Chosen and Called Vocation Stories in the New Testament Brian Purfield
Three Basic Questions Do I really desire to do this? Is there a need for it? Am I any good at it?
OT: 4 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 1. The emphasis is on God calling. 2. The call gets a mixed reception. 3. There is a mission to be carried out. 4. Expect suffering, or at least difficulties & obstacles
PART 1: HEARING JESUS’ CALL ‘As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them “Follow me and I will make you fish for people. ” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As they went a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in the boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. ” (Mark 1:16-20)
CALL OF FIRST DISCIPLES Who and where? Immediate response Called to a personal relationship with Jesus
DISCIPLESHIP IN MARK’S GOSPEL Two major aspects: being with Jesus sharing the mission of Jesus
THE MISSION ‘ Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the Twelve and he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for the journey except a staff. No bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them. ” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed with oil, many who were sick and cured them. ’ (Mark 6:6-13)
THE INVITATION OF JESUS Share in His mission: Proclaim the Kingdom of God Bring healing to people
THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP ‘He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. But what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life. Indeed what can they give in return for their life. Those who are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. ”’ (Mark 8:34-38)
THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP Living the biblical ideal of discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)
PART 2: GROWING IN APPRECIATION OF JESUS The Annunciation (Lk 1) Classic vocation story
PETER
ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS (Luke 24) It takes them time to recognise Jesus Opening the Scriptures Breaking the bread
DISCIPLESHIP IN THE SYNOPTICS Responding to the person of Jesus, Sharing in his mission, Counting the cost of discipleship, Recognizing the imperfection of the disciple The effort to come to recognize Jesus in the Scriptures & in the breaking of the bread.
THE FOURTH GOSPEL Jesus is the revealer And The revelation of God
NATHANAEL Titles of Jesus (Jn 1) “ The Son of God, the king of Israel ” (Jn 1:49) Discipleship - a process
NICODEMUS & THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
THE MAN BORN BLIND (Jn 9) MARTHA AND MARY (Jn 11)
JOHN 20
PAUL A Pharisee among Pharisees (Phil 3:5-6) Never disobeyed the Law Breathing threats of slaughter (Acts 9:1)
ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD
PAUL You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi as you know. We had courage in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God in spite of great opposition. (1 Thess 2:1-2)
1 THESS. 2:3-6 For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak not to please mortals but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know, and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with the pretext for greed, nor did we seek praise for mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.
1 THESS. 2:7-8 But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
1 THESS. 2:9-13 You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was towards you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you should lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.
PAUL: CALL OR CONVERSION? Paul’s description of his call (Gal. 1; Phil 1) Compare Acts 9, 22 & 26
PHILIPPIANS 3:7-11 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP: CONCLUSIONS 1. Context is the Kingdom of God & the Good News of Jesus 2. The call may be abrupt or gradual 3. Different ways of responding to the call 4. Call is to be with Jesus & share his mission 5. Trust & hope required
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP: CONCLUSIONS 6. Need to count the cost 7. Let go of obstacles to discipleship 8. Witness to Jesus in word & deed 9. Answering call outweighs other obligations 10. Promised rewards
SUGGESTED READING Georg Fischer SJ & Martin Hasitschka SJ, The Call of the Disciple. The Bible on Following Christ , Paulist Press, New York, 1999. Michael T. Winstanley SDB, Jesus and the Little People: Gospel Encounters, Don Bosco Publications, Bolton, 2012.
Recommend
More recommend
