Breaking new ground
Series: Follow me | Bible text: Genesis 12:4; 1 Kings 19:19–21
Although discipleship has something «pioneering» about it, it does not require the personality of a pioneer. Timid and brash, introverted and extroverted, overwhelmed with coping with life and relaxed in everyday life – all followers are challenged to joyfully anticipate the new world of God and to grow into the new creation that they already are in Jesus.
«You follow me!» We have been travelling with this topic for a few weeks now. Time to briefly summarise what we mean by discipleship. By this we mean living our everyday lives along the lines of who Jesus was and what He did. This includes how we treat ourselves and our family members, how we are and behave at work, in the neighbourhood and in church. Everything we do should be done more and more in harmony with Jesus Christ. «And whatever you do or say should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, through whom you should give thanks to God the Father!» (Colossians 3:17 NLB).
Focus on new territory
«Abram set off as the LORD had commanded him. And Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran» (Genesis 12:4 NLB).
When I set out to become a pastor 30 years ago, it was normal for a pastor to be called to a new position every 10 years. It was completely unimaginable for a pastor’s family to acquire residential property. Nowadays, the leadership of the Viva Church Switzerland complains that it has become very difficult to attract a pastor to a new place of work. We have become lazy and sedentary in our profession. And – the older you get, the more difficult change is.
What fascinates me is that Abram, at the advanced age of 75, was ready to break new ground. This is a strong indication that none of us is too old to follow Jesus and set off for new shores. There is no succession without breaking new ground. It’s always about acting on the word of God. A fortnight ago, I mentioned that successors are for pioneers.
In a conversation, I realised that this is a misleading sentence. Many people feel that they are anything but pioneers by nature. They have just enough energy to cope with life. Anything beyond that is associated with stress. Following Jesus is not only for innovative, extroverted, energetic, adventure-loving personalities, but also for quiet people who have neither joy nor energy for a new beginning. It is never my intention to put pressure and a guilty conscience on such people. There is something dynamic about succession, but it is not just for pioneers!
Breaking new ground doesn’t just happen through a heroic career change or a geographical shift, but in most cases in small, inconspicuous steps. It can be about forgiving someone, entrusting someone with the secret of shame that has been kept for years, adopting a new perspective on life, planning time to listen to God, taking the first step in a messed-up relationship, cultivating a new eating habit or sporting activity or signing up for the church weekend.
The new land for Abram was a land flowing with milk and honey. Discipleship is also an invitation to a life in abundance. Before you lies the new world of God, the new heaven and the new earth. Now it is time to take steps towards this land. By the way, a follower of Jesus is already a new creation, he carries the fabric of God’s new world. So you could say that discipleship is about becoming the person we already are in Jesus. «For we are God’s creation. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can carry out the good deeds that he has prepared for our lives» (Ephesians 2:10 NLB).
New territory in the heart
We remember that Abraham only dared to set out because «because he was waiting for a city with a firm foundation, whose builder and creator is God himself» (Hebrews 11:10 NLB). The human tendency is to cling on, to settle down, to build huts. To overcome this moment of inertia, we need something bigger and stronger in our hearts to pull us forwards.
This greater thing is the new world of God. The culture of this city corresponds to the nature and deeds of Jesus. It carries His DNA, His rest, His peace, His grace, His hope, His compassion, His courage, His wisdom, His authority, His power, His gentleness, His love, His joy, His humility, His self-discipline, His patience, His kindness, His community of friendship, …
Recently, a 93-year-old deaconess died who had been saying for a long time that she was looking forward to meeting her bridegroom. In the Word of God, the new world is compared to a gigantic wedding feast at which the bridegroom, Jesus, receives his bride, the church, and gives her a home. As long as we believe that the place where we spend eternity could be monotonous and boring, the forces of this world will be too strong for us to set off boldly into new territory. But the Bible says: «For this world is not our home; we await our future city only in heaven» (Hebrews 13:14 NLB). A follower of Jesus is a citizen of the city to come. We need to get to know our place of citizenship, our true home, better. When Moses stood before Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, he sent out twelve spies. There they saw fruit and people on a scale never seen before. Unfortunately, ten of the spies did not count on God’s help and did not dare to set off. We urgently need to send out scouts into the new world of God. Let us ask Jesus to give us a glimpse of the future city, to open the eyes of our hearts to this incomprehensible glory!
