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All That I Am

Ernie Johnson Jr. knows baseball. His father announced three decades worth of major league games, following the Braves from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Ernie inherited the microphone and has covered six sports on three continents but there is one game he will never forget.

Ernie was a nine year old Little Leaguer, dutifully playing shortstop. An opposing batter hit a ground rule double that bounced over the fence. The two outfielders scampered over the fence to retrieve the ball so the game could continue. Both teams waited for them to return. They waited. . .and waited. . .but no one appeared. Concerned coaches finally jogged into the outfield and scaled the fence. Curious players, including Ernie followed them. They found the missing duo just a few feet beyond the fence, gloves dropped on the ground, found ball at their feet, blackberries and smiles on their faces. The two players had stepped away from the game.

Have you have stepped away from the game. When it comes to following Christ are you operating in your sweet spot? Maybe you were never in the game but we are going to talk about where you are living in relationship to Christ today.

Last week we ended a series that included the heart of the teaching of Jesus Christ as taught in His Sermon on the Mount. What is the heart of Christ teaching? He calls us to a life of discipleship. It is my intention today to try to define what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Discipleship is living life in the Spirit of God. Jesus walked with His disciples for three years before returning to His heavenly Father. As He left them on this earth He promised them that He would be with them. He promised them that they would have the possibility of being engulfed by His presence. The Holy Spirit was and is given to those who wait or seek for Him. In Act 2, the disciples waited together for this promise to come. They had no idea what it would mean or what affect it would have on their lives but Jesus said to wait so they waited. Why did they wait? To understand it you need to read the end of the beginning. Luke wrote these words in Acts 1 as he narrates the story of Jesus last days on earth.

1 In my first book[a] I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


Those first disciples quickly came to understand that they were to live the kingdom of Christ on earth. In other words they would live their lives “in Christ.”

“Unfortunately, the relentlessly legalistic bent of the human soul has, over time, led many to identify engulfment in the spirit with its outward manifestations. Things like signs and wonders, other tongues; poverty, chastity and obedience; power to convert unbelievers; or even certain practices and symbols that have become denominationally distinctive. As important as those things may be they are not the reality of the kingdom life.” (Paraphrase of Willard pg. 279)

Oswald Chambers wrote these words nearly a hundred years ago: “The only noble sense in which we can claim to believe a thing is when we ourselves are living in the inner spirit of that thing.

I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all seeing eye. I have no right to say I believe that Jesus is the Son of God unless in my personal life I yield myself to that Eternal Spirit, free from all self-seeking, which became incarnate in Jesus.

I have no right to say that I believe in forgiveness as an attribute of God if in my own heart I cherish an unforgiving temper. The forgiveness of God is the test by which I myself am judged. Belief is a wholesale committal, it means making things inevitable, cutting off every possible retreat.” (Disciples Indeed)

The reality of being a disciple is living in the presence of Christ daily. It cannot be faked, controlled or standardized. Living life in the Spirit is truly an adventure everyday. Discipleship is apprenticeship to Jesus.

"Discipleship is not a second step in Christianity, as if one first becomes a believer in Jesus and then (if he chooses) a disciple, but from the beginning, discipleship is involved in what it means to be a Christian." James Montgomery Boice

1. Discipleship is Simple: It is Apprenticeship

We are invited and expected to enter in to a relationship with Christ that is a lot like an apprenticeship. Some of you in this room have come to church and you believe that you have become a Christ follower yet in reality nothing seems to have really changed in your life. If that is the case there is something wrong. It is not as though you are going to be perfect on day one but you should see spiritual growth in your life. You should be gaining some victory over things that you know are contrary to the word of God.

If you are going to be Jesus’ apprentice only one essential condition must be met: you must spend time with the person you are being mentored by. You can’t do discipleship at arms length or through distance learning. Most Christians don’t think in terms of this lifestyle of apprenticeship. They spend their efforts making sure they “make the final cut” by the end of the season.

In many Christian settings there is a long-standing struggle with the confidence or assurance of salvation – to the point of obsession This obsession -- whether we have sinned too much, or are we good enough to achieve our destination -- becomes so all-consuming that it crowds out time, effort and motivation that would otherwise be directed at discipleship The sad testimony of modern Christianity is that one can be labeled a Christian without being a disciple.

Football coaches can tell you immediately who they have apprenticed under. Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has been responsible for placing dozens of coaches into all levels of football through apprenticeship. All musical virtuosos studied under some great teacher. The Gene Nastri Music School in Everett, Washington was named after violin instructor Gene Nastri who, during the 1960’s and 1970’s, taught orchestra to hundreds of children in the Everett School district – including this author. God used this apprenticeship experience of learning the violin to take children and teach them appreciation and discipline through music. The net result was that God used a teacher to help establish character qualities that might well have been lacking otherwise.

