Out among the sheep

“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Matthew 25:31-46, The Message

On the first Sunday of Advent, I showed a movie at the weekly gathering of our fellowship (see Problem or Opportunity?) Martin the Cobbler is a claymation classic based on Leo Tolstoy's short story Where Love Is, God Is There Also wonderfully narrated by his daughter, Alexandra. It's a simple tale of a lonely old man who wiles away the hours of his day in his little basement workshop. Life has been unkind to Martin and when a priest asks him to repair the binding of his Bible he at first declines as “the Lord and I have not been getting along of late.” At the priest's persistence, however, he agrees to the task and finds himself drawn to the reading of Scripture time and again. As he dozes one afternoon he has a dream in which he is certain the Lord tells him that he will visit him the following day.

During that day he is visited but not by the Lord Jesus. Instead, five unexpected guests come to call – the old man whose job is to shovel the snow from the walk, a poor young woman and her infant child and an old woman and a young boy who has tried to steal an apple from her basket. In each case, Martin welcomes his guests by offering a small gift – hot tea to drink for the old shoveler, a warm shawl for the shoulders of the poor woman and kindly words to the old woman who is irate with the young boy for his attempted thievery. They are simple acts of kindness offered to those in need. At the end of the day, however, Martin is disappointed as the Lord did not show up as he had expected. He then has a vision of sorts of each of his guests and hears the Lord say, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25). After all is said and done he is reminded that his dream had, in fact, been fulfilled and his Savior had truly called on him three times that day and each time he had received him.

The lesson is clear: go and do likewise. The interruptions that come our way in our hurry to get to church or get to class or get to work may, in fact, be golden opportunities to minister to the Lord Jesus. As Mother Teresa once prayed, “Dearest Lord, may I see you today and every day in the person of your sick, and whilst nursing them, minister unto you.” I don't think this isn't anything we haven't heard before. But hearing and doing often don't go together. We know these things but too often are inconvenienced or a bit miffed at the prospect of getting involved in someone else's trouble. It's why it's good to be reminded of this simple yet profound truth from time to time.

The "Giving Tree"

This past Advent season, some disciples of Jesus I know who are part of Refuge did minister to the Savior in simple and practical ways. One spent several nights working on the car of a guy in our midst recently released from prison. I know of another who felt inspired to make three quilts for the individuals she trusted the Lord would lead her to – and did. Each quilt was carefully and painstakingly made and then prayed over before they were gifted to their recipient. One makes a habit of taking his guitar to a local retail store every year and sing Christmas carols while manning a bucket for the Salvation Army. A number of us made or bought pies and then served them to the residents of our local nursing home. A handful of us banded together with a few others from two other fellowships and bought hot chocolate, candy canes, Christmas cards and

personal care products for the gift sacks we annually put together for the inmates at the county jail. Still others bought gifts of food and clothing for a young mother of three we know of presently going through a divorce and delivered them to her much to her joy. A farewell dinner was thrown for the Belizean men who live in our town who were about to return to their families. And these are just the ones I know about. As a rule, most people I know don't blow their own horn about things like this.

Loading the sacks

I'm not bragging about our good deeds. I'm sure that in Christian fellowships all around similar things are done in the name of the Lord Jesus at this time of year. I'm just proud and thankful to be identified with people such as these, servants of God and sheep of His pasture. As Mother Teresa reminds us, in the end “we can do no great things; just simple things with great love” demonstrating once again that we belong to him.

Sheep from three different flocks but from the same fold

Following Jesus

The more I drive over to the Justice Center, the more I ask myself (and anyone who happens to be within earshot), “What does it mean to be a Christian?” I was discipled in an environment that laid a lot of emphases in praying a certain prayer in order to be “saved.” But the reality is that a lot of people have prayed that prayer – and often on more than one occasion but they lead lives that do not always reflect that a life-changing transaction has taken place. True, only God knows the motives of the human heart and no one is perfect. But as Paul pointed out, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone and the new is come” (2 Corinthians 5). So what does it mean when someone says they have prayed that “prayer” but the new life promised to those “in Christ” seems to drag behind?

Recently I read a book handed to me by a friend that he had found personally challenging. The Jesus Mission by Steven K. Scott. It's a book designed for someone looking for answers or for someone who is dissatisfied with their present walk with Christ (i.e., they are dissatisfied in that they are asking themselves, "Is this all there is?). As Scott sees it, Jesus came to earth to accomplish 27 separate missions (and did so) and assigns each and every one of us four of our own. The first being, To become more intimate with God.