There is a foreign word that describes discipleship more precisely than any German word I have found. It is called anticipate and means to anticipate something, to recognise something before it has happened, a foresight or a leap into the future. The opposite of this is to ignore, overlook, miss, fail to recognise. Discipleship means that we anticipate the new world of God and are already living the lifestyle of God’s new world. And again: you don’t have to work hard for it, the gift is waiting for you! This makes it clear that discipleship leads to a highly attractive life of abundance, a land flowing with milk and honey.
If the invitation from Jesus: «You follow me!» triggers pressure in you, something is going wrong. We are meant to overcome our moments of inertia in response to God’s words. This requires dynamism. Where do we get it from? The original Greek text says that the Holy Spirit Dynamis is dynamite with an incredible explosive power. And then the following applies: «Rather, we know: If someone belongs to Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; something completely new has begun!» (2 Corinthians 5:17 New Testament). The new creation is not only in the future city, but already with those who belong to Christ. That is why something very special always happens when a follower sets out for new territory: Longing meets what already exists. In other words: The entire DNA of the new world and therefore of Jesus is in us as potential. Discipleship means becoming what we already are in Christ.
Farewell barbecue party
«And he went away from there and found Elisha […], who had just left with zwölf carriages plough ahead of themügte. He himself, however, was present at the twoöthe second half. And Elijah went to him and threw his cloak üabout him. Then he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, saying, «Let me kiss my father and mother! Then I will follow you. But he said to him, «Go, turn back! For what have I done to you? So he turned away from him, took the team of oxen and slaughtered them, and with the harness of the oxen he roasted their meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and served him» (1 Kings 19:19–21 ELB).
When I left my job 30 years ago, I copied all my projects onto a disc. I put them in my luggage so that if something went wrong, I could slip back into my old life patterns. Before Elisha left to follow Elijah, he cleared the table. He sacrificed a team of his cattle, burnt the yokes, roasted the meat and organised a farewell dinner. It was a powerful ritual with which he tore down the bridges behind him and at the same time signalled the joyful start of something new. Elisa did not wear mourning clothes, but celebrated the departure with his family. Succession is a festival that needs to be celebrated. These are concrete steps towards a glorious future. We can learn two things from Elisha:
- Tearing down bridges to the old lifeThese can be relationships or places that are not good for us, addictive substances that pull us back, false securities that we have created for ourselves, detachment from the parental home, commitments that we once made, unhealthy addictions, etc.
- Celebrate concrete stepsLike Elisa, you could organise a barbecue or bring a dessert to the small group to celebrate partial successes. Celebrations help to rejoice in small progress in discipleship and to be aware of it. Sustainability is improved.
These two points are a great help in taking concrete steps along the line of what Jesus is like and what he does.
Let us do as Elisha did: let us allow ourselves to be challenged by God’s word and dare to venture into unknown new territory. In doing so, we will discover that it is not so unknown. It is already within us as a gift!
Possible questions for the small group
Read the Bible text: 1 Kings 19:19–21
- To what extent is it in your nature to break new ground?
- Do you know the new world of God? Talk about your ideas and what the Bible says about it.
- What does it mean to anticipate the new world of God in your everyday life? What characteristics of the future city would you like to anticipate?
- When taking a step in discipleship: What is our responsibility? What is God’s responsibility? Where does the strength come from?
- What could be my «cow» that I should slaughter? How can I celebrate a departure? Who do I invite to a farewell dinner?
