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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Tuesday, February 3, 2004 Members or Disciples? |
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Frontline Devotion for
Tuesday, February 3, 2004, by Brenda Kessler
Scripture: Acts 14: 8-28
In these scripture verses we find Paul healing a lame man and then being stoned
because he challenged the thinking of the people of Lystra. Paul and Barnabas
were telling the people that they were bringing them the good news of the living
God. For that Paul was stoned, dragged outside the city, and presumed to be
dead. However, after the disciples gathered around him, Paul got up and went
back into the city.
Verse 21 tells us that Paul, along with others, won a large number of disciples.
Verse 22 says they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch and strengthened
the disciples. The very last verse in our scripture for today says they stayed
in Antioch for a long time with the disciples.
The word disciples jumped out at me from today’s scripture. Perhaps it did so
because we have been discussing the word quite often at Good Shepherd. Do we
want to be a discipleship church or are we content with being a membership
church?
The fourth definition in my new world dictionary says that a member is a person
belonging to some association, society, community, party, etc. There is no
mention of Jesus Christ. We could, I suppose, say that a Christian is a member
of a community that follows Jesus Christ. The word disciple, on the other
hand, is defined as an early follower of Jesus. Although the name of Jesus is
used in that definition we should note that even that definition indicates that
a disciple was an early follower of Jesus. When did we Christians cease
becoming known as disciples? (Perhaps that is a topic that is open for
investigation by a graduate student of religious studies.)
Even though most “members” of Christian churches are not called disciples, it
has become obvious to me that some are truly disciples. I recently attended the
funeral for a ninety-six year old lady. When I walked into the nursing home, on
my way to the funeral service, I noticed an elderly resident helping another
elderly resident to the chapel for the service. I noticed elderly residents
helping each other during the service. Before the reading of the 23rd Psalm the
chaplain invited the congregation to say the 23rd Psalm with her. As I gathered
my thoughts and wondered if I would be able to recite the 23rd Psalm by memory,
I was amazed to hear the volume of the litany of the 23rd Psalm. Most of those
gathered to celebrate the life of this ninety-six year old relative and friend
were, indeed, reciting the Psalm by memory. Many were over the age of eighty.
Again, after the service ended, I saw an elderly woman help a frailer elderly
woman back to her room. On that day I knew I was in the presence of several
disciples. It became very apparent to me that some communities of faith had,
indeed, equipped their people to be disciples.
Which will you be, a member or a disciple? Which will I be, a member or a
disciple? Let us step out in faith to be disciples!
Prayer: Thank you, Lord God, for calling us to be your disciples. Help us to
let go of those things that hold us back from truly being your disciples. Thank
you for those people who are role models of discipleship for us. Help us to
meet the challenge of discipleship. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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