Seven Disciplines of Jesus

You realize that every sermon I preach to the Clear Lake Church I must first preach to myself.  Often while I'm standing up front preaching I'm still preaching to myself.  How can I teach anyone anything unless I myself am a student.  When it comes to examining the seven disciplines of Jesus we talked about this morning, I find myself in the disciple who said, "Lord, teach us to pray." 

The most profound statement I made to myself in this week's sermon was an insight I think I got from Dallas Willard's book, The Spirit of the Disciplines.  It was the idea that we often try to obey Jesus' teachings while living like the rest of the world, instead of following the disciplines of Jesus' life.  I read that statement and thought to myself, "Of course!"  How can anyone possibly obey Jesus unless they live like Jesus?  It was then that I knew I needed to preach on the disciplines of Jesus' life.  The discipline comes first, obedience follows.  

Spiritual training in God's gym follows this order: Exercises, Discipline, Habit, Lifestyle. How often we want to follow the lifestyle of Jesus without learning the disciplines of his life.   This morning in class we learned one small exercise to develop the discipline of prayer in our lives.  What would happen in your attitudes this week if you simply said the "Jesus prayer" as you drove to work each morning?"  What would happen if you said the prayer as you fell asleep each night this week? 

We will be learning several such exercises to help us focus on the Lord and grow in our obedience to all of his commands.  And as John reminds us, "his commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).  Jesus' commands are designed to set us free, to allow us to really live!  But first, we've got to get our mind's right.  We've got to allow the Master to train us in God's gym.

Let the Training Begin

 A few hours after I was baptized, way back on February 20, 1977, I read the New Testament book of James in it's entirety and offered a brief prayer to God asking for help in living this new life I had just been given.  Thus began my quest for spiritual formation.  In the 34 years since that day I have experimented with many spiritual disciplines and exercises seeking to know how best to cooperate with God's Spirit who is working to form me into the image of Christ.  

In my early years we talked about Spiritual Growth instead of Spiritual Formation and the tools offered were few.  In addition to weekly church attendance the Christians I associated with strongly urged me to develop the practice of a daily Quiet Time.  The first activity of each morning was thus spent in intercessory prayer and Bible reading.  This practice of Quiet Time served me well for a number of years.  Eventually, however, I realized that my daily habit had been taken over by Satan and continually led me into guilt (for not doing it enough) or pride (for my successful accomplishment).  After a great deal of struggle I just had to let the practice go away.

In it's place I've developed a number of other "habits" that have served me well.  As our series of sermons (and Bible Classes) continue I will be sharing with you some of the disciplines that have been well tested by many believers over the centuries.  After today's sermon a woman in her 60's told me that just this morning she had been praying, "Lord, I'm so tired of trying."  When she heard in the sermon the encouragement to "stop trying and start training" she knew the Lord had heard her prayer and was answering the cry of her heart. 

I've put Amazon links to some additional resources for those readers who want to go deeper.  I'll be saying more about these books in the future.  Each of the ones listed here has been personally helpful to me on my journey.  Let the Training Begin!

Meet Him in Galilee

I've come to appreciate how Mark ends his Gospel.  I love the image of sitting underneath the cross where I realize He died for me and then being transported back to Galilee where I find the risen Christ and begin the process of discipleship all over again.

So many commented today on the impact of the Bible reading during the sermon.  In my Mark reading this week I read silently until I came to the text I knew I would be preaching.  I then began to read aloud.  Hearing the words in my ears as well as in my imagination (as we all do when we read silently) made a difference in how I understood the significance of Jesus' death for me.  "He bore it all that I might live!" we used to sing.  Jesus wants us to admit our failures, but he doesn't want us to stay there!  He wants us to live!  Receive the gift of grace and get back to Galilee.  We'll be much better followers now than when we first  began!

Reaching the end of preaching on the Gospel of Mark was actually an emotional experience for me.  The past 27 sermons I have preached have all been prepared by reading the Gospel in it's entirety and then focusing attention upon the specific text to be addressed in that week's sermon.  As I mentioned this morning I feel like my friend Mark, who I've enjoyed spending time with and getting to know, is leaving.  I know we'll visit from time to time but it will not be the same.  May I honor Mark's friendship by learning and living the lessons he has taught.  What about you?  What has Mark taught you that will make a difference in your life?

Bringing It All Together

Two comments that I have sought to live by:

• "When you mess up, fess up." 

• "Confession is to be as wide as the sin."

I got to demonstrate both of these this morning as my attempt at humor was made at the expense of another.  Some tried to assure me that my comments were not inappropriate but I felt in my spirit that they were.  I take seriously the scripture,  "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his  tongue , he deceives himself and his religion is worthless" (James 1:26).  

