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The life of discipleship is a journey. It's not so much about being in the right place at the right time, or about looking good, or even about being good. It's about walking in the foot steps of the One who goes before us.
A quote I really like goes like this: "Christianity is not a set of teachings to understand. It is a Person to follow."
The life of discipleship is a journey. It's about walking in the foot steps of the One who goes before us-sometimes traveling quickly, sometimes traveling slowly.
Like most real journeys, the life of discipleship-of following Jesus-doesn't always move at the same pace. Like most real journeys in this crazy world we live in, it has twists and turns. It isn't always a smooth journey. Sometimes we travel in the company of friends, accompanied by laughter and the sharing of stories, nudging each other along. Sometimes the journey grows quiet, and our closest companions are silence and solitude.
Because we are real people, affected in real ways by this crazy world we live in, the life of discipleship-of following Jesus-doesn't always move in the same direction. Sometimes our own foot steps come close to tracing Jesus' foot steps for awhile. Sometimes the haze and smoke in our lives clear and we find that we have strayed a far distance from Jesus' foot steps. Sometimes we stumble and fall and need to be picked up. Sometimes a roadside attraction diverts our attention and the journey stalls for a while. Sometimes scribbled notations on a map convince us to take a side way as a shortcut, and we chase it for awhile only to find out that it is no shortcut at all but takes us instead into a snarl of confusing traffic or a canyon that seems to have no exit. Sometimes in our stubbornness and fear, we plop down in the sand, dig in our heels, and refuse to move, but Jesus keeps moving. You can't stay where you are and follow Jesus at the same time.
Because Jesus keeps coming back for us, the life of discipleship is a journey. Sometimes he carries us. Sometimes we amble arm in arm. Sometimes we even dance.
The journey of discipleship is different for every person. That's true in part because each person is different from every other person-different character, different circumstances, different struggles, different strengths. But that's also true because the journey of discipleship is more about growing in relationship with the Person Jesus than learning the set of doctrine that is Jesus' teachings. Jesus' teachings are the same for you and for me. Jesus' teachings were the same for believers in Jerusalem 2000 years ago and for believers in Rome a thousand years ago and for believers in China today. But Jesus himself is a Person, not a set of teachings. Your relationship with Jesus is not going to be exactly like my relationship with Jesus. Your relationship with Jesus is not going to be exactly like anybody else's relationship with Jesus.
The journey of discipleship starts out differently for different people. Sometimes a person is sunk deep in the pit of despair when his relationship with Jesus begins, and the first part of the journey is about being pulled out of despair into hope. Sometimes Jesus comes to a person in the midst of loneliness, and the first part of the journey she is learning the true meaning of companionship. Sometimes it's the life-giving truth of Jesus that first captures a person's attention, and the first part of the journey is about breaking free from life-destroying deceptions. Sometimes it's the life-restoring grace of Jesus that first captures a person's heart, and the first part of the journey is about stepping out of shame and into acceptance. Sometimes it's in the midst of the meaninglessness and self-centered indulgence of this world that the voice of Jesus is first heard, and the first part of the journey is about finding a purpose worth living for-something with a whole lot more significance than chasing after personal pleasure. Sometimes the first part of the journey is no more dramatic than shifting from the daily routine of a life focused on job and security to the daily adventure of learning how to see the world as Jesus sees it.
Recently I heard a new way of describing some of the different ways that people experience the journey of discipleship-of following Jesus. Some people are microwave Christians, and some people are crock pot Christians. [From a story related by Stan Ott, which he heard from another.]
Microwave Christians are those who are going along and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit infuses their life with energy and power and heat. Stuff happens. Overnight they are a new person and life is different. Life has new meaning and new hope, and they are never the same again.
Crock pot Christians are the ones in whom the transforming power of the Holy Spirit simmers…maybe for years and years. Not a lot seems to be happening. Not much heat is generated. But it turns out that at the end, what's in the pot is a whole lot different than what was there at the beginning.
I think I'm a little bit of both.
I can look back over long stretches of my life and see the pot simmering. Not a lot seemed to be happening. I didn't seem to be making any great strides-or even very many little strides-in my journey with Christ. Even so, at the end of these stretches I was very different than I was at the beginning, and somehow or another Jesus had claimed a stronger hold on my life.
I can also look back over my life and notice times when I have been zapped by the Holy Spirit. Everything about how I understand God and how I understand myself has changed in a moment.
I think Peter was a little bit of both, too-sometimes a crock pot Christian and sometimes a microwave Christian.
