According To Luke: The Call to Discipleship

According To Luke: The Call to Discipleship

Opening Statement:

Discipleship is a difficult thing to agree to. Why? Being discipled means that you do not know the answers. It means laying aside your ideas, your assessments of life, your routines in favor of submitting to an authority. For most of us, we are our own experts, we are the authority. However, being a disciple of anything means that we are not all knowing, it means that we need help, and it means that we are not ultimately in charge. 

Discipleship requires submission. Without submission their cannot be true, real, life changing discipleship. 

This morning, I would like to attempt to reveal what true discipleship really is. For most of us, the word discipleship equates to coming to church, going to Sunday School and showing up at a few events. Oh friends, discipleship, the call to discipleship is so much more. Discipleship is demanding. Discipleship is a commitment, a life long commitment to walking and learning from Jesus Christ Himself. 

Point:

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, we are confronted with two types of people. We meet His disciples and then we are confronted by the spectators. Both see Jesus, they know of who Jesus is, they are even witness to HIs miracles. However, there is a clear distinction between the two. One group is dedicated, the others are just observing. 

Not much has changed since Jesus’ earthly ministry. Even today we have true disciples of Jesus Christ who are dedicated to His mission of spreading the Gospel and expanding His Kingdom. Yet we also have others that are familiar with Jesus, the Bible and even may observe God from the pews of the church, but they are not true disciples of Christ. They are merely spectators. 

Illustration:

In the fall, football season will kick off and many of us will be swept away with passion for our state teams. We will change our social media accounts to reflect our loyalties. We will put on our colors, attach flags to our cars, and discuss that week’s upcoming game all week long. 

In referring to our teams, we will use the word “we” as we identify with our team. 

Several of us will spend a great deal of money traveling. You will purchase tickets and you will tailgate. You will enter the stadium with hundreds of thousands of people and together you will cheer. 

Even though this statement is true for just about every person in this room, none of us will be able to say that we are “on the team”. Sure, we will go the game, wear the same colors, give commentary and criticisms of the team, but none of us are really on the team. 

The “team” is reserved for those special athletes who have been called by the coach to play. The rest are just watching. 

Point:

Here is the great gift of God. God calls all people to Himself. You don’t have to be a special athlete to be on the team. Hardly! God has issued the call. Some will say yes and put their lives on the line. Others will be satisfied for the trappings of the team but only willing to cheer from the stands. 

Cheering from the cheap seats of the church does not make one a disciple of Christ. Only those willing to sacrifice, give, and submit to the ultimate authority of Christ carry the distinction of “disciple”.

Quote: Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman

“The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.” 

Transitional Statement:

So, answer this question this morning. Are You A Follower or a Fan?

Are You A Follower or a Fan?

Background:

This morning we are going back to Luke 6 and reexamining the same piece of Scripture from last week. We are looking at Luke 6:12-16 ESV. Last week we talked about Jesus’ pattern of prayer. Today, we will look at what Jesus did following that prayer time. We will look at the calling of the 12 disciples. What is a disciple? How does a disciple live? What should a disciple do? These are the questions we will answer this morning. 

So, let’s read together this morning from Luke’s account of Jesus in chapter 6, verses 12-16. 

Luke 6:12-16 ESV

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

3 Questions of Discipleship

I. What Is a Disciple? A Learner vs. 12

Luke 6:12 ESV

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples…

Illustration:

Charlie Brown was complaining because his team always lost their games. Lucy attempted to console him with, "Remember, Charlie Brown, you learn more from your defeats than from your victories." Charlie Brown responded, "Then I must be the smartest person in the world!"

Point:

One of the great lessons that I have learned in life is this, I can learn from others or I can make the mistakes myself and learn from them. Most of us would rather learn from others and save ourselves the heartache and pain of suffering our own failures. 

Education is an important tool in the arsenal of the Christian. A good education opens doors to us that would otherwise be closed. Education helps us navigate pitfalls and obstacles that await us in life. A good education provides us with the tools to provide for ourselves. 

A good education goes a long way. To have a good education, one must first have a good teacher. Now so some of us have had some pretty awesome teachers of the years, but they all pale in comparison to Jesus Christ. 

Jesus was the greatest teacher and He afforded a wonderful gift to these men to become His disciples. 

Point:

So, what is a disciple?

The Greek word for disciple is μανθάνω and is pronounced mä-thā-tā’s. It means a learner or a pupil. It is someone who follows the teaching of another. 

