Sermon 2nd October 2011
Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adjoa Andoh-Cunnell, preaches, based on the reading from Matthew 10:26-39.
Now I’m sure you are all aware - I hope! - that our sermon series don’t just come out of thin air - there is prayer and discussion, more prayer and more discussion; there are preachers meetings and review sessions and then a bit more prayer and even - decisions.
So when it was decided that this series would be on discipleship I thought ooh good, always need to think and know more about that...lovely!...then when the rota went out and I got to see the passage I would be preaching on my heart sort of squeaked ... so
GOOD NEWS
34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law;
36 your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.
37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
NIV
34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, ?a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples.
Hmmm
This sermon on discipleship was not sounding quite such a lovely prospect after all
What happened to Isaiah 9:6
GOOD NEWS
A Child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he will be our ruler
He will be called Wonderful
Counsellor
Mighty God, Eternal Father
Prince of Peace
NIV
"For to us a child is born, ?
to us a son is given... ?
and he will be called, ?
'Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, ?
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace'"
Prince of Peace - lovely
Isn’t Christ here to heal this broken world? Bring us back together under God’s Kingdom
Not talk of swords and setting family members against one another- making them each other’s worst enemies! Putting our families in competition with Him for our love
What’s going on??
In verse 22 Jesus has already warned his disciples
GOOD NEWS
Everyone will hate you because of me
NIV
All men will hate you because of me
Here Jesus reassures his disciples
Do not be afraid of people’s hatred
Three times in this passage He tells them - Do not be afraid, know that...
Verse 32
GOOD NEWS
If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven
NIV
Whoso ever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven
But by the same token He tells them be afraid of God - and know this
Verse 33
GOOD NEWS
...if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven.
NIV
...whosoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven
So along with everyone hating them, family dischord swords not peace and being afraid of God...comes
Verse 38
GOOD NEWS
Whoever does not take up his cross and follow in my steps is not fit to be my disciple
NIV
...anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Perhaps when we stop being stunned by this demanding urgent frightening Christ, we may become aware of the cross.
This is the first time the cross is mentioned in Matthew’s gospel and as we reflect forward to all that is to come we may have some understanding of the urgent context in which Jesus is speaking.
Jesus has called on these ordinary men to do something extra-ordinary, to leave their old lives behind them and literally follow his steps day after day. And because of the sheer power of his living presence they have given up everything for Him, risked everything, devoted their love and their lives to Jesus.
For three years they have been daily in his company observing him, learning from him, obeying him, loving him; but although they do not know it yet, the cross lies ahead and when Jesus has gone they will still be here and Christ’s work on earth will be theirs to continue.
And what is this work?
If we turn to the end of Matthew’s Gospel 28:18-20 we read Jesus’ last words to his disciples, the last words these men would hear from the Lord they had given up everything for
GOOD NEWS
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Go then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.
NIV
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Called the Great Commission we are sitting here in Herne Hill today for one reason only, because someone somewhere, accepted that commission and made disciples and on and on down the centuries until the Good News reached us.
And the only point of being here today and any day is to be Jesus’ disciple and continue the work.
Will we be the someone somewhere to be looked back to, some time in the future, by someone whose life has been transformed by the love of Christ?
In his book ‘The Great Omission’, yes Omission, not Commission, the theologian Dallas Willard, yes American of course with a name like that, Dallas Willard draws our attention to the following fact, and I quote:
‘The word ‘disciple’ occurs 269 times in the New Testament.
‘Christian’ is found 3 times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus - in a situation where it was no longer possible to regard them as a sect of the Jews - Acts 11:25 - 26
GOOD NEWS
25/26
Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.
NIV
...So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Why be pernickety about such definitions?
Because Jesus called us to be disciples.
According to a dictionary definition, A disciple
from the Latin. discipulus " is a pupil, student, follower,"
from a lost compound dis-cipere "to grasp intellectually.
So we are called upon to study, to grasp intellectually, to follow Christ and to make others students, intellectually and practically following Christ.
Dallas Willard concludes under this definition
‘Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own, but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.’
A growing understanding takes study and practice - that’s work on ourselves.
As far as work on others is concerned, Willard says
‘Jesus told us as disciples to make disciples, not converts to Christianity, nor to some particular ‘faith and practice.’ He did not tell us to arrange for people to ‘get in’ or ‘make the cut’ after they die, nor to eliminate the various brutal forms of injustice, nor to produce and maintain ‘successful churches’...’
Ouch!!
Hoped for good outcomes as these absolutely are, they follow in the slipstream of our lives as disciples, they are not in and of themselves the point.
