The Silver Bullet of discipleship

How have you been discipled? What was good, bad, and ugly about it?  It's not a rhetorical question, actually stop reading right now and answer the question.  Maybe even get a pen or pencil out and write it down.

You still haven't done it have you?  You're just skipping that question, don't, do it now.

Are you ready for the silver bullet of discipling others? Get your pens out… There... isn’t one. Discipling others is a life long joy-filled, heart breaking, encouraging, discouraging journey. It’s messy and complex. It’s often circular rather than linear. But it is ultimately worth it. Paul writes to the Thessalonians “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (2v19)

The joy of discipling others is seeing them turn from idols to Christ, go on and grow and persevere until they reach the finish. Paul looks forward to, and longs for, the day when he stands before his Saviour and is filled with joy at seeing those he’s preached the gospel to and discipled there with him.  Knowing, seeing that they completed the race. Discipling others is long term. It’s a life long investment. It’s not like teaching a class for a year, or 5 years and seeing them graduate. Some discipling will be for a season, but in our communication era most will continue even then at a distance and in a less intense way. But most discipling is life-long and involves ups and downs, highs and lows, laughs and losses.

I had the privilege of discipling a young guy in our church from the age of about 15. When he chose as his email address ‘nofearindeath’ I was a bit surprised. But I remember not 10 years later doing the marriage prep for him and his fiancé when they discovered he had cancer. I then spoke of his faith at his funeral not many years after preaching at his wedding. Heart breaking? Yes. But he ran the race. He finished the race and there was joy with the grief.

The real heart-break of discipling comes when someone turns their back on their faith. Paul writes of Demas “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”(2 Tim 4v9-10) Sometimes those we disciple drift or are lured away; growing cold, attending irregularly, and then falling in love with something or someone else. This shouldn’t surprise us in some ways, just think about the parable of the sower, but it should hurt us, just as it did Paul.

Discipleship isn’t about programmes it’s about people, it’s about faith lived out in real relationships. And that means progress isn’t linear, it’s messy and complex, it’s stop start, it’s progress and regress. It’s hard and yet it’s what Jesus calls us to.

Francis Chan writes“Why is it we see so little disciple making taking place in the church today? Do we really believe that Jesus told His early followers to make disciples but wants the 21st century church to do something different? None of us would claim to believe this, but somehow we have created a culture where the paid ministers do the ministry and the rest of us show up, put some money in the plate and leave feeling inspired or “fed”. We have moved so far away from Jesus’s command that many Christians don’t have a frame of reference for what making disciples looks like.”

So how do we disciple one another?  That's what I want to think briefly about in the next couple of posts.  But if you didn't answer that question at the start, can I encourage you to do it now: How have you been discipled? What was good, bad, and ugly about it?

God, is there life after death and if so what's it like?

In the New York Times Magazine during the beltway sniper attacks Ann Patchett wrote:  “The fact is, staving off death is one of our favourite national pastimes. Whether it’s exercise, checking our cholesterol or having a mammogram, we are always hedging against mortality. Find out what the profile is, and identify the ways in which you do not fit it. But a sniper taking a single clean shot, not into a crowd but through the sight, reminds us horribly of death itself. Despite our best intentions, it is still for the most part, random. And it is absolutely coming.”

We have a fascinating relationship with death don’t we? We know it’s coming, we know 1:1 die, yet we live as if it’ll never happen to us. We don’t talk about it, or if we do are never sure we’re saying the right thing. But it’s still there. A friend’s church did a survey and asked ‘What hurts the most?’ The number 1 answer was death. J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books wrote this: “My books are largely about death… we are all frightened of it.”

Part of our fear about death is; not knowing. Is there life after death and if so what does it look like, or is there nothingness?

When the early explorers set out to discover the world, to see what was beyond the horizon, they had all sorts of ideas; the world was flat, there were no other people like them, there were lands totally different from any yet discovered and so on. They only had speculation and guesswork. But as explorers came back from their voyages further and further afield a clear idea of what was out there took shape, because someone had been there and come back people could know what the world was like.

In order to know that there is life after death and what it’s like we need to hear from someone who has been there and come back. Not in a vague I saw a light, near death experience, but from someone who actually died and came back to tell us what it’s like. The bible uniquely claims it gives us that. That Jesus lived, died and rose again and therefore can help us as we confront our fear of death.

Jesus proves there is life after death
Some words matter because they change everything. When you ask the question ‘will you marry me?’ the question and the answer changes your world. Whether the answer is ‘get lost’ or ‘yes’ matters, it changes your reality. Or the words “I’m pregnant” and then “It’s a boy”. Other words change life detrimentally, but they still change life.

