Don't Be Afraid, Disciple!
As God shows us in Matthew 10:24-33, instead of minimizing his expectations for discipleship, he maximizes his promises and assures us, Don't Be Afraid, Disciple! June 15, 2008.
Remember the first time you jumped off the diving board into what looked like a monster of water waiting to swallow you? Or getting beat up by the bully on the bus? Or on your wedding day facing an uncertain future? Or maxing out your credit cards and not knowing how you’d pay the rent? Scary. That’s how the twelve disciples felt as they listened to Jesus rattle off his expectations for their mission trip. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons I am sending you out like sheep among wolves Be on your guard against people; they will flog you in their synagogues. When they arrest you do not worry When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another” (Matthew 10:8, 16, 17, 19, 23). Yikes, that sounds like the good news of a promotion from your supervisor followed by the, “Oh yeah,” clauses like, “Oh yeah, you’ll also need to be on call every weekend and manage the new branches and Seattle, St. Louis, and Cincinnati and we’ve decided you could work the account for the mob.” More than deflating to the disciples, following Jesus sounded downright dangerous. They probably wondered why they had signed up in the first place.
You’ve probably wondered the same thing when you told the class what you believe and your professor mocked you and your classmates dismissed you. Or when you do did what you believed wasn’t easy but was right and it cost you more than you could afford in terms of money and time. Living as a disciple of Jesus isn’t easy! Jesus himself tells us, “In this world you will have troubles” (John 16:33). Jeremiah was tossed in prison. Paul was persecuted. Christian disciples today pay a price for squeezing into our busy schedules regular worship and personal Bible reading, connecting with Christian friends, and contributing to the needs of our community. Scary. And Jesus knows it. Instead of minimizing his expectations for discipleship, however, he maximizes his promises and assures us, Don’t Be Afraid, Disciple!
You are like the Son
The title, “disciple,” literally means a learner who follows. Like an apprentice. If you’re a lifeguard apprentice you shouldn’t be surprised when you get sunburned like your lifeguard trainer. If you’re an over the road trucker apprentice you shouldn’t be surprised when you’re gone from your family for a week like your truck driving supervisor. So why are we disciples so shocked when we face difficulties like Jesus did? “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master,” Jesus reminds us. Have we so outperformed Jesus – who was ridiculed, dismissed, persecuted, and gave up earthly pleasures – that we can claim we’re exempt from such difficulties? Do we really think we’re better than Jesus? If Jesus was called “Beelzebub,” a word implying that he was a demon, why are we apprentices of Jesus so shocked when our Christian beliefs are countered with criticism and misunderstanding?
We’ve blinded ourselves to the obvious, to the clear teaching of Jesus: “being a disciple is tough business!” Oh, I bristle at those words. It’s just not fair. What kind of reward is that? With everything I’ve done for Jesus – the efforts to praise and honor and serve and obey him and dress up every Sunday and drop a good chunk of change in the offering plate and pay big bucks for my children to go to a Lutheran school – and Jesus is going to shrug his shoulders and tell me that life isn’t pretty? “Then why follow him at all,” I have asked myself. And that really means, “What’s in it for me?”
This week the Southeastern Wisconsin District of the WELS met in convention, bringing together pastors and teachers for synod updates, fellowship, and encouragement. As I sat wallowing in pity for myself, whining that I’d be out of the office for two days and not stay on top of e-mails or do my desk work or prepare my sermon God decided he’d work on me. One of the blessings for me was the keynote address, given by Seminary president, Prof. Paul Wendland, who defined our neglected discipleship. “Remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? What was [the rich man’s] basic failure with respect to his neighbor? It wasn’t that he was rich. It wasn’t that he wore fine clothes. It wasn’t that he ate fancy food. He just didn’t see. Every day this beggar was laid at his gate. A few scraps from his table would have sustained him. But the rich man was oblivious. Dogs [licking the beggar’s open sores] showed more perception and compassion than he.” We think we’re better than Jesus, but we’re no better than dogs.
Jesus knew the good life of heaven when his Father assigned him to a tough life on earth – a mission not just with the possibility of but whose fate demanded pain and sacrifice. Jesus knew ahead of time that a life on earth for him would bring difficulties. But he didn’t – he wouldn’t – ask, “What’s in it for me?” He “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8)! He said, “What’s in it for them?” For you. Nothing could stop him, not even the cross. His devotion to you is stronger than death.
