Christian Discipleship – Page 2

Pay Careful Attention (Hebrews 2.1-4)

Some things require special levels of attention. For example, driving requires focused attention. Texting, talking on the cell phone, or even visiting with passengers can be deadly. The nature of driving requires your full attention or you can easily drift into the ditch or oncoming traffic. In this same spirit, the preacher who wrote Hebrews warns his listeners:

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ³ how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. ⁴ God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2.1-4).

Already, the Hebrews writer has announced that God has ultimately spoken through the Son (Heb 1.1-4) and this Son is superior to the angels (1.5-14). Though the OT did not say angels were involved in the delivery of the Law, it was commonly believed among the Jews of the first century to be true (see this notion in Acts 7:53 and Gal 3.19). So the author picks up here—since the law that was brought by angels should be taken with utmost seriousness, how much more should the message that come from the Son? Therefore, the Son deserves our careful attention.

Without careful attention, we drift, much like a boat can gradually drift out to sea. What’s really at stake is that the readers might be tempted to give up. The latter part of the first verse might be translated: “so that we will not gradually give up believing what we have believed.”

This biblical passage is a gut check.

Have you drifted? You can find your way home this coming Sunday.

The Five Most Important Questions

When Jesus formed the church, he had at least two aims in mind. Church would first of all be about loving God with heart, soul, mind and body (or strength) and, secondly, that this group of people would love their neighbors as themselves (Mark 12:28-34). While “neighbor” might include other church members, Jesus nearly always used the term to push us toward those who are different from us. Given the centrality of this teaching for Jesus, it would be hard to suggest that the church should be doing something other than fulfilling these commands.

Since Jesus says these are the most important commands, any other command we find in the Bible must somehow fit under these. Additionally, any understanding of any of the lesser command that ignores or bypasses these two must be seen as an misinterpretation of the lesser command.

So, if these are the core values of Jesus for the church, how are we doing?

I have found Peter Drucker, the well-known business specialist, to be helpful in this regard. He once framed what he called “The Five Most Important Questions” any organization must ask if it wanted to remain true to its mission. I think you might find them instructive as we seek God’s specific missional vocation for Tammany Oaks.

What is our mission?

Who is our customer?

What does the customer value?

What are our results?

What is our plan?*

I have found these questions very helpful in thinking out where God might be leading us. While the church is not a business, it is in the business of announcing the kingdom of God and our “success” can be measured in how well we are doing that and lives that are transformed because of it.

So what is our mission? While each congregation needs a specific focus, we can be sure that it involves loving God and loving “other” people. So who are the church’s customers? Again, Jesus helps us here: God and “other” people. When the church views her members as the primary “customers,” her mission will always get redirected to “our” perceived needs. Members should see themselves more as customer service representatives who are eager to please God and serve others.

The final two questions are the hard ones, and as such, deserve more of our attention than I can give here. However, we should be able to see that the answers lie near the two greatest commands.

What are the markers of a “successful” church? Two of the makers, of course, would be that a successful church loves God and other people.

So what is the church’s plan? While the answer to this question needs to have specifics based on where God has placed each congregation, we can be sure the plan should be the outworking of loving God and others.

__________

* Peter F. Drucker, The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask about Your Nonprofit Organization (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993).

Sabbath

What is the relationship between the following words: rest, cease, and seven? They all relate to the biblical notion of Sabbath, however, in the Hebrew of the Old Testament the relationship is even tighter since the each of these words are all based on the same root word. So throughout the Old Testament they form something of a word-play. The word “rest” sounds like the word “seven” which sounds like the word “Sabbath.”

With this in mind, God created the world in six days and on the seventh day rested or ceased from his labor. Later God will declare the seventh day a holy day and a day of rest for his people. This notion is so important that it finds a place in the Ten Commandments. In the Exodus version of the Ten Commandments, Sabbath grows out of in God’s creative activity:

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (20:11 NIV).

However, in Deuteronomy’s version, Sabbath is more closely tied to the Israelites release for hard labor:

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day (5:15 NIV).

Jesus himself focuses the purpose of Sabbath-keeping more clearly, when he states,

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27–28 NIV).

In short, Jesus will clarify what should have already been clear. Humans need Sabbath and God instituted Sabbath for the good of humanity.