When Jesus first captured Peter's attention, it was in the midst of the daily routine of a life focused on job and security. Sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly, Jesus drew Peter out of the routine of ordinary existence into the extraordinary adventure of learning how to see the world as Jesus sees the world.
When Jesus first said the words to Peter, "follow me," Peter was on the beach cleaning and mending his fishing nets. Peter left his nets and followed. Over the next three years or so, Peter learned what it was to walk in intimacy with Jesus. He walked with Jesus, and talked with Jesus, and shared meals with Jesus. He listened to Jesus teach and preach. He watched Jesus heal the sick and the broken. Peter healed the sick and the broken, also, through the power of Jesus' name.
Slowly, steadily, with a few fits and starts, Peter learned what it is to walk in intimacy with Jesus.
Then came that fateful week in Jerusalem-the week that started with shouts of praise and acclamation as Jesus and his closest followers entered the city on Palm Sunday and that came to a close with shouts of derision and rejection as Jesus hung on the cross and died.
Somewhere along the line during the journey of discipleship, most all of us will experience a time when we hit a wall and the journey threatens to come to an end. Our faith is tested to the breaking point. The path before us that once seemed so clear disappears into brambles and becomes impassable. We are tempted to turn back, to return to the life that was once familiar to us-to return to the familiarity of our old despair or loneliness or deception or shame or self-indulgence, to return simply to the familiarity of our old routines.
Sometimes this happens because the craziness of this world rises up and threatens to bury us in circumstances beyond our control. The path which had been smooth becomes rough. Once we could see the path slowly winding here and there ahead of us; it wasn't totally straight and smooth but we could navigate the turns. Now the path startles with abrupt turns that come out of nowhere-blocking the way forward and leaving no clear way to turn. Maybe we experienced job loss before and came through it ok, but this time there seems to be no opportunity anywhere. Maybe we experienced sickness before, but this time even the doctors are shaking their heads with no idea of what to try next. Maybe some of us experienced temptation to return to alcohol before, but this time the thirst gnaws at the very soul and will not go away.
Sometimes this happens because of our own failures. We have tripped up before, but this time we blew it big time. We are convinced there is no way to recover from this blunder. We are convinced that God's patience with us has surely run out.
Sometimes this happens because God withdraws from us. We lose sight of God. The nearness that we felt during the first part of our journey is gone. The mystics call this experience "the dark night of the soul". Once we walked in intimacy and fellowship with God; his touch was upon us at every step; his nearness was as tangible as that of our closest friend. But now our prayers hit the ceiling and bounce back. God seems distant, silent, unapproachable. God's promises, which seemed so rock-solid once upon a time, now seem to be nothing more than illusion.
On the first Good Friday, Peter experienced all three of these things at once.
How crazy is it that, just a few days after the crowds welcomed Jesus with shouts of hosanna, they were shouting "crucify him!"? How crazy is it that the Messiah, the Son of God, the One sent into the world to overcome all that is evil, was hung on a cross by all that is evil until he breathed his last? How crazy is it that the One who drew followers to him-who drew Peter to him-would die and be buried and leave them with no idea of what to do next?
On top of all that, Peter failed miserably in his own commitment to Christ. On Thursday night, Peter declared that he would follow Jesus even unto death-even if all others fell away, he would never fall away. Only a few hours later, Peter stood by a fire within sight of Jesus and denied him three times. The cock crowed, Jesus looked Peter in the eye, and Peter's heart broke. He recognized his own failure-the frailty of his own commitment-and he wept.
Then Jesus hung on the cross and died, and the friend and master whom he loved with all his broken heart was gone. No chance to redeem himself. No chance to beg forgiveness. No chance to feel Jesus' reassuring hand on his shoulder.
So Peter returned to the familiarity of his old routines. What else could he do? He went fishing. But Jesus keeps coming back for us, and he came back for Peter.
What happens next is almost a replay of something that happened early on in Peter's relationship with Jesus. Peter and the other disciples with him come back from a night on the water with no fish. A man on the beach calls out to them to let the net out on the other side of the boat. They do, and suddenly the net is filled to overflowing.
Somebody recognizes Jesus, and Peter jumps out of the boat in his rush to meet Jesus on the shore. Jesus is not absent after all, but present. He has even built a fire and cooked some breakfast for his disciples.
Then Jesus takes Peter aside. Three times Jesus has Peter affirm his love. Three times Jesus calls Peter to ministry.
Jesus comes to Peter at his lowest point, offers him forgiveness and redemption, and tells him to be about the business of the kingdom.
"Follow me."
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