Yet, when I got home and tried out playing the game of baseball, I realized very quickly that it wasn’t for me! I could not catch, throw, or even look the part of a good baseball player. In a word, what I saw in baseball, was a lot different than what I experienced playing the actual game. As Christians, we need to know the game we are playing. We follow the Christ of the Bible. How do others experience us as Christians? Do they see disciples of Jesus? Once again, may His word be our guide as we look at Luke’s Gospel’s version of the Beatitudes to examine what it means to believe in and follow Jesus as a disciple.
Jesus teaches that to live as His disciple means building Christ-like character “Looking at his disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”-Luke 6:20-21. One of the hardest lessons of being a disciple of Jesus is the reality that we will not always get what we pray for. Matthew’s Gospel in chapter 5 lists 9 beatitude or “blessing” statements, such as “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” The Gospel of Luke’s 4 statements of blessing are statements that characterize those who believe in and are obedient to Christ, regardless of whether their needs and wants are met in this life. I have to tell you, I struggle with the idea of being rejected, and not obtaining what I want. Doesn’t God want my good? Doesn’t He want what’s best for me, my kids, my wife, my church? Why do disciples not always receive what we want and pray for? I don’t know the answer. What I do know is, that as much as I have a problem with being told no and not getting what I pray for, there is a clear Biblical pattern of the disciples of Jesus not always getting what they need and pray for. When describing revelations he received from heaven, the Apostle Paul writes about being “given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But the Lord said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”-2 Corinthians 12:7-10. It was an early teaching of Jesus that God may not always give disciples what they pray for, but Disciples of Jesus may not get from others what it is they want either: “Jesus told them: “If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”-Luke 9:5. The modern vernacular is to “move on” when we don’t receive what we want, because we have who we need in Christ. That is what the Psalmist means in Psalm 37:4: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” The more we seek and find satisfaction in Christ, the more our desires will become His. That said, letting go of legitimate desires for a career, family, or other good things is hard to do. Does this kind of life of following Jesus, of replacing our wants and needs with His, make you uncomfortable? It has in me! A comment made at Lent Study a few weeks ago was about how we are sometimes way too comfortable in our walk with Jesus. I want to encourage us to embrace the discomfort of Jesus challenging us through His Spirit to be more than we are. Jesus wants to see us do is be better disciples that reflect His character. Let’s take a look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians that will help us be better disciples that reflect the character of Jesus.
Jesus teaches to live as His disciple means to pursue relationships with other Christians: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”-Philippians 2:5. In the early days of the church, Entire groups, not individuals, would gather to hear the Gospels read. Families would organize and find the time to be together with other families, not in church buildings, but in homes. The Gospels were proclaimed in groups because the concept of checking out Bibles in a library, buying a Bible, or even pulling the Bible up on an app like we would today was a concept no ancient world Christian would have known. In that time, it was expected that, upon committing to Christ, Christians did life together, and heard the teachings of Jesus together. Christians are made to live and rejoice with other Christians. Following Jesus is never a solo enterprise. The Holy Spirit is not dependent on me and me alone for His work to be done. Like the disciples under Jesus, I have Christians in the past and today that I can learn from, and who can encourage me. The weight of the church and the world does not solely depend on me or you, it depends on God’s Holy Spirit working through us. I sometimes remind those who haven’t been to church in a while for reasons other than medical, that it’s not only the church that suffers when they are gone. Christians who don’t make Sunday worship a priority also suffer. They are hurting themselves trying to live a Christian life that Jesus never meant for them to live. No one was meant to live the Christian life alone. The Hebrew church was struggling with this idea, so much so that many had given up meeting as a group to pray for and encourage one another. The writer of the book of Hebrews counseled the church to embrace not only God but others who love Him as well: “Let us hold fast to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”-Hebrews 10:23-25. To be a disciple of Jesus is to pursue relationships with others. You don’t have to be an extrovert to do this friends. Pursing and building relationships is a joy! It is also not a dig at the world. We are supposed to engage the world, but only a follower of Jesus will have an understanding of the Christian life. Which is why Christ-centered relationships are about pouring your walk with Jesus into one person, just one, and seeing what God can do with it. Can you think about that one? What would their life be like if you weren’t there to love them, encourage them, criticize them? I told our Clergy band meeting the other day I look forward to meeting them whenever I can, because I know I need clergy friends who know what I am doing and going through to vent with, be encouraged, and prayed for. Some in our own church have made the comment their lives would never be the same if specific individuals weren’t in their lives.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? The will of God for your life and mine is to realize we won’t always get what we want, but life works out because we have who we need in Christ. In part, being a disciple of Jesus means building relationships with other Christians because Jesus has sent His church, sent people into your life and mine to make it better. That is the kind of life I want for myself, and for you, to have all I need in Christ, and be rich in relationships with other disciples to remind and encourage me when I get off track. For that to happen, I have to go back to the start of this sermon, I have to pick up my cross and follow Him. For Jesus, His journey to the cross ended at Golgotha, and three days later rose from the dead. I don’t know where your journey will end or mine. I want to encourage you: Pick up your cross and follow Him. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.