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Today is Confirmation Sunday. At each of the four worship services youth will be confirmed and received into membership. Fifteen in all. These youth have been learning what it means to be a Disciple for the past three months with the leadership of Randy McCurdy, our youth minister. They have also been guided by their parents and mentors. The curriculum resource from the denomination is called "Claim the Name." I asked Randy what the word "name" referred to: Disciple, Christian, United Methodist, or what? His answer was yes. All of those. What is your identity? Do you see yourself as basically a Christian, but not necessarily a United Methodist? Are you a seeker? Interested, but not quite ready to make a commitment? Do you see yourself as a United Methodist Christian? Do you see yourself as a Disciple? What name have you claimed? Our faith is a journey. Many of us begin on this journey basically appropriating the faith of our parents and going from there. Some of us continue in that same expression, but others venture out and explore different denominations or even faiths. As we grow and mature, our understanding of God, the Bible, and the church should also grow and mature. And along with that, our understanding of what it means to be a Christian Disciple. "The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ." So says the 2000 Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. The mission of St. John is to "be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God’s light." The first scripture the Confirmation class chose for the text for today’s worship service is Matthew 28:16-20, when Jesus commissioned the eleven disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus told them to teach people everything that he had taught them. And perhaps responding to the looks on their faces as they were given this awesome task, Jesus promised to be with them forever. As the KJV reads, "and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." The Old Testament scripture is from Isaiah chapter 6, verse 8, when the prophet hears God’s call and responds, "Here am I; send me!" I was thinking about the difference between the mission statement of St. John and the mission statement of the denomination. Our local statement is "to be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God’s light." It has such a happy sound. And it doesn’t seem difficult at all. Pretty much all we need to do is be friendly to all the people who come through our doors. And last week, there were nearly 1300 of them. Where are they today? and good for you for being here! But is it enough to be a welcoming family? And what does it mean to "share God’s light." And does that differ from "making disciples"? What does it mean to be a disciple? What does discipleship look like? Most of the time, I teach the 5/6 grade class at 9:30. A couple weeks ago, the lesson was about discipleship. The Bible story was the one where after the Last Supper with the disciples, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He needed to pray and he knew his arrest and crucifixion were imminent. He asked his disciples to stay awake and pray with him. But they couldn’t do it. They were simply worn out. They just didn’t have it in them to do what Jesus asked of them. The curriculum then made this statement: "We are all called to discipleship, even when we are young. Discipleship can mean having to struggle with difficult choices." Then there were three examples of realistic and difficult choices pre-teens may have to make. One was about problems that children in a divorce situation sometimes have to face. Another involved a difficult dilemma when friends aren’t honest with each other and you find yourself in the middle. Both of these dilemmas triggered good discussion about what a disciple would do in those situations. The third example was what to do when a coach calls the team to practice on a Sunday morning and unless you go to practice, you can’t play in the big game. The kids looked at me sort of blankly and said, "we don’t get it Rose, what’s the dilemma?" I realized they honestly didn’t see a conflict of priorities. So I explained that in some families attending church on Sunday morning was a priority. Then one girl said that once she had to choose between a Saturday birthday overnight party and coming to church the next day. When I asked what her family decided, she looked at me like I was kidding and said, "the birthday party!" Then the discussion got quite lively as several kids shared about how they once had to choose between soccer practice and a birthday party, or a Boy Scout Camp Out and a birthday party, and one girl even had to choose between two birthday parties. I surmised that birthday parties are THE social event for pre-teens. I tried to draw the group back to the original dilemma, but none seemed to have any memory of making a decision with their family where attending church won out over other considerations. So I said, "before I jump to conclusions," (which is about the only exercise I get on a regular basis) can any of you remember a time in your family where the discussion was that you would not be able to go to a party, or attend a sport event or anything else because, for your family, church was the Sunday morning priority." One boy raised his hand. I’m always glad when one of the pastor’s kids is in my class! Now, I imagine that if I talked with the parents of those 12 children who were in that class that day, they would have been able to give several examples of times when they have given church their first priority. But as far as most of those kids concerned, they couldn’t think of any time when church was prioritized higher than sports, birthday parties, etc. The parents may have that value, but it doesn’t seem to be making an impression on the kids. I thought it was an interesting vignette. And not all that encouraging. But later that month, I was at Ministry Team Night when the Confirmands were attending a variety of committee meetings. Besides learning what the committees do, they were supposed to interview the chairperson, asking for the definition of a disciple and how the church has helped him or her be a faithful disciple. I observed that the leaders that were interviewed had a clear understanding that a Disciple is someone who follows the teachings of Christ. Bob Smay’s answer was "one who believes in Christ and tries to live life accordingly." What is your definition of a disciple? Several years ago, we had a children’s bell choir and I recall that one of the moms told me that her son came home and reported, "Mom, Sandy Langland is a true disciple." When you define disciple do you use words or names? Does anyone use your name when they define disciple?
The next question the kids asked the leaders was, "How has the church helped you to be a faithful disciple?" Some of the answers were that the church provides opportunities for spiritual growth and to explore our beliefs, and it makes them more aware of needs within the congregation and the world and provides opportunities to meet those needs. Does St. John help you become a faithful disciple? Our welcoming mission statement is a good one. I believe we should and for the most part do welcome everyone who comes to St. John. But being friendly and welcoming is only the beginning of becoming a Disciple. Sometimes there are difficult struggles like the Sunday School lesson for my 5/6 graders pointed out. Does St. John equip us for those struggles? There are needs to be met within and beyond the congregation. Does St. John equip us to meet those needs? Our denomination has just launched a nation wide campaign called Igniting Ministries. Currently we are in the training stage. Yesterday, Randy led over 30 persons, both clergy and laity, representing about 10 churches from our conference, in an all-day session to prepare to respond to this four year program which will feature TV and radio ads plus a variety of other ways to invite unchurched people to the United Methodist Church. The ads will run this September, and then during Advent and Lent. The ads represents United Methodists as people who care about those in need, who accepts a wide diversity of people, who value family, and who support each other. We will have an opportunity to welcome even more persons to St. John through this Igniting Ministry program. But welcoming is not enough. We are also called to make Disciples for Jesus Christ.
We do this as a faith community. Later in the service, we will receive persons as full members of the church. I invite you to consider your role in this important step when these persons or anyone joins the church. The congregational response is #48 in the hymnal. David will commend to your love and care these persons who will join and then will charge us to "Do all in our power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love." In other words, we are all in this together. We take responsibility to grow in discipleship together. Look now at the congregational response printed in the bold: after the welcome, we renew our vows to uphold the church with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and service. And look at the last sentence: "With God’s help" (we couldn’t possibly do it alone) "we will so order our lives" (that is, set our priorities), "after the example of Christ that, surrounded by steadfast love, you may be established in the faith, and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal." The call to Discipleship comes from Jesus Christ to go to all the world and make disciples—perhaps starting with ourselves. The response to that call for disciples is the same response that Isaiah gave long ago, "here am I, send me." And the good news is the promise that Jesus makes when we respond to that call that we will not be alone. "And remember, I am with you always." Claim the name, the name of a disciple of Jesus Christ. AMEN
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04/22/01 - What does it mean to be a disciple?
