SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Prayer of the Day: Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful redeemer, for the countless blessings and benefits you give. May we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day praising you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
“Come and see.” John 1:46.
What is a disciple? For most of my life and ministry, I have turned to preacher, professor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s answer in his book, The Cost of Discipleship:
“When the Bible speaks of following Jesus, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogmas, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men escape from the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke of Jesus Christ. But does this mean that we ignore the seriousness of his commands? Far from it. We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when his command, his call to absolute discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety. Only when the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way.” Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The Cost of Discipleship, (c. 1963 SCM Press, Ltd.) p. 40 (emphasis supplied).
I still agree with Bonhoeffer in the main. But with some caveats. In Sunday’s gospel, the disciples responding to Jesus’ call seem to have mixed motives at best. Jesus is brought to the attention of Philip and Andrew by John the Baptizer. Whatever they might have thought about Jesus, it was clear to them that John recognized in him “The Lamb of God,” the one on whom the Spirit not only descended, but “remained.” That was enough to convince them at least to “check Jesus out.” Peter came to Jesus through the influence of his brother, Andrew. Nathaniel, though highly skeptical that “anything good” could come out of Nazareth, nevertheless gave Philip, and by extension Jesus, the benefit of the doubt.
As we travel through John’s gospel narrative, we get the impression that the body of Jesus’ disciples was in flux. It seems that this company included his brothers at some point, though they later seem to be skeptical of him. In the sixth chapter of John, a crowd of over five thousand was drawn to Jesus and ready to acclaim him king. But by the end of the chapter, it appears that all but the twelve had withdrawn from him. Nicodemus came to Jesus, albeit covertly and by night. Joseph of Arimathea, too, thought enough of Jesus to oppose his arrest and conviction. Yet neither of these men, so far as we know, ever publicly identified with Jesus. They were among the ones the Evangelist castigates because “they did not confess [their belief in Jesus], for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.” Nevertheless, these two men took the risk of seeking leave from Pilate to give Jesus a proper burial while the disciples deserted him and left his body to rot on the cross. John 12:42-43.
Who, then, are the true disciples? Those who follow Jesus to the bitter end? No one in the gospels actually did that. Those who forsake family, possessions and livelihood to live a life solely devoted to prayer, mission, witness and service? Some communities, such as monastic fellowships, approximate such a life. But most of us are not suited to it. What about the movers and shakers in our churches who actually “get” Jesus and the reign of God he proclaims? What about the ones who may not have a well articulated faith, but are always there when the plumbing breaks down, the parking lot needs shoveling or the furnace goes on the blink? And where does that leave those who are content to make modest donations and attend infrequently? What about the folks who never attend, never contribute but think of our church as “their” church and show up when they need a baptism, confirmation or burial? Disciple might be too strong a word for these latter folks, but they are nonetheless drawn to Jesus in some measure for some reasons-however mixed, misguided or shallow.
It is temping to look for true disciples at the core of the church where Jesus is publicly and unapologetically proclaimed as Lord. But even that is problematic. Again, Judas was one of the twelve and that is about as close to the core as one ever gets. Furthermore, as Jesus himself points out, even people who are not literally following him might still be following him. Mark 9:38-41. Then there was the women I will simply call Kim who I met in college. Kim was an exchange student from Tiawan and a Buddhist. As a then eager evangelical, I was keen to convert her. Instead, she captivated my imagination with her rich and beautiful faith. In one of our last conversations, she told me “there is a lot about the Christian idea of God I don’t understand. But I think that learning about Jesus has made me a better Buddhist.” Is Kim a disciple?
I still agree with Dietrich Bonhoeffer that discipleship is grounded in knowing, following and being formed by Jesus. I still believe we are tasked with calling our members, both at the core of our congregations and on the fringes, to a deeper and more concrete commitment to Jesus. But I also believe that it is finally the Holy Spirit who, through our witness, draws people into discipleship. Sometimes, that happens through mentorship and guidance. Some people are drawn by chance or mere curiosity which may or may not blossom into mature faith. Others are drawn for reasons that seem altogether unrelated to faith in Jesus. But they still come and I believe Jesus draws them, whether they know it or not, for his own reasons. I also believe that the Spirit is at work outside the church leading people into what is the way of Jesus among people of other faiths and those of no faith. That should not surprise us. If we take seriously what Paul tells us about Jesus being the one in whom all things hold together, there is no place we should expect him not to be working redemptively for the world God loves.
I think that one thing preventing the church from becoming a cult is the recognition that the borders of the church are undefined and that God is active both in our midst and well outside of our sanctuaries and institutions. You never know when or where you will meet a fellow disciple or someone hearing, however distantly, Jesus’ invitation to come with him. Here is a poem by Robert Frost with an invitation to follow and share a stretch of the poet’s life.
The Pasture
I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wit to watch the water clear, I may);
I shan’t be gone long-You come too.
I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan’t be gone long-You come too.
Source: The Poetry of Robert Frost, (c. 1969 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.) p. 255. Born in 1874, Robert Frost held various jobs throughout his college years. He was a worker at a Massachusetts mill, a cobbler, an editor of a small town newspaper, a schoolteacher and a farmer. By 1915, Frost’s literary acclaim was firmly established. On his seventy-fifth birthday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution in his honor. The State of Vermont named a mountain after him and he was given the unprecedented honor of being asked to read a poem at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. Through the lens of rural life in New England, Frost’s poetry ponders the metaphysical depths. His poems paint lyrical portraits of natural beauty, though ever haunted by shadow and decay. You can learn more about Robert Frost and sample more of his poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.
Peter's Outer Cape Portico 