Rock Climbing Discipleship
Some of you already know that flying is not one of my favorite pastimes. When I was traveling on business in my previous career, I flew frequently enough to graduate from a "white knuckle" flyer to a "sweaty palm" flyer.
What is really strange though, is that although I don’t like flying too much, I want to have a window seat as often as possible when I fly. Maybe it is a subconscious attempt at distracting my attention from the fact that I am hurtling along at an altitude of 30,000 feet, at a speed of 500 miles an hour, in a pressurized metal tube.
But I think another reason I enjoy window seats so much when I fly is that I love heights. My love of heights is probably one of the reasons rock climbing interests me, as well. I imagine standing on top of a mountain—any mountain or big hill with a great view will do—and just taking in the wonder of it all.
Of course, getting to that point tends to be an issue. Have you ever watched rock climbers? There are no escalators on those places they are climbing! Hey, there aren’t even any decent steps! Rock climbing takes strength, endurance, dedication, intelligence, and the willingness to take risks. Rock climbing can be both exciting and dangerous at the same time.
Come to think of it, this description sounds a lot like Christian discipleship, doesn’t it?
Jesus knew all of this and more about discipleship. That is why Jesus gave instructions to the 70 women and men whom he was sending to the towns to which he himself intended to go. Like Jesus sent these folks ahead to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus arrived, we who call ourselves Christians are called to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus returns. So what were these instructions of Jesus?
First, pray. Notice how prayer was the number one instruction? Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." In other words, there is more than enough for all of us to do, folks. Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport! Amen?
Jesus went on to say, "Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." We are supposed to be praying for one another , as well as for others to become disciples of Jesus Christ as well!
Next, travel light. You’ve heard this from previous sermons I have preached. Like rock climbers cannot make their ascents with a lot of extra gear, neither can we be successful disciples of Jesus Christ if we are carrying around a lot of unnecessary baggage.
Baggage takes a lot of forms, too. For example, jealousy is an extremely heavy (and worthless) item of baggage; jealousy about the gifts of other disciples that we do not share; jealousy about the leadership positions others have that we want; jealousy about the really fabulous programs and facilities of other churches.
All that baggage slows us down, folks. Let’s lose it and concentrate on the work God has for US, using and honoring the resources with which God has blessed US. Remember, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There is more than enough work to go around. Amen?
The next instruction was to focus. Jesus said, "Greet no one on the road." Jesus wasn’t saying the disciples should ignore others; Jesus was basically saying, "Don’t let anything or anyone distract you from your mission."
Distraction is a big challenge in today’s world. There is so much going on around us that it is easy for us to lose our way. Professional rock climbers would probably tell us that losing your focus on a climb could have deadly consequences.
What distracts us? The desire for more money? The desire for more power or prestige? The desire for a partner? These things are not evil in and of themselves; but if they distract us from the work that God has called us to do, they could spell spiritual disaster for us.
Let’s look even closer at Jesus’ instructions to the 70.
"Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!" "Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid." "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’"
Basically, we are to approach our call to discipleship peacefully. Like Jesus, we are to meet people where they are; which means if we are talking to friends in a bar, we do not enter Bibles blazing and telling everyone there they are going to hell because they have not confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. Such heavy-handed approaches to evangelism have turned far more people away from Christ than they have brought people to Christ.
Christian discipleship also means presence, in whatever healthy forms that presence takes. For it is through that presence that God can work miraculous healing—in the lives of others, as well as in our own lives.
Finally—and this is the hard part—we are to proclaim the Kingdom of God both in our words AND through the examples of our lives. While Jesus did say to approach others with a greeting of peace, to meet others where they were, and to help others—named in this passage as curing the sick—Jesus also said to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it offended others. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant your offerings would go down. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant upsetting denominational leaders. Jesus said to proclaim the Kingdom of God--period.
It’s that "proclamation of the Kingdom" part that gets us into trouble—at least it has gotten me into trouble. See, some folks don’t like to hear that the Kingdom of God is inclusive of people who are a lot different than them.