So what is a disciple? A disciple is a person willing to be apprenticed by another person who learns what that individual is and does. The nice thing about this definition is that anyone can do it. It is learning from Jesus how to live our lives, our whole lives, our real lives. We are not learning from Jesus how to live his life. So what are we trying to do? What am I working towards? What does this Jesus life, fully dedicated in every way unto Him, truly look like? How can we work at it with all of our hearts? Dallas Willard says, “I need to be able to live my life as he would live it, if He were I.” (4) 4. Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. HarperSanFrancisco, 1997, pg. 283.

2. Discipleship is Personal: It is about learning to do life with Jesus

I am asking every one of you in this room today to examine your life and your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Is it personal? Do you know Him, I mean truly know Him? Do you live each day with an understanding that Jesus wants to be and should be a part of everything you do?

“My discipleship to Jesus is within clearly defined limits, not a matter of what I do, but of how I do it. And it covers everything religious or not.” Willard

Brother Lawrence, was a kitchen worker and a cook but he wrote these words: “Our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works, but in doing that for God’s sake which we commonly do for our own. . .It is great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to adhere to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the season of prayer.”

The Bible is full of practical ways to live out your life in the spirit of Jesus Christ. These teachings show us how to live our lives in regards to the time, places family, neighbors, talents and opportunities that are ours. Jesus left us a manual of how to conduct our lives.

Life in the kingdom or the Society of Jesus if you will is not exclusively about not doing wrong things. Disciples of Christ are primarily concerned and occupied with positive good that can be done with their lives. We are to be concerned about the strengths and virtues that develop in us as we grow spiritually.

The center focus of a disciple’s life is the cultivation of oneself, one’s family, one’s workplace and community. If we could ever get the majority of the people in this room to embrace this truth we would never have a shortage of small group leaders, or people who are willing to serve others. We would have no problem getting some of you to dedicate your Saturday evenings to our Real Life venue on the east side of Newark.

On June 6, 1981, Doug Whitt and his bride, Sylvia, were escorted to their hotel’s fancy bridal suite in the wee hours of the morning. In the suite they saw a sofa, chairs, and table, but where was the bed? Then they discovered the sofa was a hide-a-bed, with a lumpy mattress and sagging springs. They spent a fitful night and woke up in the morning with sore backs.

“The new husband went to the hotel desk and gave the management a tongue-lashing. "Did you open the door in the room?" asked the clerk. Doug went back to the room. He opened the door they had thought was a closet. There, complete with fruit baskets and chocolates, was a beautiful bedroom! Opening all the doors in a honeymoon suite is like obeying all the words of Jesus. Discipleship is the door to happiness.” - Cynthia Thomas, Leadership Magazine The bottom line is that God is doing some incredible things and He is only limited by our willingness to be true disciples and apprentices to Him.

3. Discipleship is Daily: It includes my Vocation

Most of us in this room are not able or do not feel called to full time ministry. In other words you make your living in the every day working world outside the walls of this building. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be learning from Jesus how to do your job as Jesus himself would do it. In the New Testament it talks about doing things “in the name” of Jesus.

The time you spend at work is the bulk of your waking and productive hours. But how do you make this time in the workplace a time of apprenticeship to Jesus. Let me tell you first of all that you don’t do it by becoming what Willard calls the “Christian nag in residence.” You don’t do it by becoming the critic of everyone else’s behavior.

Living out the life of an apprentice or disciple to Christ is really about a gentle but firm non-cooperation with things that everyone knows to be wrong but also includes a loving, sensitive, consistent service to others. You combine this with an attitude of prayer for whatever activity your workplace requires and an authentic love for those around you.

It matters little what your vocation is, the fact remains that Jesus in intensely interested in you becoming His light in dark places. You may make lights, armor, or insulation and even lipstick containers. You may sell cars, teach students, set electric poles, work in a bank, or a courtroom. You may protect this community from fires or those who break the law. You may work in a hospital or a doctor’s office. You may clean houses or work in a restaurant or you may even own your own business with employees that you have hired. Regardless of what it is that you do you are in the arena of life where Jesus wants to be and you are His representative.