Later in the Bible, Sabbath becomes a way of talking about heaven. The writer of Hebrews teaches us,

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9–10 NIV).

This serves as a word of encouragement for us to hang in there to the end.

Still, we need Sabbath now. Increasingly, in our culture today, Sabbath is hard to come by. The time when we reserved Saturday or Sunday for worship and family time is gone. Therefore, Christians need more discipline at getting away from the hustle of every-day life. The work will be there when you get back and the benefits of Sabbath include clearer thinking, a stronger connection with God, and a calmer presence when we return to our work.

Hope

If I have hope, I can make another day. Yet, there are times when all the challenges makes one wonder if it is all worth it.

I remember meeting some inner city young men in New Orleans who had lost all hope. They moved zombie-like from one place to the next. The lights had gone out in their eyes. They were already among the living dead.

That is what we can become without hope. Notice how the apostle Paul speaks of hope:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:1–5 NIV)

We often think of hope as the natural state of things—and so it should be. However, Paul treats hope as it if is a virtue that one develops. Though Paul is confident that Christians are justified—made right before God, he also speaks of suffering and perseverance as precursors to hope.

We both rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and our sufferings. The hope of God’s glory points to our future union with God while sufferings describes some of our present realities. However, in the space between glory and sufferings, God is at work shaping us into virtuous people. According to this text, God’s formula for character development follows this path:

Suffering >>> Perseverance >>> Character >>> Hope

There is some logic to this, even if it not a route any of us would choose naturally. There is something about suffering that makes us more aware of our finite nature and that we need God. Perseverance, or getting through a tough time, increases our awareness of God and that with God’s help we can survive. This confidence in God shows in the way we carry ourselves as people of integrity—having remained true against the odds. Through this process, then, God grows hope within us.

Ultimately, hope involves a connection to the Holy Spirit through whom God pours his love into our lives. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is always hope.

Our Role in the Mission of God

A favorite New Testament book of mine is 1 Peter. I’m drawn to it often because the world it imagines is so much like the one I experience. In this letter, Christians are called to live as a contrast society to the world around them. The world around the Christians consisted of an evil empire, many forms of idolatry, and wild parties every weekend, if not every night.

Living among people committed to empire, idolatry, and indulgence, the author of 1 Peter commissioned his readers with these words:

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:11–12 NIV)

Framing our relationship to the world, even empire, as “aliens and strangers,” the writer reminds us that we are “only passing through” this world, but more so, since Jesus’ kingdom does not belong to this world, neither do we. If we are indeed “aliens and strangers” to the empires of this world, we should not over-invest in them but rather give much more attention to the kingdom that will never end.

The biblical writer calls on his readers to do two things. 1) Give attention to spiritual formation; and 2) live out that formation among those who live around us. Regarding the first task, God seeks to remove the war within our own lives. Therefore, we should “abstain from sinful desires.” However, there is the second and larger concern here: That our lives (now at peace because of Jesus) might announce the kingdom of God to those who might even accuse us falsely. The end result of our lives, according to this text, is that others might be prepared to worship God when he comes again.

So let’s commit again to live the good life for the good of others.

Reconciliation

What a strange word! Not one I use in casual conversation and I suspect this is true for you as well. We might use it of a shaky marriage that has come back together but outside of that the word does not carry much weight in our daily lives. However, God meant reconciliation to be his primary mission in the world.

Imagine for a moment a life that is shattered into a thousand little pieces, a life that lacks any sense of coherency, filled with unconnected and unmanageable busy-ness, multi-tasking randomly through life. We call the pieces family life, church life, recreational life, work life, educational life, spiritual life, Christian life, etc. Yet, nothing seems to hold the threads together.

This sense of undone-ness is not only an individual thing; it affects our relationships, too. We, though surrounded by people in nearly everything we do, have never felt lonelier. Not only this, we have days when God feels so far away that life does not feel worth living.

However, Jesus came to give a new way of being, under a new covenant, one that gives life not death. In accepting this new covenant, we come into a new mission or ministry of new life and new creation undoing fragmentation and brokenness. To us, as new creations, all things become new and the old, though still present, is already disappearing.

