Thought for Today
Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
Psalm 38:20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.
Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
I was raised in the denomination known as the Disciples of Christ. It is not well known in New England, but it is part of the Reformed tradition, similar to the UCC and the PCUSA.
This morning, this Wednesday of Holy Week, my mind is focused on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Wikipedia offers, “In Christianity, a disciple is a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. Discipleship is not the same as being a student in the modern sense. A disciple in the ancient biblical world actively imitated both the life and teaching of the master. It was a deliberate apprenticeship which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master.” My computer offers as synonyms: follower; devotee; adherent; and, believer.
Jesus said, "Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” Does being a disciple of Jesus imply that we too must be persecuted, hounded and reviled for our belief? In certain places and at certain times it has meant exactly that.
But, here and now, what does it mean to you and to me to declare ourselves as disciples of Jesus? Today, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and especially on Easter, what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? It can mean you are a Disciple of Christ. None of my family remains in that denomination, but we did for many years. Now we are scattered among many other denominations. Some of my family are members of the UCC, some are Methodists, others Baptist, still others are members of non-denominational congregations.
Being a disciple of Jesus is not about denominations. It is not about the specifics of the Order of Worship on any Sunday morning. It is not about specific doctrines of faith or practices of worship.
The original disciples called by Christ to ‘follow me,’ were a very diverse group. They included fishermen (25%), a tax collector (12.5%), a political radical (12.5%), a youth (12.5%) and various others (37.5%). Despite my engineer’s proclivity for numbers, being a disciple of Christ is not about numbers, occupation, or political orientation.
Being a disciple of Christ, during Lent, during Pentecost, during Holy Week and any and every other time is about listening for Jesus to say, "Mark 1:17 Follow me and I will make you fish for people." It is about responding to the call to Matthew, “Mark 2:14 Follow me."
Being a disciple of Christ is about listening for Jesus’ call to you and to me. Especially it is about responding to that call. We will not be called to respond in the exact same fashion as were Andres and Peter, James and John or Matthew. But, to be disciples, we must respond!
Hopefully, none of us will encounter the persecution of which Jesus spoke. Few disciples today, at least in America, will be reviled for our faith. But, discipleship does impose restrictions and limitations on our secular lives, sometimes causing us to ‘swim upstream’ against the currents of our material world. We cannot blithely accept all of the modern fashions in clothing, entertainment or morality.
Disciples’ lives must reflect our faith. Our goal is to achieve Jesus’ words above, Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.” We strive to be like our teacher, Jesus. The teacher who gave his life on the Cross for our salvation. The teacher who has called us to , “Follow me.”
Stay safe, be a true disciple, trust God,
Pastor Ray