Session 2. Called to be Followers of Christ
Reading: Chapter Two in The Stories We Live
Resources: Bible and Calling Journal
Opening Prayer
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We have heard your glorious whisper,
Almost silent, yet insistent, Breaking through the chatter Of many voices, The clatter Of background noises, The wind, The rain, Storm and hurricane, Through all of this Your voice remains, Unchangeable, Cuts through to heart And soul, Unmissable. 'Come follow me Pick up the Cross… My burden is no burden at all, It is simply love, Poured out for you And through you, Sustaining, Empowering … Come follow me' Faith and Worship: http://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Christian_calling.htm#ixzz5Qb8OfnNu Under Creative Commons License: Attribution |
Part 1. Introducing Called to be Followers
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Jesus called his disciples to follow him rather the disciples choosing to follow him. Jesus’s “way” was radical, requiring disciples to give up loyalty to job, family, friends, and nation in order to embrace Jesus’ way of life. As disciples of Jesus today, we are called in the following ways: to be a follower, a worshipper, a witness, a neighbor, a forgiver, a prophet, and a steward.
We have a common, shared calling as Christians. Discipleship is our most foundational and fundamental identity and vocation—we are called together to be a community of disciples. |
Part 2. Reflecting on the Call to Be a Follower of Jesus
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Read “Jesus Calls the First Disciples” in Matthew 4:18-5:2:
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying. . . . The opening scene of Jesus’ ministry after his baptism is all action—he walks, calls, teaches, proclaims, cures, hikes, sits down, and speaks. If you are going to follow, you have to get and get going even if you are in the middle of something. If you don’t follow immediately, you are going to miss it: you won’t hear his teaching or witness him cure the sick or see the great crowds coming or finally sit at his feet to listen. Reflect Take a few moments to reflect on the question below and write your thoughts in you Calling Journal How has Christ called you to follow him today? OR What does it mean for you to be a follower of Christ today? |
Part 3. Exploring Six Ways of Following Jesus
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We follow Jesus as worshipper, witness, neighbor, forgiver, prophet, and steward. Read the suggested Scripture passages below for each way we follow Jesus and reflect on the focusing question. Record your thoughts in your Calling Journal.
1. How do you follow Jesus as a worshipper—one whose heart is filled with adoration and love for the source of life, the One on whom we depend?
Traditionally, Christians have worshipped God through different types of prayer: praising God in adoration, seeking God’s forgiveness through confession, thanking God for blessings, and petitioning God for our needs and those of others (ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication). 2. How do you follow Jesus as a witness to what God has done for us?
To be a witness means to give testimony, to proclaim, or to announce a message. Witness is to give testimony to the truth about what God has done for us, in and through Jesus Christ. When we live our callings, when we tell each other how God has called us, or when we admit how hard it can be to figure out what to do and what God wants—that is be a witness. It is tell a truth about our lives , about our certainties, and our doubts, our fears, and our joys. 3. How do you follow Jesus as a neighbor to those around you?
Jesus neighbor ethic is built on the Great Commandment that unites love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus expands his teaching on neighbor to the point of embracing love for one’s enemies. Jesus tackles the question of who is the neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Neighbors are neighbors (people we know), strangers (whether near or far), and enemies (critics and opponents). By stretching our instincts past our comfort zone to include these widening circles of neighbors, strangers, and enemies, we enter into discipleship’s view of “neighbor-hood” as a state of being in which all are drawn together in the household of God. 4. How do you follow Jesus as a forgiver—to forgive those who harm us and seek forgiveness when we harm others.
Learning to be a forgiver begins with first recognizing that I am a sinner and that my actions hurt other people. I have to start with seeking forgiveness. When I am forgiven, then I know love and I can learn to practice forgiving others. Forgiving others for their sins against me requires great love. 5. How do you follow Jesus as a prophet—to declare what is wrong with our communities and world, and call people back to right relationship through justice and mercy.
To be a prophet is to see what is wrong, broken, missing, or unjust in our society and to speak a word of truth that shines light on the situation. Prophets see the world as God sees the world and seek to share their vision with others. Acting prophetically is at the heart of what it means to follow Christ. To be a prophet can be an uncomfortable part of the call to discipleship. But it is also what I cannot not do as a follower of Christ. What is unjust about our time and place? How are we complicit in systems that contribute to the oppression of others? Where do we need to help call people back to God’s ways of mercy, forgiveness, justice, and peace? 6. How do you follow Jesus as a steward—caring for God’s creation and the goods of the household.
The call to stewardship means receiving gifts gratefully, nurturing their growth, and sharing them with others. The call to stewardship is the call to take care—of people, of places, and of talents and skills we have been given to share. Like the stewards in Jesus’ parable, we have been entrusted with God’s gifts in the expectation that we will allow them to grow over time. So we are called to be steward with our whole lives: stewards of our work and of our world around us. (The commentary for each question is adapted from Living Your Discipleship: Seven Ways to Express Your Deepest Calling by Kathleen Cahalan and Laura Fanucci, Twenty-Third Publications) |
Closing Reflection and Prayer
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We follow the One who follows in Abba’s way, for Jesus is the perfect disciple, the perfect follower. He teaches disciples what it means to embrace God’s mission with our whole lives when he accepted his death and placed his trust completely in God. In order to flow, we must come to him, sit at his feet, and learn how to do this. To be a follower means entering into a lifelong process of learning from Jesus, to come to know who and what Jesus is and what Jesus is claiming about God’s call to community and mission.
We live, then, in Christ because Christ lives in us. To be Christ’s follower is to embrace Christ as teacher, to seek wisdom and understanding for what the path and cost of discipleship entails, and to be schooled in the paschal mystery of death and new life. (Living Your Discipleship, 19-20) Today and all days embrace us in a love that knows no end. Today and all days fill us with a power that overcomes. Today and all days encourage us with a word that nourishes. Today and all days inspire us with a hope that sustains. Today and all days comfort us with a peace that endures. Today and all days bring wholeness of body, mind and spirit Today and all days Faith and Worship: http://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Discipleship.htm#ixzz5Qb9BtABt Under Creative Commons License: Attribution |