In his book “The Divine Conspiracy,” USC Philosophy professor Dallas Willard tells the rest of the story… Kirby Puckett was one of the most loved men ever to play the game and a well known Christian. Dennis Martinez, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, once crushed the left side of Kirby’s face with a pitch. Martinez assumed that Kirby would hate him. But when he had recovered a bit, Kirby called Martinez “my good friend” and blamed himself for not getting out of the way of the fastball. He was an outstanding community leader for good causes, and expressed his faith naturally in words that matched his life. Everyone knew who Kirby was trusting and why he would not hate someone who had injured him. He was living in God’s world and relying upon it. (2) 1. Tim Marchman, The Rise and Fall of an Improbable Hero, The New York Sun, March 8, 2006. 2. Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. HarperSanFrancisco, 1997, pg. 287.

If you restrict your religious moments for the sixty-five minutes you spend in this room each Sunday you are missing the most important elements of being a follower of Jesus Christ. You are missing out on daily discipleship and apprenticeship that will change your life and those around you forever.

4. Becoming a Disciple: It is intentional

        1. Ask Deliberately

We are to desire Christ above all else and we need to make it known to Him. Ask Him to lead you accept you as His disciple. We are to do this repeatedly and emphatically. We should make this asking for His presence, this expression of our desire, a serious part of our day, each day. You see you are either serious about serving with Christ or you are not. You are either in this to be like Him or you are just in it for your free ticket to heaven. You need to know something. There is no free ticket to heaven! Salvation is free because of Christ but we are called to dedicate and deliver our selves daily to Him. Write down the prayers you pray. Journal your request for God’s presence in your life. You have to ask and invite Him into your life at this level.

        2. Abide or Dwell in Him

John 8:31.32 NKJV: “31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

This simply means center your life around the things we studied for 19 weeks in the Sermon on the Mount. Devote your attention to the teachings of Jesus Christ in private study. Refuse to allow you mind to be engaged in frivolous activities that don’t reflect the values of our Lord. There are many voices calling out to us each day that are fruitless, degrading and even destructive to our relationship with Christ. Learn to say no to the culture of cool that calls us each day to participate just like any other person going through this world for themselves. Dwell in Him. To dwell in Christ is to dwell in His word where He is. You will never be a true disciple of Christ if you never pick up this book ( the Bible) and began to live out what it says.

        3. Acknowledge your Decision

Proverbs 3:6 NIV: “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

You don’t drift into discipleship just like a person who is committed to exercise doesn’t do it by thinking about it. You have to make a decision, a life changing and altering decision to go for it with every thing you are. Be intentional about it and openly acknowledge it.

Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction writes, “It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the Gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier Christians called holiness.”

Some years ago Donald Grey Barnhouse was counseling a young woman on the sidewalk in front of a church following an evening service. She said she was a Christian and that she wanted to follow Christ. But she wanted to be famous too. She wanted to pursue a stage career in New York. "After I have made it in the theater, I’ll follow Christ completely," she said. Barnhouse took a key out of his pocket and scratched a mark on a postal box standing on the corner. "That is what God will let you do," he said. "God will let you scratch the surface of success. He will let you get close enough to the top to know what it is, but He will never let you have it, because He will never let one of His children have anything rather than Himself." Years later he met the girl again, and she confessed that this had indeed been her life story. She had dabbled in the stage. Once her picture had been in a national magazine. But she had never quite made it. She told Barnhouse, "I can’t tell you how many times in my discouragement I have closed my eyes and seen you scratching on that postal box with your key. God let me scratch the edges, but He gave me nothing in place of Himself." J.M. Boice, Christ’s Call To Discipleship

Let me ask you today, have you taken a stand for Christ. Are you living out your faith on a daily basis or do you have a different life you live outside the walls of this building?

I don’t know how much more of this I can take to be honest with you. Those of us who preach stand up here Sunday after Sunday preaching, teaching, calling, pleading, entreating, inviting, and asking for you to join this society of Jesus. We call you to be true to His word day in and day out. The question remains and haunts me everyday: How many of the eight hundred people who walk into this building today will truly take the word of God and the teachings of Christ seriously.

Who is it among you today that will say, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord?

Who among you will hear this teaching today and not go out of here and just blow it off with your life and lifestyle? I am pleading with you to take discipleship seriously. I am pleading with you as your pastor and shepherd to take Jesus seriously. Will you take a stand today begin to walk in the presence of Jesus Christ?

Hillsong United - The Stand Lyrics:

You stood before creation
Forever within Your hand
You spoke all life into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what can I say
And what could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I’ll walk upon salvation
Your Spirit alive in me
This life to declare Your promise
My soul now to stand

So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered All I am is Yours

Prayer of St. Patrick:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, and in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.



2007/09/09