Reboot Disciples
November 7, 2021
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Anyone ever asked you that? Now some people may ask you if you believe in God or if you are a Christian. Others may ask you if you are a church going person. And if they’re really bold someone may ask you: “Do you know the Lord?” That’s the question I ask when I sense I’m talking to a person who seems to have a faith in Jesus. But I’ve never asked anyone specifically if they are a disciple of Jesus. Until now. Why? Why would I ask you if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ? Well, I’ll give you three reasons:
First, when Jesus came to live among us His number one mission apart from giving His life for us on the cross, was to make disciples who would continue His mission after He was gone. Making disciples has always been the main mission of Jesus’ Church.
Second, when a Church abandon’s it’s mission of making disciples who make disciples, in every single case, they plateau and die. And the reason they die is that they are no longer fulfilling God’s purpose for His people.
And thirdly: If God’s people as a whole abandon Christ’s mission to make disciples who make disciples – then the work of Jesus Christ in our world will cease to exist.
So, let me ask the question again: Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Are you an apprentice in His way of living? Are you intentionally living your life as His student so He can change your life to be like His? Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?
That’s what we’re going to answer today from God’s Word. We’re going to look at Our Calling as Jesus’ Disciples and look specifically at three things that always characterize those who follow Jesus. But before we do that, I want to remind you of our definition of a disciple of Jesus. It’s taken from Mark 1:17, where Jesus calls some ordinary men to be his disciples. ”Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Our definition of a disciple is this: A disciple is a follower of Jesus, who is being changed by Jesus and is living on mission with Jesus. Another way of saying this is that a disciple of Jesus is fully devoted to Jesus. That is, you have become convinced that there’s no one like Jesus. You now believe that salvation is found in no one else. You not only trust that He died for your sins. But you have turned from your sins to follow Jesus, not just because He forgave you but you now trust Him to call the shots in your life. You’re devoted to Jesus because He loved you and now you love Him and want what He wants for your life. You believe He has not only given you eternal life, but that He can transform your life. You believe that in following Him you can become like Him. And part of learning to become like him means making His mission your mission. And if that’s your experience with Jesus it is safe to say that you are a fully devoted disciple of Jesus.
But the question remains. What is it that Jesus wants you to do with your life as His devoted follower? What does a disciple do? Well, that’s what we’re going to look at now from three different passages. In each of these passages, God’s Word reveals one thing every disciple does. There are more than just these three actions, but these three are the most identifiable characteristics of a fully devoted disciple of Jesus. And the first characteristic is this:
Disciples Learn from Jesus We saw this last week when we unpacked Matthew 11:28-30, but it bears repeating. Jesus says,“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Did you know that the literal translation of the Greek word for “disciple” means “leaner”? At the heart of every devoted follower of Jesus is the desire to learn from Jesus. And Jesus wants us to learn who He is at the core of His being – what makes Him tick; what He is all about. Jesus is gentle and humble of heart. So, a disciple of Jesus wants Jesus to transform his or her heart to become like His. A disciple of Jesus wants to learn how to live and love like Jesus. We want to learn His compassion for the hurting. We want to learn His love for the unlovely. We want to learn His gentleness for broken sinners who disappoint us, discourage us, and frustrate us. We want Jesus to transform our hearts so we might think and respond to broken people like He does. This is the work I want God to do in my heart. I want to be gentle and lowly like Jesus.
And the good news is that Jesus wants to help anyone who comes to Him to become like Him: to love like Him, serve like Him, include like Him. He wants to restore your heart that’s been damaged by sin, so you are no longer selfish, discriminating or controlling. He wants to rid you of malice and envy, pride and judgment. Those are some of the attitudes that hinder us from loving like Jesus loves. So He wants us to learn what He is like. For example: What did Jesus do when he saw the unclean? Did he avoid them? No, when he saw their misery he was filled with compassion for them. And this flooding of compassion moved Jesus toward them. He spent time with them. He touched them. He acknowledged their value as humans created by Him. And as He touched them, Jesus did not become unclean. Rather, the sinner became clean. His love restored those who had been damaged by sin.
That’s the heart Jesus wants us to learn from. A heart that carries burdens, that’s moved with compassion, a heart that gives mercy, a heart that loves you at your worst. And if you are a disciple of Jesus, you want this heart in you. You want to learn from Jesus to love like Him.