On the other hand, there are others who don’t like to hear that, while the Kingdom of God is full of inclusive love, there is judgment involved as well. That means God has standards, folks. The Kingdom of God is not "an anything goes" kind of place. As the old saying goes, "we don’t change the message—the message changes us."
So, while we don’t run into the bars or coffee shops, parties or classrooms with our Bibles blazing, we don’t change the inclusive, yet challenging message of the Word of God to make people comfortable, either—and some folks are not going to appreciate that one bit.
Jesus knew there would be those people who would reject the message of his disciples. The advice of Jesus then is just as solid today: "Move on." Rejection hurts, yes; but rejection is not fatal. Move on. There is actually a term for this type of moving on in rock climbing. Its called "fallure."
Fallure occurs when a climber falls onto his or her safety rope after using every physical, mental, and spiritual resource at his or her disposal. "Isn’t that failure?" we might ask. No, failure is when you give up and let go. The difference is subtle, but important.
Where are we accepting failure instead of fallure? Where is it in our lives that we are giving up and dropping, without using all the physical, mental, and spiritual resources with which God has blessed us? If we push for fallure, we may actually tap into more Godly power and opportunity than we ever thought possible!
Look at the 70! They returned after their mission excited beyond belief, even though I am positive at least some of them experienced some painful rejections!
One type of outreach program isn’t working for you? Pray and then try another one! The target group your leadership worked so hard to identify would rather eat glass than listen to you share the good news of Jesus Christ? Pray and then go back to the drawing board!
Sure, it would be great if everything we touched turned into discipleship gold! But sometimes it seems like everything we touch turns into something else—and here’s a hint: it makes great fertilizer! But guess what? What we think is just "fertilizer" can be the foundation of some amazing growth we never expected!
The lesson for today: Yes, discipleship is required of all Christians—not just clergy. Yes, discipleship is tough sometimes; not everyone is going to love us—in fact, some people may even hate us. And yes, we are going to fall sometimes.
The good news: We don’t have to worry about any of those things. Why not? Because if we strive for fallure, with Jesus Christ as our safety rope, there is no way that our discipleship climb will fail.
Think about it. Let us dare to imagine the view from the top.
Then, let us start climbing together.
What is really strange though, is that although I don’t like flying too much, I want to have a window seat as often as possible when I fly. Maybe it is a subconscious attempt at distracting my attention from the fact that I am hurtling along at an altitude of 30,000 feet, at a speed of 500 miles an hour, in a pressurized metal tube.
But I think another reason I enjoy window seats so much when I fly is that I love heights. My love of heights is probably one of the reasons rock climbing interests me, as well. I imagine standing on top of a mountain—any mountain or big hill with a great view will do—and just taking in the wonder of it all.
Of course, getting to that point tends to be an issue. Have you ever watched rock climbers? There are no escalators on those places they are climbing! Hey, there aren’t even any decent steps! Rock climbing takes strength, endurance, dedication, intelligence, and the willingness to take risks. Rock climbing can be both exciting and dangerous at the same time.
Come to think of it, this description sounds a lot like Christian discipleship, doesn’t it?
Jesus knew all of this and more about discipleship. That is why Jesus gave instructions to the 70 women and men whom he was sending to the towns to which he himself intended to go. Like Jesus sent these folks ahead to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus arrived, we who call ourselves Christians are called to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus returns. So what were these instructions of Jesus?
First, pray. Notice how prayer was the number one instruction? Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." In other words, there is more than enough for all of us to do, folks. Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport! Amen?
Jesus went on to say, "Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." We are supposed to be praying for one another , as well as for others to become disciples of Jesus Christ as well!
Next, travel light. You’ve heard this from previous sermons I have preached. Like rock climbers cannot make their ascents with a lot of extra gear, neither can we be successful disciples of Jesus Christ if we are carrying around a lot of unnecessary baggage.
Baggage takes a lot of forms, too. For example, jealousy is an extremely heavy (and worthless) item of baggage; jealousy about the gifts of other disciples that we do not share; jealousy about the leadership positions others have that we want; jealousy about the really fabulous programs and facilities of other churches.