3 Keys To Liberating Your Learning

A. Walk With Jesus 

B. Work In His Ministry

C. Welcome His Teachings

So, to be a disciple of Christ, meant that you had submitted yourself to learning from Christ. In these days, the disciples of Christ learned by walking with Jesus. They worked in His ministry. They welcomed His teachings. The disciples were good listeners. Sure they sometimes struggled with the meanings and application of His words, but they were always listening and trying to learn the best way they could. 

Point:

So, what does it mean to be a good learner. A good learner is willing to admit to himself or herself that they do not know everything about everything. They are not know it alls. 

Point: 

Good learners are always finding good teachers. Jesus was clearly the best and still is the best teacher we have. 

Even Jesus’ enemies addressed him as “Teacher” (Matthew 22:16, 24), though their use of the expression was not always genuine. The Lord is addressed as “Teacher” twenty-nine times in the Gospels. The noun (teacher) and verb (teach) combined are used of Jesus some ninety times.

Christ’s teaching was informative, logical, buttressed by Old Testament evidence, well-illustrated, documented by divine power, original, and uniquely authoritative (Matthew 7:28). When officers once were sent to arrest him, they returned to their superiors empty-handed, exclaiming: “No man has ever spoken to us the way this man has spoke to us…”. 

Point:

As good learners dedicated to growing, we must recognize our teacher, the best and greatest teacher, is Jesus Christ. 

Proverbs 9:9 ESV

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learn.

3 Questions of Discipleship

I. What Is a Disciple? A Student!

II. How Does A Disciple Live? Surrendered! vs. 13

Luke 6:12-13 ESV

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…

Illustration:

One of the most inspiring sights in nature is the eagle in flight. With an endless expanse of blue behind it the eagle spreads its mighty wings and soars majestically and gracefully across the sky. Free, powerful, complete. Because of this the eagle becomes a symbol for how we’d like to be. We all want to soar like an eagle in life.

But I wonder if you know how it is an eagle learns to soar? I am told that there is a particular species of eagle which builds its nest high up on the face of a cliff overlooking the sea. In this nest the eagle chick is hatched and spends its first days watching its mother come and go, collecting food and bringing it back.

One day the mother eagle decides it’s time her chicks learned to fly. You know how she does it? She forces her way right into the nest and then pushes her chicks out. The chick starts plummeting down the cliff-face, terrified, shocked, heartbeat racing, aware that death is just seconds away. And then something amazing happens. The chick instinctively stretches the wings it never knew it had, the plummet becomes a fall, then a gentle rise. Soon the chick is soaring like its mother.

It’s in that split second of terrifying danger that the chick comes face to face with itself, and face to face with wider reality. In that terrifying moments the chick discovers what it is. And without that terrifying moment it will never learn to soar.

Point:

A good teacher is going to push us to doing things that we would not normally accept. A good teacher will come along and push us out of our comfortable nest. This act forces us to spread our wings and catch the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit. 

How does God push us from the nest? He can call us. Many of you have been there before. You have felt a calling to teach, encourage, visit, or serve in some other area of ministry. 

God can call us or He can provide a crisis. Some of you are there now. A crisis can be a job loss. A crisis can be an illness or sickness. A crisis can be problems in your marriage. Either way, crisis is probably the best at moving people out of comfort and into God’s will.   

Point:

In this Scripture, Jesus is calling these 12 men to go deeper than ever before. He is calling them to leave everything they know and to join Him on the richest adventure of their life. They will have to surrender everything in order to come with Him. 

In Mark 6:7-13, we see another example of Jesus calling and the disciples surrendering. 

Scripture:

Mark 6:7-13 ESV

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Point:

Quite literally, Jesus is moving the disciples out of the cheap seats and into the game. The disciples, the apostles are told to heal and deliver. That’s a big job from a great teacher. 

We have a different word being used now. These men are more than disciples, they will be called the apostles. The Greek word being used here is ἀποστέλλω and is pronounced ä-po'-sto-los. It means delegate, messenger, or one sent forth with orders. 

Point:

Do you see the picture being draw here. The call to discipleship means that we are always learning from the teacher. It also means that we are soldiers in the army of God delivering a message to the world. Like all good solders, we submit to the will of the superior officer. In this case it is Jesus. 

This means what Jesus says goes. Period. End of story. Even if it means that we are made fun of or persecuted, we honor the will of our General. There is not question. There is no debate. We follow the orders. 

This means that when Jesus commands you to go on that mission trip, you go.

This means that when Jesus commands you to serve on that committee, you serve.

This means that when Jesus commands you to love that person, you love that person. 

