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Christ's Authority in Community Jared M Usgrove -- Septem Ber 30, 2012

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Christ's Authority in Community Jared M Usgrove -- Septem Ber 30, 2012 Christ's Authority in Community Jared M usgrove -- #eptem ber 9:, ;:,; Good m orning, Village Church, visitors. It's great to see you guys here this m orning. Let's just continue worshiping the Lord by asking his blessing on this tim e and that we would bless him in what we're about to do. ather God, thank you. !hank you "or being our #overeign Creator and yet being our ather and being personal. Lord, you have created every m an and wom an in this room . $ e are "ear"ully and wonder"ully m ade, and it's as your creation who is longing and groaning "or you. $ e com e be"ore you right now and ask you to continue to speak to us through the grace o" your written $ ord, Lord, these very things you have spoken that have been recorded "or us in the %ible. &ut o" that, Lord, m ay we see to com e and treasure Christ m ore "ully and see his ultim ate authority as we walk together as a church. I pray those things over us this m orning. ' ay your (oly #pirit superintend what happens here today as you bring us m ore and m ore into con"orm ity with your $ ord, your decrees, your law that is light and li"e. !hank you, ather. It's in the nam e o" )esus we pray, am en. I" you guys would open up to ' atthew *, that's where we're going to begin this m orning. ' atthew *+,-+ I'll give you just a m om ent to get there in your %ibles or on your devices, whichever you choose. $ hat's happening here in this passage is )esus has just com e out o" the desert a"ter being tem pted by #atan and in a sense has been com m issioned to begin his m inistry. $ hat we're looking at here in ' atthew *+,- is the "irst thing he does out o" this com m issioning into m inistry. (ere we go. .$ hile walking by the #ea o" Galilee, he /)esus0 saw two brothers, #im on 1who is called 2eter3 and 4ndrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, "or they were "isherm en. 4nd he said to them , ' ollow m e, and I will m ake you "ishers o" m en.' Im m ediately they le"t their nets and "ollowed him . 4nd going on "rom there he saw two other brothers, )am es the son o" 5ebedee and )ohn his brother, in the boat with 5ebedee their "ather, m ending their nets, and he called them . Im m ediately they le"t the boat and their "ather and "ollowed him .. 6ow it's im portant as we begin considering this passage and the passages to "ollow this m orning that we put ourselves into the sandals o" these "irst7century )ews, where we see this in a sense o" a teacher, o" a rabbi, calling disciples to him sel" or accepting disciples was not som e new and radical thing to this culture. $ e're very unused to this m ethod o" education, but the )ews had "or centuries, their rabbis8 In "act, any rabbi worth his salt would call disciples to himsel" or accept disciples in to learn "rom him. In "act, these were called talmid, disciple, or talmidim, which is disciples, the plural. !hese were student learner "ollowers. !hese rabbis would accept them. ' any times these disciples would literally "ollow their rabbi "rom town to town, "rom teaching venue to teaching venue. !hey would walk behind their rabbi in a sense to show even in that posture, .!his rabbi is a man in whom we see good things and we think he has a good way and we want to learn some o" his teaching so we would emulate him in our lives and, hope"ully, eventually in our teaching.. In this, there's much more to this idea o" talmidim, "irst7century disciples, than what we normally think o" regarding a student or a learner. $ hen we think o" students, we think o" someone who basically wants to know what the teacher knows in order to get the grade or to pass the class or to get the degree or maybe even just to get out "rom underneath the teacher, whatever it takes. %ut generally, these talmidim would ask the rabbi i" they could join. !hey would actually approach the teacher and say, .' ay we "ollow you "or this time< $ e see you have a good way and we wish to emulate that, to learn "rom you.. !hey wanted to be like the teacher, becoming in essence what the teacher himsel" was. !hese talmidim were "iercely devoted to the rabbi. !hey "ollowed him, they sat in on all o" his teaching, and they would record and note what he did, what he said, that they themselves might one day become teachers themselves. 6ow this rabbi7talmid relationship is a very intense and personal system o" education. $ e see here God, in his sovereignty and in his providence, had already allowed this system to play out "or decades and centuries prior to Christ's coming here to this planet and calling disciples to himsel". It's into this learning arena, this relationship o" a rabbi and his talmidim, that the Lord )esus would call to himsel" a community o" disciples. !hat's what this 6ew !estament is all about. It's a %ook 1it's actually books3 written by disciples about disciples "or disciples. !hat e=tends even today. It's preserved "or us and calls us directly into this legacy o" "ollowing )esus in discipleship, o" "ollowing )esus in community. Initially, it doesn't look like anything necessarily radical was going on here. !his young rabbi, )esus, is telling people, .Come "ollow me.. $ hat's radical is what he's actually asking them to do. )esus is not simply inviting 2eter, )ames, and )ohn, and the "urther disciples he'll invite 1' atthew being one o" them3 to come learn some good moral way or some good teaching so they might implement them and in a sense pass God's test. 6o, the radical part o" what )esus is doing here in ' atthew * is he's calling these talmidim to himsel", not only to "ollow him as teacher or pattern o" the good li"e, but to "ollow him and worship him "ully as the #on o" God, as God himsel". >ietrich %onhoe""er shaped so much o" my thinking about these early disciples. In his book, !he Cost o" >iscipleship, he notes there's no "an"are when these men are called. 6o one applauds them. 6o one is down at the "ront to shake their hand. 6o one hold a parade "or them. !hey're simply dragged out o" relative security. I" you look at the passage, they leave a very 1what we understand o" it3 lucrative "ishing business. !hey even leave "amily. >id you notice they're in the boat with their "ather< ' atthew uses this term twice, immediately, to show the instant authority )esus has to call us to immediately "ollow him. !hey're dragged out o" this absolute security into what is seemingly insecure, at least by human standards. !hey're "ollowing this brand new, young, as7yet7unheard7o" teacher in whom they recogni?e some authority. !hey're not even entirely "ully aware o" who this ' an is, but they see in him, .!here's an authority there unlike anything we've ever seen. $ e're going to "ollow him, and we're going to do it immediately.. )esus is no mere teacher. @ven though the "irst disciples would call him .!eacher,. he's so much more than that. In "act, remember )ewish talmidim would actually usually invite themselves to study with the rabbi. Instead, )esus calls these men into community with himsel". !hat's something very di""erent. 6o man can call himsel" to such a destiny as to be a disciple o" )esus Christ. $ e do not walk up to Christ or speak to him and say, .I really think I have something to o""er here. I" you'll just take me and tutor me "or awhile, I think I can help you out.. 6o, no man can call himsel" to such a destiny. Christ calls the disciple, and the disciple does not o""er up his services. .$ hat is man that God would be mind"ul o" him<. to Auote the #criptures. It's certainly not because man, or these men, or you, got God's attention somehow, . or who has given a gi"t or done something "or God that he should be repaid<. !hat's Bomans ,,. %ut God, in man, )esus Christ, is very mind"ul o" these men, o" these disciples, and he still is o" those whom he calls into discipleship with him. 4ll o" you this morning sit here amidst the community o" Christ. #o many men and women in this very room have received this same invitation out o" ' atthew *. ollow me, and I will make you "ishers o" men.. !he call continues even today. !he invitation to 2eter, )ames, and )ohn here is one to join )esus in community at the outset o" his mission. @ven as he begins, "rom this point on in ' atthew and in the rest o" the Gospels, we don't read stories about )esus aloneC we read stories about )esus and his small group, his community. $ herever he leads, they go. !hey will be present "or all o" the teaching and all o" the episodes that are to "ollow here in ' atthew's gospel.
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