Created to be Disciples . . . of Jesus. In case there’s any doubt, our lives of faith begin, and end, and find their purpose in Jesus! But if we’re honest, the word “disciple” has a bad reputation in our world today.

If we’re going to say that we’re created to be disciples, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of what scripture means when it uses that world. Perhaps you’ve learned before that in New Testament Greek the word that we translate as disciple is mathētḗs. In the ancient world, a mathētḗs or disciple was a follower or adherent of a teacher. Being a disciple was not the same as being a student in the modern sense. “A disciple in the ancient biblical world actively imitated both the life and teaching of the master. It was a deliberate apprenticeship, which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master.” (Edward Sri, read more about Disciples here.)

When we say we are created to be disciples, we are saying we are created to be living copies of Jesus . . . which, let’s admit, is daunting, and frankly, impossible. And so rather than give his disciples a play book or an instruction manual as part of our formation, as though we could fulfill the task before us, Jesus grounds us in the great commandment of Hebrew scriptures. The commandment which lies at the heart of all other commandments: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind . . . and. . . [y]ou shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22.37-39).

Love God. Love neighbor as yourself. This is the love that Jesus embodies in his own life as he proclaims the upside-down nature of the blessing of the reign of God in his Sermon on the Mount! This is the love that Jesus embodies as he lives in obedience to God’s call and is lifted up on the cross for the sake of the world. This is the love that Jesus takes with him as he lies buried in the tomb for three days in order to defeat the powers of evil and death, and this is the love that breaks open the grave and ushers in a new and eternal life for us all.

We are created to be disciples and to live as disciples because in God’s great love for us, Jesus accomplished God’s will for creation and we are called to spread this good news. We are created to be disciples, to be sent into the world to love our neighbor, just as we are loved by God. We can only ever do this imperfectly, at best, but we embrace the call, trusting in the steadfast love and mercy of God who first loved us!

P.S. View Sunday’s worship service both to hear Pastor Amy’s sermon and to witness the many ways we live as disciples in the world! This is the last in our Created to Be sermon series on BLC’s YouTube Channel. Watch past services (Created to be Brave and Created to be Authentic, Created to be Free, and Created to be Bisruptive) on the Share in Worship page of BLC’s website!