Though we can still feel the tension between the brokenness of the past and the wholeness of the future, we know that we live for the future, not the past—for God’s future. Paul captures this tension well when he speaks of his ministry in these words,

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (2 Cor. 5:8-12)

This life can be ours because Jesus died for us, one for all. This conviction is the center and core of our confession. Since Jesus died for us, he invites us to die to the brokenness of our lives, to repent of holding on to the old world, and allow the new world to invade our lives. This new life, however, does not end with us. God then turns us into agents, or ambassadors, of reconciliation. Our ministry to others brings life to them.

As Paul continues, “

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5:20)

Don’t Be Afraid!

Of all human emotions, fear is the most debilitating, the most immobilizing, and the most detrimental to faith and our life together. In the Bible the opposite of faith is not unbelief, but fear. In the garden, Adam confessed his fear as God approached him: “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Gen. 3.10). From the beginning then fear has been a reality in our lives.

So God reminds his children frequently not to be afraid.

With Egyptian soldiers pressing behind and the sea blocking the path in front, Moses calls to the people:

Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today… The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Ex. 14.13, 14).

After the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses narrates:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. (Ex. 20.18-21)

Despite God’s admonition, fear dominates the people of God throughout the Bible, “Don’t be afraid.” Unhealthy fear of God, as opposed to respect, increases the distance we feel between God and us. Notice in the passage above how the people “stayed at a distance.” This is not merely a reference of physical distance; it refers to a spiritual reality as well.

In the Gospel of Mark, people who witnessed Jesus will either respond to him with awe and amazement (1.22, 27; 2.12; 5.20, et. al.) or in fear (4.40; 5.15, 33, 36; et. al.). Very often it is Jesus’ disciples who are afraid. In fear they all abandoned Jesus (14.50). Both Peter and later the women, who show more courage then the men, view Jesus “from a distance” (14.54; 15.40), just as the Israelites had done years before when they found the presence of God too much for them.

Yet, God continues to invite us to come near to him and not be afraid. So let’s approach our God with confidence.

The Continuing Conversion of the Church

Church is suppose to be the place (people?) of new life, but so often we experience it as the place of old habits—both personally, because our habits are rarely challenged, and, corporately, because “running” the church trumps “being” the church. Furthermore, in so many places, saving the church has replaced the church’s mission of saving the world. Many have commented on the malaise found in the churches today.

For example, Darrell Guder in a book entitled The Continuing Conversion of the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) charts how the church came to be in this place. In sum, it has to do with the church’s confusion between church member recruitment and making disciples. After years of recruiting members to maintain the institution of church, there should be no surprise that Jesus’ call on our life sounds strange and demanding.

Guder further suggests that most ministers should first focus on the conversions of the church before embarking on the mission of converting the world. Rob Bell may be right that “God wants to save Christians, too.”

Back in the colonial period of American history, a revivalist preacher named William Tennant had the nerve to preach a sermon entitled “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry” which was aimed at ministers of established church who had exchanged comfortable salaries for preaching the way of Jesus. Of course, there was a considerable backlash—but that is the way it is for prophets, right?

It may be the time for the sermon “The Dangers of an Unconverted Church.”

So what is the path forward? It really is quite simple. Be re-converted. God’s goal is to transform each of us to the image of Jesus. While there are instantaneous moments along the way, Jesus usually works through the ordinary and mundane tasks of life. However, for those who like steps, Jesus began his ministry with these action words: Repent (for the kingdom of heaven is near); Believe (the good news); and Follow (me). And when we get off track: Repeat.

I’m ready to begin again. Are you?

God’s Life: Taking on the Powers

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power (Eph 6:10 NRSV). With this command, the letter to the Ephesians enters the final stretch. Nice transition from the previous conversation about power between people, wouldn’t you say?

One of the most prevalent commands in the Bible is to be “strong and courageous” (See, for example, Deut 31:6–7, 23; Josh 1:6–7, 9, 18; 10:25; 1 Chr 22:13; 28:20; 2 Chr 32:7). Take, for example, the following:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deut. 31:6 NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Josh. 1:9 NIV)

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight. (2 Sam. 10:12 NIV)

God must know that we need our courage bolstered—

—especially since our war is not with humans but against demonic forces, known in the Bible variously as principalities, powers, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil. Ghastly is the evil that seeks to dethrone our God and destroy us.

However, there is protection—the armor of God. In a rather extended metaphor, Paul uses various pieces of armor to describe God’s resources for us in the battle against evil.

