Becoming Like Christ
Notes
Transcript
Believe, Behave, Become
Believe, Behave, Become
Remember The question isn’t Did Jesus, Live and Die, it is did Jesus Die and Live? John 6:68-69
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Week 2: It is not specific Behavioral Modification we should be interested in, but in being a true Disciple of Jesus.
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
This week we are focusing on Becoming Like Christ and our scripture passage is Luke 9: 1-10
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
Last week we started this conversation about what it means to truly be a disciple. To follow your leader, in this case Jesus, everywhere he goes. To quite literally follow in his footsteps, stand where he stands, move when he moves, listen when he teaches and try to absorb and become just like him.
I used the analogy of an apprentice and said, that if you wanted to learn a specific trade, especially before there was a “college” system in place, the best way to learn was to go and apprentice for someone. Meaning go and watch and assist someone who was doing the job and learn directly from them. Now I think this is a great model for learning and many of our trades today still use a similar approach to training and developing the next generation with these skills. It can work really really well in the right context. For most people, it takes more than just watching, it also takes actually doing, to help learn.
Let me share with you an example. My Dad was down here visiting a few weeks ago, and he is an incredibly handy person. He grew up on a farm and learned a bunch of skills you need to live on a farm. He also very early on started working on fixing cars and helping to keep the farm equipment up and running. As he got older, he needed money to help him through college so he picked up a lot of jobs in the trades since he was pretty handy. I don’t know all of the jobs he officially had, and what was side work, but over his early adult life he picked up basics for electrical work, plumbing, hanging drywall, automotive care, and it seemed like he could do it all.
We didn't have a ton of money growing up, which means whenever we had a problem in the house, or the car, or if my mom wanted anything updated or fixed my dad did all of the work. Occasionally he would trade favors with another guy and help them with their car or house project if they shared their expertise with my dad if there was a job he couldn’t quite tackle himself, but I don’t ever remember hiring a “professional” to come and do any work while my dad just sat on the sidelines.
So this was the household I grew up in. I have two older sisters, but I was the oldest male in my household, so naturally I got recruited to help with a lot of these projects, especially after I got old enough to follow directions. So, I usually had a front row center view of just about every project we tackled, switching out toilets and installing garbage disposals, to remodeling a kitchen and fixing just about everything on a car. If there was a job to be done, my dad did it himself and I was just about always right next to him watching and helping out.
You might think this would mean I too am super handy and can fix just about everything, and you are partially correct. I am incredibly handy, I can hand you this and I can hand you that. You need a screwdriver, Here, I can hand that to you. You need an extra hand to hold the flashlight so you can see under the hood while you work on the car, sure you can borrow my hand to hold the flashlight just where you need it. I am really good at following directions and shining the light just where you need it.
As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t have a TON of money and when something broke, the goal was to fix it as fast and cheaply as possible. Even when my parents did work on upgrades or improvements to the house, the goal was still to be as cheap and efficient as possible. We couldn't afford for materials to be wasted or parts to be broken and time is always valuable, so doing things in a way that would take longer was never ideal, so that meant my Dad literally did everything. I could watch, ask questions and try to pick things up from observing, but I never really had the opportunity to actually do any of the work. I don’t hold that against my dad, I totally understand why it happened and why it was always easier to just do it himself. However, the consequences of that, is that I didn’t actually learn how to do all of the things he did. Sure, I watched them, and in theory I “know” how to do them, but that is not the same thing as actually learning how to do them. My family likes to watch a lot of those cake baking shows, so I “know” how to bake a cake that looks like a wedding cake, but you wouldn’t want to actually hire me to bake your wedding cake or you are taking a huge risk that it would be a total disaster.
We all know, that There is a very big difference between “just watching” someone do a job, and having them actively train you how to do something. Part of that process means being intentionally trained how to do something, and then actually being given a chance to do that thing.
Now to be fair to my dad, as I have become a homeowner my dad has tried to be much better about actually teaching me how to do things. For example in one of the houses Megan and I bought, all of the outlets and light switches were that yellowish color and apparently that was not ok, so Megan made me, I mean, asked me to switch all of the outlets and switches to a true white color. So my dad showed me how to do the first one, and then coached me through doing the next 2-3 on my own and then I was able to do the next 75 outlets on me own.
It was a HUGE difference to go from just watching, to actively participating and trying to do it on my own. I screwed up plenty and needed help, but now I can actually change out light switches and outlets.
This all might seem like a silly example, but I hope you can see where I am going with this. There is a HUGE difference between just coming to church, listening and observing, than there is to actually taking on the work of Christ. We certainly need to spend time watching, listening and learning, but eventually we have to actually have some hands on experience in order to really develop our faith. If we want to BECOME LIKE CHRIST, we need to start living out all of the things we have learned about in church.