Anglican Communion, Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, Reformed Church, Pentecostalist, Methodist, Quaker;
None of these, of us, is the point if we are not first and primarily, individually, disciples of Jesus, who live our lives in practicing our faith, making disciples.
Ouch again!!
Perhaps to say this causes offence, discomfort, resentment?
Perhaps a little like the feelings Jesus must have raised and still raises when he spoke of bringing the sword, of setting family member against family member.
He came to radically shake up people’s understanding of a lived faithful life, he came to thoroughly equip his disciples for the commission he would leave us with.
I have been trying to reconcile the Christ of the abundant life with the sword and the family enemies; and a thought came to me.
You know when you fly somewhere, before you take off, you have the safety information drill: often the point at which some of us lift our newspapers higher or check out what’s on sale in the duty free bit of the magazine, or just sit there mutely, trying to look interested, because we feel sorry for the air stewards who have been through this a million times and have to look like they mean it, while many of us are secretly thinking, listen if we crash, we die, never mind take your shoes off before you slide down the inflatable ramp…
Well you know when it gets to the bit about if you have an infant with you or someone who can’t put on their oxygen mask themselves, you must make sure that you put your own one on first, before you help them put on their one?
Well I’ve always felt that that seems wrong, like I should be helping them first, the infant or the person who can’t manage..
What if they can’t breathe and they pass out while I’m ‘selfishly’ helping myself first?
Well when I think of the sword, of families set against each other I think of this
On that plane, in trouble, unless my mask is in place I cannot breathe and I cannot help anyone else to breathe either.
In the same way unless I am breathing in Christ’s air I cannot help my family come to breathe it either, if I put them first we are both lost.
It doesn’t mean abandoning my family, but it does truly mean putting God first, being obedient to Christ, living by his values.
Living by His values we our commanded to
learn how to love our enemies,
bless those who curse us,
walk the second mile with an oppressor
let him fill every part of our life, so we can live out the gracious inward transformations of faith, hope and love.
And in making disciples we pass this on as Christ commissioned (Matt 28:19)
GN:
and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.
NIV:
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
When we think of this discipleship command from Jesus, do we think what will this cost me in my life if I commit to this discipleship?
Do we think all I’m hearing is work, study work.. I’m not up to this
Perhaps another way to approach this command, is to reflect on the costliness of non discipleship,
to live a life without abiding peace,
a life not penetrated through by love,
not to have a faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good,
to live a life lacking in the hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances,
to live without the power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil.
To live a life of non discipleship is not to know that abundance of life that Jesus told us he came to bring.
John10:10, Jesus said of, we the sheep..
GOOD NEWS
I have come in order that you may life - life in all it’s fullness.
NIV
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
And in his commission, if we do the work of discipleship, however costly our commitment may feel, he promises never to abandon us
Matt 28:20
GD NW: And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.
NIV: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
And how does that abundant, ‘God first’ life chime with the sword, not the peace, that Jesus speaks of?
I was trawling the internet as one does from time to time this week and I came across this image.
For the Ghanaians amongst you this is a very familiar sight - it’s the Adinkra symbol for the Gye Nyame and you find it on greetings cards and wrapping paper, on fabric, on the side of tro tros the public mini buses...everywhere.
Now The World Alliance of Reformed Churches 24th General Council took place in 2004 in Accra and the theme for that conference was The Abundant life. In advance of the conference there was a competition held, to come up with a Logo to encapsulate the conference theme. And this was the winning Logo.
At the centre of the logo is an Adinkra symbol known as Gye Nyame. It literally means "except God".
The Gye Nyame represents God as the omnipotent and immortal source of all things.
It comes from the Adinkra proverb that says - the great panorama of creation dates back to time immemorial, no one lives who saw its beginning, no one will live to see its end, - except God".
There was nothing Except God. Without him there was no creation. He is the source of everything.
The sword that Jesus speaks of cuts away all that obscures our vision of our source our creator God .
To live that abundant life we have to return to it’s source, its creator - God.
.
In rigorous discipleship we are cutting away all that obscures our vision of God. Through discipleship we make the Kingdom of God visible, we make God Visible.
Some of you, may like me, have the daily treat of reading from Philip Yancey’s book, Grace Notes.
Well in the entry for 30th September he writes about a young mixed race woman from Cape Town he met in 2004 - Joanna.
Inspired by watching hours of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings on TV with her husband, Joanna wanted to put her own energies into the healing process in post Apartheid South Africa so she
‘decided to tackle the most violent prison in South Africa’
- Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison.
The prison population was controlled by drugs and gangs. To join a gang you had to assault another prisoner as picked out by the gang.
