THE WAY: EPILOGUE
Back on the 15th of May, we began a sermon series based upon John 14:6. There Jesus says to his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” From that simple statement theologian Eugene Peterson derived the following theory: “The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life.” While countless battles – and even wars – have been fought over the Jesus truth, very seldom do we invest much energy in discerning the Jesus way. Well that is precisely what we are attempting to do in this series of sermons. The question thus becomes, “What is the Jesus way…and how do we go about following it?”
From the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus Christ, the Hebrew people – our ancestors in the faith – lived in proximity to a succession of some of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known. There was Sumeria, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Their leaders stand tall in the leadership hall of fame: Hammurabi, Ramses, Tiglath Pilesar III, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and even Caesar Augustus.
But think about this. For many centuries, with all this empire-building going on around them, the Hebrew people kept to their own ways, and maintained a unique counterculture. It was a unique counterculture in terms of the way they worshipped God and the way they lived their lives. Ultimately, however, they wanted to be like everyone else. They wanted a king of their own. Finally God acquiesced. The prophet Samuel was called to anoint Saul to be the first king over Israel. Then David became king. Then Solomon became king. Then it all fell apart over the course of the next five hundred years. When all was said and done, there were no more kings over Israel. In fact…there was no more kingdom of Israel at all. And it was all because they abandoned their unique counterculture. It was all because they came – in time – to neglect the ways of God.
Then Jesus came and showed the world how to live in what he called the kingdom of God. That’s what we need to recover. That’s what we need to rediscover. As Christians, we need to become a unique counterculture once again. We should be different than the world around us. We should have alternative priorities. We should seek to live the Jesus life by encountering the Jesus truth and following the Jesus way. Perhaps then people will see us and say of us as they said of Christians some 1800 years ago: “See how those Christians love one another, while we ourselves are ready to kill one another.” Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what the Jesus life looks like. It looks like Christians who love one another.
As we noted initially, however, the Jesus truth – in and of itself – is not enough to bring about the Jesus life. Jesus calls us to follow the Jesus way as well. Then we noted that the Jesus way is not a list of rules and regulations. The Jesus way cannot be codified or simplified or summarized. The Jesus way is meant to be lived.
When we examined the life of Abraham, we discovered that the Jesus way involves testing and sacrifice. God has a way of sifting people when he wants to use them to accomplish great things for his kingdom. When we examined the life of Moses, we discovered that God has a unique purpose for our lives. What’s more, that purpose is subject to change from time to time and we have the responsibility of continuing to seek out God’s purpose for our lives in spite of whatever changes might take place. When we examined the life of David, we discovered that living a Godly life in spite of all our imperfections is part and parcel to walking the Jesus way. God may not expect perfection from us, but God does expect noble intentions.
When we examined the life of the prophet Elijah, we discovered that the Jesus way involves making choices. The question at the heart of the matter is this: Do we possess an insatiable desire to get our own needs fulfilled, or are we willing to simply be present to God? When we examined the life of the prophet Isaiah, we discovered that God’s primary work in us is not condemnation, but rather, God’s primary work in us is forgiveness. Then when we manage to live our lives in light of God’s grace and mercy, what we find are the roots of holiness.
And finally, when we examined the life of the unknown preacher we refer to as Second Isaiah, we uncovered the concept of Midrash, or interpretation. In other words, what do we see when we look at God? Do we see an angry, vindictive, judgmental God, or do we see a loving, forgiving, grace-filled God? What do we see when we look at the world? Do we see a frightening place filled with nightmares and terrors around every corner, or do we see a place filled with boundless potential and loving hearts just waiting to be unlocked? It all depends on Midrash. It all depends on how we interpret it.
Of course, at this point in time, a lot of you have to be saying to yourselves, “Those Old Testament characters lived way before the time of Jesus Christ. What do they have to do with the Jesus way if they didn’t even know him?” They may not have known him, but Jesus certainly knew of them. The Jesus way is his perfection of the righteousness of the holy ones who went before him. Unfortunately, Jesus did not give explicit lectures and seminars on how to LIVE in the kingdom of God. Jesus simply said, “Follow me.” We have seen that Jesus was anticipated by some 2000 years of men and women who walked in the way of righteousness. Some of their stories we know. We know of the stories of patriarchs and prophets like Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah and Second Isaiah. That’s why we considered the paths of their lives. Yet perhaps the issue now is what they had in common. How is it that Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah, and Second Isaiah were able to walk in paths of righteousness? What was the key to their exemplary lives?
In a word, it was discipline. Their lives were guided by what we call spiritual disciplines. In other words, if we want to live our lives the Jesus way, then we’ve got to practice the spiritual disciplines as well. Just what exactly are the spiritual disciplines? A man named Dallas Willard outlines them as well as anyone I’ve ever encountered. Dallas Willard was a professor at the University of Southern California, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He divides the spiritual disciplines into two distinct categories. There are Disciplines of Abstinence, and there are Disciplines of Engagement.
Roughly speaking, the Disciplines of Abstinence counteract sins of commission, while the Disciplines of Engagement counteract sins of omission. In the Disciplines of Abstinence, we abstain to some degree from the satisfaction of what we generally regard as normal and legitimate desires. In the Disciplines of Engagement, we involve ourselves in activities that are beneficial to our spiritual growth. The Disciplines of Abstinence include: solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy and sacrifice. The Disciplines of Engagement include: study, prayer, worship, celebration, service, fellowship, confession and submission.