We had read to us Luke’s account of Jesus’ resurrection, and it contains in it three words that you might have missed but which change everything forever, not just for one couple, not just for an extended family, community or nation but for the whole of the universe for the whole of time. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say these are the most important three words ever uttered in the whole of human history. (6)“he has risen”. Don’t rush past those words, let’s just think for a minute about what they’re saying. Life has always ended in death. Even those people that Jesus miraculously raised to life, were only temporarily raised, they each died again. But the words “he has risen” change everything because Jesus was really dead, rose again and didn’t die again. Jesus ascended into heaven, there’s no tomb Christians visit because he never died again.

And those three words change more than that. Death is the result of man’s rebellion against God. It’s described elsewhere as the wages of sin. But not for Jesus. Something amazing has happened which means death can’t hold him. And in those three words is the promise that everything is now different. The rule of sin and death is finished, Jesus has won. Because Jesus is risen there is hope for us, death is not the end.

But, let’s be honest it is an impossible claim isn’t it? That Jesus died and rose again. Resurrection just doesn’t happen does it? I’ve spoken at a few funerals and been to even more and no-one has risen again, in fact no-one there has even expected that to happen a few days later. So how can we believe this?

Luke the writer of this gospel was a doctor. He knows that dead people don’t come to life again. He writes a carefully studied and pieced together account because he is convinced having looked at the evidence that Jesus rose again. That, amazing as it is, it is the most likely explanation of the facts.

Just look at the details he includes. Jesus is definitely dead the Romans were expert torturers, Pilate is asked for the body, it is buried in a tomb. The soldier a the cross, Joseph, Pilate, those who handled the body all witnesses to Jesus death. The women go to the tomb expecting a dead body not a resurrection, they go with spices to anoint a dead body, not streamers and balloons to celebrate life. And the first witnesses are women, in the 1st century a woman’s evidence wasn’t admissible, so if this was all planned or even fabricated you wouldn’t have women as the first witnesses. And notice too the reactions of the women and the disciples, they are filled with wonder and (11)the disciples don’t believe them. They’re as incredulous about this as we are. But after they see Jesus they too testify that he has risen, in fact even people who didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah before he died testify that he is after they see him resurrected.

Luke writes for someone struggling with faith and includes facts, details, evidence that means he reaches the conclusion Jesus rose from the dead. But that’s just impossible to believe you might think. Ok, if we don’t believe Jesus came back to life again what are the alternatives?

a. He didn’t die, just swooned, then walked out of the tomb and fooled the disciples. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a major operation, but afterwards even getting out of bed and walking is an effort, let alone appearing well enough to convince everyone you’re back from the dead. We tend to look more like death warmed up than risen to new life. Jesus is flogged to within an inch of his life, he’s so drained physically he can’t carry his cross up the hill where he’s to be crucified. Then he’s crucified – John tells us they check he’s dead by shoving a spear in his side and out flows blood and serum because his heart has stopped. Then he’s taken down, wrapped in burial clothes and put in a tomb, behind a sealed stone which the ladies know they have no hope of moving.

Is it possible that Roman expert executioners mistake serious illness for death? No. Is it possible that despite the blood loss, broken bones from flogging, excruciating agony on the cross, asphyxiation, the spear thrust, that he then revives without any medical treatment, takes off the clothes, rolls back the heavy stone, eludes the guards, and is then well enough to convince his disciples he isn’t just recovering, but resurrected having conquered death? No.

b. The disciples went to the wrong tomb. Luke tells us the ladies saw where they laid him, it wasn’t any old grave it was Joseph of Arimathea’s grave, they knew where it was. I don’t know about you but I remember where the graves are of those I’ve buried, I don’t forget. And if they had gone to the wrong tomb the Roman and Jewish authorities would just produce the body proving the lie of resurrection. But that never happens because they didn’t go to the wrong tomb.

c. The disciples stole the body. Do con men die for the lies they pedal? No. The disciples all fled when Jesus was arrested. So it would take something miraculous to make them stand before the same accusers and testify to Jesus not just as Messiah, but as risen Messiah. Paul tells us Jesus appears to over 500 people, some who hadn’t believed before but do after the resurrection. Those disciples die for their belief in Jesus’ resurrection because it’s true, you don’t die for a lie you know is a lie.

What best fits the evidence? That Jesus died and rose again. Sir Edward Clarke was a great barrister, here’s what he wrote having looked at Jesus resurrection:  "As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling...The Gospel evidence for the resurrection...I accept unreservedly as the testimony of truthful people to facts they were able to substantiate."

Who do you say Jesus is? Jesus rose again therefore we can know that there is life after death.