According to the Bible Jesus had brothers. If these were biological brothers, sons of Joseph and Mary, than they had to be born after Jesus since he was born when Mary was a virgin. Okay, so how would you like to have Jesus as an older brother, setting the standard for the family, living in his shadow? How would you like to try to bring a report card home that would rival that of the all knowing Son of God? Impossibly frustrating. Except for this: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me,” and this: “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 2:20, 3:27). You are closer to Jesus than a brother. Your faith in Jesus is stronger than blood! You are like Jesus. Your sins have been crucified and now he lives in you and you in him, and you are one. Listen again to the words of Jesus himself in today’s gospel, “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher.” You are like the Son. Our convention keynote speaker put it this way, “The moon shines with borrowed light, too. When does it best reflect the brilliance of its light source to us here on earth? When the surface that we see is fully turned to the sun! In a similar way, God does not want our lives to be dominated by accusing thoughts, by guilty fears, or by a sense of regret, failure, and despair. He wants us continually to turn away from ourselves to Christ.”
You, Christian disciple, are no better than Jesus, but neither are you any worse than Jesus. One powerful reminder of the keynote speaker says it best, “If we allow self-centered ways and selfish thoughts to dominate us, we can only quench the Spirit’s fire and stifle the light of Christ within us. For these things Christ died. To these things we count ourselves dead. And turn again to Christ to find power in his pardon. We find in him a heart that’s broad enough to embrace a whole world of sinners. Yet deep enough to have room for each one of us in our need.” Don’t Be Afraid, Disciple! You are like the Son. Who says
You are loved by the Father
“So do not be afraid What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the roofs.” What Jesus tells you privately, what is true of you and Jesus personally he wants to be true for all people. Many just don’t know it. So Jesus asks you, “Can you please tell as many as possible?” That can be intimidating, so Jesus continues, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” A little puzzling that in one breath our Savior Jesus says both “Don’t be afraid” and “Do be afraid.” That’s because there are two of me listening: my sinful old self and my spiritual new self. My sinful self, tyrannizing me with temptation and lying to me about God hears, “Be afraid of God!” And he cowers into a corner scared, thanks to this threat from Jesus. My spiritual, Christ like self eager to be a witness but hesitant when the situation isn’t just right hears, “Don’t be afraid!” He steps forward with courage and confidence to act and speak like a disciple.
Sometimes in our witnessing disciples of Jesus need courage and confidence to face others, because of what they might think of us or do to us or ask us or expect from us. Sometimes we need courage and confidence to face ourselves and the fears and insecurities inside. We know we’re not supposed to be afraid but we are, and we know that God knows. Which may put us down a few notches on his priority list. Jesus understands that, and he wants you to know that a sparrow worth less than a half of a cent is in God’s thoughts and a single hair on your head is part of God’s plan with its own number! Here’s the good news: “You are worth more than many sparrows,” because you are God’s own dear child. You are loved by the Father. Remember the first time you jumped off the diving board into what looked like a monster of water waiting to swallow you? You jumped because dad was treading water below. Or getting beat up by the bully on the bus? You stepped back on the bus Monday morning because dad took care of business and made it safe. Or on your wedding day facing an uncertain future? You just knew everything would be okay because your arm wrapped tightly around your dad’s as he walked you securely up the aisle and into the future. Or maxing out your credit cards and not knowing how you’d pay the rent? Dad bailed you out again. Fathers take care of their children. Your heavenly Father takes care of you perfectly. Now there’s something to tell your friends about.
“Whoever acknowledges me before people, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven,” Jesus promises. There’s something otherworldly about sharing Christ with others, more than their faith created or strengthened by the Spirit. When you tell others about Jesus he tells the Father about you. “Father, look at Laura, see her being a blessing to her roommate? Take care of her, okay?” “Father, you have to see this, Eric is sitting in the doctor’s office telling a total stranger that you can help. Give power to his words.” Better than that, disciples of Jesus have his promise that on Judgment Day we will meet our God and he won’t say, “Who are you?” because Jesus will have already introduced us.
You are so like Jesus. Introduce someone to him this week by what you say. You are so loved by the Father. Bring your him into someone’s life this week by what you do. On this Fathers’ Day an appropriate axiom for the day is worth repeating, and it applies to fathers and also to all of us in our lives as Christian disciples: Children are not likely to find a Father in God if they don’t find God in their own father. People are watching you and listening to you, just like children watch and listen to their dad more than he ever knows. So do not be afraid to spend your economic stimulus check in a way that tells others, “I love Jesus.” Do not be afraid to arrange your weekend plans in a way that tells others, “God is number one in my life.” If your father is still on this earth, do not be afraid to put his desires ahead of your own (not just today, but every day). And, fathers, do not be afraid to put the needs of your children ahead of your own. After all, God has made you a father not to raise a house, not to raise a job, not to raise a yard, not to raise financial security, but to raise your children as disciples of Jesus and children of God.
It’s important for us to understand that today Jesus isn’t asking us to question whether or not he is part of our lives. He is. He promises so. He has died for you and now lives in you and with you; you are his disciple. No, the question isn’t whether Jesus is in your life. The question is: will others see him there? Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on June 15, 2008
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