EmmDev 2024-07-31 [The Discipleship Journey] The Disciple's Lifestyle: What COUNTS?

The Disciple's Lifestyle: What COUNTS?

In our Bible Study group last night we were looking at Discipleship in Galatians...

Paul had a problem in the church in Galatia.
False teachers had come and told the congregants that, in addition to faith in Christ, they needed to be circumcised, keep the law and observe Jewish cultural traditions.

It's seldom that one sees Paul as upset as he is in Galatians and one realises that the very heart of the gospel is at stake. The gospel is about God's grace, received by faith and lived out in love. Paul argues strenuously and convincingly that going to our own efforts (pulling ourselves up by our bootlaces) won't work.

He makes two statements that, at first glance, seem disconnected and even contradictory:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Gal.5:6) Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. (Gal.6:15)

So what counts?
We know that circumcision or lack thereof (or any ritual) doesn't count.

But what does count?
Paul gives two things:
- A new creation.
- Faith expressing itself through love.

If one thinks about it - these two things are not actually that different.
One member of our Bible Study suggested that they were the noun and verb of the same thing.

The noun is the new creation. When we encounter Christ through faith, we are born again, regenerated and we become a new creation (See 2Cor5). The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and the old has gone and the new has come. The heart of stone becomes the heart of flesh because Christ's grace, love and forgiveness restores us.

The verb of being a new creation is faith expressed through love. In other words, our life-changing relationship with Jesus (faith) changes the way we live (love).

Therefore, we don't need rules and rituals.
We just need to LIVE (faith expressed in love) who we already ARE (new creation)

(More on this tomorrow...)

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EmmDev 2024-07-30 [The Discipleship Journey] The High Cost #5 - Plough

The High Cost #5 - Plough

Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke9:62)

Over the last couple of weeks I've been involved in the memorials for two folk who have served the Lord well into their 80s.

At some point, their faith meant that they made challenging choices. They chose family over workaholism, they chose doing the right thing and walking the long road rather than taking shortcuts. They often chose humble service in the background over grabbing the limelight and letting everyone know just how much they were doing. Instead of being shaped by public opinion and the social cues of society, they chose to be shaped by the holy habits of prayer, scripture reading, public worship, listening to the Spirit's promptings and winsomely sharing their faith.

These men and women put their hands to the plough. They didn't look back.
The amazing thing is that, even though they were in their late 80's, their memorial services were well attended and the tributes spoke of lives well-lived. Their faithful plowing had facilitated fields and fields of good crops and good fruit.

I pray we will do the same.

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EmmDev 2024-07-16 [The Discipleship Journey] The High Cost #4 - Seed

The High Cost #4 - Seed

We're looking something Jesus said in Holy Week, but it's important to recognise what happens BEFORE and AFTER He says these words.

BEFORE
- He'd been anointed by Mary with oil and perfume (Symbolic of burial preparation)
- The Triumphal Entry
- The arrival of the Gentile Believers seeking Jesus

AFTER
- He commits Himself to fulfilling the words He speaks by going to the cross
- He asks that God would be glorified (Through the Son's submission to the Father's will)
- God speaks for the third time from Heaven saying: "I have glorified it and I will glorify it."

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me. (John12:24-26)

And so the high call to discipleship continues.
A wheat kernel (a small tiny seed with a hard shell) goes into the ground and dies.
There in the ground the hard kernel cracks open and a full wheat plant (locked up in the dna of the seed) begins to grow and many seeds will be made by the one seed.

Then Jesus says it another way...
Anyone who loves their own life (too much) will lose it.
Anyone who hates their life will keep it...
The word for "hate" is "miseo" and is almost always used in the context of priorities.
When you chose option A as your priority, you are effectively "hating" (miseo-ing) option B.

Why does Jesus place such a high call before us?
Why such a high cost? Why is such a radical departure from an old life needed?

The clue lies in Jesus' analogy.
A wheat kernel is small, hard and insignificant. But it has the DNA of a full wheat plant in it.
In a broken sinful world, we are also small, hardened by sin and irrelevant because we follow our own agendas BUT we are created in the image of God. We are created for more.
Our old lives need to die.
Stone hearts need to become flesh.
The old clothes of worldly ways need to be taken off and a new self put on (See Col.3)
When the old dies, the new can come.

The context of these important words about discipleship is vital: Jesus uses this analogy in Holy week with Gentiles believers present, making the gospel universal and with the full delight and approval of God the Father. He's heading for the cross to die for the world.

By ourselves we can't die to old self and arise as a new self.
But Jesus' death and resurrection has made germination/regeneration/transformation possible, because the power of the Holy Spirit now works in you and me...

