on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany...
Sunday, February 2, 2009
From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1: 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. From the Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 9: 24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. From the Book of 1 Timothy, Chapter 4: 6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, 8for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe. "Discipline and Discipleship" A
Communion Meditation Preached by at the First Congregational Church of Stoughton United Church of Christ
One New Year’s resolution that shows up on the Top Ten list every year is “exercise more,” and fitness gyms and exercise studios take full advantage of this marketing angle. As one personal trainer is advertising on the internet at the beginning of this 2009: “Turn Your New Year's Resolution into Reality! Lowest Prices Ever! Great Savings! Great Results! Start Sessions before February 28th to receive a 50% Discount!”1 But anyone who has ever tried to begin an exercise program finds out quickly that it’s hard! Most of us know that we won’t get on that treadmill and immediately be able to run five miles in 20 minutes. No matter how much we might want to run those five four-minute miles, sheer desire alone will not make it a reality. No matter how hard we try, trying hard can accomplish only so much. The only way we are going to attain that goal is by training. We must arrange our life around certain practices that will enable us to do what we cannot do now by willpower alone. When it comes to running a three-minute mile, or a marathon, we must not merely try. We must train. The need for training is not confined only to athletics. Training is required for people who want to play a musical instrument, or learn a new language, or run a business. Indeed, it is required for any significant challenge in life – including spiritual growth.2 In this morning’s gospel lesson from Mark, Jesus calls his first disciples, recruiting people to help him carry out the mission God has sent him to do. As he walks along the edge of the Sea of Galilee, he comes across two fishermen, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew as they are casting their nets into the water. Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And Peter and Andrew drop their nets “immediately” and follow him. Then Jesus continues his walk along the shore and sees two more brothers, James and John, who are in a boat with their father mending their nets. And Jesus says to them, “Follow me,” and they, too, drop their nets and follow. And for the next three years, these and the other disciples follow Jesus, learning from him – training – as he carries out his Galilean ministry. Have you ever thought about that word disciple? It comes from the Greek for “learner,” and shares the same root as the word discipline. We often think of discipline in terms of punishment. But the word discipline actually means training – an “activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill.”3 And a disciple is one who trains. In Jesus' time, rabbis were sought out by students, who would ask to become "disciples.” But Jesus' invitation to discipleship entails more than merely sitting at his feet and passively absorbing his wisdom. Jesus asks “will you join me?” -- offering his disciples a place not at his feet, but at his side, an invitation to join with him in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. And so, the disciples are with Jesus when he is preaching and teaching. They are with him when people with all kinds of needs and infirmities surround him seeking his healing touch. They are with him on the mountainside, when Jesus tells us to “love our enemy” and “to turn the other cheek.” In all this, the disciples are training. We know that, as the story unfolds, they will not always understand Jesus. Sometimes they will become afraid. Some of them will even deny and betray Jesus in the hours before his crucifixion. But at the end of Matthew’s gospel, the risen Jesus takes those disciples to the top of a mountain and delivers the great commission, to go out and make more disciples. He takes those disciples -- the very ones who abandon him, who follow him at a distance and then run away – and he sends them out to preach and to teach and to baptize the world over. By the end of Jesus’ earthly life, those disciples have been spiritually transformed, not because they have tried to be Jesus’ disciples, but because they have trained – at the rabbi’s side, by the Master himself -- to be his disciples. Spiritual transformation is not a matter of trying harder, but of training wisely. This is what the apostle Paul means in this morning’s two epistle lessons. In First Timothy, he encourages his young protégé to “train yourself in godliness.” This thought also lies behind Paul’s advice to the church at Corinth: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” The need to train applies just as much to having a healthy and vibrant spiritual life as it does to physical or intellectual activity. The traditional term for such activities is “spiritual disciplines,” which are those activities that can help us to live life as Jesus taught and modeled it. You have heard me speak of them before as “marks of discipleship,”4 and through them, we can find our way to God. They are weekly worship, daily prayer, reading the bible, generous giving, serving others, and nurturing spiritual relationships with other Christians. They are activities which point us toward God; they are ways of being Christian which enable us to live better and more faithfully in God. But for many, the term “spiritual disciplines” carries a lot of negative baggage – the term makes these activities sound like the things we must rigidly and mechanistically do to earn God’s favor, or our way into heaven, and when we fall short, we feel guilty and inadequate. But that’s not at all the purpose of spiritual disciplines; our faith is based on the undeserved and unearned love and forgiveness of God called grace. Nor are spiritual disciplines a barometer of spirituality; we don’t have to impress God or anyone else with our spiritual commitment. And I would add – we Protestants don’t do guilt! Instead, I would like you to think of spiritual disciplines this way: they are to life what calisthenics are to a game, what practicing an instrument is to a musical recital, what learning a language is to going to another country and being able to blend in and speak like a native. And finally, spiritual growth and transformation is not something that we alone can engineer. The Holy Spirit is always at work in the process. Let me close with another analogy – training to be a disciple is like sailing. We can hoist the sails, and steer the rudder, but ultimately, we are dependent on the wind; the wind does the work. Our task is to do whatever we can to catch the wind, to be ready -- through our spiritual training -- to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and become Christ’s disciples, by the grace of God. Amen.
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1http://newjersey.craigslist.org/lss/998536744.html |
The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.