St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
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Discipleship: Not the End but the Beginning May 8, 2005 by Rev. Rodgers Spencer
Today is the end of the Easter Season and it is also the end of Pastor's Ann series on Discipleship. During these 6 weeks of Easter we have considered: [1] Hearts for Christ [2] Minds Transformed [3] Arms for Love [4] Knees for Prayer, and [5] Voices to Speak. [6] The theme for today "Spirits of a Servant and Steward." That is we are to live our lives not seeking to fulfill our own personal agendas but to take up the agenda of our Lord. Take up my cross is what he said. I knew, some weeks ago, that I might just have to fill in on one of these weeks. It all depended upon the schedule of her grand-daughter. Knowing that, and not having a copy of the book from which these were based, I began to raise some questions in my mind. Was the author, MacDonald, prioritizing these six so that the most important was the climax? That seem logical, yet by starting with the heart it was hard for me to conceive a of any thing more important than the heart. So rather than listing them in a prioritize form, maybe I should think of these 6 in the manner of the food pyramid and certainly the heart would provide a strong and firm foundation. But that made "voices to speak" much smaller because it was next to the top. So this picture was not right. As we were progressing through the series I realized that I needed to improvement in all areas. But that was too much. I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. I was getting discouraged. Maybe I'm not cut to be a disciple. But it is a little late in life to discover that. Then just before we went away it came to me. Ann, I said, I got the visual for your series. Oh, what? Go back, I said, to your days in high school trigonometry, do you remember taking your compass, drawing a circle and then walking the compass around the circle, marking off six equal arcs? Now connect these points with a straight line and you have six equal line segments or a hexagon. Now on each of these segments, write one of the themes. "Hearts for Christ". "Minds Transformed." Etc~ These are now of equal value, and the are all related or connected one to another. The one you need or want to concentrate on put at the top but all the rest are still visible and connected. And when you need to concentrate on another that appears at the top but the rest are still connected. Discipleship is not one dimensional but a inter relationship of a number of issues. Yet I felt that something more was needed. We should not fall into the trap of thinking that if we just worked harder on these concerns that we on our own could make ourselves better disciples. God's grace must be part of this picture. I found part of my concern answered in our gospel lesson for this morning. This is part of what is called Jesus "high priestly prayer." It is a prayer that Jesus prayed in behalf of his disciples. It comes at the end of his ministry. The cross is just around the comer. In chapter 19 he goes to the garden and is arrested. Earlier in this section he has acted out the style of discipleship - that of a servant by washing the disciples' feet. He has given a new commandment - that they/we love one another. He is preparing them for the time what they will go out and witness on their own. They are going out to witness in the world in which they live, just as we are to witness in the world in which we live. This whole prayer needs our attention but for our purposes this morning, I am lifting up one phrase. "Father. protect them" It is scary that we need protection, it is conforming to know that we have protection. Those of you who have had physical therapy understand this. This came to me last Friday morning. I had been given exercise to do and flinched as I was doing it. The therapist saw that the exercise is too hard, so she stopped me right away. She was there to protect me. Here in John, Jesus is about to leave his disciples. "holy Father, protect them!" he prays. He will no longer be there to guide and support them. So this is his passionate prayer in their behalf - and in our behalf as well. Jesus prays not only for them but for us. "Holy Father, protect them!" It is a prayer in which he shows how much he loves his disciples, and how much he loves us. And Jesus shows his love for us in many ways today. He shows it by allowing us the freedom to choose him or not - but he also shows his love by pursuing us throughout our lives. By calling us and allowing us to be his disciples. We. are no more perfect disciples than they were. We have our high moments and lows and did they. He did not give up on them and he will not give up on us. We have been reminded of the areas in which we need to strengthen our witness. We see that these are all interrelated and connected, but we are not alone. He is praying for us. How would he ask the Father to help you? What would he be calling you to do? Discipleship is not an end but the beginning of a life long adventure. |
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