Writes Scott,

“What would happen if, instead of inviting people to pray a prayer to receive Christ, we invited them to become followers of Jesus Christ? After all, that was how Jesus called His first disciples. He did not ask two fishermen named Peter and Andrew or a tax collector named Matthew or countless others to recite a prayer. He invited them to follow Him. Those who accepted His invitation did so at great personal cost.” (p. 107)

Of course, it works...but what does it mean?

Who can argue with that? As I reflect on the Gospels never in any of his teaching sessions does Jesus wrap the gathering up asking everyone to bow their head, close their eyes and raise their hand if they are interested in becoming one of his disciples. No, he was far more direct and he wasn't afraid of making someone feel uncomfortable when he did so. He extended the invitation personally and in at least a few cases, when the person balked, he didn't say, “That's okay. Perhaps another time.” Rather, he scolded them. To the guy who asked for time to go home and accomplish the days of mourning for his father, Jesus replied, “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” (Luke 9:60, Msg) In my mind how I imagine conversations like these went down is that as he traveled about Galilee preaching and teaching some were far more intrigued than others (based on the principles found in the Parable of the Sower). Their interest was piqued or they found themselves moved at what he was saying about the Kingdom of God. And then, as they pondered the things they had just heard, he would pounce cat-like: “Follow me.”

While theologically speaking we could say that those who accepted his invitation settled the fate of their eternal soul, at the moment it was their here-and-now life that changed radically. To be a follower of this rabbi was to sign on to a life that required you to sell out completely. No half measures were allowed nor tolerated.

In Matthew's account of the sending out of the Twelve, Jesus puts it to them this way:

“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.” (Matthew 10:34-39, Msg) 

Of this charge, Scott says,

So you might ask, “How could such a life be glorious and joy producing?” Here is how. First, when you realize you have no rights, you lose your expectations. Self-directed expectations and an entitlement mentality are the enemies of happiness. They make it impossible to be grateful, and gratefulness is the source of happiness. At the same time, when you have no rights or expectations, you are grateful for everything that God provides. Also, by dying to self and to your rights, you enter into a bond of intimacy with our Savior that provides joy that is not dependent on other people or circumstances. The “streams of living water” begin to flow from your innermost being, as Jesus promised in John 7:38. (p. 110)

It's an exchange, Jesus says. In laying down my life, surrendering to his leadership and rule, I find a freedom that the life I'm living now does not have now nor can ever have. At different times during my walk with God since becoming one of his disciples in 1980, I have wrestled either with a sense of entitlement (i.e., that God somehow owes me something because I said “yes” to him or signed on to be one of his under-shepherds) or dissatisfaction at the outcome of my career choice (i.e., small church and corresponding small income.) But in saner moments I recognize that these attitudes reflect just how much 'world' remains in me, indirectly bargaining with the Almighty to let me off easy, to give me eternal life as well as all the trappings that make one a success in this life. I'm glad he doesn't give me what I sometimes crave, recognition and prestige, fame and fortune. Instead, he gives me bread that satisfies – hearth and home, kith and kin, faith and fellowship – and it is enough.

Now I am the one making the appeals to follow Jesus whether it's to the Justice Center crowd or kids at the mid-week youth gathering or folks at Refuge. A long time ago I gave up giving the pitch – the “bow-your-head, close-your-eyes, no-one-looking-around” command followed by “the-raise-your-hand-if-you-want-to-become-a-Christian” one. Primarily it's a matter of logistics. When you're speaking to the same folks week in and week out you pretty much know who's in and who's not. But there's an evangelist who visits our place every six months who does this and every time there are those who follow suit, raise their hand and pray the corporate prayer we are all instructed to pray. To him, he takes it as he sees it – people who are getting saved. But to me, it's only an indicator that the waters are being stirred and perhaps this is the night that this person does decide to lay down his life-agenda before the Lord who calls him to do just this.

Last Wednesday night we heard a teaching at Focus, the youth gathering held at Refuge every Wednesday night, that was presented at the Onething Conference in Kansas City this past December by Misty Edwards. It was a message based on Matthew 11:28-30 and as she aptly put it, the invitation to throw off the heavy yoke we find upon ourselves does not mean an invitation to go unyoked. We will be yoked to someone but his yoke is supremely easier than any others we may otherwise choose. It made me think of Bob Dylan's classic song during his Christian phase,

Bobby is so right...I wish he had stayed the course

Might be a rock'n' roll adict prancing on the stage
Might have money and drugs at your commands, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Of the passage in Matthew 11 Scott says,

Here, Jesus invites us to come alongside Him and to bind ourselves to Him rather than following behind. When two oxen were hitched or yolked together, one served in the dominant role and would carry the bulk of the load, while the other would balance the load. Here the Lord tells us that when we are yoked to Him, He will do the heavy work while we walk with Him. As we walk alongside Him, He will accomplish His work through us. He becomes our partner, to empower us to do that which would otherwise be impossible for us to do! (p. 111)

