A talk given in Sydney's south on a Sunday morning
The talk was part of a church service at a Filipino church named Word of Hope.
To watch the video, click here: https://youtu.be/lqBVUhS6UZ0
Introduction
Shalom, Pastor and all the folks here at Word of Hope Ministries. Thanks for being here and listening to a messianic Jew talk to you about what might be a fairly heavy topic as we move closer to the season of Christmas. Before we get there, let’s talk about another gift God wants you to have.
Today, I want to talk about discipleship.
Let me ask: what comes to mind when I mention that word? What do you think of discipleship itself? Here are some questions to consider. Are there hindrances or things that would prevent you from saying of yourself that you are a disciple of Jesus or of another person? Have you had a bad experience with a previous mentor or an authority whom you considered manipulating? Does the idea of discipleship seem out-of-bounds to you because your trust was previously broken?
These all may be real experiences, and I don’t want to demean them at all. Hurts happen, and often are launchpads for continuing in the individualistic mindset of the ordinary 21st-century Christian.
Discipleship is not a solo sport
But here’s the problem: God calls us into community. The church is not simply a working group of separate solo artists; we are, according to Ephesians, any one of these metaphors at the same time. We are the church (1.22), the body of Christ (1.23), his workmanship or poem (2.10), the holy Temple (2.21), God’s family (2.19), his bride (5.25), and an army (6.10-17) For none of these could an individual be the representative; they are all corporate identities. The question we have to ponder today is “How, then, can we be disciples together?”
Since the Enlightenment, and most notably in the 20th Century, the Western Protestant church has become very individualistic. We would say, “God and me is a majority.” We get saved alone and have faith alone, and we are taught to be holy alone.
But if I understand Filipino culture, you certainly line up with the culture of the Kingdom Jesus taught. We are a community and this strikes in the face of this ‘alone’ religion that is so popularly taught.
Be with him, be like him, do what he does
A disciple, or in Hebrew, a Talmid, is more than a student. Back in the Bible days, a disciple could be found walking with his master. He would observe and listen, watch and then practice the actions of the master or rabbi, learn, even obey, and imitate what he saw. Of note, the scene would not feature one rabbi and one disciple. There would be several, even upwards of 30-50 disciples on occasion. It was a roving corporate classroom.
The first thing a disciple or student wanted was to be with the master. A personal relationship is always central to the situation. When we in these days think about what we want in our Christian religion, the best answer you can ever give is you ‘want to be with Jesus.” Remember in the book of Acts chapter 4, when the Jewish leadership called Peter and John on the carpet for preaching about Jesus, when the authorities were trying to stop this new movement before it got going, the Scripture says, “As they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognise them as having been with Jesus.” (Acts 4.13) We want to be known as those who have been with Jesus, amen?
We not only want to be with Jesus, but we also want to be like him. I believe that takes an apprenticeship.
Apprentice with the rabbi
Listen, the word “Christian” is only used 3 times in the Newer Testament. In contrast, the word Talmid or apprentice/disciple is used over 250 times in the same book. I’d say that’s significant, wouldn’t you? It might be a new thought, but I hope it stays with you as we talk about this today.
Being with Jesus is our first concern, and then he wants to make us into his followers, people who represent him in this dark world. That means we must change to be like him. This may sound strange, and I would tell Jesus that he should choose others who would do much better than I can, but he has chosen us. Each of us. One by one, to be sure, but then he makes us walk with him in his army/bride/community to represent him. To do that, we must become like him. We get to learn of him; he is gentle and lowly. We get to see how he responds to beggars. How did he deal with opponents? How did he process rejection? All these lessons are learned in the community.
Back in the Bible days, other rabbis recruited followers and taught them about life, not only academics. Jesus wasn’t the only rabbi wandering and recruiting people around what we today call the land of Israel. Back in his day, it was common for rabbis to travel, gather disciples or apprentices and teach. We even have biblical evidence of some of these other rabbis. Remember what Gamaliel said in Acts 5 about other messianic candidates?
“And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.” (Acts 5.35-37)
Each school was wherever the rabbi was. No wonder Jesus used the phrase ‘follow me’ throughout his ministry, from the beginning (Matt.4.19, Luke 5.27) to the end (Jn. 13.36, Jn. 21.22). His call was for the apprentices to walk with him wherever he went. How else would we learn to be like him if we were away from him?
