Discipleship For The Long Haul: Building Through The Power of The Holy Spirit

A STORY TO ILLUSTRATE THAT DISCIPLESHP IS FOR THE LONG HAUL :  

I went to pick up my passport and visa from the French Embassy here in Kingston. Afterwards, I stopped to get some lunch and catch up on some emails! As I sat waiting for my order I saw an email from someone, one of my sons, who I had lost touch with for over five years now!

Tom Stoke (name changed), was a talented football (soccer) and basketball player. Bill (name changed), the coach of the soccer team said to me one day, "Dad, you need to take that young man under your wings!" And so I did! Little did I know the pain and frustration it was going to cause me over the years but now JOY inexpressible!!!

I think it is fair to say that I have never tried harder to mentor someone who had so much potential but equally resisted what I tried to teach and show him! For Tom, there were always two issues: GIRLS/WOMEN (you can guess the rest) and an overwhelming fear of giving his life to Christ lest he backslide like other members of his family. And he, like most Caribbean males, did not, at the time, possess the foresight nor the will and discipline to overcome these demons! Until now!

Years ago, I finally gave up on Tom - in one sense! I left him alone to work out his issues without my prodding and pushing and cajoling. But he was not left bereft of my prayers! I simply decided to leave him to his desires and delights until he could see how foolish and useless those pursuits were without God and finally turn to God. Prayer became my weapon of choice to break him (and others by the way)!

Having not heard from him in years then, yet still sending him my emails, I was greatly interested to know why he was emailing me so I quickly opened his mail which started something like this: "I don't know where to start...." Tom gave a number and new email address and asked me to contact him. I recognized it as a US number in Florida and so quickly called!

He told me he was married now and had a son and was living in South Florida! He said, "Pops, my life has changed! I have come to see how I wasted my life in all those pursuits after women and sex. I said to myself, 'what was all that for?! What a waste! I could even have gotten some disease. And I don't want to bring up my child the way I lived my life. I am not there yet Pops but am working on it"

I must tell you, I was speechless! THAT is rare!! Since I was having lunch I told him I would call him later that evening which I did. It was more of the same and, as well, promises to come see me and take me out when I come to Florida next!

After hanging up the phone, the gentle voice of the Spirit said to me, "you know, you need to ask him what PREVENTS him from giving his life to Christ." So I quickly called him back and said, "son, since you said your life has changed and you are no longer doing the wild stuff you used to do, what stops you from giving your life to Christ?" I received the answer I had longed and prayed for these past 12 to 14 year perhaps! "Pops ABSOLUTELY nothing"

And so I prayed with Tom, my prodigal son, and led him home to the God who made him for His glory! What JOY! What blessing! And what anticipation when we will see each other later this year, God willing, in Florida!! Pure JOY!!!

So, rejoice with me at one who has come to Christ after many years, much rebellion, sin and many struggles! And learn that no matter how difficult our children or spiritual children or mentees or disciples may be, we must not give up on them! We may and sometimes MUST let them go to make their own decisions but we must NEVER stop praying for them! A lesson in perseverance and persistent faith and prayer!  A lesson in discipleship for the long haul embracing the power of the Holy Spirit.

Having nuanced by way of example what is implied in the first part of the theme “the long haul” let me hasten to nuance “embracing the power of the Holy Spirit” .  As I grappled with the words of the theme of the convention I couldn’t help but wonder about the possible undertones implied by it.  In particular the words “embracing the Spirit”.  Is it a call to the person not yet a disciple of Jesus to open their heart to Jesus and His Spirit?  Is it suggesting that there are those who are already disciples of Jesus while down playing the presence and ministry of the Spirit? 

I’d like to suggest to us that we come together today to agree that in the pursuit of discipleship there is a distinctive quality of life that is produced when one embraces the directives of the Spirit and to commit ourselves as the people of God to embrace that way of life in order to have a sustainable discipleship enterprise.

In proposing this take on the theme I feel compelled to indicate what I think embracing the Spirit should not be taken to mean lest we find ourselves stranded on the same reef as many of in the Christian community.

EMBRACING THE SPIRIT SHOULD NOT MEAN EMBRACING THE ECSTATIC, THE ERRATIC AND THE EMOTIONAL.

I think it is an important caveat to insert because there seems to be a prevailing view that the Spirit is synonymous with noise, erratic movements, randomness, emotional gush, forth and bubble.

As one journeys from Acts to Revelation there is a clear and definite shift and development of the writers’ understanding of the inner and outer manifestation of the Spirit. The shift is away from the noise and the excitement to the quiet “conversation” of a life that rejects the cravings of the flesh and embodies the fruit of the Spirit.  Galatians 5 is a kind of crescendo in this regard, walk in the Spirit and you will not satisfy the lust of the flesh.  The emphasis there is on a way of life that is grounded in morality and the ethical high road.

