Sermon: “Growing Disciples” Our theme for this Rally Day is “Growing Disciples.” In concert with our year-long Stewardship theme of Cultivating Heartfelt Generosity, we as a community of faith are very much in the business of “growing disciples” - which requires cultivation of our spiritual lives, the development of our faith and the inner workings of our heart. It also requires generosity of time and talent – the giving of time and talent of our teachers and helpers as they prepare and lead our various classes – and the giving of our time particularly on Sunday mornings - when sometimes we’d just as well like to sleep in until 10:00 or so and then come on to worship. But no, we rouse ourselves a little earlier on Sunday mornings, in order to get ourselves and our children here to Sunday School – on time (and that time is what – 9:30 right). We get here to Sunday School where the business of growing disciples is a primary goal. The word disciple appears in the NT a staggering 269 times– in the gospels, the letters of Paul and others – 269 times. The word Christian, on the other hand, shows up a scant three times. Which word do you think the New Testament prefers? In fact the word “Christian” was first used in a negative and pejorative manner – if you were called “a Christian” it was not taken as a compliment. It meant you belonged to that small, radical sect of Judaism which followed that Jesus character, the “Christ” – a Christian. Today for many the word Christian has a more positive connotation – so much so that for many it has the same meaning as “a good person.” You and I have heard that before. And even Christianity has been reduced to a vague, civic kind of faith, a religion of good works. Jesus may the prime teacher and example of what is it to be a good person, but many of his hard teachings are watered down, and his more gentle ones are made into universal sayings and religions unto themselves – like the person who says, “My religion is I follow the golden rule” – and that is the sum of it. Thankfully in many churches, including our own, the word “discipleship” is on the rise again. We are discovering again this old, biblical word – and we are focusing on the meaning and the practice of discipleship – on being and living as a student, a follower – an apprentice of Jesus Christ. For many years – perhaps too many - in our type of churches the focus has been less on being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and more on being a “member” of the church. “How long have you been a member here at Beulah” – the implication being that the longer the number of years the more the more influence and clout one has. This can lead to a “church as club” mentality, where one pays “dues” to keep one’s “membership” up to date – not unlike Wildwood or Woodhaven. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a member of a country club or most any kind of club – but the church really should be something much more if we are being faithful to God’s Word and Spirit. Remember, in the words of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus did not say to his disciples, “Go therefore, and make members” but “Go, and make disciples….” Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is more than membership – it is more than having your name on a roll book in the church office – it is even more than subscribing to a certain set of beliefs. Now we Presbyterians are very good at that. We tend to “think” the faith – reason the faith - it’s up here in the head, beliefs and doctrines and Bible interpretation and our theology on this and that. Now don’t get me wrong – this is all good stuff. In fact I love reading the Bible and our theology; I enjoy talking about faith and meaning and the traditions of our church. Discipleship though is more – even more than even holding to a certain set of beliefs. Discipleship involves a daily, regular, disciplined (notice the similarity in those words) a disciplined following of Jesus Christ. It is being and living as apprentice of Jesus – observing, through the scriptures, what Jesus did and taught – the practices which Jesus engaged in – and then living out those teachings and that set of practices. It involves doing - not only thinking about or believing certain things – but engaging in a set of behaviors that enhance and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. In living out these practices, we grow as disciples – we mature and develop into people, the disciples God would have us be. It is crucial to remember that we do not do grow as disciples all by ourselves, on our own, under our own steam. We have help – the best help possible. In today’s lesson from Jeremiah, he goes to the potter’s house, where the potter is “throwing pots.” When I first heard that phrase I didn’t get it – thought I thought it might be fun to go and throw pots around. In case you are interested in the real thing, Trinity Presbyterian Church has started a Faith and the Arts program. You can call and sign up to grow pots. When the clay vessel was spoiled in the potters hand – when our growth as disciples is stagnant and out of balance – the potter does not just throw the clay away but instead reworks it “as seemed good to him.” “Can I not to you, O house of Israel, like this potter? God – by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, helps reshape and refashion us. The Spirit helps us grow in our practices of discipleship. And what is that product which helps plants grow so well? Oh yes – “Miracle Grow.” How about that – the Spirit as Miracle Grow – to grow and produce fruit and flourish as we practice the faith. Growing in our discipleship by engaging in certain practices also means disengaging from certain other practices. As I told our Confirmation Class this morning, by saying “yes” to God we are also saying “no” to other things. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about one practice that he felt was not a practice of discipleship. Paul got a report from Chloe’s people about divisions in the church – groups breaking into factions, bickering with others about the substance and quality of their life together as a community of faith. “I like the way Pastor Paul did things.” “No, Pastor Apollos was a much better preacher.” What else is new. I remember visiting with one family shortly after Judy and I got here in 1994. I was visiting with some folks who had not been to worship for a while but who were still on the roll. I don’t even remember their names. “You know, Carl Mills – now there was a preacher. I sure miss Carl Mills.” Carl left service here at Beulah in the late 1970’s. I invited them back – they didn’t come – and we took them off the rolls. “Now Cliff Stewart – no – Judy Hockenberry - there was a pastor.” “And while we’re at it, I like singing the old hymns from the old hymnal – not these newer hymns the preacher and the music people pick.” “Well I wish we did things now the way we did them back in – (fill in the year) – 1990, 1950, 1868.” Paul responds: “Who is Paul, who is Apollos.” And for that matter who is Carl or Cliff or Judy or Ken? They are merely servants – “Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.” Just servants, who helped and hopefully still help us all in our practice of discipleship. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" God is still giving the growth – our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ. And as we engage in those practices – like regular participation in Sunday School and Worship, and prayer – “the chief exercise of faith” according to John Calvin – disciplined financial giving, reading and pondering God’s Word, doing good works of mission and ministry to others – these and other spiritual practices are the ways we become and continue to be growing disciples. It won’t work in the meter of our last hymn, but when you sing the word “saint” – think the word “disciple” – and let each of us “follow the right for Jesus’ sake the whole of our good lives long” – as we engage in the practice of discipleship. And all God’s people said. Amen. |