But you might protest that any church you have visited was not a good fit. You might have said, “We are just too different from one another to get along in the community.” You might say, “It’s impossible.” I don’t think that can be used as an excuse when you take a good look at the group Jesus called his first disciples. Do you remember that he had Matthew, who was a tax collector and Simon, who was a zealot in his crew? His team/ his entourage/ his students were sometimes opposed in their politics.
It would be like choosing a Trumper and a never-Trumper to walk with him and learn his ways. Imagine if he would choose a Palestinian activist and a modern Israeli who has served in the Israeli Defence Force? That’s how extreme some of the previous opinions of the 12 apostles were in their walk with Jesus.
Interestingly, Matthew the tax collector emphasizes this difference more than any of the other Gospel writers (Mt 10:3-4). This is significant because Zealots worked against the government and tax collectors worked for the government. You might say that Simon was a right-wing “small government” proponent who thought the State should keep out of people’s business, whereas Matthew was a left-wing “big government” proponent who made a career out of collecting taxes for the Roman State.
Despite opposing political viewpoints, Matthew and Simon became friends and brothers in Christ, and Matthew especially wanted us to know this. They were part of the apprentices Jesus chose, and each had to learn how to be like their rabbi.
Jesus called them to follow him, and they did. No matter who else came along in the class. The point of following is not to get an academic degree but to learn wisdom in life. The Hebrew word for life is chaim. And it’s a plural word, like sheep or heavens. We read that our life combines all our lives, our whole life as a collection. Our economic, social, academic, private, and corporate lives … all of our lives together compose our single life. And the master rabbi, Jesus, wants to give us life as we learn of him. He is the One who said, I am the way, the truth and the life.” All our distinct lives should represent the Messiah in our life today.
Of note, the word ‘disciple’ is never used as a verb in the Scripture. No human can disciple you. You accept the invitation of the master and follow him in the School of Life. And it’s done in community.
Maybe a communal understanding of discipleship will help you with spiritual disciplines. Let me explain.
Spiritual disciplines: Doing what Jesus did
Take prayer for instance. We are often taught that to be like Jesus we should pray. And pray a lot. The apostle Paul said we are to pray without ceasing. How does that work? You might be thinking, “I don’t do that very often, and certainly not at all times. I’m not very good at prayer. I’m distracted and bored and tired of this prayer thing.” Especially when you read that Jesus went to pray ‘as was his custom.’ And he went to the secret place. But did you see how often he went to pray WITH others? We read in Luke “And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the 1people say that I am?” (9.18)
That’s an odd sentence, no? He was praying alone but the disciples were with him! I believe that’s the secret to prayer. And really, the secret of any spiritual discipline. Do it with others.
The rabbis have come up with a system to make this happen. They call it a quorum, in Hebrew a minyan. There are certain prayers that require a quorum of 10 men to be prayed in the synagogue. Does that mean God won’t hear private prayers? That’s not what they are saying. But if a prayer service is to be communal, they came up with a threshold of 10 men to represent. What if you only have 8 men? I like what Jesus did with that problem.
When Jesus said, “where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Jesus lowered the threshold requirement of the minyan, from 10 to 2 or 3. In other words, if you are praying communally, a community can be two or three. You don’t need large numbers; you do need at least one other person.
Is Jesus saying you cannot pray alone? NO, what he is saying is that a community can be ANY number of folks who pray and I will be there. That’s designed for comfort!
And let me tell you, there are times when I don’t feel like praying. And when a member of my community initiates a prayer time, or asks me to join them in praying, no matter how I feel at that moment, after joining them, 99% of the time, it’s a joy to participate; it’s real and wonderful. I’m doing what Jesus did!
Bible reading is another discipline of a disciple. And it’s what Jesus did. We read, “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.” (Luke 4.16). The public reading of Scripture is common even to this day in synagogues and most churches in our day continue some semblance of that on Sundays. Paul wrote to Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” (1 Tim. 4.13)
We hear about the discipline of Bible reading and think, “I’m not very disciplined at this” or “I’m a little distracted with other things” or “I don’t get much out of it” and such excuses. But please hear me, if you join a Bible reading GROUP you will be able to do this much more easily. That’s why it’s good to know that disciples are communal and not solo artists.
