#discipleship
A disciple is one who learns from another and then adheres to that teaching. An old but recognizable example is the movie The Karate Kid.(It's worth googling if you've never watched it). Young Daniel was a disciple of Mr. Miyagi. Who can forget the 'wax on, wax off:' exercise? My arms ached just watching the film!
Over time, in spite of some serious doubt, Daniel followed the teacher's discipline, learning his techniques, listening to his wisdom. As a result, he was shaped into a skilled yet learned practitioner of the art and skill of karate. It was a process, a long one if the number of sequels is any indication.
Jesus calls us into discipleship. Just like Peter and Matthew and James and John.
We are called to:
Listen to his teaching through the scriptures.
Spend time talking and listening through prayer.
Do our own version of 'wax on, wax off' by feeding the poor and caring for the homeless -
developing the muscles of faith and the eyes of compassion.
Faithfully give - of ourselves, our time, our skills and a good portion of our wealth -
as we learn about the joy, the power and the life that comes from giving to others.
Practice, practice, practice.....pushing ourselves to deeper, more difficult tasks
(sometimes even things we think are 'impossible') as we learn to be agents of this God of love.
We teach our children.
We invite our neighbors.
We work for justice.
Jesus shows us how- and makes it possible to move from a life grounded in the power of winning to a life grounded in the power of loving. It takes a lifetime of practice but all along the way it is a great source of joy, comfort and peace.
Jesus' love comes first and it is only Jesus' love that carries us through it all.
For us though, 'wax on, wax off' is a good reminder of the training of discipleship
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