As all of us who have been at this for any length of time already know this is easier said than done. For me, there's just too much of my own ideas still rolling about in me, or a tendency to want to shoulder the bulk of the load instead of just doing my part of the work. A little less than two years ago, I met a guy at the JC who eventually I had the honor to pray with to receive Jesus. I've written several posts about him since. This Saturday night we're beginning a Bible study in his home with his wife, Marie, and a few other folks from their neighborhood that I'm entitling “Following Jesus: What it means to be a disciple of Jesus.” I'm sincerely hoping that not only will we enjoy fellowshipping together at Troy & Marie's home but we will also be sincerely challenged to examine our lives to see if, indeed, we are really following him or just thinking we are because we go to church every Sunday. 

 

Becoming people of the Way

“God places lonely people in families. He leads prisoners out of prison into productive lives, but rebellious people must live in an unproductive land.” Psalm 68:6, GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

Some happenings lately in the lives of a few of the folks who make up our fellowship have caused me to think on the meaning of discipleship once again (see “The Essence of Discipleship” 3/9/11). And for that matter, the meaning of “church” altogether. I choose to name them by their real names not because I speak for them but because I am glad they are a part of us and see the character of Jesus being formed in them. If they happen to read this and take offense at the manner in which I describe them, I hope they realize how much we don't see them as problems to be fixed but opportunities for all of us to grow in the grace of God.

Samantha is a 19-year-old girl in our midst who is pregnant. Unexpectedly, her mother died last summer and while she has a relationship with her father, he doesn't live anywhere near here. In some real way, she is an orphan alone in this world. A year ago in June she excitedly headed on down the road to Kansas City with the intent of getting a job and eventually doing an internship at the International House of Prayer there. But life interrupted. Like Abram who found himself in the midst of a famine in the promised land, she took a detour and...well...soon she'll be a mommy. At this point in time, she intends on keeping the baby – a brave choice for one so young and so alone. Sure she gets WIC now and has access to whatever else the State of Wisconsin provides for young women in just her circumstance. But Sam needs way more than social welfare – she needs a family. And Rick and Sandy are just that family. The Lamberts, also members of The Refuge, have graciously opened up their home to Sam so that in the short term she has a safe place to roost. It certainly helps that they love her and that she's best buds with Sarah, their 18-year-old daughter. But key in this move is that Rick and Sandy aren't trying to “fix” Sam – there's just making room for her in their family and giving Sam the opportunity to respond to whatever the Holy Spirit's agenda in her life at the present time may be.

A few years ago, Brianna, a young 20-something blew into our fellowship like a Nor'easter and quickly endeared herself to a lot of us. With her thick New England accent and her straightforward way of dealing with people it was clear she was not from around here. Ostensibly, she came to live with a former childhood friend and her husband, but in reality she was at a point in her life where she didn't know what else to do. Her mother lives in Massachusetts and she has no relationship with her father. When after a few months her friend and her husband decided to move back East, Brianna did not have the inclination to join them. She chose to stay on and for the last year and a half has been sharing a house with yet another young woman from our fellowship. But a few months back she lost her full time job and while soon after found part-time employment as a hostess at a local restaurant it has been difficult to find another gig to supplement her income. And certainly it isn't because she hasn't tried. Since she can no longer afford even the minimal rent she pays for her room at the house down the street from us, what is a girl in her situation to do? If you're from Barron County, the norm seems to be that if you can't find a roomie you “hook up” with some guy for a less than chaste domestic partnership or, in the summer months, you live in your car. But neither of those solutions are viable, especially if, like Brianna, she is a disciple of Jesus. A week or so ago, Linda and I approached Brianna and invited her to live with us until she can get back on her feet. But we made it clear that we didn't want our home to be a flop house; rather, we want her to join our family for a season and enter into the rhythms of our household. She moves in on Friday. We expect it to be a temporary solution until her economic situation improves but we love this girl and at the moment have an open room and a willingness to open our home to her.