I have two groups with which I’m associated in this discipline. First, I have joined an online Zoom Public Reading of Scripture group that meets up to three times a week for an hour. In only 98 hours I can read along with them the entire Bible. Imagine! The other group I joined is at a US church with a Bible reading plan, on cards, and sermons. Home groups, podcasts, and Sunday school classes all continue to discuss the weekly readings. Either or both methods could work for you, don’t you imagine? These are communal; that way we can do what our rabbi wants us to do.
Each discipline, like fasting or early morning rising or generous financial giving, works when we do it with our rabbi AND his people. We today have gathered as a church. Corporate gatherings help us be with him, be like him and do what he did. Does that make sense?
We are reinforcing the idea that discipleship is communal. If you want to read more on this subject, find Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic Life Together or another of his that informed me about this deeply, called The Cost of Discipleship. It will challenge you AND help you be communal. But with the cost comes the benefits that can only come through living life the way we were meant to. Jesus said when you find the pearl of great price, buy it! (Matthew 13.45)
Here’s one more. Jesus called the 12, and the 70, and the crowds. And like most rabbis with disciples, he wanted us to bring others along as well. But that’s not a new idea either.
Bring others along
Abraham is the father of our faith. He was called to follow the Lord in Genesis 12. What did he do? He got up and left! But don’t miss this. In verse 5, we read that Abraham took with him “Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.”
Abraham took his family and his slaves and all his possessions of gold and such, and, did you hear it, “the persons they had acquired” Who are those? Not slaves or family. The rabbis teach that these were converts to the Abrahamic religion. In other words, Abraham preached to others and brought them to God. For us a disciple gathers souls to be with their rabbi. If you have found someone, in fact, THE someone for whom you have waited all your life, you want others to know him also. Amen?
This activity is found throughout the Bible. In Exodus 19, God tells Israel, gathered at the foot of Mt Sinai, that they are to be a ‘kingdom of priests.’ Priests as you know, don’t serve themselves. They serve others. Who are the others for Israel? It’s the nations around them, that’s who.
Solomon prayed at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, “May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us…so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else.” (1 Kings 8.57ff) For Solomon the nations were ever in view. For God, all the peoples of the earth are his heart. He wants us apprentices to bring others along.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to evangelism at all. I’ve been an evangelist for 50 years. But we limit God if all we think is bringing others along means getting them inside the door. Jesus said this, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18-20) Yes, it starts with evangelism, but our aim is not to make converts, but rather to make disciples, together. It’s not my job; it’s our job. See how this works?
Preventions/ objections
Now again, you might still be thinking that you are not qualified to be a disciple. You might be saying…
I’m not Bible-trained enough
I’m not holy enough
I’m not loving enough
What is the answer to this? It’s actually two answers.
He is and… don’t miss this…we are!
Yes, God is able to be enough for us IN THE BODY OF HIS CHURCH. Together we are a disciplined community; we are learning together, we are learning how to love and how to be holy, together. 70 times in the Newer Testament, the phrase ‘one another’ is used. We are called to live out our discipleship together.
Conclusion (takeaways)
If you have heard me today, then I hope you agree with these takeaways from this talk.
1. God calls us personally
2. God calls us to be with him
3. God wants us to become like him
4. God wants us to do what he did
To make disciples who heal, who feed people, who love and care for others, and we can do these things if we walk together.
What is your response? A challenge
Are you ready to sign up to be an apprentice of Rabbi Jesus? What will you do differently as a result of this talk today? Are you going to join with others and trust God that he will keep you together with his family?
Will you bring others along and make disciples yourself?
Now a moment of information about the organization Jews for Jesus.
What is JFJ?
With the understanding that each of us disciples, followers of Jesus, are called to bring others into the fold, that may help you understand my calling as a Jew for Jesus, and our organisation itself. We relentlessly pursue the salvation of the Jewish people worldwide, even here in Sydney, as well as Israel, in the UK and around the globe.
Please use this QR code or the URL to sign up to hear more from JFJ or even to read my own testimony which is also there.
Shalom!
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For further study, please read the book Practising the Way by John Mark Comer, or the books cited by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together or The Cost of Discipleship. And in the spirit of this lesson, why not read these with others in a book club format? You will all be the better for it.
And for Public Reading of Scripture, why not join the Zoom calls with me? Check it out on www.prsi.org See you there and we will hear the Word… together!
