Last Sunday's Sermon "Develop Disciples to Serve"

In this passage from Luke 2: 41 – 52, Jesus is a 12 year old. At 13 a Jewish boy became a man and he was approaching that point in his life. He had come into an age of responsibility and accountability. As we read the scripture, we sense the tension that accompanied the learning curve on this particular journey.

It is the festival of the Passover—a time when Jewish people remembered they were once slaves in Egypt and God brought them out of slavery (Deuteronomy 16:12 and Exodus 13:3) and that God spared their firstborn from the 10th plague. God commanded the “children of Israel” to keep Passover so they would never forget (Exodus 12:14).

Jesus traveled with his family to Jerusalem for Passover. It was a journey they made every year so this was not a new adventure for Jesus. It was a common event. He knew his way around the town and the temple. His parents had little or no concern about him in the larger company of family and friends. As Passover ended, they joined the caravan to head home. At the end of the first day of travel, they realized Jesus was not with them. They hurried back to Jerusalem and spent three days searching for him. They found him in the temple sitting with the teachers, learning and astounding those around him.

Jesus surprised his parents by not letting them know where he was. They were concerned. They spent three days looking for him! He, on the other hand, was surprised that they were concerned and didn’t know he would be in the temple. His comment to them was “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is the moment when Jesus began speaking for himself; pointing himself in the direction his life would take.

This story of Jesus highlights the importance of preparing oneself and learning in a place where the sacred is spoken. Jesus went into the temple and sat with the teachers to learn and discuss. The scriptures tell us Jesus went to the temple to learn and teach not only when he was 12 but throughout his life. And because of this, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). As disciples of Jesus we are also called to lifelong learning, spiritual growth and service to others.

This vision is based on the three movements of Jesus’ ministry on earth. 1) Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God; 2) he taught people how to live; 3) he ministered to the needs of those around him. This week I want to say a few words about developing disciples. 

Sociologists Peter Benson and Carolyn Eklin concluded from their study of over 500 churches that: “Only a minority of church going adults evidence the kind of integrated, vibrant, and life-encompassing faith congregations seek to develop disciples to serve. For most adults, faith is under developed, lacking some of the key elements necessary for faith maturity and to develop the initiative to want to be of service. ” If we are to believe their research, we would have to conclude that somewhere along the way the church at large has neglected one of the most important commands of Jesus. 

And what is a disciple? A disciple is a person whose life, purpose and practices are shaped by another. A disciple is a learner, one who follows a teacher. So, a disciple of Jesus is a person whose life, purpose and practices are shaped by Jesus and his message but also by his example. A disciple is a person who strives to learn from Jesus, to grow to be more like him.

And truth be told, there are as many Jesus’  as there are disciples of this remarkable first century figure.  Regardless of how faithful one is to the portrayals of Jesus by any particular denomination or tradition, no two people understand or relate to Jesus in exactly the same way. This is one of the reasons the Bible includes four different versions of the story of Jesus’s life.  

One thing most New Testament scholars agree on…and they don’t agree on much…is that Jesus’s main aim was the kingdom of God…...not some saccharine vision of a future in heaven, but a clear political statement about the here and now. 

They say, basically it’s pretty simple. It means just asking ourselves what this world would look like if God sat on Caesar’s throne.  What would a divine instead of an imperial program look like? What would a divine budget look like?  So “kingdom of God” is a way of saying Rome is not the kingdom of God. Rome thought (since Caesar was divine and it had a kingdom) that it must be the kingdom of God. What Jesus was saying, sort of “in your face” is “Rome, you are not the kingdom of God. You’re not even the will of God”. and “You’re not even close”. 

Over and over again, the Gospels ask us to choose our allegiance. Whose kingdom? The evidence we have about the identity, actions, mission, and vision of Jesus varies widely and wildly depending on the source and the theological filter. At best, one can speak of the “lives” of Jesus rather than the life of Jesus.  The complexity and radical nature of Jesus’ message for the world in which he lived, are critical in understanding how we might live as followers of Jesus today.  The problems of our worlds are not that different. There is still prejudice, hunger, a wide disparity between the rich and the poor, and vast injustice.  There is a lot a disciple can do. 

Jesus wasn’t seduced by power and privilege. Jesus practiced a lifestyle and commitment of servanthood and what I call “downward mobility” that contradicts the allure of “upward mobility” that is so pervasive in our culture today, defining significance and status through wealth, materialism, fame and power.   Jesus was best exemplified by his self-proclamation of “I am the good shepherd.”  He was both tender and gentle and yet also fierce in his pursuit of Justice. Jesus didn’t just speak of these things…he demonstrated them in how he lived, how he loved and how he welcomed the stranger, the marginalized, the leper, the widow, the prostitute and the sick. And he confronted the religious leaders of his day.

That’s why we must keep asking the important questions of “Who are we following?” and “Where are they leading us?”

Our vision as a community is to develop disciples. We will strive to do this by encouraging our members and friends of the church to take responsibility for their own faith growth as well as empowering them to encourage others to grow in faith. The church will provide opportunities like Sunday school, small group studies, retreats; and workshops which are targeted at helping us develop an “integrated, vibrant, and life-encompassing faith and…. sharing that faith through action.”

Ultimately, developing disciples is a relational experience, not an instructional or classroom experience. It is the influence of one life on another in the midst of the difficulties of life. It is an influence that helps us face our personal darkness and grow in our reflection of the image of Jesus.

Writer Greg Ogden put it this way, “Developing disciples is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciple to teach others as well.”

One Methodist minister some of us know said he attempted to share some of the things he learned in seminary with his congregations. Every time he did, he was moved. Some people simply do not want to know. 

Marcus Borg speaks of various stages people pass through as they develop an appreciation of the Bible as metaphor. For example, as young children we interpret the Bible with what Borg calls a “pre-critical naivete” in this stage we believe what we are told and never give it another thought. 

As we get older, we move onto a stage of “critical thinking” in which we unpack our understanding of the world and toss out what we recognize as false….such as the tooth fairy and the idea that you can break your mother’s back by stepping on a crack.  Many get stuck in this stage of “critical thinking”.  Then there’s a third stage that Borg calls “post critical naivete”. That is demonstrated by the capacity to recognize the truth in the biblical stories, even though you know that their truth does not depend upon their factuality. And even though you are pretty sure many of them are not historically factual. 

But that's not the important thing.  The important thing is that we have mission. That's what disciples do. And we need to be open to life changing revelation from historical scholars who spend their entire lives and careers studying for the truth.

I have often said I did not want to be a part of a congregation of pew sitters.  If our congregation did not have mission, I would not be in church.