"Learning to show the Father's love" Matthew 4. 17-25 and 28, 18-20

What kind of world did God make?  
A good, perfect world!

"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!" It must have been exciting when the travelling preacher, Jesus arrived in town with an exciting, challenging message. "Repent" that means to turn around, change the direction of your life.  And what made that turn-around necessary? The arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven! The Kingdom of Heaven is Matthew's way of talking about the Kingdom of God (but Matthew writing for Jewish readers preferred not to mention the name of God) The Kingdom of God means the rule of God, made visible in the created world to restore the world to the "good" that God originally intended.  And as if that wasn't exciting enough, Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John to be directly involved in this great enterprise that Jesus called the "Kingdom of Heaven."  Isn't that exciting?

When Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John -they became part of a group known as the twelve what?  Disciples.

And what is a disciple?  A learner.

"Payallar fishing" by "ozgurmulazimoglu"
used under GNU license

From the moment Jesus called them, they were "Learning to show the Father's love" as they walked with Jesus, were kind of apprenticed to him, saw the things he was doing in the world, and even joined in.   Jesus was talking about a transformation.  They were going to become something that went beyond their previous experience.  Shaped, formed, made. "I will make you fishers of men."  Discipleship - learning with Jesus is always going to be more than going to school.  It's always about growing, becoming, being formed into what God wants you to be.

Jesus' teaching was amazing!  This idea of the Kingdom of God, the reign of God actually happening, the good that God wanted being restored in his world.  The idea that the Kingdom was "at hand" ... just around the corner, within reach.  Isn't that amazing and exciting?  Jesus was the best teacher. He knew how to communicate truth. But he was never content to impart truth as a concept.   It's a practical kind of learning. So as Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John followed Jesus, they were learning to show the father's love. How to demonstrate that love.  Jesus was healing the sick and the weak; he was healing those who were ill, bound by various sicknesses and tortures, with demons, moonstruck (mentally ill or epileptic) and paralysed. The kingdom was more than a concept. It was demonstrated.

They were learning to show the Father's love.  The miracles were demonstrations of the Kingdom. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, which is about the character of a heavenly father, who makes the sun shine on good and bad together (Matthew 5. 45).  That learning and showing beckoned them to a Deeper walk with Father. To spirituality.    That meant that like Father, like Jesus, they were not just concerned for the miracle but for the encounter with God.  And it meant that like Father, like Jesus, they were not just concerned for the crowd but for the individual. Over and again they would hear Jesus have a Dialogue, aconversation with someone who needed healing: "How long has it been like this?  I want to heal you. Who touched me? Give the lassie something to eat."  Like Father, like Jesus, they were to go beyond loyalty to the group, love their enemies (Matthew 5. 44) and make belonging a possibility for all.  To show the Father's love.

So they followed.  They watched; they learned, they showed the father's love.  And as they did, they got to know Jesus better; they go to know the Father better. And they hoped that together with Jesus they would see a whole new age on earth, get rid of the Romans, and have a share in God's perfect kingdom.  But, eventually, Jesus was arrested, tried, sentenced to death, and crucified.   All pretty horrendous. No wonder the disciples were gutted, after that.  They had lost their best friend. But more: they had lost hope. It seemed like all this "Learning to show the Father's love"  was for nothing.

Then three days later, they began to see Jesus, alive.  So they were thinking "Maybe now is the time for the Kingdom to be set up?" In fact they actually asked Jesus that (Acts 1. 6).  "Now that you've conquered death, Jesus, surely you can set up the Kingdom". That's not the way it was to be. For forty days, Jesus appeared, taught, challenged, but he was prodding, pushing, making them look outwards. He made it obvious he was alive, but also that he was not around for keeps. It was not going to be the way it had been before. They'd been Learning to show the Father's love for some other purpose. His last words to them, before the clouds took him out of sight and touch, were "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you... oh, and I'm always with you."

"Dandelion seed dispersal"
by Alex Valavanis

They have been Learning to show the Father's love, not so as to set up the Kingdom, but so as to continue making disciples... learners, people who are Learning to show the Father's love.  Until God's Kingdom is finally set up, there is to be a community of disciples - people who have heard the call to "repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." There is to be a community who are Learning to show the Father's love. Who are seeking the kingdom.  So Jesus says, "Go and make disciples. Teach them..."  Where there are teachers there are learners. And that learning is still practical.  "Teach them to observe all I commanded you."  It's about doing, not just knowing, the truth.  It's about doing it. Demonstrating it. Living in some of the realities of the Kingdom of God until Jesus finally sets up the kingdom.  It's about Father's heart - new disciples are to be baptised in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit.  What Jesus wants as the next stage, is a worldwide community of people - from all nations -  who are Learning to show the Father's love.  

What do you call that community?
It's the Church!!!

That is the church, people. After the death of Jesus, his followers might have wanted to establish a living memorial of this great and wonderful founder Jesus. People often see the role of the Church as maintaining that memorial. But the church is about more than that. It is about Learning to show the Father's love. It is a community where that baton is passed on from one generation to the next.   Discipleship , Demonstration, going Deeper with father (spirituality), and Dialogue (relationships).  Learning to show the Father's love. 

I am excited about the facft that at our AGM, the Church adopted as our Mission Statement "Learning to show the Father's love."  That is what we are about.  It's nice and simple. And it's totally biblical. In fact, it's basic. It sums up what the Church is about. It sums up what Rosyth Baptist Church is about.  Nothing else matters. Nothing else is important.  It's what being a Christian is all about. Learning to show the Father's love. 

When I went to study in London in the seventies, I had my first encounter with a well-known fast food chain. Now I'm not fond of mustard, or relish, or mayonnaise, or gherkins.  So I'd ask for my burger plain, with the result that I often had to wait, and usually by the time I got my burger, all my friends had finished theirs. Imagine you go in to the fast food restaurant and say, "I'll have a cheeseburger with no cheese, please."  You'd have to wait even longer than I did!  If you want to follow Jesus without discipleship, if you want to follow Jesus without mission, if you want to follow Jesus without power, Healing the sick, showing compassion, caring for the needy. if you want to follow Jesus without loving, if you want to be a Christian without Learning to show the Father's love, you're looking for a cheeseburger without cheese.

You should be able to tell me what our mission is.  And as we walk together, my task is to teach you to show the father's love... to as you learn, as we all learn together, we welcome and love a rainbow of people from all nations, who are Learning to show the Father's love...

© Gilmour Lilly October 2011