DISCIPLESHIP - Sarah Cooper

At the risk of uttering what may be thought a heresy, I don’t really like football…. I’m more of a rugby fan, although I concede that if England get to the final I’ll be cheering along with everybody else!

Which is why I was as surprised to find myself in the National Theatre a couple of years ago to watch Dear England…James Graham’s extraordinary play based on the letter written by Gareth Southgate ahead of the Euros.

When I was reading the lessons for today I was prompted to reread that letter as the same thread of hope from scripture runs through it. A thread of hope, of difficulties yes, but one of perseverance and hope. It is also all about character, about integrity, about being a role model, and the responsibility that entails…there are nuggets in there about discipleship which resonated with me.

Our Gospel reading from Matthew this morning is known as the Mission Discourse. In this passage we meet all the disciples, many for the first  time, as Jesus gives them authority to go out as he had done to heal and to cast out unclean spirits.

It is important to place it in its context to understand it fully

Jesus has just preached the Sermon on the Mount; he has spent some time expounding on the law and explaining to them how to behave, how to fulfil the law and how to reflect the truth of the law in their behaviour.

The golden rule: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets

Although addressed to the disciples specifically  at that time it is easy to read this as a universal manifesto for the church to come, and for us still today.

The words spoken by Jesus then were, in the words of a respected commentator on Matthew, Ulrich Luz, spoken to the winds addressing the community then and the reader now

It helps us to understand discipleship and how to  live a life in imitation of Christ.

The word disciple comes from the Latin but is  a translation of the original Greek mathetes…meaning apprentice…a learner who learns and fully adapts his or her way of life…it is about more than just learning but about becoming like.

Jesus is guiding the disciples towards what we call the great commission in the final verses of this gospel, to build a new community, to carry on his work, in his way

These twelve are the very first people chosen by Jesus to represent him out in the world. But as we all know, they are a motley crew.

Not the type of people that might have been expected to be called by the long-awaited Messiah. They are ordinary, imperfect, and frankly sometimes not that impressive. 

First, there is the author of this gospel, Matthew. A tax collector

Then there is Simon the Zealot, a political radical

How about James and John? Uneducated fishermen, who aspire to become the greatest of the disciples. These two  plan to sit at the Messiah’s right hand and left when he comes into his kingdom.

There is Philip, who doesn’t think that anything good can come out of Nazareth, certainly not the Messiah.

There is also Thomas, who doubted

And then there is their leader, Simon Peter. A bit of a loudmouth who regularly speaks before he thinks,  who will be chastised by Jesus more than once, and eventually deny even knowing Jesus. But who will one day die for Jesus.

Oh, and let’s not forget Judas Iscariot, also one of the twelve, the disciple who will betray Jesus.

Jesus has called these disciples to follow him. He has them. He them, not the other way around. Perhaps he chose them because he saw something in them that the world did not. Or perhaps he chose them to show the world that it’s okay to be less than perfect. At any rate, Jesus has called them to be his disciples, and now he is sending them out as his apostles.

But he goes on to warn them how difficult it will be, in the next few verses which we did not hear:

See I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves

They will flog you

You will be hated by all

As motivational speeches go, this one stands out as somewhat counterproductive

But as we heard in the reading from Paul, he understood, from personal experience that being a disciple, more so an apostle, was hard. KJV

 glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope

 To be a disciple is hard, to be a perfect disciple nigh on impossible, to live a life that imitates Christ

This is a call to bold, sacrificial discipleship. Jesus commissions His apostles to proclaim the Good News while explicitly warning them they will face severe persecution. He urges them to abandon worldly security and prioritize their devotion to Him above all else.

And if they stay true to Him, if they live a life worthy of Him, if they show the love and compassion that He did, then their message will be clear. It will be their behaviour that is remembered more than their words.

The same principle holds true today

We ordinary people are called by Him

We ordinary imperfect  ill-equipped people

But we are the salt of the earth

….we are the light of the world

He calls us

He charges us with discipling in  his name, with going out as apostles in his name

Our behaviour reflects our love of him

 Our behaviour reflects our values

People will remember how we make them feel not our words

And where does he send them?

Not into the wider world, not yet, but to the lost sheep of Israel

Because before they can spread the word throughout the world they needed to get their own  house in order

The same principle applies today

Where does he send us?

Before we go out to change the world how does our behaviour impact on the people around us, the people we love, the people we work alongside, the people who live next door…do we reflect the love of Christ in our everyday environment, in our casual simple interactions, in our behaviour?

Building a community in Christ had its challenges then, and it has its challenges now

Just like those first apostles, we are now the sent-ones. Sent by Jesus on a mission to heal this broken world, and to bring hope to the hopeless, and to cast out the evils in our world. To stand up to division and spread understanding and love

Next, Jesus says, proclaim the good news. The good news. And that is, “you are a beloved child of God,” 

Gareth Southgate  wrote

I tell them that when you go out there, in this shirt, you have the opportunity to produce moments that people will remember forever

When we leave St Margaret’s this morning we have the opportunity to bring the love of Christ to someone, in a way that that person will remember  forever

Amen