S.T. 2022 True Discipleship #1

True Discipleship

A Study Inspired by John Marc Comer’s Practicing the Way

Week 1- The Invitation

Welcome, let’s take a moment to go around the room and introduce ourselves. Who you are, where you are from, if you signed out of high school or college, what college, what organization you are with, if you are married, fiancé, girlfriend.

Ok, well, I am Tony Graffanino, I am originally from New York, Long Island, I signed out of high school with the Braves and ended up playing for 7 organizations over 20 years professionally, 13 in the big leagues with all 7 of those orgs. I am married for 26 years, we have 2 men, and I work for UPI, I’ve been on staff for 11 years now.

So, let me ask this question:

How many of you here tonight feel hurried or rushed? Like you’re squeezing this study into an already busy or crazy schedule?

Let’s stop, and breathe for a minute, deep breath in long slow breath out.

Now as you become more aware, can you feel that, that strange feeling in inside? That uneasiness in our gut, that feeling like I’m forgetting something or supposed to be somewhere, that thought that I’m missing something or missing out on something.

Let’s talk for a minute about our

1. Hurried lives, one appointment on top of another, how many would say their lives feel hurried?

2. The many distractions, Do I even know the one thing? How many would say they are distracted? Example: notifications, social media, keeping up, how “connected” we are and yet

3. How lonely we are. Anyone in here feel isolated & alone? Not like the others I see or who appear to have it all together.

4. How many are anxious and worried? Uncertainty, Covid, careers, kids, life in 2022

5. How important baseball becomes. Consuming, all of the above

Why is it like this? Does it have to be? The answer is no, but we might need to gain some new perspectives and make some needed changes.

Let me say this, our cell phones aren’t helping. Studies show the average person touches their cell phone almost 3,000 times a day, and it takes 23 minutes to refocus after the distraction. This distraction leads to a decrease in productivity, what they’re calling “brain drain” and memory loss.

So part of what we’re feeling is the broken world we live in, part is our cell phones and part might be our spiritual practices or lack of.

Let me ask another question as I segue into the study,

Why did Jesus come to the earth, become a man?

Yes, Jesus came to die for the sins of the world, but He also came to show us how we are supposed to live, this is a crucial part of His teaching, demonstration, how humanity was intended to live.

· Let’s talk about Jesus for a minute, was He ever in a hurry? No, Lazarus

· Was there purpose in all that Jesus did? Yes. The woman at the well, He set His face towards Jerusalem.

· Apart from the Garden of Gethsemane, did Jesus ever appear anxious or worried? No

· Did He ever come across as distracted? No. Jairus with his daughter and the bleeding woman, always present, meeting Nicodemus or the rich young ruler

· Was He trying to keep up with all His “friends” on social media? No

· What was the most important thing to Jesus? Revealing the kingdom, demonstrating, obedience to His Father, His mission, doing life really well.

That all sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Well….

"If you want to be like Jesus you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus." Comer (This study is a inspired by John Marc Comers sermon series called Practicing the Way and also his book, the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.)

What made Jesus, Jesus? Jesus was God incarnate but we cannot forget that Jesus was also fully man. How Jesus lived out his humanity tells us something.

Here is a short list of the common practices of Jesus that we will discuss in future studies.

1. Jesus spent a lot of time alone, not by Himself though, with His Father. This is called Silence and Solitude. He would get up early and get away to remote places, He would rest and recharge physically, emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually.

2. Jesus lived in community, He had His disciples, He had the 12 apostles, and He had the 3. He ate and drank with people inside and outside the kingdom. He interacted with all kinds of people, rich and poor, sick and healthy. He exorcised demons, healed lepers, fed the hungry, etc. He went to weddings and He went funerals.

3. Jesus was immersed in the Scriptures, He taught in the synagogues, He taught on the way, He taught in parables, (in community)

4. Jesus lived a simple life, He had no house, or camel, He was unhurried, He practiced the Sabbath and observed all the Festivals, He knew how to rest and also take time to celebrate

That was the life of Jesus that He was teaching to His disciples.

Do you know what title the people of Jesus’ time most commonly used to refer to Him? “Rabbi” used 67% of the time. That is the Hebrew word for teacher in English. He was a teacher of the Jewish system and of living in God’s kingdom.

How would you define the word disciple? A learner is the most common answer, but we in the west hear learner and think information.

This is a bi-product of the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation. Our learning became information based.

But a disciple Biblically is better understood as an apprentice.

Discipleship/Apprenticeship is a formation process, a transformation process.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

A “yoke” is a Rabbis teaching.

Jesus is inviting all of us to be formed by Him ("take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me (become my disciple)").

This is all about an apprentice learning the skills of his trade under his Rabbi.

Now lets turn to John chapter 1 verse 35

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.[j] 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter[l]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

Now turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 1 verse 16 thru 20

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”[f] 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

· From both of these passages, what’s the invitation from Jesus? Come and see, and follow me, spend time with me.

· What’s the promise/expectation if invitation is accepted? I will make you fishers of men.

· So, a “Fisher of Men” is a Hebrew Idiom, a saying meaning "one who captivates and captures the attentions and hearts of their hearers.”