What will it be like?
I wonder how you think of life after death? It’s often portrayed as ghostly, a bit dull, all harps, clouds and choirs. But not in the Bible, in the Bible the stress is on the joy and relationships that mark life after death.

Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection. It’s spring, soon the first fruit will appear on the trees. What does the first apple promise? That there’ll be more apples just like it. It shows what the rest will be like. You don’t see the first apple, then expect an orange, a kiwi and a mango to follow. The first fruit shows what’s following.

Jesus is the first fruit, a prototype of life after death. Firstly he tells us there’s definitely life after death. Secondly that it is physical. The promise Jesus makes is that he will raise the dead to new life and when he comes again give us physical bodied just like his. Here’s how one early Christian described it:

“The body that is sown [buried] is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

When Jesus returns those who trust him will be given a real, physical body, life will be physical. There will be a new heaven and earth that is physical, like this but where there’s no death, insecurity, illness, poverty, crying or pain.

And the greatest thing about life after death is that we’ll be with God, that’s the biggest promise Jesus makes. In the new creation Father, Son and Spirit will be there with us. And God’s presence guarantees its goodness, and its permanence. In the new creation we’ll be what we were made to be, what we long to be, with no discontent or searching. But enjoying the relationship with God we were made to know.

That’s the promise Jesus resurrection gives us.

What does that mean for now?
Have you ever looked at a holiday brochure and seen a sky so blue, a beach so perfect and a sea so inviting that you have to get there? I’ll save and save until I can go.

That’s the big question we’re left with as we think about life after death. A world with God, perfect relationship is the world we long for, how can I get there?

Jesus once visits the grieving sister of a dear, dear friend and promises: “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

Jesus proves it by raising Lazarus from the dead, then some weeks later rising himself from the dead. If we want eternal life we have to trust in Jesus. That he dies for us in our place paying a price we never could, and wins for us eternal life with God and he gives it to us when we put our faith in him. Have you? Will you trust in him?

It also transforms life for us when we’ve trusted him. It means what I do now matters. It affects the way we view the physical. If eternity is physical then life now matters. It isn’t that the spiritual is good and the physical is bad, but God is concerned with the physical. It transforms us so that we live now in light of eternity.

It also means that we can be content in our circumstances now. Just think about it for a minute; if this life is all there is then I’d better spend it collecting as much as possible – as many tastes and smells as possible, seeing as many of the worlds wonders as possible, learning as much as I can about everything, because the clock is ticking. If I’ve only got this lifetime I better make it count.

But do you see how faith in Jesus brings rest and contentment. I don’t need to see everything now because one day I’ll enjoy an even better version. I don’t need to cram as many tastes, textures, experiences and so on in now because in eternity we’ll enjoy all the best God can give us without end.

Think of it like this. When you go on holiday and stay in a hotel you don’t redecorate the hotel room do you? You don’t go buy new curtains, strip the wallpaper, redecorate and buy new furniture for your week do you? But you do do that for your home. The hotel is a temporary dwelling, home is permanent. Knowing that through Jesus we have eternal life makes this life the hotel room and eternity with God our home, it changes what we are living for and therefore how we live.

Is there life after death? Yes. What’s it like? Physical, relational, joyful and secure, because we will be what we were made to be and be in the relationship with God we were made to live in. It’s ours for trusting in Jesus who can give us eternal life, and it transforms life now.

The reason for living

This term one of the books I'm looking at in a 1-2-1 is 'The Gospel centred life' by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. Having ready through the first chapter it was a great reminder that we live for the glory of God and how liberating that is.

"...the person I am, the life that I live, the things I do, all commend God to others - both God and angels."

It is certainly a promising start to the studies, especially thinking through how that applies and works out in different situations.

Being called

Having begun thinking about Acts 13 yesterday its hard to just turn off from it as it is such an important passage in the book and the history of the church. It is the point at which the mission to be Jesus' witnesses to the ends of the earth really takes off. In Chapter 10 and 11 we see the beginnings of the Gentile mission as Peter goes to Cornelius and a church is started in Antioch, but it is really as Barnabas and Saul are set apart that the new chapter opens.

S/Paul has of course already had his calling back in chapter 9 at his conversion, but here in chapter 13 it is clear that the "Holy Spirit said "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."" Interestingly it is in the context of the church (v2) worshipping and fasting - presumably that means that the church as a whole were seeking God's guidance. Not content merely just to chug along but willing to go where God would have them go when God would have them go, and to send who God woudl have them send.

I guess we are all tempted to say guidance would be so much easier if I could just have a voice from heaven that said go. But the interesting thing is that though we are told the Holy Spirit said set them apart even here we are not told how he said it.

