Mass Prep January 27th, 2019

Mass Prep

Sunday January 27th 2019                     3rd Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

The tie in between today’s readings is : Discipleship

Psalm 19:8-15, Nehemiah 8:1-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-30, Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

     I can’t imagine anyone kicking Jesus out of their church, but that’s just what happened in the fourth chapter of Luke when Jesus put the “ME” in Messiah.  It’s rare that a church turns anyone out now-a-days. The modern church is struggling from declining attendance. Blame and finger pointing run from pew to pulpit and back again. Regardless of the reasons I see an answer emerging in today’s readings: discipleship. Before going to heaven Jesus gave the Apostles the Great Commission to go out and make disciples. Here are some principles that I’ve uncovered. File them under “for what it’s worth”, but I think at least it could help cut down on people saying, “I wonder whatever happened to what’s his name”?

     Nehemiah 8:1-10: Disciples Have the Joy of the Lord.

A remnant of Israelite just came back from Babylonian exile. Through sweat, threats and besets (troubles) they built the wall. Now it was time to get real with Jehovah. Listening to Ezra, the priest, read from the Law of God  they broke down and wept repentant tears as they discovered their sinfulness. Seeing the revival breaking out,  Nehemiah, the governor and Ezra called for a holy day of celebration. The people experienced the comfort of forgiveness with the exhilaration  of restoration. Moving forward in their new status, the joy of the Lord became their strength (Nehemiah 8:10). The true believing disciple also understands the gravity of sin as the exile Israelites did. He doesn’t rationalize it, play with the gray areas, or excuse it with a trite cliche like, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. He keeps short accounts with his God. He pursues holiness with a purpose. He knows where he came from and doesn’t want to go back. This is a mark of true spiritual maturity.

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     Psalm 19:8-14: Discipleship requires Bible study and perspective

This compliments Nehemiah. The disciple appreciates the guard rails of God’s laws. It keeps him out of life’s ditches. He knows that the Almighty doesn’t think like him and finds excitement when he can get into God’s mind through study and meditation of scripture. Sounds boring doesn’t it? Most people would agree. Otherwise we wouldn’t spend SOOOOO much time binge watching TV shows or sports. Amusement and fantasy are much more exciting in the mind, but the payoff of virtue is in the living. There is no mark up in being God stupid. Our disciple knows the Bible is more valuable than physical gold or fleeting pleasures because heaven and earth will pass away but he is investing in eternity.

     1 Corinthians 12:12-30: The disciple uses his Spiritual gifts.

The Holy Spirit gives gifts and abilities to all believers some of which are: teaching, helping, hospitality, leadership, and many others listed throughout the Bible. The disciple doesn’t develop it for himself but to help others especially in the church. He takes the mission The Spirit of God gives him seriously and is eager to live his essential and divinely appointed role. He’ll invest time in building up the fellowship in his faith community, provoking them as well as himself to do good works. He looks for reproducibility of Christ in others.  He is aware that gifts of the Spirit give credibility to his witness. The disciple knows that God will require an accounting of what he’s done with the Holy Spirit’s assets. No one lives for himself. The Manager of the universe expects a return on His investment. Our disciple wants to be a good and faithful servant.

     Luke 1:1-4: Disciples reach out to the world.

He will cultivate legitimate common ground with non-believers. First, for love of neighbor and second to earn a hearing for the Good News. The disciple looks for openings to give an account of his faith without being obnoxious. He knows what he’s talking about, speaks the truth in love and doesn’t attack because love bears all things. He’ll open himself up to ridicule but will not retaliate. All the while thanking God that we live in a country where things don’t get much more dangerous than that...yet. Once his witness is given,he puts himself out there. He is willing to live in a fishbowl for all to see, because he is the real deal, and since the real deal is so rare, maybe people will want what he’s got: an authentic relationship with Jesus. Walk your talk! The kinetic gospel is very effective.

     Our disciple in today’s Mass Prep may seem a little too perfect, and maybe he is, but he is an ideal to shoot for. Church does not have to be boring. Prayers needn’t be dead pan. Worship shouldn’t be forced. Bible study can be fascinating.  IF you exercise your faith as the disciples that we are called to be, then our lives with God and each other can be a dynamic experience. The operative words are: exercise, focus, discipline, and determination. They all take effort. Do you want it? Do you want to be a disciple or do you want to be disengaged from your God given calling? Will you drop out of church due to irrelevance, and end up a “what’s his name?” God expects more than that.