TEXT

Eph. 1: ¹¹ God always does what he plans, and that’s why he appointed Christ to choose us. ¹² He did this so that we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him. ¹³ Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God. ¹⁴ The Spirit also makes us sure that we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.

Paul’s Prayer

¹⁵ I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. ¹⁶ So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. ¹⁸ My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.

¹⁹ I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used ²⁰ when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side^[c] in heaven. ²¹ There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. ²² God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. ²³ The church is Christ’s body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.^[d]

This text contains one of the series of Powerful prayers the Apostle Paul prayed for his friends and brethren in his letters to them.  Today I’d like to lift three of his desires for them to offer to us as we grapple with this call to embrace the power of the Holy Spirit.  

WISDOM FOR DISCIPLESHIP: The Spirit will make you wise v.17a

He prays for the Spirit, as a "spirit of wisdom"; who implants spiritual wisdom in the hearts of men, and instructs them in the Gospel, leads them into all truths, and opens to them the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are hid in Christ, the wisdom of God.   Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and the courage to do it. This is what the Spirit produces in us.

I’d like to suggest to us that if the believer is going to be an effective witness in today’s world where the spirit of the anti-Christ is already in operation. If the church is going to retain authentic ministry impact and enjoy transformative influence we need to embrace the wisdom of the Spirit.  There is an excellent Old Testament paradigm for this: The description of the sons of Issachar “men who understood the times and knew what Israel needed to do” 2 Chron. 12: 32. 

Do we understand the times in which we live and do ministry today? Are we majoring in the minors while the world begs for authentic ministry? Are we scratching where no one is itching?  Murder, immorality, corruption, injustice… Lottery scamming (what fuels it and what should be the response of the church), the unemployment situation in Moy Hall, Grove… what should we do).

GOAL OF DISCIPLESHIP: UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW GOD

This was another part of the apostle's prayers for the saints at Ephesus, that they might increase in divine knowledge.   The idea here is not head knowledge, but what is practical and experiential.  Knowledge that produces greater love for God, greater faith in Him and demonstrated by obedience to him.

In the knowledge of Him: Our Christian life must be centered around this purpose - to know God as He is in truth, as revealed by His Word; and to correct our false, idolatrous ideas of who God is.  The prayer of Paul is the opposite of what the prosperity messengers are pushing, knowing God for what we can get out of Him.  Paul wants us to understand what it really means to know God. A pursuit of God that leads to us becoming more like Him, that leads to us growing up.

Paul lived by example so we hear him in Phil. 3… he is nearing the end of his life yet he cries out “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and share in the fellowship of His suffering”

POWER FOR DISCIPLESHIP ¹⁹ I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers.

Paul wanted them to know how great the power of God is towards us who believe. Christians should know they serve and love a God of living power who shows His strength on behalf of His people.

(Spurgeon) Many Christians do not know this power - or they only know it from a distance. God wants resurrection life to be real in the life of the believer. “The very same power which raised Christ is waiting to raise the drunkard from his drunkenness, to raise the thief from his dishonesty, to raise the Pharisee from his self-righteousness, to raise the Sadducee from his unbelief.”  

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.

So this power, which is ours is an unbelievable, almost indescribable power. The closest English transliteration we can arrive at from what Paul writes here is that in knowing God, we have Mega - dynamic - energizing - dominion giving - super power - endowed upon us because of our faith in and knowledge of Christ. And his prayer was that we may know what we have. Not what we may someday have, but what we will have today.   

God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and sund mind.

Closely linked with the wisdom to understand the times and know what needs to be done is the courage that it requires to do what needs to be done. This is where the prayer of Paul that we will know the greatness of the power that is ours comes takes shape.  I am under no cloud of illusion that the context of ministry in Jamaica today requires men and women of courage. The demons with which we have to contend are resolute and entrenched. Evil is corporate, cultural and organized.  May I remind us though of what is our lot?  “²⁰ when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side^[c] in heaven. ²¹ There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. ²² God has put all things under the power of Christ.

 It is our duty to embrace that reality and begin to act in that power.

Are we convinced that that power is available to rescue homosexuals from the clutches of the strong delusion?

Can we embrace that same power to be able to set aside our culturally induced prejudices against them to include them in our discipleship efforts? 

Are we ready to embrace this power to take aim at the corruption in politics?

Those who lead youth ministries must be convinced that this power is theirs, available to them to take on and pull down the strong holds of violence in lewdness in the music that  the teens that they lead feed their minds on.

Do we believe that the centuries old cycles of poverty that define the communities in which some of our churches are located can be broken as we begin to strategically plan and implement income generating activities for the church and community?