20210927 The Two Sides of Discipleship¶
Introduction¶
We are in ordinary time in our church lectionary calendar which is the time between the seasons of the church. In this time we look at the teachings of Jesus and follow the journey of his 2-3 years of ministry. What I have noticed over the past few weeks while reflecting on the messages and the readings is that my picture of the disciples has started to change since what I last remember it to be. I find this so interesting. That without our direct attention, ideas about faith and the world can change within us. I like to think that this is the silent work of God forming us from within.
Disciples aren’t as bad ass as I once thought¶
I used to think of the disciples as these ancient superheroes. Dedicated. Strong. Fearless. Kicking ass and taking names. Superhumans who dropped everything to follow Jesus and knew intimately Jesus’ message and mission. But the more I have heard about them in sermons and read about them, the more I have seen that they are like me and I am like them. Flawed, confused at times, brave at other times, trying their best, or fleeing, eager, wanting the best for their people, wanting status and wealth, wanting to stick to what they know and who they know. The disciples can be and were normal people, not superheroes. And oddly, this makes me trust this message MORE not less. It reveals the power of God in this whole movement, not the power of man. And gives me confidence in how we, as modern day disciples, are capable of continuing the work of Christ.
What does it mean to be a disciple?¶
So this morning I would like to revisit the question of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. How are we the same flavours of normal as the original disciples?? How are we getting it right? And how are we getting it wrong? What does it mean to YOU to be a disciple of Christ? What does it mean to YOU to pick up one’s cross? What does it mean to YOU to find life in being last and not first? And I hope that in this exploration we learn something new about ourselves as disciples and are encouraged by it. To attempt to answer these questions I want to break down the discussion of discipleship into three pertinent ideas about self and explore these individually: self-absorption; can we be disciples and be self-absorbed, always preoccupied with self? The second one is self-elevation; can we be disciples and have an inflated idea of ourselves having more value than others? And lastly self-denial; how are self-absorption and self-elevation contrasted with self-denial?
Self-Absorption¶
Hell joke:
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, “When I get to Heaven, I will ask Jonah.” The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to Hell?” The little girl replied, “Then you ask him.”
Heaven is now¶
This joke makes us giggle, but it holds a common belief that a lot of us have, that heaven and hell are destinations for the afterlife. “When I get to heaven”. While this may be true, when Jesus spoke of heaven and hell he spoke of them as if they were here and now. “The kingdom of heaven is near”. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed”. “The kingdom of heaven is like a pearl”. This speaks more of finding, of sharing, of growing the kingdom of heaven today and tomorrow and less about heaven as “have the right beliefs and one day you will have a gold house when you die”. We are immersed in the kingdom of heaven, we are partaking in it. And the same is true for the way that Christ spoke of hell. He was more concerned about the hell experienced today and tomorrow. How you look at other women, how you treat your brother, the state of your heart these are the things that lead to hell, Jesus says.
Well a definition of hell from C.S. Lewis might help. And a helpful insight to add here about what constitutes hell comes from an article taken from the writings of author C.S. Lewis. In this article, the essential idea of hell for Lewis is that of separation. Lewis believed that separation captures what is conveyed by the biblical imagery of torture, destruction, and privation. To be forever cut off from God’s presence, eternally unable to know God’s love and mercy, would be a torture best described by being burned ceaselessly by fire. Hell being a place where God is not.
Preoccupation with self is hell¶
How does this connect with being a disciple? Well, self-absorption causes separation, doesn't it. When we do not think about others, when we preoccupied with ourselves, our problems, our goals, me, me, me, when we think we can do life on our own without help from God or others, when we believe in our own strength more than the strength of God, this separates us from God and others. And this is the worst place to be. And in today's text, Jesus treats this with the severe imagery of rather cutting off limbs than being in that place.
