LIFE ON THE “D” LIST: DISCIPLESHIP

John 21: 1-14

In the card shops that you have visited, or the pharmacies, discount houses, or grocery stores, for whom are Mother’s Day cards created? A mother is often thought of as a person who gave birth to you. But when that person lets a child go, for whatever reason, and another woman opens her arms and says “You are my child now,” she becomes a mother. A woman who gives birth to a baby for someone else is called a “Surrogate mother,” with all of blessings and cautions of that relationship. Sometimes a mother becomes incapacitated and an aunt or other special person raises the child.  As Beatle Paul McCartney wrote, “When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: let it be,” he was not talking about Mary the mother of Jesus. He was honoring his own mother Mary, who through the years guided him with words that never left him. He even named his daughter “Mary” for his mother.  His best mate as a teenager was John Lennon, who acted like and loved his dysfunctional but artsy mother, Julia, but was raised by his “auntie” since his own mother could not effectively raise him. His aunt’s name, interestingly, was also Mary, but John called her Auntie Mimi. He talked about her with fondness and gratitude in interviews over the years, but he still found delight in his mother, whom he honored with his song “Julia.” That’s part of the softer side of the famous mop-tops from Liverpool.  So many people have been a mother and wonderful, while others have been a mother and dysfunctional or destructive. Our terms and descriptions can be hard to pin down.

Here’s another term: Christian. Is it just something you become because of a baptism and profession of faith? Once the momentous day is over, I wonder what God sees and what God thinks. Certainly God loves you and, as Max Lucado puts it, “if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it!” So love is never out of the question; but as God watches your life what emotions might go through the Holy Heart: encouragement, disappointment, cheering for you, or hoping you will listen to Heavenly guidance? And when God guides you, sometimes it is through the words of a caring parent, or grandparent, a caring teach or pastor or friend. But some treat a baptism or a confirmation like a commencement, something that gives them a piece of paper that confers a rite or privilege. It gets treated like a holy insurance policy! Is that all Christianity is; your sigh of relief that you are “saved?” There are others who see it as a life changing day: it becomes a time when, to quote a popular declaration of forgiveness:  “the past is finished and gone; everything becomes fresh and new!” Becoming a Christian for those people is leaving behind the old life, and starting a new one. It is a clean break. There are still others who believe that the name Christian carries with it both benefits and responsibilities. Saved? Saved for what: to do what Jesus would do: tell others about God, give to those who have less, break bread in holy fellowship, look for those who are lost. As much as being a Christian can bring joy, some people treat being a Christian like being a bystander, just a spectator near the Jesus Christ stage. It’s a rush; it’s like a Facebook connection. But to get a sense of belonging takes more; it takes study and service, in addition to sacrament. It is what being a disciple is all about. Disciple; discipleship is what churches are seeking to foster and support.  When Methodist Bishop Richard Wilke of Arkansas created his transformational Bible Study in the 1980s, he called it DISCIPLE. We believe in how “DISCIPLE” makes disciples. A disciple is a “learner or a pupil; one who accepts and follows a given doctrine or teacher.” Jesus made his followers—and not just the Twelve—into disciples. He molded them, as we—through preaching and Bible study—seek to still mold disciples. He started by “calling” disciples, and to this day we still “call” people to work and service. Jesus taught with words like this: “The disciple is not above the master,” then he girded himself with a towel and showed them. (Matt. 10:24). Jesus taught by pulling followers away from the world for training and then sending them back into the world for transformation. (Matt. 20: 17). He demonstrated how to pull away from the world with his 40 days in the desert and with his time away each morning, even away from his disciples. Jesus fed his disciples so they could feed others, and also so that he could be a part of them. (Matt 21)  Jesus taught them how to pray (Luke 11:1) and showed them that he prayed too; he taught them how to prioritize (Luke 14: 27) and showed them what he meant; and told he them they would need to sacrifice, then he sacrificed himself. (Mark 8: 34) He also showed them how to love their neighbor as their self (Luke 10: 30). Christian discipleship really is, then, a life of prayer, praise, service, and compassion that a Christian is supposed to take on when he or she says Jesus is their Savior. It’s not just about belonging, is it? It’s about changing. It’s not just about being, is it? It’s about doing. It’s not just about celebrating, is it? It’s about sacrificing. It’s not just about learning, it’s abouttransforming.

Bonita Joyner Shields tells this story: “Clarence first attended church on a dare. He promised his pastor friend he would give church a try if the pastor could beat him in two games of checkers. The pastor won, and Clarence found himself in church the next week.  He responded to God’s Word and the love of the congregation, and eventually was baptized, along with his wife and children A few weeks later, Clarence went to his pastor with a troubled heart. He did not know how to live the Christian life. “Before I was baptized,” he said, “If you came to me and told that you wanted to be a football player, I would not have just given you permission to do it, I would have shown you how to be one. I need someone to show me how to be a Christian.” Little eyes, teenage eyes, and grown up eyes are watching us. They are looking for a little fish on our bumper and seeing how we drive or gesture in traffic; they hear us say that reading the Bible is important, but do they see us do it? They hear that church is important, but do they see us prioritize to do other things on a Sunday? They hear news reports that fight for the visible presence of the Ten Commandments to be a visible presence in nation, and yet one commandment: “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy,” regularly gets trampled in the name of convenience and capitalism. How are we doing as disciples?

In John 21 today I was happy to see that there had been a learning curve with the disciples of Jesus’ day. At an earlier time Peter had questioned Jesus’ suggestion about where to fish; his pride got in his way. This time, he cast his net without even a question as John relayed with excitement that the instruction to do so came from Jesus himself!  Jesus spent three years giving them an example of how to hear, and care, and work for justice, and suffer consequences for speaking the truth in love. He then fed his disciples so that they, in turn, could feed others. Jesus had taught discipleship with his life, and with his lips. And that is the best way to do it. What do you say to the man who calls you, who loves you, and who saved you? Will you, his disciple be, this day, and forever?

Jeffrey A. Sumner                                                                    May 8, 2011