And so, the good news is that Jesus gives us at least four ways He helps to transform our hearts. First, He gives you Himself. When you follow Jesus, you get a relationship with Jesus. You get to walk with Jesus, learn His will, and see who how He loves. This is why we encourage every Journey Group to read the Gospels of Jesus Christ together.
For as they do, they get to see the joy of Jesus, the mercy of Jesus and the grace of Jesus and learn His heart. You see, the Father gave us Jesus, not just to show us what the Father is like, but also to show us what a human fully devoted to God can be. Jonathan Edwards, the famous preacher of the great awakening said this about learning from Christ: “Everything that is lovely in God is in Christ, and everything that is or can be lovely in any man is in him; for he is man as well as God, and he is the holiest, meekest, most humble, and every way the most excellent man that ever was.” So when we keep our eyes on Jesus, stay close to Him, and learn to obey Him, not only will He reveal Himself more and more to us, He begins to restore our hearts to be like His. Jesus gives you Himself so you can learn His heart.
Secondly, He gives you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only comes to live in you when you trust in Jesus, but He is the One who helps you comprehend Christ. Jesus said of him, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26. Paul says this of the work of the Holy Spirit in us: No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 2 Corinthians 2:11-12 So then, Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit to teach you and help you understand and know Jesus. And Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to anyone who believes in Him. That’s incredible. For that means anyone who wants to follow Jesus can learn His heart, can learn His will, can learn His ways. The Holy Spirit then, helps us learn from Jesus.
Thirdly, He gives you the living Word of God God’s Word is alive. The Bible says, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 This is why we preach the Word of God. This is why we encourage you to study God’s Word with others in a Journey Group. This is why we are memorizing God’s Word together. For the Word of God reveals the heart of God and the heart of God is wrapped up in Jesus
Finally, He gives you God’s family to teach you: As Paul writes in Colossians: Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16 God has designed His Church so that the Holy Spirit helps you learn about Jesus through the lives of other believers. For the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about reconciliation, inclusivity, mercy and love worked out in the context of relationships in God’s family. God put us together so might learn from Jesus how to love one another deeply from the heart. Disciples learn from Jesus. But they learn best from Jesus when we are learning with one another. Now let me ask you: are you taking advantage of all He gives you to learn from Him?
Disciples Learn from Jesus. But that’s not all. The next characteristic of a fully devoted disciple is this:
Disciples Love like Jesus “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 Jesus says here, that when we love one another, everyone will know we are His disciples. So, Jesus makes it quite clear what we are to do as His disciples. The defining characteristic of a disciple is to love one another as Jesus has loved us.
So how did Jesus love his disciples? In this context we know that Jesus had just shown them the full extent of His love by washing their feet. This was an example of how far one should go in serving his brother or sister in Christ. When the disciples entered the upper room they knew they were about to share a Passover meal with Jesus. But first, the filth of the road must be washed away before they can enjoy this fellowship. However, there is no servant of the house there to wash their feet. And none of them is willing to stoop down and take this task upon himself. That is, until Jesus kneels down and washes their feet. So, loving one another as Jesus loved us, means humbling ourselves like Jesus and doing for one another what no one else would do.
But Jesus’ washing their feet was really a parable of what he was about to do at the cross. He was going to love them fully by washing away their sin through his sacrifice. They didn’t realize it at the time. But that’s how Jesus loves us. Love seeks our best regardless of the cost or consequences to oneself. This is how Jesus loved us. He laid down His life for you to bring you to God. He suffered the worst so you could have what is best. And when we love one another in the same way, we show the world, that we are fully devoted to Jesus… In other words, when we set self aside to help the helpless; when we set aside pride to love someone who is dirty or disgusting in the eyes of the world, when we forgive rather than seek revenge; when we include those who are not like us; we love like Jesus loved us. And when we do that for one another we show the world we are disciples of Jesus.
In his book, Love Beyond Reason, John Ortberg gives us a specific application of Jesus’ love for us. He says, “The work of love is the work of paying attention. Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers.” And then love does! On the positive side of love, we pay attention to what’s important to a person. When’s her birthday? What kind of coffee does he like? What encourages him? What makes her smile? On the negative side, when we pay attention to what a brother or sister struggles with. We ask ourselves: What frustrates him? What makes her angry? What’s behind his complaint or her worries? Love is often in the details. If we are to love as Christ loved us , what we really need to learn is how to pay attention to people who are near us. We need to listen their stories. We need to note their struggles. We need to learn their hearts. Then we can take action, initiate kindness, give help… wash their feet, so to speak. But here’s the deal. We can’t do any of that if we don’t rub shoulders with one another. We can’t do that if we don’t take time to build relationships with one another. This is another reason why it’s our desire to help you connect with others in a Journey Group. For when you gather with others who want to learn from Jesus, it doesn’t take too long before others learn about you, and you about them. And when you start learning about the needs of others, chances are God will give you the opportunity to love them.
