ilovemyumc
Thursday, August 23, 2007
come and see
Make the circle – change the circles
Note the changes to the circle
Natural to us to form inward looking circles. From our childhood, nearly everytime we have formed circles they have been inward looking circles. To form an outward looking circle is a radical idea for many of us. Our inability to even conceive of a different kind of circle should help us understand a major problem in the church today. It is my summation that too many churches are naturally inclined to form inward looking circles. The church, especially so many United Methodist Churches, have become much too fixated on how to save itself rather than saving the world. GBOD reports 47 percent of UMC in the last fours years had no professions of faith in the churches. That means they made no new disciples, baptized no new members of faith. That is perfectly unacceptable.
From the beginning Jesus tried to teach the disciples to form an outward looking circle. Jesus helps them create a group that doesn’t just look in at one another but looks out at the world. And thinks of the world and serves the world and brings things to the worth that they need – an outward looking circle. Jesus’ message of servant hood, suffering, even slavery and death for the sake of others was a very different circle for the disciples to wrap their minds around. Jesus preached that it was only through serving and saving others, focusing on the powerless, the hopeless, and the insignificant that a disciple could truly be called great. You see a truly great disciple, like Jesus himself, would willingly suffer persecution, expect deceit and disloyalty, and know death might be the only reward for all his or her sacrifices.
Facing outward puts a discipleship of service for other face-to-face with the frightening possibilities of rejection, abuse, failure, even death. But facing outward was the discipleship Jesus lived and Jesus taught. Jesus taught that to give up your life is to save it; that the last shall be first and the first last… now those are very different circles.
(pause)
Two times in the Scripture less from the Gospel this morning, the invitation to coime and see was given. First, Jesus was simply walking along while being following by a couple of John’s disciples. Jesus turned to them and they have a discussion. Jesus then makes the offer to come and see.
“Come and see” is a simple invitation, yet one that can be powerful. Jesus knew that if he could get these two men simply to come and see that they would make longer commitments after that. But Jesus also knew that if he invited them to “come” he must have something for them to “see.” Let me say that again. When Jesus invited them to “come” he knew he had something for them to “see.” So these fishermen went along. In another account of this story, it says that the disciples were so excited to leave that they walked off and left their nets to follow him.
But in John’s version, we are not told much about their encounter. It simply says that they went where Jesus was staying and spent the day with them. Now, I wondered what happened. I wonder if Jesus taught them. I wonder if Jesus told them who he was. I wonder if they just sat around and talked about the new season of American Idol or the chances of the Colts winning Superbowl 41. I wonder. Who knows? But whatever Jesus did with them that day it must have been impressive, because the next thing we know Andrew goes and tells his brother Simon that he found the messiah. The Jesus decides to leave Bethany and travel all the way to Galilee. He simply says to them “follow me” and off they go. Wow. Jesus had a tremendous response to his simple yet powerful invitation. All he said to them was: “Come and see” and off they went, leaving behind anything and everything for him.
Again Jesus had something for them to see when they decided to come. And boy did they ever see. They saw Jesus’ ministry of healing, teaching, miracles. He showed them how to be like himself… he showed them how to be a Christian. Now, I think this is very important to any church’s outreach efforts. Before we invite people to “come
Note the changes to the circle
Natural to us to form inward looking circles. From our childhood, nearly everytime we have formed circles they have been inward looking circles. To form an outward looking circle is a radical idea for many of us. Our inability to even conceive of a different kind of circle should help us understand a major problem in the church today. It is my summation that too many churches are naturally inclined to form inward looking circles. The church, especially so many United Methodist Churches, have become much too fixated on how to save itself rather than saving the world. GBOD reports 47 percent of UMC in the last fours years had no professions of faith in the churches. That means they made no new disciples, baptized no new members of faith. That is perfectly unacceptable.
From the beginning Jesus tried to teach the disciples to form an outward looking circle. Jesus helps them create a group that doesn’t just look in at one another but looks out at the world. And thinks of the world and serves the world and brings things to the worth that they need – an outward looking circle. Jesus’ message of servant hood, suffering, even slavery and death for the sake of others was a very different circle for the disciples to wrap their minds around. Jesus preached that it was only through serving and saving others, focusing on the powerless, the hopeless, and the insignificant that a disciple could truly be called great. You see a truly great disciple, like Jesus himself, would willingly suffer persecution, expect deceit and disloyalty, and know death might be the only reward for all his or her sacrifices.
Facing outward puts a discipleship of service for other face-to-face with the frightening possibilities of rejection, abuse, failure, even death. But facing outward was the discipleship Jesus lived and Jesus taught. Jesus taught that to give up your life is to save it; that the last shall be first and the first last… now those are very different circles.
(pause)
Two times in the Scripture less from the Gospel this morning, the invitation to coime and see was given. First, Jesus was simply walking along while being following by a couple of John’s disciples. Jesus turned to them and they have a discussion. Jesus then makes the offer to come and see.
“Come and see” is a simple invitation, yet one that can be powerful. Jesus knew that if he could get these two men simply to come and see that they would make longer commitments after that. But Jesus also knew that if he invited them to “come” he must have something for them to “see.” Let me say that again. When Jesus invited them to “come” he knew he had something for them to “see.” So these fishermen went along. In another account of this story, it says that the disciples were so excited to leave that they walked off and left their nets to follow him.
But in John’s version, we are not told much about their encounter. It simply says that they went where Jesus was staying and spent the day with them. Now, I wondered what happened. I wonder if Jesus taught them. I wonder if Jesus told them who he was. I wonder if they just sat around and talked about the new season of American Idol or the chances of the Colts winning Superbowl 41. I wonder. Who knows? But whatever Jesus did with them that day it must have been impressive, because the next thing we know Andrew goes and tells his brother Simon that he found the messiah. The Jesus decides to leave Bethany and travel all the way to Galilee. He simply says to them “follow me” and off they go. Wow. Jesus had a tremendous response to his simple yet powerful invitation. All he said to them was: “Come and see” and off they went, leaving behind anything and everything for him.
Again Jesus had something for them to see when they decided to come. And boy did they ever see. They saw Jesus’ ministry of healing, teaching, miracles. He showed them how to be like himself… he showed them how to be a Christian. Now, I think this is very important to any church’s outreach efforts. Before we invite people to “come
its a start
I have created this blog just for you. This is my way of expressing my wild and wandering thought for those interested in what goes on inside my head. I claim to have no expertise in writing or typing or thinking or anything for that matter… after all I am a pastor (If I had skills God would have called me to do something else). What I write here is for your consideration and enjoyment. Don’t get too excited. Don’t be the thought police. Don’t pretend to have it all figured out.
We are in this together. We are all struggling to figure out life, love, faith, and God. I am a husband, father, and pastor who believes that Jesus Christ offers us a better way, a better hope. I believe Jesus calls us “to be changed.” Jesus wants us to have life to the full, a life pursuing the calling given us, a life spent doing what Jesus would have us do. When we change our lives to the ways of Christ, the world around us will be changed.
These are my opinions and you can express your opinions in the comments section. I hope you will consider these thoughts and join the discussion.
We are in this together. We are all struggling to figure out life, love, faith, and God. I am a husband, father, and pastor who believes that Jesus Christ offers us a better way, a better hope. I believe Jesus calls us “to be changed.” Jesus wants us to have life to the full, a life pursuing the calling given us, a life spent doing what Jesus would have us do. When we change our lives to the ways of Christ, the world around us will be changed.
These are my opinions and you can express your opinions in the comments section. I hope you will consider these thoughts and join the discussion.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
tesing again
yep another test blog
