Are We Disciples

08.31.03 - Are We Disciples?

Are We Disciples?
August 31, 2003
Rose McLean, Diaconal Minister

Jesus said "Go make disciples…." The mission statement of the United Methodist Church is to "make disciples for Jesus Christ". Today I want us to explore just what being a disciple of Jesus Christ means and to ask ourselves the question, "am I a disciple of Jesus Christ?"

When I think of the teachings of Jesus, I prefer to focus on ways to reach out to others in need as described in Matthew 25 or the parable of the Good Samaritan, or the Great Commandments to love God and love our neighbor and I would rather not think of the lectionary reading today found in the seventh chapter of Mark. It just seems so negative and judgmental and harsh.

One of the commentaries I read, refers to this list as Jesus’ Big Twelve. I prefer to think of it as Jesus’ Dirty Dozen. Listen to this list again: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and folly. These are bad things. Things Jesus spoke against. When I first started thinking about this sermon, I was thinking we could spend quite a bit of time sharing with one another. We could all take notes and finish the sentences: "A time I was deceitful, or envious"—and then share with one another. My, wouldn’t that be interesting? Or maybe we could spend some time trying to come up with a working definition of licentiousness.

And then, as luck would have it—Kevin and Carol Seckel happened to be in town and Kevin was available to share with us about their mission work in Latvia. So I decided to shift the emphasis of the sermon to what it means to be a disciple. But I don’t want to completely exclude this reading from Mark, because I believe it speaks to what it means to be a disciple. Certainly, this list of behaviors and attitudes are not those of a disciple of Christ. Maybe we should call it "Jesus’ Dirty Doesn’t"—things a disciple doesn’t do.

That is not to say, that all of us who identify ourselves as disciples have not at some time or another in our lives been guilty of some of these behaviors and attitudes.

It does mean that we strive against them and when we fall prey to temptation we repent and ask for forgiveness. Jesus didn’t speak about these things simply because they are evil. They are evil because they are self-destructive. When we are involved with those things we are not the person God created us to be. That’s what makes them evil. They separate us from God. And even though we can be forgiven my experience is that God is more forgiving than God’s universe. That is to say, there are some natural consequences to our sin. We can be forgiven and move on, but there may be irreparable damage done by our sinful actions.

I’m wondering if you believe that being a disciple means holding one another accountable for our behaviors and attitudes. We sort of have a "live and let live" philosophy and try not to be judgmental of one another. I wonder how helpful that is. I think there is a fine line between minding each other’s business and holding one another accountable. In the early days of our denomination’s history, John Wesley’s class meetings began with asking one another "How is it with your soul." Well, I ask you—how is it with your soul?

When we baptize an infant or receive new members, we renew our vows to "order our lives after the example of Christ" and to support one another in our faith journey. But do we hold one another accountable? When I see someone out and about who hasn’t been to church in awhile, they nearly always apologize and explain why they have been remiss in their attendance. The message I hope to communicate is—hey, you are part of our family and when you aren’t here, we miss you, not you are a bad person because you haven’t been in church. But at the same time, if they aren’t here, I doubt they are growing in their faith the way they could.

Now I’m going to quit preaching and start meddling. When I was in Ann Arbor in the 80’s, the schools planned no activities on Wednesday nights. No drama, music, sports, nothing. Wednesday evenings were set aside for church activities. Now, I notice that the Anchorage community schedules activities on Sunday mornings without a thought to the Christian communities.

The first time a parent complained to me about this—and that was at least ten years ago, I asked if she had complained to the coach or at least explained that her child had a prior commitment on Sunday morning. (We made that commitment at the child’s baptism). She said, "no, we didn’t want to cause trouble." Well, if I were a coach and knowing that ice time and gym time are at a premium and no one spoke up against Sunday morning, I’d go for it too. It isn’t the responsibility of the general community to witness for Christ—it is the responsibility of the disciples to witness for Christ.

And so I wonder if we may be teaching children that hockey, soccer, skiing, football, cheerleading, music and drama practice, volleyball, even birthday parties--almost any activity they are involved with is more important than our Christian Education—that is learning what it means to be a disciple of Christ. When I was doing youth ministry parents would often say that the reason their child didn’t come to youth group was because they didn’t know any of the kids there. Well, if they had been regular in attendance in Sunday School as children, they would have had some church friends. There, now I’ve said that and I’m glad.

Being a disciple means taking our membership vows seriously and one of those vows is to be present.

Another aspect of discipleship is service. I hope someone knows how many people have been helping with this building project. I’m sure there have been hundreds including the VIMs as well as you folks who continue to help with hospitality, landscaping, and the building. Also this is the time of year when I spend lots of time on the phone inviting people to teach Sunday School—the response has been very good although I still have some needs for the 11:00 hour.

Your response to the blood drive and Back to School project this summer was inspiring. Serving the church and serving through the church are part of being a disciple.

And of course, there is the financial aspect of being a disciple. Your offering supports not only the ministry of St. John, but the ministry of the United Methodist Church around the world. And now I want to invite Kevin Seckel to share with us the ministry that he and his wife, Carol have on our behalf, as United Methodist missionaries in Latvia.

So being a disciple means more than NOT doing Jesus’ Dirty Dozen. It is being serious about our own faith journey. And since that faith journey includes being part of the community of faith, it means holding one another accountable for our discipleship. It means giving our relationship with God and the church priority over other commitments in our life. It means serving others within and beyond the church. It means living out the vow to be loyal to the church of Jesus Christ with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.

Let us pray: Gracious God, as we give our offerings this morning, may they be a symbol of ourselves and our renewed vow to discipleship. Amen

The St. John Web Site needs your input! Click here to leave feedback

Site statistics.