The other day, Linda and I were reflecting about how many pseudo-orphans we have collected at Refuge at the present time: Samantha, Brianna, Shelby (her father passed away a few months ago and her mother has been deceased for some time now; she's 21 years old). Pity won't help them. And neither do they want it. Thinking out loud, Linda remarked, “I wish we had a house where they all could live...” But my response is we don't need a home; we just need to open our home and make room in our lives for them to move into. Of course, not everyone is in a place where they can just throw the door open to the stranger in our midst and wisdom would counsel discernment. But real discipleship cannot be accomplished in a classroom through the transference of knowledge alone or in a small group experience in and of itself. Having either participated in or facilitated several Alpha courses in the past I can say with some authority that the teaching, as well presented as it is, doesn't “seal the deal” nor does successfully completing a course make one qualified to be considered a disciple. No, we become people of the Way (as it once was called) through the love and care of others who are willing to get involved in our often messy lives when we are raw and, spiritually speaking, in process. A convert can be made via short wave radio or through the efforts of a televangelist. But disciples are birthed and mentored by caring people who understand that babies do not become adults over the course of a few months but over years of steady love and nurture. Which is why I don't get too excited anymore over an altar full of people responding to a gospel message. Obviously, it's an awesome thing when someone “crosses over” from being a resident of this world to becoming a citizen of heaven. But without nurture, without care – and careful care at that – how apt is that convert to grow up into becoming a servant of Jesus marked with the love of God? My answer is not as many who have gone forward or prayed some kind of sinner's prayer found in a gospel tract.

“You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5

“We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.”

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8

“With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.” 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

All passages from The Message

The essence of discipleship



YWAM Baguio

 "He appointed twelve...that they might be with him..." (Mark 3:14, NIV)

A month or so ago, at the regular gathering of the deacons of our fellowship, our conversation centered on addressing a certain leadership issue affecting our congregation. At the present time, other than myself Refuge has only one elder and our discussion that evening focused on how it is we grow that circle? "How do we disciple new or up and coming elders?" was the essence of the question. In the days following our gathering, I thought on that question a lot and then it occurred to me how we "do it" at Refuge at the present time. New leaders - be they deacons, elders or ministry coordinators - are groomed and fashioned by being  in relationship with the leadership circle that is presently in place. At Refuge, the Deacons meet monthly to address matters of a practical nature of our fellowship and then later in the month Troy (our elder), the deacons and various individuals who are releasing or overseeing ministry and myself gather together to nurture and pray for one another and the fellowship we are a part of. Both gatherings are necessary. In fact, the "nurture gathering" is more important than the "business" meeting for if relationships are messy it is difficult to do the business of the fellowship. This is "discipleship" Refuge-style: relationship, care, nurture and ministry together be it the weekly worship gathering, the Service of Healing, the weekly gathering of The Focus or any other ministry venture we may be a part of.

In that monthly nurture gathering, more and more of which are held in someone's home, we pray for one another, encourage one another, speak prophetically into each other's life and generally strengthen each other in the work that affects us all. It's in this way that we mentor each other in what it means to walk in the Jesus-way. It's not a linear educational process. It's more "caught" than taught, as it were.  I don't usually do any teaching (maybe I should) but in our sharing we usually "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Heb 10:24) and encourage each other in this walk that he calls us to. It's not didactic. It's not "Me teach. You listen." It's not classroom work but it is a classroom of sorts. And in that circle of individuals we begin to recognize giftings and affirm each other in the pursuit of sharing those giftings so all may be blessed. Over time, love and trust develop and when those two factors are at work, congregational health is generated. Of course, it's not a perfect structure. It has it's shortcomings. But it's the one that we are employing currently to grow and "vet" new leaders.

Jesus called and invited twelve individuals to "be with him." He was their rabbi but his rabbinic school was a mobile one - in fact, they never knew where they were going to be from day to day. On one day he told them that they had to pile into a boat, cross the Sea of Galilee, endure a sudden squall and, once on the other side, have a power encounter that made them all sit up and take notice. But when it was all over, they didn't set up shop and begin a ministry outreach center called Eastern Shore. Nope, they piled in the boat and went back. "Here endeth the lesson." This was his way. "Follow me" was more than an invitation; it was the essence of his school. He "went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness" (Matt 9:35) and within a prayer, he was commissioning those he had gathered around him to go out and do what they had seen him do (Matt 10). He was very consciously and intentionally schooling them in his way, the way by which the Father wants to bring blessing to all the peoples of the earth. It is about knowing right doctrine. But it's equally about knowing and comprehending his heart for others as knowledge alone - even biblical knowledge - is inadequate.



Duane with some of his current students

 Duane & Lois have invited me to spend a week with their students here in Baguio City, Philippines, teaching on these things and reflecting on the meaning of "lifestyle" evangelism. I don't know what they're getting out of it but for me it's an opportunity to be with some very eager students who are highly motivated to know God and make Him known and in the process know Him better myself. It's a long way around the block (something like a 17,000 mile walk) to learn something (or be reminded of it) but it gives me greater focus of what I am supposed to be doing back in Chetek. One thing is for sure: being around Duane is like being around a master discipler who over time has mentored pastors, church planters, evangelists and disciples of Jesus Christ as he is in relationship with them.  Here (along with his wife, Lois) are world-changers humbling going about their work and blessing the nations as they do so.