Prison guards left these ‘animals’ as they saw them, to it. Into this Joanna came on a daily basis.
She organised small groups, taught trust games and got prisoners to open up about their damaged childhoods.
The year before Joanna began her visits the prison recorded 279 acts of violence, the next year there were 2.
In her simple message of forgiveness and reconciliation she cut through fear and guilt and judgement, with the sword of her lived discipleship.
When PY met Joanna he says he
‘ pressed her for specifics on what had happened to transform that prison’
Her reply
Well, of course Philip, God was already present in prison. I just had to make him visible
As PY concludes
‘God is present in the most unexpected places. We just need to make God visible’.
In this morning’s passage Jesus paints a picture of costly discipleship, but non discipleship means no abundant life, means no making God visible.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it... He tells his disciples.
Jesus turns everything upside down.
I think of the curtain tearing from top to bottom in the Temple in Jerusalem at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross. In his costliest of sacrifices he tore up the accepted way of faithful living, symbolized for Jews by the Temple, he tore up death’s hold over us.
He calls on us to follow his radical lead back to God to our creator.
There is no way to the Abundant life except through discipleship.
Perhaps the brutality and damage the sword may symbolise for all of us, can also be turned on its head,
if we imagine it cutting through misery, confusion and hopelessness,
a symbol then of ultimate healing through the removal of whatever it is that keeps us away from God,
a healing that we receive in following Christ, healing in His strength, for ourselves and for those we share with.
The words of the song we’ll sing next (The hymn we sang earlier)reflect that yearning to be healed
All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of his mercy
As deep cries out to deep
(Come, those whose joy is morning sun,
And those weeping through the night;
Come, those who tell of battles won,
And those struggling in the fight.
For His perfect love will never change,
And His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all out days
With the certain hope of peace.)
I’m sure that yearning was in the Pollsmoor prisoners who were visited by Joanna and I would suggest that yearning is in all of us here this morning;
a yearning to be healed, to be whole, wholey ourselves , wholey alive to the gifts we have been blessed with.
God is present in the most unexpected places. Even in us ... we are the work of his hand.
Nothing exists except God.
We just need to make God visible, make visible the full Glory of God our creator within us.
Be his disciples, take in that Oxygen of Christ so we are fit to share it with others.
Be disciples, make disciples and everything will follow in God’s strength.
In obedient discipleship
May we lose our old life
and gain Christ’s abundant life.
Amen
Now I’m sure you are all aware - I hope! - that our sermon series don’t just come out of thin air - there is prayer and discussion, more prayer and more discussion; there are preachers meetings and review sessions and then a bit more prayer and even - decisions.
So when it was decided that this series would be on discipleship I thought ooh good, always need to think and know more about that...lovely!...then when the rota went out and I got to see the passage I would be preaching on my heart sort of squeaked ... so
GOOD NEWS
34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law;
36 your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.
37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
NIV
34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, ?a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples.
Hmmm
This sermon on discipleship was not sounding quite such a lovely prospect after all
What happened to Isaiah 9:6
GOOD NEWS
A Child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he will be our ruler
He will be called Wonderful
Counsellor
Mighty God, Eternal Father
Prince of Peace
NIV
"For to us a child is born, ?
to us a son is given... ?
and he will be called, ?
'Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, ?
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace'"
Prince of Peace - lovely
Isn’t Christ here to heal this broken world? Bring us back together under God’s Kingdom
Not talk of swords and setting family members against one another- making them each other’s worst enemies! Putting our families in competition with Him for our love
What’s going on??
In verse 22 Jesus has already warned his disciples
GOOD NEWS
Everyone will hate you because of me
NIV
All men will hate you because of me
Here Jesus reassures his disciples
Do not be afraid of people’s hatred
Three times in this passage He tells them - Do not be afraid, know that...
Verse 32
GOOD NEWS
If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven
NIV
Whoso ever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven
But by the same token He tells them be afraid of God - and know this
Verse 33
GOOD NEWS
...if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven.
NIV
...whosoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven
So along with everyone hating them, family dischord swords not peace and being afraid of God...comes
Verse 38
GOOD NEWS
Whoever does not take up his cross and follow in my steps is not fit to be my disciple
NIV
...anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Perhaps when we stop being stunned by this demanding urgent frightening Christ, we may become aware of the cross.
This is the first time the cross is mentioned in Matthew’s gospel and as we reflect forward to all that is to come we may have some understanding of the urgent context in which Jesus is speaking.
Jesus has called on these ordinary men to do something extra-ordinary, to leave their old lives behind them and literally follow his steps day after day. And because of the sheer power of his living presence they have given up everything for Him, risked everything, devoted their love and their lives to Jesus.