This is how Jesus lived among us. He paid attention. He noticed people… all the time. He noticed Zacchaeus in a tree and invited himself to dinner that very night. He saw a lame man by the pool who had no one to help him into the waters, and he asked him if he wanted to be helped. And when he said, “yes,” Jesus didn’t just help him, he healed him. On another occasion, Jesus saw Matthew sitting alone his in a tax-collectors booth, approached him and said to him, “Follow me.” Jesus noticed rejection. Jesus noticed suffering. Jesus noticed the lonely. Jesus noticed dirty feet and then he acted. And he says, when we do that for one another, then everyone will know that we are His disciples.
So let me ask you: How’s your love life? Are you connected with other believers who could use the love of Jesus from you? If you’re not in a Journey Group, you are missing out an opportunity to love others as Jesus has loved you. There’s someone in this church who needs YOUR encouragement. There’s someone here who could use YOUR friendship. And at the same time, there may be someone out there who’s ready to help carry your burden, who God wants to use to love you with the love of Jesus!
Can you imagine what God might do, if we made Christ’s love for us a priority in our Church? Maybe it’s time we got more intentional about loving one another. Maybe it’s time you looked at your schedule to find a way to include someone new in your life. There are new people moving to the Ranch every day. Maybe God would have you initiate a new friendship, invite a new person to lunch after Church. Or maybe God would have you invest a little deeper into the relationships He’s already given you. Every one of us can use encouragement. Every one of us could use someone praying for us. Every one of us would appreciate the blessing of another’s undivided attention and listening love. All I know, is that the more I learn Jesus’ heart for me, the more I want to share His heart for others. And that means getting out of my comfort zone, taking a risk and initiating friendship. How about you?
Do you want to love others as Jesus has loved you? Maybe that means getting involved with a Journey Group for the first time. Maybe it means letting down your guard and sharing a burden. Maybe it means asking a friend if they could use your help, your prayers, or your presence. All I know is that if what Jesus says here is true, then I can’t keep the love He has for me to myself. I need to love you like Jesus loves me. For that’s what Jesus says disciples do. Disciples love like Jesus!
Then, as we are learning Jesus’ heart, and beginning to love as Jesus has loved us, He makes us ready to do one more thing. He prepares us to join Him in His work in the world. He prepares us to join Him in his mission of making disciples of all people. That’s the third thing disciples do: Disciples Make Disciples of Jesus! Jesus couldn’t have said it any clearer than when He said, “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.” Matthew 28:19-20
This is what Jesus commands His disciples to do. We are commanded to make disciples of all people. This is what Jesus came to do. He came to make disciples of Himself, so that when He went to be with His Father in heaven, his disciples would take up His mission. This is why we are here today because they were faithful to their mission. And the next generation was faithful to their mission. And we are no different than any generation who has been entrusted with this same mission.
Just as Jesus command us to come to Him, learn from Him, and love like Him; He commands us to go and help others come to Him, learn from Him and love like Him. This is not something we have to do; it’s the greatest privilege of our lives.
Jesus wants us to participate in His mission. Jesus wants you to participate with Him in His mission. That’s why He said to His disciples in the upper room, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21 This is Jesus’ invitation to us to extend His mercy, grace and love to our broken world. I love how the South African missiologist David Bosch says it: “To participate in the mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is the foundation of sending love.”
The Father sent Jesus to us, so we might know the Father’s love for us. Now Jesus sends us so we can join Him in bringing the Father’s love to all nations. That’s His promise. Jesus promises to be with us as we go and make disciples. AS we go across the room, as we go across the street, as we go across the pickleball court, as we go across town, and as we go across the desert to places like Ocean Beach, Jesus promises His presence, His power and His love as we seek to finish His mission with Him. So as long as there are people, tongues, tribes or nations who have not come to Jesus, then Jesus still has work for us to do with Him.
But it all begins by being His disciple: learning His heart, loving one another, and then joining Him to help others come to Him, learn from him, and love like Him. This is our mission. We get to partner with Jesus to bring life, hope and love to a lost and broken world. That’s what disciples do. And that’s what He promises to help us do, if we follow Him as His disciples…
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