A Disciple is Chosen

In my first sermon here at Antioch, I laid out what I believe to be the vision for any church. It is a concise definition of what a true church is and what the mission of the church should be. A true church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a body of baptized believers who delight in God by discipling one another and devoting themselves to his work.  This statement has three pillars: delight, discipleship, and devotion. In my first year in ministry here, I preached a series on what it means to delight in God. We delight in God by living a life of worship to him.

But, how do we learn to live a life of delight and worship? We do this through an approach that is central to the ministry of Jesus and the early church – that of discipleship. I think there is a great deal of misunderstanding about what discipleship is and how we should do it. I think that because, quite honestly, the American church does not have a strong track record of making disciples. Yet, making disciples is something that is essential to the life of a church. Jesus’s last command to his disciples (in Matt. 28:19-20) was to “make disciples of all nations.” If this is an essential command of any church, then we need to understand it and do it. So, for the next year, I want to understand what our calling is in making disciples.

Today, we start this series by setting out to define what discipleship is. In doing that, we are going to consider various Greek words that relate to discipleship. The first of those words is the Greek word, mathetes, which we translate as “disciple.” This word is used some 225 times in the New Testament, but there are seven unique ways it is used which help us to understand what it means. So first, we will see today that a disciple is chosen by God. To see that, let’s read John 6:52-70. From this passage we see that the call of God is open, offensive, and ordained.

First, understand that God’s call to discipleship is open. John 6 is a long and winding story that has two seemingly competing themes. On the one hand, Jesus’s power as the Son of God becomes more and more apparent as he feeds 5000 and walks on water. And, yet, on the other hand, Jesus’s influence seems to dwindle to nothing. His following goes from over 5000 at the beginning of the story to eleven at the end. Both of these themes revolve around his miracle of feeding the 5000 and his teaching on it. After performing this unbelievable miracle, a huge crowd follows him around the sea of Galilee and demands more food. Instead of giving them more food, Jesus tells them “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (v. 35). In verse 52, the Jews take offense to this because they take Jesus’s meaning literally, thinking that he is inviting them to physically eat his flesh. In response to their skepticism, Jesus invites them again to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Notice two aspects that point to the openness of this call of Jesus.

First, the call of Jesus to discipleship is open to anyone who would take it. From verses 52 to 58, Jesus says the word “whoever” four different times. So, the call to discipleship is open to anyone. There is no one who is forbidden from receiving eternal life. Your past sins will not disqualify you. Your socioeconomic standing will not preclude you. As Goodwill tells Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress: “We make no objections against any, regardless of what they did before they came here.”

Second, the call of Jesus to discipleship is open in its simplicity. Discipleship, at its root, is a call to set one’s life wholly on dependence in Christ. Like bread gives nourishment that enables the cells of the body to replicate and cause the body to grow and repair, so Jesus’s presence in the believer revives and empowers the soul. You see, having eternal life isn’t just about believing a few facts or thinking good thoughts about Jesus. It’s about you being in Jesus and Jesus being in you. It is about you finding your life and meaning and purpose and fulfillment in Jesus, and Jesus enabling you, by the presence of his Spirit in your heart, to live for him. It’s not about you being good enough or following the right plan or saying the right words, but about Jesus being your source of life.

So, if the call is so open and simple, why do we find most in this story walking away from it? To see that, consider the second point: the call to discipleship is offensive. In verses 52, 66, and 71, I want you to notice three offenses to the call of Jesus. First, in verse 52, notice the offense of the cheap trick. Here we find that the Jews take offense at Jesus’s call to eat of his flesh. These same Jews had experienced his miracle the previous day, when he took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed 5000 men with it. They were so amazed, that they crossed a sea to find him and ask for more bread. They were even willing to start a rebellion against the Roman empire by making him king. They were willing to do all of this, not because they wanted Jesus, but because they wanted what he could give them. They wanted Jesus as a vending machine. They wanted him as a political puppet that would take out their enemies. But they didn’t want to be dependent on him or to define their lives by him. So, the call to feed on him was offensive because it would mean giving up control, and that was the last thing they were willing to give up.