These consist of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, sandals/shoes ready to spread the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and finally the sword of the Spirit. In each case what is important is not the piece of armor but the virtue that piece of armor represents.

Attempts to tie these to the armor worn by Roman soldiers—often done in Vacation Bible Schools—fail primarily because we know where Paul gets each piece of armor—from the OT prophet Isaiah. For example, the belt of truth (in 11:5), the breastplate of righteousness (11:5, 59:17), sandals/shoes ready to spread the gospel (52:7), the shield of faith (31:5), the helmet of salvation (59:17) and finally the sword of the Spirit (49:2).

What this means is that the armor of God is not armor from God, but the armor belonging to God. It is God’s armor that we are invited to wear! In each of the Isaiah texts, God wears the armor, except for the sandals. I wonder why?

If this is God’s armor, a couple of pieces seem to require some explanation. For example, why would God need a helmet of salvation? Aren’t we the ones in need of salvation.

Here it is good to remember that all of these images come out of the Old Testament stories of military battles. In that context, the word we translate as “salvation” might be better translated “deliverance” or even “victory.” Thus, God wears, and shares with us, the helmet of victory over our enemies, in this case, the forces of evil.

Additionally, the sword of the Spirit only secondarily refers to the Bible as so often understood. The sword represents the Spirit of God—God’s very voice, God’s decisive judgment against those who challenge his people. See this image in the Isaiah text listed above and in the picture of Jesus in Revelation:

… and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. (Revelation 1:13–16 NIV)

While it would be profitable to trace the development of the notion that God is our warrior throughout the Bible, we don’t have space here. However, these strands find a tight synthesis in the Jewish writings between Old and New Testament times. In a first century BC writing called the Wisdom of Solomon (5:17-20), we find

The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor, and will arm all creation to repel his enemies; he will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and wear impartial justice as a helmet; he will take holiness as an invincible shield, and sharpen stern wrath for a sword, and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes.

While the images are fluid, the point remains the same: God is our mighty warrior and not only does he fight for us, it is his armor that will protect us.

Be strong in the Lord, indeed.

God’s Life: Dealing with Power Relationships

In applying the text treating the relationship between masters to slaves (Eph 6:5-9), most modern sermonizers will connect it with the employer-employee relationship. However, the landscape here is bigger than that and this text might be a word for any of us in relationships where there is a differential in power.

By the way, the previous relationships in the larger context dealt with such power relationships (e.g., husband and wife; parents/fathers and children). As in the previous instructions, Paul here addresses the less powerful member of the dyad first. This move alone recognizes that the weaker member of the couple is not all together powerless. There are some things they can think and do.

Also notice how much time Paul gives to the slaves (vv. 5-8) vs. the masters (just v. 9). Some conjecture that this is because there are more slaves than masters in the Christian movement; however, Paul spends more time talking about the husbands in the earlier text. (By the second century, the pagan Celsus will criticize Christianity for attracting primarily women, children and slave). More likely, Paul has weighed his comments to fit the needs of his readers at that time.

Again, this text can inform us whenever we are dealing with people in power or are ourselves the people in power. Thus, when working for others, whether for pay or as a volunteer, we should work as if we are working for Jesus. This is echoed in all three verses to the slaves: “as to Christ,” “as slaves to Christ,” and “as serving the Lord.” We can do this because the “Lord will reward everyone for what every good s/he does.”

Hidden from the English reader, the word “master” is actually the word “lord,” in the original—the same word used to speak of the Lord Jesus. Thus running through this text is the contrast between “earthly (fleshly) lords” (v. 5) and the Lord (v. 7). Masters, therefore, should treat their slaves well because the Lord is Lord of both.

Still, the most amazing comment is that the masters are to treat their slaves “in the same way” (v. 9) as the slaves treat the masters. How is that even possible?

In the ancient world, a husband could abuse his wife with impunity, fathers could beat their children without reprisals, and masters could treat slaves even worse—legally! In each case, here, Paul offers a surprising word to each.

Husbands are to love their wives even if they means dying for them, fathers are not to provoke their children, and masters are not to threaten their slaves. In each relationship, Paul introduces the radical revolution of submission.

And where did he learn this? Jesus. This is the way of Jesus.

As a husband and wife were to model the relationship between Christ and the church, Paul saw the day when all of our relationships—even the difficult ones—would also reflect the gospel of Christ’s love for the church, so to speak.