Be with Jesus - Part 1

Deeply Rooted:

Both Pastors Tim and Hannah recently have spoken to a three year journey we are calling - Deeply Rooted. The central verse to this discipleship journey is found in Jeremiah 17:7–8 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

Why are we doing this? Much preaching of the gospel today does not call people to a life of discipleship. Following Jesus is seen as optional - a post conversion / after salvation - “enhanced track” for the more serious people who want to further.

John Mark Comer says, “Tragically, this has created a two-tier church, where a large swath of people who believe in God and even regularly attend church have not re-architected their daily lives on the foundations of apprenticeship to Jesus.”

l am thankful for the word we received last week. Pastor Hannah kicked off our new series - Apprentices of Jesus. Hannah talked about God calling us to living a deeper life in Him.

I am hoping that this series challenges us at the core of who we are as followers of Christ.

What will this look like for our church?

The plan is to focus on a spiritual practice every four months. It takes time to build habits - especially habits that will require you to put to death your flesh. To re-architect your life requires…time…space to try…increased desire…we don’t want any of these practices to be done hastily.

The practicing the way will come with scripture reading, books, a companion guide, small group discussions, podcasts, and other ways to understand, grow, and be transformed.

You can go to tpob.org/deeplyrooted for all of the information on the next four month focus - which will be on prayer.

Message:

Over the next three Sundays - I ask that you give thought to your ways. That you examine your life - outside the four walls of this church, within the four walls of this church, every aspect of your life. That you invite Jesus to speak in the areas of who you are, what you are becoming, and what you are doing.

The invitation of Jesus - discipleship, being a follower of Him, or an apprentice of Jesus is found in three very simple but deeply profound thoughts:

1. Be with Jesus

2. Become like Jesus

3. Do what Jesus did

Today’s message was a part of series done by John Mark Comer, a pastor and thought leader on Spiritual Formation. We will be using as a church using resources provided by Practicing the Way.

Today we are discussing the first one - “Be with Jesus!”

The Hebrew word for a disciple is talmid.

Jewish children were taught the Torah from age 5 or 6. The most talented students would continue to study the Torah, often memorizing the entire Scriptures, in what was known as beth midrash. From there, pastor Ray VanderLaan explains,

A few (very few) of the most outstanding beth midrash students sought permission to study with a famous rabbi, often leaving home to travel with him for a lengthy period of time. These students were called talmidim in Hebrew, which is translated disciple. There is much more to a talmid than what we call student. A student wants to know what the teacher knows for the grade, to complete the class or the degree or even out of respect for the teacher. A talmid wants to [be] like the teacher, that is to become what the teacher is. That meant that students were passionately devoted to their rabbi and noted everything he did or said. This meant the rabbi/talmidrelationship was a very intense and personal system of education. As the rabbi lived and taught his understanding of the Scripture his students (talmidim) listened and watched and imitated so as to become like him. Eventually they would become teachers passing on a lifestyle to their talmidim.

Simply put means, “a student” if a teach or philosopher - not just a learner but a practitioner of an embodied way of life, one who is diligently working to be with and become like their master. A great way to describe this kind of discipleship, is through the concept of apprenticeship. An apprentice is one who not only learns, but walks with their teacher, and ultimately imitates their teacher.

Let’s read in John 1 where people are invited to be the talmid of Jesus.

John 1:35–43“The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.”

Come and be with me. This is still the open invite to all of us.

How do you and I be with Jesus?

John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.” – the Holy spirit vs. 16

Advocate – another like me

counselor, intercessor, helper, one who encourages and comforts; in the NT it refers exclusively to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ.

John 14:25 “I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.”

You and I can be with Jesus via the Holy Spirit.

The first and primary goal of apprenticeship to Jesus is learning to live in a constant state of awareness of and connection to the Holy Spirit.

This is the baseline for following Jesus.

John 15:1–8 NLT “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” – lays out a metaphor to live in this new way of living

μένω (menō). vb. remain, stay (i.e., lodge) with. Among its wide breadth of uses, menō can refer to dwelling, living, or lodging.

Garwood P. Anderson, “Hospitality,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

remain / uses the word remain 10 times

Root yourself, keep yourself there

- Be in two places at once

o Email in the Father’s presence

o Chores in the Father’s presence

o Work in the Father’s presence

o School in the Father’s presence

o Walks with the Jesus

Prayer without ceasing – 24/7 communion

Brother Lawrence called it the practice of the presence of God

“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees before the Blessed Sacrament.” – Brother Lawrence

In the middle of the busyness of the kitchen, God possess me with His presence.