Second, in verse 66 we see the offense of costly grace. It says there that even many of his disciples fell away at this hard saying. At the height of his ministry, there were probably around 120 people who followed Jesus in his ministry. I’m sure they placed great hope in his miracles, believing that if they could just stay close to him, they’d benefit from his power. No doubt they loved the authority with which he taught. But, eat of his flesh? This was a bridge to far! Jesus words seemed harsh and illogical to them, and they lacked the faith to trust that even if they didn’t fully understand, Jesus was still enough. These disciples wanted cheap grace. They wanted the benefits of the kingdom of God without the cost of it. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the 20^th century German pastor who opposed Hitler, called this “cheap grace.” Over against this cheap grace, he taught that true discipleship is one of costly grace. He said, “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives man the only true life.”

Third, in verse 71 we see the offense of cynical unbelief. It is sad, but unsurprising that the large crowd would stop following Jesus when he stopped making bread. It is worse that many of his followers would take offense and drop off. But worst of all is that even one of his closest friends, Judas Iscariot, was really a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Jesus tells his twelve, in verse 70, that he knows that one of them is a devil. It is painful to think that Judas could follow Jesus for three-and-a-half years, seeing all his miracles, hearing all of his teaching, experiencing his most intimate moments, and then at the very last, to betray him. This betrayal is so disturbing because no one could have known, except for Jesus. To any other disciple, Judas would have seemed to be just another committed follower. Perhaps, even Judas believed himself to be committed. Yet, at the end, he was not possessed by faith in Christ, but by Satan.

The offensiveness of this call and the rejections that we’ve seen might cause us to wonder: “Well, who then will follow?” How can anyone follow Jesus if even the ones closest to him are at risk of falling away? The answer to that question is found in 65-70, and here we find my last point: the call is ordained.  In these verses, Jesus says two things to his disciples that reveal where true discipleship begins. First, in verse 65, Jesus answers the disbelieving disciples by saying, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Jesus recognizes that the hang-up for these disciples is in the fact that they don’t understand what he is saying. They are trying to understand spiritual truths from an earthly perspective. They tell Jesus, “We don’t want to hear this. It’s too hard!” And Jesus answers back, “that’s fine, I’ve already told you that if you try to understand with worldly eyes, then you will never get it. To understand spiritual truths, you must be enabled by the Spirit.” Understand, no one can come to God by his on understanding. You cannot figure God out. God is not a math problem or a logical argument. No one can come to God unless God first enables him to come. If this Gospel of Jesus is hitting you hard. If you are thinking, “man, I don’t know about this preacher. This sounds crazy,” then you are trying to understand with worldly eyes. God must awaken your heart and mind to see the truth of the Gospel. You cannot come to God unless God first calls you.

Second, in verse 68-69, Jesus looks at his twelve disciples and asks, “Are you going to leave me, too?” In response, Peter answers, “We believe you have the words of life and are the holy one of God.” Now, at this point, we could say, “Aha, see, that’s the difference. The crowd was unbelieving, and those fair-weather disciples were uncommitted, but Peter and the twelve, they were different. They were made of the good stuff.” But, lest we start to think that the twelve are something special, or they’ve got it all figured out, notice Jesus’s answer in verse 70: “Did I not choose you, the twelve?” Now, in the original language, this statement is emphatic. In other words, it’s given as a corrective to Peter’s answer. Peter says, “Lord, we are here because we believe.” And Jesus corrects, “No, you are here because I chose you.”

Discipleship starts, not with the disciple, but with God. You do not set out on this life of fellowship with Jesus by your own intuition or wisdom or gumption. You cannot come to God by your own power or ability. No! It is God who must first call you. It is Jesus who first chooses his disciples. Friend, to have eternal life, you must place your full dependence and hope in Jesus. Perhaps today, you’ve come to realize that. You sense that Jesus is calling you to follow him. Won’t you turn to him in faith. Confess that he is Lord and follow him.

Brothers and sisters, our walk with the Lord did not start because we were brighter than everyone else, or because God saw something special in us. Our walk began because God chose us and called us. This means that we must live in dependence on him. We must eat of Jesus every day, which means we must trust in him, every day. We must repent of our sins and confess our need for him, every day. We must set our hearts to follow him, every day. May we leave this place ready to follow him because he has called us to it.