Paul and Barnabas are gospel minded people sent by a gospel minded God to where their are gospel needy people. If we are gospel minded, alert for those in need of the gospel, then God will show us when and where. It may not be a clear voice, it may just be a gospel opportunity that excites us, it may be that it is a risk that takes us out of our comfort zone for the gospel, it may be that it is something that we have the gifts and abilities to do. All of those are ways that God guides us.

A friend of mine used to have a No Fear T-shirt and it had this slogan on the back "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space!" Am I living on the edge when it comes to the gospel, on the front line every day where the fighting is fiercest but God is most glorified because Christ is most obviously my treasure.

What is relevance?

Relevance - what is it? It's what people want in our busy world isn't it, relevance. Cut to the chase, tell me what I need to know, don't give me all the details just the facts. It's partly the result of the pressure we all feel under, pressure to get the job done, pressure to get the answers, to complete the task, to save time, to be efficient. But what is really relevant?

I sat with a 90 year old lady yesterday afternoon whose mind was as sharp as they come. She was asking why people don't have time for God any more? How they find meaning in life without the gospel and the good news that Jesus died to remove the judgement we face and give us a future we can look forward to rather than fear.

Her conclusion was that people just don't have the time to think about questions like that, let alone have time to think about them. No time to stop and ponder what the meaning of life is, to ask; Why am I here?

I think it all comes down to relevance. It's easy in the rush of the workplace/family home/gym/retirement/whatever to think that what is relevant is only what is immediate. What's relevant is those figures I need to complete my report, what's relevant is how my child is doing in school, not how the school or staff are doing. What's relevant is how I improve my standard of living now. And we fool ourselves by consoling ourselves with the thought that there is time for that later.

It means that the questions about what is immediately relevant push out the real question about what is ultimately important. Why am I here? How did the universe come to be? If Jesus was an historical character what does it mean? What happens after I die?

Compulsion

What is it that drives us? What is it that makes us get out of bed in the morning, get dressed, go out to work? What makes us do it day after day?

I guess many people would answer that money drives them, the new car or the new TV or to provide for their kids, or maybe if we're honest its to keep up with the neighbours. But what happens when you retire? What drives you then? Is it getting your golf handicap into single figures? Or taking up a new hobby?

What is it that gives us purpose in life? Paul as he writes to the Corinthian Church, to a church struggling with living out the scandal of the gospel in an image conscious world, Paul writes to give them a purpose as he explains his purpose for living.

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." Why get out of bed in the morning? Because Christ has died for me and in doing so he takes on my sin, reconciles me to God and makes me a new creation. Why go to work? Because Christ died for me and I am a new creation who lives for him. I am not a doctor who happens to be a Christian I am a Christian living for Christ as a doctor, or student, or mum.

Christ love is to be my purpose in everything I do, it is to be what drives me, it is to be what compels me if I am convinced that one died for all.

Making the good news known

People do things all the time that make us question their beliefs. Jesus certainly did in the gospels, that's why he has so many run ins with the Pharisees, as he does things that show he thinks differently about the sabbath, about cleanliness, about sin and righteousness.

For Christ followers the challenge is to do likewise. How do my beliefs show in my actions? How does being part of God's kingdom affect my living in exile in this kingdom? Do my friends and family see that my beliefs about life, about death, about God are different? Am I perceived as just being religious or do I live as a sinner saved by God's outrageous grace in Christ?

What would such living look like? It would mould my attitude in the office as I put on the mind of Christ; not worrying about my rights, not concerned about my position, knowing that living for God means I might be belittled but that God will lift me up.

Or as a parent, how do I live the gospel? What opportunities does the day present to me to teach my children about the outrageous love of God, as we look at the world and as they experience pain and joy?

Living like that provokes questions and gives credibility to our words as we make the great news about Jesus Christ known.

Dealing with disappointment

Sometimes things just don't go as we want do they. People say or do things that surprise us, or perhaps react in such a way that it leaves us feeling bemused and angry, or leaves us feeling let down.

A couple of years ago someone said that in such situations we should repeat the following to ourselves "I'm not God and it's not my world." To remind ourselves that the world does not revolve around me and my needs. The world is God's and he is working his purposes out, the best place for me to be is in the place where God wants me no matter how hard or frustrating that may be.

At root I guess the question in such situations is 'Do I believe God has my best interests at heart?' When we hear of a friends terminal illness, or a family member dies, or the things we thought God has planned for us just don't seem to be as plain sailing as we had thought they would be. I need to ask myself again 'Do I believe God has my best interests at heart?'

If God gave his Son for us at measureless cost then the answer has to be yes. God is working to knock off my rough edges, to mould me, to get me into the place he has for me no matter how hard the process may be to get there. I guess that's why one of the most common phrases in the New Testament is 'Stand firm'.