A large cruise ship is capsized in the Mediterranean sea. Thousands were rescued, but some died. The captain will be punished for abandoning ship. Some vacation. I’ve never been on a cruise. Don’t think I’m going to book one anytime soon. Sorry honey. We’re landlubbers. And we are religious people. We have a routine we follow. We adopted it from our predecessors. We revise it a little, but mostly do what has been done. Sunday morning is church time. We gather for worship. We pray and sing, listen and confess, sit and stand, eat and drink, give and receive. We pass the peace and reconnect : with each other, with God. We come here. What we do here is good. Were it not good, who would come? Admittedly, sometimes we come because of an obligation. Ah man, do I have to go today? Yes dear , you’re the preacher. Sometimes being faithful here feels lonely, like being the only tourist in a small foreign village. But we come because this is the container of our religious lives. An upside down ship, a nave. The church keeps us together, shelters us from the storms. It is safe here. We are safe with God contained in this room. This is our boat.
So, why don’t more people come to church? Why is it so hard to be faithful today? Why have so many gone ashore and left us adrift? How do we get more people to come and see what’s happening here? I have suggested that we can never be entertaining or attractional enough, because we are not marketing or selling ourselves or anything else here. We are not going to package our message in a hip modern, contemporary relevant cool worship show because that is not who we are. So what do we do? Stay put until we die? The mainline church continues to shrink at an alarming rate in the US. Leaving a church, not joining a church, seems to be the direction of many Americans. So how do we reverse the trend at Zion Lutheran on Main St. in Akron? We know that our demographics, though typical, are not promising. I am not the answer man, but I have been appointed the pastor, prophet, evangelist, and teacher in this place. I am at least a couple of those things. I have learned that what I am is not what some church people expect or need from their pastor. I am sorry when I am not.
I am interested in the call of discipleship in the 21st century. Meaning, what does it mean to be a practicing follower of Jesus Christ here and now? What are we supposed to be about? What makes up the DNA of a disciple? If a function of dna is multiplication or replication how is the Spirit of Jesus replicated in us and how do we share His Spirit with others so that they might become disciples too? I am convinced that somewhere the church replaced discipleship with membership, forgot the message and the mission, and essentially became something quite different from the church that he intended. Nevertheless, God blessed and blesses church. So my question is what is a disciple of Jesus, and if I am one, what does that mean for me? Disciples are: believers. Obedient. Servants. Doubters. Worshipers. Messengers. Healers. Students. Teachers. Men. Women. Children. Thankful. Bold. Talented. Hopeful. Praying. Giving. Forgiven. Compassionate. In the bible, faithfulness is never private, though it is always personal. God calls disciples to bring about social and personal change in the world by taking up a new way of life, a new assignment, a holy mission. The people whom God chooses to speak and act on God’s behalf are neither the most gifted, the most eager, or the most trustworthy. But they are chosen, called and sent.
The book of Jonah is the story of someone who rejects God’s calling because he does not want to be part of a story that involves forgiveness and merciful acceptance of Israel’s political enemy. The Assyrians are feared and hated by the Israelis. Jonah refuses to obey God and go to Ninevah, Assyria. He is unwilling to tell the people he hates that they are doomed. He is reluctant because he knows God’s strategy: Send the prophet to announce their political demise; wait; if they receive the message and change their hearts and behavior, refrain from punishing them. Show mercy. Bless them. And Jonah is not interested in showing mercy. He is interested in judgment that incurs punishment. Unless of course he is the one being judged or punished. God’s goodness is always greater than we hope it will be. We say an eye for an eye is just. But God ends vengeful violence through showing mercy. As a result, everything changes. Global peace is possible, when mercy is extended and hatred is reversed.Everyone changes in the story: A reluctant prophet abandons ship and changes course. A violent foreign nation changes their belief and their behavior. God changes his mind too, choosing mercy over punishment. As a result, everyone is saved. The weak, half hearted announcement of a reluctant prophet is enough to spark a social revolution, in which massive political and social change occurs. One person with a single message. It is the Ninevites, however, that reveal the dna of discipleship: Repentance. Disciples encounter God and everything changes.
On his first preaching tour Jesus says: “Change everything, reverse course, for God is now in command.” Radical reorientation is required because God is in charge; the reign of sin, death, evil, terror, hatred, violence, greed, lust, etc…is no longer driving the world’s destiny. We are not going to hell in a handbasket. Four people abandon their boats because of that man’s simple message. They just get up and go. Disciples abandon their way for Jesus’ way. They take action. They move. I want to be more like the four fishermen, who leave their nets; than the one swallowed by a fish. I want to be like those who were God’s enemies who become God’s sons. I want to be devoted to someone who devoted His life to me, to the world’s future. I want to devote myself to things that bring hope and health and joy and love into people’s lives. Disciples make disciples because they live like everything has changed. No longer afraid, threatened, powerless, we see life from the point of view of one who died and lives forever. Disciples confront the powers that claim godlike status over us. We confront oppressors, persecutors, haters, perpetrators of injustice, violence, and greed. Disciples worship the one who set us free from sin and called us to bear the light of God’s power and love into the darkness of people’s lives. In the year ahead, I am devoting myself to the mission of a disciple…to follow Jesus closely and to invite others to become his disciples too. It begins by abandoning ship. Maybe the vessel that contains our religion, our church, our notions about God are too small. Maybe its time for something bigger, like the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come near. Let it be so in our lives and in the lives of those we serve. Amen.
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