Which is what our scripture passage this morning is all about. I absolutely love, that Jesus spent time pouring into his disciples. Telling parables to the crowds and then explaining them to his disciples. He brought them every where he went and gave them a front row seat to everything he did. And then we get this passage in Luke chapter 9, where Jesus basically says…. You have been watching me travel and teach and heal others and now it is your turn to put it into practice.
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Jesus knows, that he is going to die on the cross and so he only has a few years to train and equip his disciples to continue the ministry after he leaves. So he give his disciples a chance to have some real world hands on experience. And the Disciples take this opportunity seriously.
So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
They must have been pretty effective at this, because now word is really beginning to spread about who Jesus is and they are so effective at spreading the good news around that even Herod the Tetrarch learns about what is happening and becomes interested.
Finally, when they are done Jesus gathers them all back together and they go off to debrief and the disciples share with Jesus all about what they had accomplished.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
I am sure Jesus took the time to listen to all of the stories, help them process the highs and the lows of their experiences and offer advice for how to grow and be more effective in the future. Jesus is being very intentional here about not just allowing his disciples to learn to think and behave like Christ, but he is helping them to BECOME LIKE CHRIST by doing what Jesus is doing.
If we skip ahead in our Bible to Luke chapter 10, we see that Jesus again, send his Disciples out, this time 72 of them and with much more responsibility. He sends them out ahead of him so that everywhere he goes, there was already some of his disciples preparing the way and getting people interested and excited to come and meet and encounter Jesus. This wasn’t just a one time thing, but an intentional training by Jesus to help his Disciples be in a position to lead when he is gone. He wants them not just to Behave like him, but to Become Like him, traveling around helping others, sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God and inviting people to follow Jesus.
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
They are super excited because they are actually starting to Become Like Christ. They are no longer just watching Jesus do amazing miracles, but they are beginning to do incredible things on their own in the name of Jesus.
Now I think it is important to note here, that the Disciples were not perfect at this. They definitely ran into issues and didn't always get it right. For example we get this story for Matthew 17: 14-16
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
This occurrence takes place well after Jesus initially sends out the 12 on their first excursion into ministry. They have already done some amazing things, as we just saw, but they are still in the learning and growing Phase and Jesus still needs to step in from time to time to fix things for them.
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Of course all of this is a precursor to Jesus fully unleashing the Disciples to carry on this Ministry without him. Jesus has been spending this time with his disciples not just teaching them to Believe in Him, which they do, not just helping them to BEHAVE like him, which they have been learning to do, but to actually also BECOME like him, so that when he ascends into heaven he can be confident that his Disciples will be able to carry on the Ministry for him. After-all his final words to his Disciples in the book of Matthew is the Great commission in which he empowers and unleashes them to go and Continue the work he has started
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”
This is our responsibility as followers of Jesus, as Disciples of Christ. One we confess that Jesus is Lord and we Believe in Christ, then we are called to learn and study and understand what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus and to BEHAVE like Christ and then critically we need to start putting what we learned into Practice so that we can BECOME Like Christ. After we have successfully reached this point it is imperative that we turn around and start helping the next generation.
We need to be Disciples who MAKE Disciples! It is great to be a Disciple, but we need to work hard to MAKE disciples as well. We need to start empowering the next generation, giving them opportunities to try, they might fail, but we need to make room for them to practice and gain hands on experience, so that they too can complete this process. Otherwise we end up with a church full of great flashlight holders, who know in theory, how to be a Disciple, but who can’t lead, weren’t trained fully on actually living as Disciples and then are ineffective in training up the next generation.
I am guessing there are those in this room, who have spent a lot of time in the learning to Behave like Christ category who know it is time to start Becoming Like Christ. To start gaining some actual hand on experience in putting into practice the things they have learned. To share with others the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ and to make a difference for the kingdom of God.
There are also probably lots of people in this room, who have spent many many years, serving and have been living out what it means to BECOME like Christ. Now the hard part is turning around and training up others, making space for them to try and lead, and perhaps they will fail, perhaps they will want to do things differently than it has been done in the past and perhaps, it is really hard to let go of the control of knowing you can do it and do it right. But Jesus was wise enough to use his time to make sure he was equipping those who he know would come behind him and continue the ministry and he was willing to let them try things on their own, even if they failed at time. SO we too should make sure we are being intentional about equipping others, and not just asking them to hold the flashlight for us. This is how we complete the process of Being Disciples who Make Disciples. Of Learning to not Only Believe in Christ, Behave like Christ and Become Like Christ, but ensuring we are training up the next generation to also Believe in Christ, Behave in Christ and Become like Christ.
Amen?
Believe, Behave, Become
Believe, Behave, Become