· The early disciples, those who accepted Jesus’ invitation to Follow Him, had a clear understanding of what was about to happen; I don’t think we do.

· Jesus never asked anyone to mentally agree with who He was, to say a prayer and become a Christian or a Believer. He was always asking for a belief in Him that moved someone into being His disciple, an apprentice.

· “The greatest issue facing the world today, with all it’s heartbreaking needs, is whether those who are identified as Christians” will become disciples—students, apprentices, practitioners –of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from Him how to live the life of the Kingdom into every corner of human existence.” Dallas Willard

· (Talk about the Jewish schooling system or Talmudine training. Early education was Torah based learning for math, spelling, grammar, history, religion, etc. Torah memorization) 2 stages

· These students would then test at age 12 or 13, after their second stage of learning, to see who was the brightest, had the most aptitude and ability.

· Those that tested the highest were now eligible to be chosen to enter into an apprenticeship program with a Rabbi; part of the test was not only scripture memorization, but also immediate recall, to pick up a quoted passage without being told when or where in the Torah.

· If they were chosen, they were now disciples or Talmudines of their Rabbi.

· They would then leave everything, their homes, their families, their possessions, and embark on this journey with their Rabbi for the foreseeable future.

· 3 things were now happening

a. They would go and be with the Rabbi, 24/7/365, learning, listening and watching, the goal?

b. So they could become just like their Rabbi, know what he knows and be able to do what he does, why?

c. So they could then go and do, they would be a Rabbi once he sent them and their goal was to replicate this process, choose disciples to be with them, become like them, so they could then go and do.

· Who did Jesus choose? Rabbi school rejects, and me, and you.

· A process chosen for and agreed upon in order to enter. Jesus’ invitation, Come and I will make you Fishers of Men.

· A disciple is always used as a noun in scripture and not a verb. Either you are or aren’t a disciple,

· I think we hear the word disciple and we think go and do, but Jesus was giving the Great Commission to His disciples after they spent over 2 and a half years with Him.

· We skip the first two parts, being with Him so we then can become like Him.

· So the 3 goals of Discipleship

1. Be with Jesus, How are we to be with Jesus today? The disciples went to be with Jesus, who are we to go and be with? The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. John 14:15-18

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[a] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[b] in you.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

· Who is Jesus talking about when He says, another Helper? The Holy Spirit.

· Why does He say another, who is the first? Jesus Himself

· This is what He is saying in verse 17, “You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. Jesus dwells with them now, and the Spirit will be in them later.

· This journey we are embarking on is not one done alone.

· “The first and primary goal of an apprentice/disciple of Jesus is learning to live in a constant state of awareness of and connection to the Holy Spirit.” Comer

· This is the process of transformation, and the responsibility for it can’t be put on anyone else for our discipleship to Jesus.

· There must be intentionality on our part to always keep God before us. To practice the presence of God, or to walk by the Spirit

2. Become like Jesus. “Our spiritual formation is a process of increasingly being possessed and permeated by the character traits (of Jesus) as we walk in the easy yoke of discipleship with Jesus our teacher…” Willard

· So as you spend more time with Jesus, the more you will become like Him.

· As you dwell, abide, walk by the Spirit the character of Jesus becomes more of who you are.

· We are all disciples of something or someone, being formed by something, whether we know it or not. Who is discipling you? What is forming you? Is it social media, television and movies, all the “haves”, today’s cultural narratives, our habits, relationships, our immediate environment? (The sheets or the app)

· What are you being transformed into? Are you just like everyone else, a citizen of earth? Or are you being transformed into the likeness of Jesus?

· How do we change? We must be intentional about our spiritual formation

a. Jesus’ Teaching—The Kingdom life, the Bible, Truth, (Romans 12:2)

b. Practices—Disciplines to reorient our heart and perspective

c. Community—people/disciples, life, exposure, mercy, grace,

d. Holy Spirit—to let Him become the dominant influencer of our life

· This is a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, a lifetime commitment

3. To go and do what Jesus did. What was Jesus doing on a regular basis? Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, teaching the way, His way of living in the kingdom, healing the sick, casting out demons, eating and drinking with people far from God’s kingdom, doing justice, peacemaking, praying, prophesying, standing up against religious and political corruption.

· This list looks daunting, but again this is a lifetime of transformation. But as we become more like Jesus, these are the things we will want to be doing.

This is the new way to be human in the kingdom that Jesus modeled for us.

· Our purpose for being a disciple of Jesus is not to know a bunch of stuff about Jesus and the Bible, although not bad, our purpose is to join in on the kingdom work that Jesus started.

· Next week we are going to dive deeper into these spiritual practices of Jesus, our “be with Him”, to “be like Him”, so we can go and do what He did.

· We are going to look at them in a, “what does this look like in season” kind of way.

· As we finish up here, I would like to emphasize that practicing the way of Jesus, these rhythms of life followers of Jesus partake in, demonstrate the gospel story (preach the gospel).

· Each of these practices we will be discussing will be helping us to reorient our imaginations through the Spirit as a way to become like Jesus for the sake of others. While at the same time, we will be emphasizing how this might look different from person to person (personality to personality).