The Adventure of Discipleship
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The Adventure of Discipleship[1]
Today's reading is about Jesus' calling of his first four disciples – Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. It is about the first people who were called to hold the job which we hold today. Mark's story is not very elaborate. It is short and to the point. There is a certain note of adventure as the four men leave their fishing business to go with Jesus, but there isn’t much in the story that seems terribly upsetting. Is there?
What the story doesn't tell us is what these men were getting themselves into when they became followers of Jesus. To find out what really lies in store for them, we have to keep reading. And when we do, we discover that being a disciple is not glamorous. In fact, it can be downright dangerous.
Later in Mark we hear Jesus say, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). Luke includes another comment from Jesus: "Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division!" (Luke 12:51, NLT). Those are disturbing statements, especially for those of us who are today's disciples.
Jesus is saying that being his disciple is not an easy task; that following him means standing up for what is right, serving the truth rather than the expedient even when it produces disharmony in the community, and even within our family. He is saying that the gospel is a disturbing force in the world; a force that can upset individuals and relationships. It brings change and new experiences to all who hear it. Being his disciple will not be easy because the task of the disciple is to be the bearer of this revolutionary and disturbing gospel message.
We know what happened to Jesus. His message disturbed those in power and they tried to silence him. Of the four men in this gospel text, three were also executed for their witness. The powers that ruled the ancient world were upset by the gospel, and they tried to silence its voice. I'd like to be able to say that's all ancient history, but there are still governments today which oppose the gospel. When we are in touch with God’s Word and the demands it produces in our lives, conflict and pain often enter as we speak out against injustice. It is true that the gospel of God’s love through Jesus Christ brings peace to troubled lives, but Jesus warns us that it is not to be peace by compromise or evasion, but by righteous living!
It is therefore important for us to realize that the truth of the gospel is like a two-edged sword: it is both comforting and disturbing; it both heals and wounds. The messengers of this gospel may find themselves facing hostility and opposition from those who don't want to hear that message, even in countries where Christianity is protected by law. But Jesus' two-edged sword strikes not only against the injustices of nations; it strikes close to home as well. I wonder what Peter's mother-in-law and wife had to say about his chasing off with a roaming preacher. I wonder how old man Zebedee felt when his two sons simply picked up and left their half-mended nets in the boat. I suspect that the families in this story were not too pleased. But that, too, is the nature of the gospel. It can upset individuals and disturb even family relationships. Jesus' call to service can be a call that provokes controversy and difficulty.
Persecution and rejection, not only by the wider society, but by one’s very family are not unusual in the Christian life. Many people report that they face the loss of their jobs once they choose Christ; that people won't even greet them, not even their own family. In fact, many of them are expelled from their homes and are even considered dead by their families. One Christian said, "I was not ready for what came my way after conversion. My family disowned me; my friends shunned me, as if I had a dread disease.” These are daily realities faced by numerous Christians, not just in places of the world considered hostile to Christianity, but even by many living in this very country! But Jesus already points us to the reality that the gospel can be disturbing, not just on a general scale, but as close as home and family.
Why? The answer lies in the power of the gospel to change people's lives. Once we meet Jesus Christ on the road of our own individual life, we will be changed! We will be different people! I don't know about you, but my nature is such that I tend to resist change.
I suspect that many folks see the gospel through rose-colored glasses – wanting to see only the joy, comfort, and light -- and not wanting to see the difficult or disruptive. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Jesus proclaims. That's the other side of the two-edged sword!
There are two important words in this announcement; the first is the word “repent”! Too many folks think that "repent" simply means to feel sorry for what they've done – and then, go do it again. That's not it at all. To repent is not just a matter of feeling sorry for, or guilty over, something wrong you’ve done. Neither is it a mere resolve to “do better next time.”
To "repent" means to change direction; to make a right about turn. It means a change in priorities. It means living with a whole new approach to life! It is “a radical transformation of the entire person,” involving a fundamental change in both outlook and behaviour (EBCNT). All of this, of course, assumes that our actions have been fundamentally off course and need to be radically changed. Repentance therefore begins at that point when we come to realize that we have been living our lives all along on a faulty understanding of what is of real and lasting significance.While I do feel that the church can serve as an anchor in a world where everything else is changing so rapidly, that is only one side of the gospel. The other side calls us to repent; to embrace the newness and change which Jesus brings.
Had Jesus only told people to repent, he would be wasting his time and energy, for “people do not simply turn away from one way of life; they do so (only) when they turn toward something deeper and truer” (Long). And so, when we truly repent, we turn away from one set of values about ourselves, about others, about God, and about life in general, and we allow ourselves to be shaped by another, more compelling vision of what is true and meaningful! Thus when Jesus says “repent,” he didn’t stop there. He said, “repent and believe the good news”! The second key word is therefore “believe.”
That doesn't mean listing your denomination as Congregational or Methodist or Baptist or whatever on some application form. It means trust and reliance; it means placing your whole life in God's hands, regardless of what happens in life. It's called "the leap of faith." That's the kind of change which the gospel produces. That's what makes us different. There's no turning back, because it's a difference that won't go away.
C. S. Lewis once said, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and soundas long as you are merely using it to cord a box.But suppose you had to hang by a rope over the precipice.Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?....Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief."
According to the Supreme Court of the United States, all religious beliefs are either preferences or convictions. Your belief is nothing more than a preference if it becomes negotiable under certain circumstances such as peer pressure, family pressure, or threat of persecution. On the other hand, a conviction is a belief that will not change under any circumstance. Such a belief is self-determined, non-negotiable, victorious, and consistent with a person's lifestyle.[2] This is the kind of belief Jesus summons us to display in our daily walk with him.
To be sure, we will always experience the power of sin in our daily lives. We may even go as far as renouncing the Christ who brought us to faith. Peter knew about that, for he was the one who denied he ever knew Jesus. But later he went out and wept bitterly. The change was there. He couldn't turn back. He was changed by the power of a gospel that left an indelible mark upon his soul.
Being a disciple is a real blessing, despite the gospel's two edges. We know that God has promised to be with us always. That means that we are never alone in life, no matter how we may feel at a given moment, or how unsettling life's changes may seem to be. Being a disciple means that God is not just a "Sunday friend," but a "daily companion" in our life. It means that all things "do indeed work together for good." Oh -- it doesn't guarantee that we won't get the flu or have to face unpleasant experiences, for as “Christians (we) are not exempt from pain and grief. (Our) loved ones die in car accidents just as other do. (We) get cancer. When a natural disaster like an earthquake strikes, it hits believers as well as unbelievers. God does not make us his cosmic pets when we believe on him.”[3] What does happen is that God takes the events of our life and turn them toward the good, even though we may not be able to see that good at the moment. Being a disciple also means that we will be part of the greatest change of all, the time when God will change this age into the age of eternity. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ stands at the center of our faith, because we know that our mortal nature will be changed into an immortal nature. And we shall be changed – one final time.
The gospel is a great power. It does shake relationships. It does disturb lives. It does change lives. But above all, it gives new life –both for today and for eternity. However, because the gospel does change people, we sometimes are tempted to hide in its words of comfort rather than embrace the new life to which it calls us.
We are today's disciples, and it is not an easy task. Thankfully, our Lord gives us the strength to do the job which he has given us. The big question is: "What kind of disciples will we be?"
[1] Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Paul E. Flesner, CSS Publishing Company, 2002, 0-7880-1900-7
[2] David C. Gibbs, Jr. "From My Briefcase," Fundamental Press.
[3] Herb Vander Lugt, How Much Does God Control? Grand Rapids, Michigan: Radio Bible Class, 1994, 30.
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