The Practice of the Presence of God

“The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds…This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him. In the early time of our “practicing” we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God. But these habits – not the law of gravity – and can be broken…A new, grace-filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us. Soon our minds will return to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north. If God is the great longing of our souls, He will become the pole star of our inward beings.”

Dallas Willard

Living in a constant state of awareness and connection to the Holy Spirit takes practice.

Hyper connectivity of the digital age can be a huge distraction to the connection that our soul needs.

A study done with nearly 100,000 iPhone users said, “The heaviest smartphone users click, tap or swipe on their phone 5,427 times a day, according to researcher Dscout.

That’s the top 10 percent of phone users, so one would expect it to be excessive. However, the rest of us still touch the addictive things 2,617 times a day on average.”

“It is unlikely that we will deepen our relationship with God in a casual or haphazard manner. There will be a need for some intentional commitment and some reorganization in our own lives. But there is nothing that will enrich our lives more than a deeper and clearer perception of God’s presence in the routine of daily living.”

William Paulsell

No single thing in this world will deepen our relationship with our Creator outside of Him.

No self-help technique

No income

No work

No degree

The practices of Jesus (spiritual disciplines or formation)

A better word to use is habits.

Some of these spiritual disciplines or habits will look like: bible reading, solitude, prayer, fasting, generosity, witnessing, silence etc.

Some of you may be doing many of these already but not necessarily realizing the deep significance of making these habits a priority.

In 15th century Christianity – if you were to apprentice to Jesus, these were the practices that you were taught on day one of your journey. In our world today, we may start off with reading Romans or John and attend a couple of classes.

Practices are a means to an end…it is to live your life after Jesus.

The practices are a means to an end: to be with Jesus.

Galatians 5:13 “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (teaching from John 15)

This section of scripture is often misread or misinterpreted.

No command from Paul here…The Apostle Paul is saying you need to be more ______.

Paul says, in Galatians 5:16 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” - Who is guiding your life?

Paul gives this clear picture of the flesh warring against the spirit. Sin produces death and gives a long list of sinful desires. However, the Spirit produces fruit. Galatians 5:22 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

Love joy and peace are not a matter of the will but rather a disposition of the heart.

You can “act” more loving but you can’t “be” more loving. This fruit is nothing that you can make happen within yourself - it is produced in you through the Holy Spirit as you keep in step with the Spirit.

We can constantly open ourselves up to the spirit of God and let God work that in us and through us.

How does a apple make a great apple? – abiding on the branch that is connected to —— the trunk

How does a grape make a great grape? – abiding on the branch that is connected to ——the vine

How do I do this?

Live like Jesus.

If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. (Life and life to the fullness.)

I remember as a kid that I had a very active imagination. It was almost daily that I wanted to be a cool person that I had looked up to. On a Monday, I may have been a police officer with a badge, gun, and handcuffs. Tuesday - doctor with a lab coat. Wednesday - a lawyer with a brief case. Thursday - an Astronaut. Friday - Indiana Jones. Sundays - I was always the preacher.

I wanted to emulate my life after someone who did great things.

I remember in my teen years that I was hired on to a security company that would provide security for high-end homes in Hope, Idaho. Beautiful multi-million dollar homes. I was excited to join this company because they had lights on top of the truck and a walkie-talkie. One night I received a phone call that an alarm was going off on one of the homes I was watching. I had to meet the police department there and they asked me to open the door. I was so freaked out…especially when they drew their guns. I was wanting this “life” but not the “lifestyle”. I said peace out after that.

Often, we want the life but not the lifestyle.

Your life is the byproduct of a lifestyle that you have chosen.

What are the results you are getting from following Jesus?

We read about the peace that Jesus wants to give. We so want that kind of Jesus.

How do you get that peace? You get it by basing your life on the template that Jesus left for us.

In the four gospels see Jesus: never in a rush, unhurried, spent a lot of time in community, spent a lot of time alone, got up early to pray, slept (took naps), sabbath, lived simply…Jesus was at peace. He lived in the same world.

We don’t sabbath, we don’t slow down, we don’t hangout with other followers of Christ, etc.

“The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we know to be right and the condition we want to enjoy. This is the feature of human character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it a reality.”

Dallas Willard

We want these things from God – love, joy, peace, patience

We need to reorganize our lives around the ways of Jesus. I am with you on this journey. We live in this world but need to change our systems that point us to Jesus.

The lifestyle of Jesus is the “way” to the life of Jesus.

The proposed plan moving forward:

Long term: simplify your life down to what really matters, slowly cut out all the extra, unnecessary activities, and gradually add in the practices of Jesus.

Short term: set aside time each day for prayer.

The hurried life - illustration.

Slow down…

Quiet your mind and your body…

Be with Jesus

Pastor Paul is going to pray over the church.