All that baggage slows us down, folks. Let’s lose it and concentrate on the work God has for US, using and honoring the resources with which God has blessed US. Remember, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There is more than enough work to go around. Amen?
The next instruction was to focus. Jesus said, "Greet no one on the road." Jesus wasn’t saying the disciples should ignore others; Jesus was basically saying, "Don’t let anything or anyone distract you from your mission."
Distraction is a big challenge in today’s world. There is so much going on around us that it is easy for us to lose our way. Professional rock climbers would probably tell us that losing your focus on a climb could have deadly consequences.
What distracts us? The desire for more money? The desire for more power or prestige? The desire for a partner? These things are not evil in and of themselves; but if they distract us from the work that God has called us to do, they could spell spiritual disaster for us.
Let’s look even closer at Jesus’ instructions to the 70.
"Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!" "Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid." "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’"
Basically, we are to approach our call to discipleship peacefully. Like Jesus, we are to meet people where they are; which means if we are talking to friends in a bar, we do not enter Bibles blazing and telling everyone there they are going to hell because they have not confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. Such heavy-handed approaches to evangelism have turned far more people away from Christ than they have brought people to Christ.
Christian discipleship also means presence, in whatever healthy forms that presence takes. For it is through that presence that God can work miraculous healing—in the lives of others, as well as in our own lives.
Finally—and this is the hard part—we are to proclaim the Kingdom of God both in our words AND through the examples of our lives. While Jesus did say to approach others with a greeting of peace, to meet others where they were, and to help others—named in this passage as curing the sick—Jesus also said to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it offended others. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant your offerings would go down. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant upsetting denominational leaders. Jesus said to proclaim the Kingdom of God--period.
It’s that "proclamation of the Kingdom" part that gets us into trouble—at least it has gotten me into trouble. See, some folks don’t like to hear that the Kingdom of God is inclusive of people who are a lot different than them.
On the other hand, there are others who don’t like to hear that, while the Kingdom of God is full of inclusive love, there is judgment involved as well. That means God has standards, folks. The Kingdom of God is not "an anything goes" kind of place. As the old saying goes, "we don’t change the message—the message changes us."
So, while we don’t run into the bars or coffee shops, parties or classrooms with our Bibles blazing, we don’t change the inclusive, yet challenging message of the Word of God to make people comfortable, either—and some folks are not going to appreciate that one bit.
Jesus knew there would be those people who would reject the message of his disciples. The advice of Jesus then is just as solid today: "Move on." Rejection hurts, yes; but rejection is not fatal. Move on. There is actually a term for this type of moving on in rock climbing. Its called "fallure."
Fallure occurs when a climber falls onto his or her safety rope after using every physical, mental, and spiritual resource at his or her disposal. "Isn’t that failure?" we might ask. No, failure is when you give up and let go. The difference is subtle, but important.
Where are we accepting failure instead of fallure? Where is it in our lives that we are giving up and dropping, without using all the physical, mental, and spiritual resources with which God has blessed us? If we push for fallure, we may actually tap into more Godly power and opportunity than we ever thought possible!
Look at the 70! They returned after their mission excited beyond belief, even though I am positive at least some of them experienced some painful rejections!
One type of outreach program isn’t working for you? Pray and then try another one! The target group your leadership worked so hard to identify would rather eat glass than listen to you share the good news of Jesus Christ? Pray and then go back to the drawing board!
Sure, it would be great if everything we touched turned into discipleship gold! But sometimes it seems like everything we touch turns into something else—and here’s a hint: it makes great fertilizer! But guess what? What we think is just "fertilizer" can be the foundation of some amazing growth we never expected!
The lesson for today: Yes, discipleship is required of all Christians—not just clergy. Yes, discipleship is tough sometimes; not everyone is going to love us—in fact, some people may even hate us. And yes, we are going to fall sometimes.
The good news: We don’t have to worry about any of those things. Why not? Because if we strive for fallure, with Jesus Christ as our safety rope, there is no way that our discipleship climb will fail.
Think about it. Let us dare to imagine the view from the top.
Then, let us start climbing together.
posted by Rev. Danny Spears at 1:25 PM
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