No matter what, when Jesus commands it, we say yes sir as a dutiful soldier in God’s army. 

Point:

Being pushed out of the nest is not always fun, it is not always easy. However, we cannot catch the fresh wind of the Spirit without being nudged out of the stands. 

Point:

The life of a disciple is a surrendered life. Nothing else matters 

3 Questions of Discipleship

I. What Is a Disciple? A Student!

II. How Does A Disciple Live? Surrendered!

III. What Should a Disciple Do? Stand! vs. 14-15

Luke 6:14-15 ESV

14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Well we have run out of room for this text it appears. Once you get past verses 12-13, you run into the list of names. As I read these names, I was reminded that these were real men. They are not some symbolic allegory. They were real. They had flesh and blood. They had relatives and family. Yet, they left it all for a man from Galilee who they called “teacher”. They lived in a submissive way to Jesus and they quite literally changed the world. 

So, what should a disciple do? They should stand for their teacher. Ultimately, this means that we die. Yes die. These men died to themselves and lived for Christ. 

Matthew 16:24

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

They did this spiritually but most did this physically. They were willing to become martyrs for the cause and teachings of Christ. They believed that their citizenship in God’s Kingdom far outweighed the citizenship to any earthly country or earthly king. 

So, just what happened to these men?

Peter and Paul

Both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

Andrew

went to the "land of the man-eaters," in what is now the Soviet Union. Christians there claim him as the first to bring the gospel to their land. He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and in Greece, where he is said to have been crucified.

Thomas

was probably most active in the area east of Syria. Tradition has him preaching as far east as India, where the ancient Marthoma Christians revere him as their founder. They claim that he died there when pierced through with the spears of four soldiers.

Philip

possibly had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and cruelly put to death.

Matthew

the tax collector and writer of a Gospel, ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. Some of the oldest reports say he was not martyred, while others say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.

Bartholomew

had widespread missionary travels attributed to him by tradition: to India with Thomas, back to Armenia, and also to Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he met his death as a martyr for the gospel.

James

the son of Alpheus, is one of at least three James referred to in the New Testament. There is some confusion as to which is which, but this James is reckoned to have ministered in Syria. The Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and then clubbed to death.

Simon the Zealot

so the story goes, ministered in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.

Matthais

was the apostle chosen to replace Judas. Tradition sends him to Syria with Andrew and to death by burning.

John

is the only one of the company generally thought to have died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in the Ephesus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home. During Domitian's persecution in the middle 90's, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There he is credited with writing the last book of the New Testament--the Revelation. An early Latin tradition has him escaping unhurt after being cast into boiling oil at Rome.

In each case, these men stood for Jesus, impacted their world, and laid their lives down for the cause of Christ and the expansion of God’s Kingdom. 

Disciples are students.

Disciples are surrendered.

Disciples stand. 

Disciples die!

Conclusion:

So, this morning let me shatter your notions of what discipleship can’t be. Our notions, while they might be good or well intended are many times not Biblical. Discipleship is not a service. It is not a concert. It is not a light show. Nor is it a convent. It is not following a blogger, preacher, or teacher on Twitter or some other social account. Discipleship is not a clever post on Facebook. Discipleship is not an email forward. Discipleship is not aligning yourself with a political party. While Discipleship can happen at the church building, it is so much more than a class or a powerpoint presentation. Discipleship is more than a gathering or a group. It is more than a meal. It is more than taking a trip. 

Discipleship is everyday. Every moment. It is being dedicated to the end of your life to the words and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is the works and ministry of Jesus Christ being seen in your life being and born in your words and actions. It is the willing submission to say I need help and I don’t know it all and allowing yourself to learn from true…experienced Christians. Discipleship is standing on the principles of the Bible while infinitely loving lost people who have yet to find what you have. Discipleship is laying aside our convenient notions in favor of what Jesus actually said. Discipleship is taking what you have been taught in God’s Word and replicating this knowledge in a non judgmental way to your family, your peers, your co workers and your classmates. 

Discipleship is saying no to self and saying yes to Jesus. It is the daily decreasing of you and the daily increasing of Jesus. 

Discipleship is dying to self.

Discipleship is leaving everything and gaining everything.

From his book, The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it like this, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” 

Discipleship is seeing Jesus, being with Jesus, knowing Jesus, walking with Jesus and that being enough. There is nothing more that we need. 

If we think that discipleship only exists in the walls of this building then we are sorely out of touch. If we think that discipleship is not costly then we are fooling ourselves. 

Have You Heard The Call of Discipleship?