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Discipleship is a journey. It is not a single flash of recognition. Discipleship involves recognizing Christ anew over and over again in new ways. It is not a single moment of decision. Discipleship involves deciding over and over again whom to trust and which way to go. It is not a single step in a new direction. Discipleship is following the path of Christ throughout life, being pulled to our feet after each stumble and being drawn back to the path each time we stray.
Discipleship is a journey.
For Peter this journey began on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus captured his attention while he was washing his fishing nets. Jesus said to Peter, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." Peter recognized something in Jesus that day-something that he couldn't name but that irresistibly beckoned him. He decided to trust Jesus that day. He left his nets and took his first steps into a new life, not knowing what lay ahead.
Discipleship is a journey.
A day came in Peter's journey when Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do crowds say that I am?" This was not a hard question. It was not a probing question. It required only some minimal powers of observation of the circumstances and the people that surrounded them on a daily basis. Rumors abounded, and the disciples were familiar with the whispers of speculation that went though every crowd. They answered: "Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah or one of the prophets from long ago."
Then Jesus asked, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?" This was a hard question, a probing question. It required looking inward. "Who do you say that I am?" This question required more than merely reporting what had been heard. This question required recognition. This question required a willingness to give voice to that recognition. This question required a decision. This question required a step in a new direction.
"Who do you say that I am?" This is a discipleship question. This isn't just a question for Peter and Andrew and James and John and the others of the twelve. This is a question for every person who has ever heard Jesus' call to follow and responded. This is a question for every person who ever will travel that journey of discipleship. This is a question for you and me.
It's a question that we can't answer just by parroting what we have heard other people say. When Jesus asks you and me that question, he isn't asking about what the preacher says, or what the seminary teacher says, or what the best-selling devotional book says.
When Jesus asks you and me, "Who do you say that I am?", it requires more than merely reporting what we have heard. It requires recognition. It requires a willingness to give voice to that recognition. It requires a decision. It requires a step in a new direction.
It's worth paying attention to where this question occurs for Peter. It occurs in the midst of the journey.
The day that Jesus found Peter washing his nets-Jesus didn't ask this question that day. Peter didn't know who Jesus was back then, not really. He just knew he wanted to be with Jesus. He knew he wanted to learn from Jesus. He knew he wanted to see Jesus in action with other people. He knew he wanted to spend time with Jesus. He didn't really know who Jesus was, and Jesus didn't ask him then. He asked him in the midst of the journey.
For most of us, this question occurs in the midst of the journey.
For some of us, that is hard to accept. Many of us have been trained to make careful decisions, to investigate thoroughly before making any commitments.
When my niece was in high school, she and my brother spent months poring over literature about various colleges. They read catalogs. They compared ratings on all sorts of characteristics. They reviewed financial considerations. They narrowed it down to five or six possibilities. Then they visited campuses and asked more questions. My niece wasn't going to make such an important decision without being fully informed.
Many of us put similar effort into buying a car or a house. We want to know what we're getting into before we get into it. So it's natural that many of us think discipleship should work the same way.
Some people decide to hold back until they have Jesus all figured out. When they know exactly who he is and what it will mean to be his disciple, then they'll make the decision to follow him or not. Until then, they just don't have enough information.
Some people go ahead and make the leap into following Jesus, but then feel inadequate as disciples because they don't fully understand who he is. They think that, as a disciple, they should know more, they should be more confident, they should have Jesus all figured out.
But it doesn't work that way. Like Peter, most of us start following Jesus without fully knowing who he is. We just know we want to be with Jesus. We want to learn from him. We want to see him in action with other people. We want to spend time with him.
If you have heard Jesus calling you, but you're holding back until you know him better, I encourage you-go ahead and take that leap. It is only in the following that you will come to know him.
If you are following, but you worry because you don't know him very well, I encourage you-relax, it is only in the following that you will come to know him.
"Who do you say that I am?" It's a question that comes in the midst of the journey.
Peter wouldn't fully understand who Jesus is for a long, long time. It would take a crucifixion, and a resurrection, and an ascension before Peter would finally get it. It would take the Pentecost gift of the Holy Spirit to bring it all together in Peter's heart and mind.
It's worth noting that Jesus didn't wait to ask the question until then either. When Peter made his amazing confession, "You are the Messiah! You are the Christ! You are the anointed one!", he still did not know what that really meant. But he was on the way. Peter didn't fully understand yet, but he did recognize at least one thing-that in Jesus, God has intervened decisively in the history of creation to bring salvation.