Why cut off limbs?¶
Today’s text is one of the starkest verses in the New Testament about hell. All the commentaries on this verse agree that Jesus is not talking about literal body mutilation in these verses but that he uses this imagery to drive home an urgency about separation from God, not in the distant future, but NOW. That to be a disciple of Christ, closeness to God is THE priority. And when Jesus says: “if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off”; he is saying if your gaming addiction is causing you separation from God, sell your computer, if your visits to the pub are causing you to become abusive, give up the pub, if your facebook account is causing you to become judgemental, give up your account, if your resentment towards your sister is causing you separation from God, give it up. And to do so may feel like death, it may feel like it will cripple you, but it is where you will find life. So this is our first point, self-absorption is incongruent with being a disciple. How are we being self-absorbed in our lives?
Self-Importance.¶
Jesus preaches service and inclusivity¶
The second point is how similar unhealthy self-elevation can be. We are in chapter 9 of Mark, in chapters 8,9 and 10 the ones preceding this one and after this one, Jesus tells them THREE times of his necessary death, Jesus tells his disciples that whoever wants to live must first die to self, he says that the kingdom belongs to the children and the lowly and that the rich will struggle to enter the kingdom. He is asking beggars what he can do for them and later is washing people's feet. In today’s passage the disciples come to Jesus and say “we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group”. The disciples are drawing lines in the sand and saying these people are in our group and these people are not. That we are the ones who know how to do it and the others are doing it wrong. And Jesus says to this: Do not try to stop him, for whoever is not against us is for us”. Jesus is preaching service and inclusivity.
The disciples see status and exclusivity¶
Yet, in these same 3 chapters, what the disciples see is Christ miraculously healing 3 people from blindness and sickness. They see Jesus transfigured on the mountain top and revealed in his true glory. Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, the saviour king. And with this, the disciples are looking to their future and are seeing all this power and how close they will be to a king. They can see gold and status and are arguing about who is going to be the greatest in the new kingdom, who is going to be the right hand man to the new King. But Jesus knows that unhealthy desires of self-importance breeds separation and exclusivity and we end up in the same place as with self-absorption. Jesus seems to be telling his disciples this so many times over the 2-3 years of his preaching. This shows the complexity of this idea and I guess this is why we need the weekly reminders of church.
Self-Denial.¶
So what does it mean to be a disciple? Well, we have seen two concepts that show what a disciple is not. Unhealthy self-elevation and self-absorption both lead us to separation from God, and wanting exclusivity and status. Jesus’ whole ministry is preaching the gospel of love and purpose and value and inclusivity and service. And this is the reminder this morning. To think about how we are separating ourselves from God and from others. What in our lives is preventing us from living as God intended us to live? This is the path of self-denial.
What is self-denial?¶
Self-denial as a concept has always seemed to have these undertones of self-flagellation and considering yourself as having no value. But it is not that. It is seeing that not only do I have value, but you have equal value, no matter your position in society. That we are part of one family of God. All worthy of love. Self-denial is simply living a life of reflection. Always first attempt to take the log out of your own eye before you try and take the speck out of your friend's eye. Of putting others' value above your desire to be important. There is the quote by Author Rick Warren in his book, “A purpose driven life”, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. But this is a difficult ideal to internalise. The disciples, being with Jesus for over 2 years still don't fully comprehend the idea of self-denial. So today is simply a reminder in a lifetime of reminders.
Walking the narrow path¶
To be a disciple is walking the narrow path, the difficult path of self-denial. Doing the hard work of cutting off our limbs. Doing the hard work of including people who are different. Doing the hard work of building family, friendship and community. This is what it means to be last, losing your life. And at times it can be extremely painful to our ego’s. Dying to gaming addiction might mean selling your gaming pc. Dying to the feeling of superiority might mean serving those who you feel you are above. Dying to the idea of being right might mean saying sorry even when you don’t want to. Are you focusing on whether you will be at Jesus’ right hand in heaven? Or are you focussing on serving your neighbour? Are you willing to serve your family when they need it? Or ask or help when you need it? Or are you too proud? How are you isolating yourself? How are you unhealthily seeking status? How are you serving?
This is what it means to be a disciple.
I find it appropriate to end this sermon with the words Jesus ends this morning's reading with: “Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”
One Liner¶
Do the hard work of the cross