For three years they have been daily in his company observing him, learning from him, obeying him, loving him; but although they do not know it yet, the cross lies ahead and when Jesus has gone they will still be here and Christ’s work on earth will be theirs to continue.
And what is this work?
If we turn to the end of Matthew’s Gospel 28:18-20 we read Jesus’ last words to his disciples, the last words these men would hear from the Lord they had given up everything for
GOOD NEWS
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Go then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.
NIV
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Called the Great Commission we are sitting here in Herne Hill today for one reason only, because someone somewhere, accepted that commission and made disciples and on and on down the centuries until the Good News reached us.
And the only point of being here today and any day is to be Jesus’ disciple and continue the work.
Will we be the someone somewhere to be looked back to, some time in the future, by someone whose life has been transformed by the love of Christ?
In his book ‘The Great Omission’, yes Omission, not Commission, the theologian Dallas Willard, yes American of course with a name like that, Dallas Willard draws our attention to the following fact, and I quote:
‘The word ‘disciple’ occurs 269 times in the New Testament.
‘Christian’ is found 3 times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus - in a situation where it was no longer possible to regard them as a sect of the Jews - Acts 11:25 - 26
GOOD NEWS
25/26
Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.
NIV
...So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Why be pernickety about such definitions?
Because Jesus called us to be disciples.
According to a dictionary definition, A disciple
from the Latin. discipulus " is a pupil, student, follower,"
from a lost compound dis-cipere "to grasp intellectually.
So we are called upon to study, to grasp intellectually, to follow Christ and to make others students, intellectually and practically following Christ.
Dallas Willard concludes under this definition
‘Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own, but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.’
A growing understanding takes study and practice - that’s work on ourselves.
As far as work on others is concerned, Willard says
‘Jesus told us as disciples to make disciples, not converts to Christianity, nor to some particular ‘faith and practice.’ He did not tell us to arrange for people to ‘get in’ or ‘make the cut’ after they die, nor to eliminate the various brutal forms of injustice, nor to produce and maintain ‘successful churches’...’
Ouch!!
Hoped for good outcomes as these absolutely are, they follow in the slipstream of our lives as disciples, they are not in and of themselves the point.
Anglican Communion, Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, Reformed Church, Pentecostalist, Methodist, Quaker;
None of these, of us, is the point if we are not first and primarily, individually, disciples of Jesus, who live our lives in practicing our faith, making disciples.
Ouch again!!
Perhaps to say this causes offence, discomfort, resentment?
Perhaps a little like the feelings Jesus must have raised and still raises when he spoke of bringing the sword, of setting family member against family member.
He came to radically shake up people’s understanding of a lived faithful life, he came to thoroughly equip his disciples for the commission he would leave us with.
I have been trying to reconcile the Christ of the abundant life with the sword and the family enemies; and a thought came to me.
You know when you fly somewhere, before you take off, you have the safety information drill: often the point at which some of us lift our newspapers higher or check out what’s on sale in the duty free bit of the magazine, or just sit there mutely, trying to look interested, because we feel sorry for the air stewards who have been through this a million times and have to look like they mean it, while many of us are secretly thinking, listen if we crash, we die, never mind take your shoes off before you slide down the inflatable ramp…
Well you know when it gets to the bit about if you have an infant with you or someone who can’t put on their oxygen mask themselves, you must make sure that you put your own one on first, before you help them put on their one?
Well I’ve always felt that that seems wrong, like I should be helping them first, the infant or the person who can’t manage..
What if they can’t breathe and they pass out while I’m ‘selfishly’ helping myself first?
Well when I think of the sword, of families set against each other I think of this
On that plane, in trouble, unless my mask is in place I cannot breathe and I cannot help anyone else to breathe either.
In the same way unless I am breathing in Christ’s air I cannot help my family come to breathe it either, if I put them first we are both lost.
It doesn’t mean abandoning my family, but it does truly mean putting God first, being obedient to Christ, living by his values.
Living by His values we our commanded to
learn how to love our enemies,
bless those who curse us,
walk the second mile with an oppressor
let him fill every part of our life, so we can live out the gracious inward transformations of faith, hope and love.
And in making disciples we pass this on as Christ commissioned (Matt 28:19)
GN:
and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.
NIV:
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
When we think of this discipleship command from Jesus, do we think what will this cost me in my life if I commit to this discipleship?
Do we think all I’m hearing is work, study work.. I’m not up to this
Perhaps another way to approach this command, is to reflect on the costliness of non discipleship,
to live a life without abiding peace,
a life not penetrated through by love,
not to have a faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good,
to live a life lacking in the hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances,
to live without the power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil.