It is only in the following that we come to know Jesus. Discipleship is a journey. It is not a single flash of recognition. Discipleship involves recognizing Christ anew over and over again in new ways. It is not a single moment of decision. Discipleship involves deciding over and over again whom to trust and which way to go. It is not a single step in a new direction. Discipleship is following the path of Christ throughout life, being pulled to our feet after each stumble and being drawn back to the path each time we stray.
"Who do you say that I am?"
It's a question that we can't answer just by parroting what we have heard other people say. When Jesus asks you and me that question, he isn't asking about what we have been told or what we have read.
When Jesus asks you and me, "Who do you say that I am?", it requires more than merely reporting what we have heard. It requires recognition. It requires a willingness to give voice to that recognition. It requires a decision. It requires a step in a new direction.
Look again at where this question occurs in Peter's journey-in the midst of the journey, yes, but not just anywhere in the midst of the journey. It's not random. Just a few verses later in the Gospel of Luke will come the pivotal declaration in Luke's account of Jesus' ministry: "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." [Luke 9:51]
Peter doesn't know it yet, but Jesus is getting ready to turn his attention elsewhere. Galilee lies behind him. Jerusalem lies ahead. Jesus is headed to the cross, where his fullness will be emptied out totally, and he will give his life so that his followers might have life.
Before he turns his face to Jerusalem, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Before the disciples even know that their loyalty and courage will be tested to their limits, Peter responds, "You are the Messiah!" It isn't the climax of the gospel story, but it is a turning point. It isn't the culmination of Peter's journey of discipleship, it is a major turning point.
When Peter exclaims "You are the Messiah!", it is a signal of recognition. But it is also a decision. It is a confession of faith. It's a declaration that it is not what Jesus does that is the most important thing, it's who Jesus is. It is an acknowledgement by Peter that his own identity is defined by Jesus' identity.
When Peter exclaims "You are the Messiah!", it is a signal of recognition and a decision. But it is also a step in a new direction. From this point forward, whether he knows it or not, Peter is headed to the cross. Peter will still display his confusion and misunderstanding. Peter will still stray and turn away. But from this point forward, Peter is headed to the cross with Jesus.
Peter is still coming to know Jesus, but he will follow him to the cross, and in the following he will come to know him.
Peter experienced a taste and a glimpse of the fullness of life that Jesus embodied during their travels around Galilee. Peter will learn about surrender and obedience and self-emptying on their way to Jerusalem. Peter will learn that it is only in the journey to the cross, and beyond, that the taste of life's fullness becomes a feast and the glimpse of life's fullness becomes a way of being.
The same turning point that Peter experienced in the foothills of Mount Hermon comes to each one of Jesus' disciples. It comes at different times and in different places. Just like Peter we cannot predict it ahead of time. Just like Peter, we probably will not fully understand it. Just like for Peter, the invitation will come for us to head to the cross and to find our place with Jesus at the foot of the cross.
The journey of discipleship remains incomplete apart from the journey to the cross. Our knowledge of Jesus remains partial, apart from joining him at the foot of the cross.
When we first follow Jesus, we know the joy of being more than we ever were before-more courageous, more peaceful, more accepted.
The invitation to follow Jesus to the cross is an invitation to know the joy of being empty-empty of our own desires, empty of our own needs, empty of ourselves.
This is a major turning point on the journey of discipleship.
The invitation to make this turn comes from the Lord. The recognition is a gift of the Spirit. The decision to acknowledge that our own identity is defined by Jesus' identity is ours to make. The first step in the direction of the cross is also ours to make. Taking that step, we will still display confusion and misunderstanding. We will still stray and turn away. But the invitation remains to join Jesus at the foot of the cross.
If we follow him to the cross, in the following we will come to know him.
The season of Lent began this past Wednesday-Ash Wednesday. Lent is a journey of forty days (and a few Sundays). During Lent, the church as a whole seeks to orient itself for the journey to the cross with Jesus and to prepare itself for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.
Lent is a time when each disciple of Jesus is invited once again to follow Jesus to the cross, to make that decision again with intentionality, to recognize that in Jesus God has intervened decisively in the history of creation to bring salvation. Lent is a time for each disciple of Jesus is invited once again to acknowledge that our own identity is defined by Jesus' identity. Lent is a time for each disciple of Jesus to take note of the ways that we have strayed and turned away, to confess our waywardness and repent.
Lent is a time to remember that the journey of discipleship remains incomplete apart from the journey to the cross and our knowledge of Jesus remains partial apart from joining him at the foot of the cross.
Lent is a time to re-learn the joy of being empty-empty of our own desires, empty of our own needs, empty of ourselves-so that when Easter comes, we can really be ready to re-learn the joy of being made new and being filled.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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