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EmmDev 2024-07-12 [The Discipleship Journey] The High Cost #3

The High Cost #3

"And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples." (Luke14:27-33)

Jesus once again picks up the theme of taking up the cross.
Let's keep in mind that someone who carried a cross was going to die.
The death we all must die is to ourselves, but some will lose their physical lives too.

But now Jesus takes it further.
We need to be serious about commencing the journey.
He uses two examples of people who did not plan adequately for their undertakings.

A disciple is someone who follows Jesus no matter the cost.
This is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

I remember as a teen, being at an event where a powerful gospel presentation was given. I was one of the team that counseled the teens when they came forward for prayer. I was partnered with a school teacher and when one of the rugby jocks came forward for prayer, accompanied by two of his buddies. I was thinking "Yes Lord! This is a high profile person who will make a big impression."
But the teacher was wiser than I was. She discerned that the guy had his eye on a girl and this decision was to impress her. So she said to him: "This is the most important decision of your life. It will impact how you play rugby, how you treat the people around you, how you handle your relationships with girls, how you approach your school work, how you speak and live. It is the best decision you could possibly make and your life will be richer and fuller but it won't be easier. Why don't you sleep on it and come back to my classroom at break time tomorrow."

I realised instantly that she'd called it right. The next day at break time we waited, the guy didn't pitch, but one of his friends did. He'd spent the night thinking about what Jesus had done for him and what he was willing to give up to follow Him for the rest of his life.
He was ready, he was sober-minded and he was serious.

There was no emotional music playing in the background. No pretty girls watching.
He made a serious decision.
And he is still following Christ today...

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EmmDev 2024-07-11 [The Discipleship Journey] The High Cost #2

The High Cost #2

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." (Matthew9:18-22)

As we read this passage we must remember that Jesus has just given orders to cross over the lake. So, if we imagine the scene, Jesus has been teaching and healing and He was starting to be mobbed. He's standing on the shores of Galilee about to climb into the boat while the crowd throngs around Him.

Bear in mind, His earthly mission is only three years. It is short, urgent and significant. There is little time to waste. On top of that, there are many gathered around Him. They've seen miracles and healing. People come to be with Him - to be associated with Him. Not all of them are sincere, not all of them have the tenacity for the long haul - they just want to bask in His spotlight

One man comes - he's a teacher of the law - He's interested in being associated with this new and influential Rabbi. With grandiose hyperbole he makes the declaration: "I will follow you wherever you go..." (Bear in mind that popular and influential teachers would be invited into the homes of the rich and famous.) Jesus deflates him quickly: There will not be a lot of glamour on this trip.

The other one has conditions: "Let me bury my father."
There are two options here:

1. The man's father has just died and arrangements must be made. In Jewish culture the burial happened as quickly as possible, even the same day. It could be that Jesus was saying: "I'm about to go to the other side (where a gentile demon-possessed man desperately needs to be set free) and you need to come right now. There is very little that can be done for your father so let the spiritually dead bury the dead."
2. The man's father was still alive, but frail, and the man is actually saying, "Let me get my family affairs sorted out and I'll join you in a month or two (or three or four or ....)" In this case, Jesus is really saying: "There will always be reasons to stay, and so at some point you are going to have to leave because staying will make you spiritually dead."

(Personally, I think the second scenario is the more likely one. It seems unlikely that a man who's father has just died would be standing on the shores of Galilee listening to Jesus' teaching...)

Again, these are strong statements about the urgency of the Kingdom of God.
God has to have priority in our lives.
Although Jesus' call may seem demanding, His call is actually urgent, these two men are caught in serious traps and it's going to take serious steps to escape them.

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EmmDev 2024-07-10 [The Discipleship Journey] The High Cost #1

The High Cost #1

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke14:26-27)

Today's passage contains what commentators call a "vivid hyperbole".
It is a dramatic image designed to grab our attention.

Obviously Jesus does not mean that we literally hate our fathers, mothers, spouse, children and siblings. He simply means that our love for Him should be absolute. We should love Him more than anything else. In fact, the gap between our love for Him and our love for others should be as dramatic as the gap between love and hate.

He follows this up with another vivid image.
In Graeco-Roman times carrying a cross meant you had been sentenced to death.
In the movies, they often depict a condemned man going to the execution chamber and the prisoners around them chant: "Dead man walking."
To pick up your cross is to become a dead person walking.

These dramatic images remind us that following Jesus isn't always easy.
Throughout the centuries followers of Jesus have been disowned by their families, abandoned by their spouses, condemned by their parents, mocked by their children, isolated in the business world and executed for their faith.

Not all of us will have to leave our families.
Not all of us will lose our lives.
But some will...

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