Disciples and Disciple-making (12)
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” John 13.37, 38
Jesus set the standard for true friendship in that He gave up all His divine perks and privileges (not the divine essence, though) to come among us as a servant, to live and die so that His friends might know the saving benefits that sacrifice would achieve (Phil. 2.5-11). His resurrection showed that His death was not in vain. All His friends would be saved.
Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1167) did not hesitate to apply Jesus’ sacrifice to the kind of friendship that enables people to become true followers of Jesus: “Christ himself has set up a sure goal for friendship by saying, ‘Greater love has no man than this, than that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ Behold, how far love must be extended among friends—to the point that they are willing to die for one another!”
And it could come to that and does come to that in various places of the world today.
But to “die” for our friends can take many forms—dying to our selfish interests, our plans or projects, the use of our time, even our rest. Jesus died to all these and more many, many times. He laid down His life for His friends just by coming among them, then putting up with their dullness and folly, and by continuing to pursue friendship with them unto death.
True friends will follow His example. In being willing to die to ourselves to benefit our friends, we fulfill the disciple-making example of Jesus. By His love for us He saved us, and by His ongoing love for us He draws us after Him in seeking His Kingdom and righteousness. We will not make many disciples if the friendship we offer does not include a willingness to “die” for those we are encouraging to follow Jesus.Teaching and
Learning as disciples
In this week’s conversation with Dr. Mike McQueen, we review the first two “Ps” in Mike’s discipleship model: Picture (how Scripture pictures discipleship) and Purpose (what discipleship is for). Then we begin to move into the third “P”—Propagation, that is, how disciples make disciples. Click the audio bar at the top of today’s Pastor to Pastor teaching letter to listen.
Resources for Shepherds
Fellowship of Ailbe Brother David Sincerbox provides a helpful meditation for Lent, based on a prayer by George Herbert, the greatest of the 17th century metaphysical poets. You can read David’s “Insight” article, “Lenten Praise”, by clicking here.
Marilynne Robinson offers a surprising cure-all for the ills that are besetting our secular age. Read a summary of her Hedgehog Review article, “The Sum of Our Wisdom”, and find a link to the article itself by clicking here.
Our ReVision series on “How to Pray for Your Church” continues today by looking at Jesus’ vision for the Church. Here’s the prayer we suggest:
Thank You, Jesus,
that You have brought us to Your City
and to saints and angels
and the very Presence of God!
Show us Your beauty, Lord Jesus,
and make us a source
of beauty, goodness, and truth
in our own neighborhood and district
of Your great and glorious City of God
and of our own community.
Click the ReVision button under the Resources tab to find the first four articles in this series. Update your subscriptions by going to the website, scrolling to the bottom, and adding ReVision to your Kingdom reading every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
From The Celtic Revival
Grant me tears, O Lord, to blot out my sins;
may I not cease from them, O God, until I have been purified…
When I contemplate my sins, grant me tears always,
for great are the claims of tears on cheeks…
Grant me contrition of heart so that I may not be in disgrace;
O Lord, protect me and grant me tears.
– Anonymous, Old Irish, 9th century[1]
Tomorrow’s Crosfigell teaching letter considers the need for tears of repentance among the followers of Christ today. We don’t hear much talk about repentance, and believers who weep for their sins are few and far between. But we all need repentance every day. We should join the anonymous Irish poet and pray, “Grant me tears, O Lord…”
You can sign up to receive Crosfigell in your email box every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 am (Eastern US). Just use the subscription button to update your subscriptions (scroll to the bottom of the home page).
Our newest book is Ecclesiastes: A Matter of Perspective. It offers a thorough study of Ecclesiastes, and it’s available as a free PDF download by clicking here. I believe Ecclesiastes is one of the most timely and important of Biblical books for our day, when so many people have chosen to live “under the sun” rather than “under the heavens.” Let this book help you prepare for preaching through Ecclesiastes or use it to take your leaders through a study of this great, neglected book. Make copies and share them around simply by attaching Ecclesiastes: A Matter of Perspective to an email.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this issue of Pastor to Pastor helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Support for Pastor to Pastor comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Davies, p. 261.