Immediately after I made the joke I regretted it, and as I began preaching my spirit was troubled.  When the Holy Spirit is nudging you it is best to pay attention.  The Spirit continued to bother me as we read Psalm 118 together.  During the singing of the three praise songs I knew I needed to let the congregation in on my internal struggle before we ate the bread and drank the cup together. 

I hope that God used the sermon to do some good, but all I can reflect on this afternoon is the lesson the Spirit was teaching me.  Two other passages come to my mind this afternoon,   "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1).  God does hold teachers to a higher standard simply because we to be among the most mature spiritually.  "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Timothy 4:16).  I want my life example to preach as loudly as my formal sermons.  I want my heart to be sensitive enough so that I don't let "small things" go unnoticed and grow into "big things". 

Extravagant Expressions

One of the questions I wrote for our small groups was to look at the principle players in the sermon narrative (Mark 14:1-11) and talk about which one you can relate too.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I relate better to the angry disciples than anyone else.  I understand their argument, "This could have been sold and the money given to the poor."  I've spent my entire life living frugally so that I could have something to share with others.  To see such extravagant "waste" as displayed by this woman would probably have brought out in me the same reaction as the disciples. 

I don't see myself much in the woman.  I've had my moments of "unrestrained" praise and thanksgiving, mostly in private.  So, I guess I can understand her a little.  However, to think of pouring out an entire year's salary (supposing the disciples calculations were correct) is a tough pill for me to swallow. 

In spite of my own shortcomings in this area, I'm so glad the woman did what she did.  The last act of kindness shown to my Lord before his terrible suffering was given as an extravagant expression of love and thanksgiving.  When I see this woman in glory I'm going to give her a hug and thank her for doing what the more "practical minded" disciples could not.  I'm going to thank her for pushing me to look at ways that I might be stifling the Spirit within me by resisting his impulses to loosen up and be more expressive to the one who gave everything for me.

The Good News About the End of the World

There is a phrase in the middle of Mark 13 that instantly catches the attention of the careful Bible reader.  The phrase is, "let the reader understand" (Mark 13:14).  It is the only time in the entire book of Mark that the author specifically addresses his readers.  Mark's original readers all nodded with understanding, while today we shrug our shoulders at the meaning.  This was an important point of contact Mark had with his first readers that has been lost on today's audience.  The best interpretative guess I have heard on "the abomination that causes desolation" that Mark points too (Mark 13:14) is that it is a coded reference to the Roman general Titus who after conquering the rebel Jewish armies who had captured Jerusalem, commanded the final assault on the temple and took possession of the ruined site in A.D. 70.  The destruction of temple in Jerusalem was not the end; it was but a beginning of yet another series of horrible crises. 

"Let the reader understand."  What would Mark want us to understand today?  The cotton candy Christianity I described this morning will not produce disciples who can stand in the face of difficulties.  Rather, it produces Christians with a shallow root system.  This is not a new problem as Isaac Watts penned the following words in the middle of the 19th century:

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
He answers his question in another verse:

Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
(Am I A Solider of the Cross)

Disciples of Jesus have never been promised a life of financial security or physical protection.  When we read Mark's Gospel we are told just the opposite!  However, we are promised that we will be given exactly what we need to bear up under any trials that come our way.  May God make ALL of us into the kind of spiritually hearty, robust disciples who can keep our focus on the darkest of nights and can continue to love and serve when all around us are in a panic.  That is picture of Jesus from the Garden to the cross and that is what the Spirit will produce in us if we let him. 

When Less Equals More

The best part of the sermon had to be my interview with Erika. 
Byron: What would you think if you saw someone putting this big pile of bills in the collection basket?
Erika: That they really love Jesus!
Byron:  Yeah, that's a lot of money.  What would you think of a person who only put in the two penny's?
Erika: Well, that depends.
Byron: Depends on what?
Erika: Like, maybe if it was a homeless person that would show that they really loved Jesus too.
Perhaps I should have just stopped preaching right there.

The thing that really bothers me about this text is not that Jesus commends the widow; it's that he ignores those who put in the large amounts of money!  I've always been a tither; even when money got tight at home I never neglected my tithe.  I'm convinced God has blessed my family in multiple ways because of that.  However, this text ignores the tithers.  Mark tells us that there were many rich people putting large amounts of money in the temple treasury.  My guess is that they were all faithful tithers.  They were simply doing what they were supposed to do.  The truth is, they still had plenty left over.  The widow put in all she had and even though it was a minuscule amount; Jesus called attention to her gift.  "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." (Mark 12:43-44)

I'm worried for a church that makes widows like this feel like they're a "ministry" and puts rich young rulers in positions of leadership!  This text causes me no little discomfort.