To live a life of non discipleship is not to know that abundance of life that Jesus told us he came to bring.
John10:10, Jesus said of, we the sheep..
GOOD NEWS
I have come in order that you may life - life in all it’s fullness.
NIV
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
And in his commission, if we do the work of discipleship, however costly our commitment may feel, he promises never to abandon us
Matt 28:20
GD NW: And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.
NIV: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
And how does that abundant, ‘God first’ life chime with the sword, not the peace, that Jesus speaks of?
I was trawling the internet as one does from time to time this week and I came across this image.
For the Ghanaians amongst you this is a very familiar sight - it’s the Adinkra symbol for the Gye Nyame and you find it on greetings cards and wrapping paper, on fabric, on the side of tro tros the public mini buses...everywhere.
Now The World Alliance of Reformed Churches 24th General Council took place in 2004 in Accra and the theme for that conference was The Abundant life. In advance of the conference there was a competition held, to come up with a Logo to encapsulate the conference theme. And this was the winning Logo.
At the centre of the logo is an Adinkra symbol known as Gye Nyame. It literally means "except God".
The Gye Nyame represents God as the omnipotent and immortal source of all things.
It comes from the Adinkra proverb that says - the great panorama of creation dates back to time immemorial, no one lives who saw its beginning, no one will live to see its end, - except God".
There was nothing Except God. Without him there was no creation. He is the source of everything.
The sword that Jesus speaks of cuts away all that obscures our vision of our source our creator God .
To live that abundant life we have to return to it’s source, its creator - God.
.
In rigorous discipleship we are cutting away all that obscures our vision of God. Through discipleship we make the Kingdom of God visible, we make God Visible.
Some of you, may like me, have the daily treat of reading from Philip Yancey’s book, Grace Notes.
Well in the entry for 30th September he writes about a young mixed race woman from Cape Town he met in 2004 - Joanna.
Inspired by watching hours of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings on TV with her husband, Joanna wanted to put her own energies into the healing process in post Apartheid South Africa so she
‘decided to tackle the most violent prison in South Africa’
- Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison.
The prison population was controlled by drugs and gangs. To join a gang you had to assault another prisoner as picked out by the gang.
Prison guards left these ‘animals’ as they saw them, to it. Into this Joanna came on a daily basis.
She organised small groups, taught trust games and got prisoners to open up about their damaged childhoods.
The year before Joanna began her visits the prison recorded 279 acts of violence, the next year there were 2.
In her simple message of forgiveness and reconciliation she cut through fear and guilt and judgement, with the sword of her lived discipleship.
When PY met Joanna he says he
‘ pressed her for specifics on what had happened to transform that prison’
Her reply
Well, of course Philip, God was already present in prison. I just had to make him visible
As PY concludes
‘God is present in the most unexpected places. We just need to make God visible’.
In this morning’s passage Jesus paints a picture of costly discipleship, but non discipleship means no abundant life, means no making God visible.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it... He tells his disciples.
Jesus turns everything upside down.
I think of the curtain tearing from top to bottom in the Temple in Jerusalem at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross. In his costliest of sacrifices he tore up the accepted way of faithful living, symbolized for Jews by the Temple, he tore up death’s hold over us.
He calls on us to follow his radical lead back to God to our creator.
There is no way to the Abundant life except through discipleship.
Perhaps the brutality and damage the sword may symbolise for all of us, can also be turned on its head,
if we imagine it cutting through misery, confusion and hopelessness,
a symbol then of ultimate healing through the removal of whatever it is that keeps us away from God,
a healing that we receive in following Christ, healing in His strength, for ourselves and for those we share with.
The words of the song we’ll sing next (The hymn we sang earlier)reflect that yearning to be healed
All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of his mercy
As deep cries out to deep
(Come, those whose joy is morning sun,
And those weeping through the night;
Come, those who tell of battles won,
And those struggling in the fight.
For His perfect love will never change,
And His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all out days
With the certain hope of peace.)
I’m sure that yearning was in the Pollsmoor prisoners who were visited by Joanna and I would suggest that yearning is in all of us here this morning;
a yearning to be healed, to be whole, wholey ourselves , wholey alive to the gifts we have been blessed with.
God is present in the most unexpected places. Even in us ... we are the work of his hand.
Nothing exists except God.
We just need to make God visible, make visible the full Glory of God our creator within us.
Be his disciples, take in that Oxygen of Christ so we are fit to share it with others.
Be disciples, make disciples and everything will follow in God’s strength.
In obedient discipleship
May we lose our old life
and gain Christ’s abundant life.
Amen
posted by Sharren Taylor at 1:26 pm
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