Some Thoughts on the
Liturgy
DISCIPLES
OR ADMIRERS
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Jesus tells two short stories to get a point across to the
crowd around him
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and it is the same point for us today
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that point—you must have some idea of a project before you
do it
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if you want to build a tower: you had better plan on having
enough material to finish it
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if one king is marching against another: the king had better
know what to expect before he starts something
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it is a characteristic essential to any leadership
situation—having an idea of what will happen as a result of
your decision
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The same applies to being a disciple of Jesus
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if we say that we will be disciples, we have to know what it
means
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one of the more interesting and more challenging American
religious people is a man by the name of Clarence Jordan
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he was a Protestant peace activist of the 1940’s and 50’s
who founded a place of refuge for persecuted black people in
Georgia called the Koinonia Farm
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in the early fifties, Clarence approached his brother Robert
Jordan, later a state senator and justice of the Georgia
Supreme Court, asking him to represent Koinonia Farm legally
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Bob reminded Clarence that he had political aspirations, and
therefore could not do what he asked because he would never be
elected, saying that he could lose everything that he had
worked for
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Clarence pointed out that Koinonia Farm could lose everything
also
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Bob told him that it was different
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‘Why is it different,’ Clarence said, ‘I remember, it
seems to me, that you and I joined the church the same Sunday,
as boys. I expect when we came forward, the preacher asked me
about the same question he did you. He asked me, ‘Do you
accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.’ And I said, ‘yes.’
What did you say?’
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Bob replied, ‘I follow Jesus, Clarence, up to a point.’
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Clarence said: ‘Could that point by any chance be—the
cross?’
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Bob said: ‘That’s right. I follow him to that cross, but
not on
the
cross. I’m not getting myself crucified.’
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Clarence replied: ‘Then, Bob, I don’t believe you’re a
disciple. You’re an admirer
of
Jesus, but not a disciple
of
his. I think you ought to go back to the church you belong to,
and tell them you’re an admirer not a disciple.’
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Bob’s answer to his statement—the lawyer getting the last
word—was that then there would be no church at all because
every Christian was an admirer and not a disciple
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To me, that is a classic distinction: the difference between a
disciple and an admirer
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Jesus says that you had better know what it means to be a
disciple before you admit to being one
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and he spells out what it means to be a disciple in the Gospel
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– renouncing self and material possessions
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It means renouncing self and material possessions
If
anyone comes to me without hating [his/her family], and even
his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone of you who does
not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
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it is exaggeration, something that Jesus often uses, saying
that we have to know what is really important in life
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he says that family and material things cannot be more
important than God
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in this matter, are we disciples or merely admirers of Jesus?
2
– taking up the cross
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Being a disciple/follower means taking up the cross
Whoever
does not carry his own cross … cannot be my disciple.
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in this life things are going to happen which are painful –
the cross –
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life will be unfair, there will be tragedies, suffering,
disagreements, family problems, bad along with all the good
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and the only way we can understand it is to say that God is in
charge, and when God is in charge, only good can come out of
any situation no matter what is happening
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and so as we look at the way we have behaved, we must ask
ourselves: are we disciples or merely admirers of Jesus?
3
– truly following Jesus
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Being a disciple/follower means truly following Jesus, that
is, knowing what he wants
Whoever
does not … come after me cannot be my disciple.
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it means knowing what his principles and ideals are and
exactly what they mean in our daily lives
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and so we must ask ourselves as we look our Christianity: are
we disciples or merely admirers?
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We do not need more admirers of Jesus; we need more disciples
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in fact, if all we are are admirers, then we really don’t
have a church—Bob Jordan was right
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a disciple gives up self, accepts the cross, and truly knows
what Jesus wants
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the meditation for us today is the question: are we disciples
or merely admirers of Jesus?
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