That doesn’t sound like a cakewalk, does it? That’s why we have more and more churches these days that aim at being consumer-oriented. For example, a minister friend of mine by the name of Hal Shafer recently sent me a cartoon with a church billboard announcing “The LITE Church.” That’s L-I-T-E…just like the beer. The cartoon read: “The LITE Church. We have 24% fewer commitments, 10 minute sermons, 45 minute worship services and only eight commandments. It’s everything you ever wanted in a church…and less!” Does that sound appealing to you? Be truthful, now.
I was doing some research on preaching a number of years ago. I came across the most interesting statement in my Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. It said in essence, “If you’re preaching the message that Jesus preached, then you’re going to be met with the same reactions with which Jesus was met.” In other words, if you’re preaching the message that Jesus preached, you’re going to be met with ridicule, disrespect, scoffing, insults and the like. Preaching Jesus… will not make one popular. It might even breed animosity.
Once upon a time, a Catholic priest and a Presbyterian minister were fishing in a creek near a road. The two of them were clearly visible from the road. They made a sign and placed in on the roadside to make people turn around from imminent disaster. The sign said: “STOP! THE END IS NEAR! TURN YOURSELF AROUND BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”
It was a quiet road and there wasn’t much traffic. Pretty soon a car finally did come down the road. The driver read the sign and was incensed by it. He yelled at the clergymen, “Leave us alone, you religious fanatics! Just keep your faith to yourselves!” The clergymen heard the man’s angry words as the man drove off, and then they heard a big splash. The priest said to the pastor, “Maybe we should have just written, ‘Bridge Out.’” Like I said, abiding by the Christian faith will not make one popular. And preaching the way of Jesus Christ…can make one even less so.
Still, theological integrity is important to me. Someone recently said to me, “You’re one of the five best preachers in the country.” I said, “I don’t know about that. I’ve heard many of the so-called best preachers in the country, and I don’t know if they’re any better than I am. That’s probably a matter of personal opinion. But here’s the difference between them and me. They’re all a lot more politically savvy than I am!” By that I mean…I don’t have sense enough to know when to leave well enough alone. I say what I think I should say and then let the chips fall where they may. Sometimes I have a bad case of what I like to call foot-in-mouth disease. Perhaps it’s God’s way of keeping me from being popular.
So I’m going to do it again. I’m going to say what I think needs to be said about the Jesus way and let the chips fall where they may. You may not like what I have to say, because it’s far from Christianity LITE. Walking the Jesus way requires discipline, and there’s nothing easy about it. It requires dedication, hard work and sacrifice. So here goes…
Here at the First Presbyterian Church, we have devised what we call The Seven Covenants of a Disciple of Jesus Christ. Each covenant has a Discipleship Practice, which is a spiritual discipline. And each covenant has a line that says, “We Begin By” and “We Aspire To.” In other words, one is where you start and the other is your ultimate goal. Are you ready? Here are The Seven Covenants of a Disciple of Jesus Christ.
The first discipleship practice is worship regularly. Worship is integral to the life of faith. It was Jesus’ custom to worship and it should be ours as well. Communal worship is the primary way Christians connect with God and with each other. We begin by: Worshipping with a congregation on a weekly basis. We aspire to: Worship God in every moment of life and join with God’s people as often as possible.
The second discipleship practice is pray daily. Prayer is communication with God. It ushers us into communion with God. We begin by: Setting aside at least one time period each day when we will communicate with God. We aspire to: Live lives guided by God through continual prayer.
The third discipleship practice is study diligently. We study Scripture in an attempt to shape our minds to become more attuned to the will of God. We begin by: Setting aside a small block of time each day to read the Bible, and participating in at least one group learning experience each week. We aspire to: Spend a significant amount of time in Christian study every day and take part in two or three learning experiences each week.
The fourth discipleship practice is live faithfully. Our lives should be lived with integrity and holiness. We strive to live in harmony with the will of God. We begin by: Taking to heart that which we read in Scripture, comprehend in worship, and sense in prayer. We aspire to: Live lives reflecting the faith we profess, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
The fifth discipleship practice is serve joyously. Each of us is called to ministry. We seek the field of ministry most closely aligned with the call of God on our lives that hauntingly stirs our deepest passion. We begin by: Engaging in some form of ministry with others. We aspire to: Create ministries in which we engage others as partners in ministry with us.
The sixth discipleship practice is give generously. The way we give of ourselves and our resources should reflect the self-giving love of God in Christ. We begin by: Committing to giving a set proportion of our time, talent and financial resources to God. We aspire to: Live lives in which our giving is sacrificial.
The seventh discipleship practice is witness boldly. In his Great Commission, Christ challenged his disciples to make disciples of all nations. To make disciples of all nations, one must spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We begin by: Sharing our faith and values with family, friends and neighbors. We aspire to: Fearlessly encounter situations where we have the courage to speak, and our Christian witness can truly make a difference.
There you have it: The Seven Covenants of a Disciple of Jesus Christ. They reflect how the patriarchs and prophets who went before us lived, and they are the source through which we can once again create a unique counterculture. But perhaps most important of all, follow them...and you will be well on the way to living your life the Jesus way. Amen.
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