Start of apprenticeship with the master at home
Series: Welcome home | Bible text: Matthew 28:16–20
Jesus calls on his followers to «make disciples of the nations». A disciple then was like an apprentice with us 70 years ago. Back then, an apprentice became part of the Master’s family, watching him and learning how to do a thing, then doing it himself. To carry out this great commission, Christians are to go, baptise and teach.
In the Ostschweizer Tagblatt, a man named Konrad Bösch reports: «Soon the time will come again when apprenticeship positions will be filled. For many, a new phase of life begins. So I remembered how it was when I started my apprenticeship in 1942 at the age of 15. Towards the end of the ninth year of school came the choice of profession. Since I liked working with wood, something in that direction came into question. Through an advertisement in the newspaper I found an apprenticeship as a wainwright in Erlen (Thurgau), on a small farm. My apprentice master, a middle-aged man, had a family, wife and five daughters aged 4 to 17. A small farm with a few cows belonged to the business. The workshop was integrated into this house. At that time it was customary for the apprentice to have board and lodging with the master.»
The phrase was recently uttered on television that vocational apprenticeships are the royal road of education. This is nothing new, because the dual education system was already postulated by Jesus. In biblical language, apprentices are still called «disciples». After his resurrection, Jesus gave a commission: «Therefore, go to all nations and make disciples of them. Baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to keep all the commandments that I have given you.»(Matthew 28:19f). This call includes four activities: Go, make disciples, baptise and teach.
Of these four verbs, only «makes disciples of them«in the imperative. The other three verbs are participles. One could translate this as follows: «Make disciples of the nations by going, baptising and teaching.» Or: «Walking, baptising and teaching, you are to make people apprentices of Jesus.»
So the goal is disciples or apprentices who move in with Jesus and his family, find a new home to learn from the Master as holistically as possible in word and deed.
Going
Today we are sending out the Burger family. They are going to another people to offer people there a new home with Jesus. Jesus gives the mission to his eleven remaining friends, but he means all followers of Jesus. Going does not mean that we all have to leave our home, but that we set out inwardly to the neighbour, that we not only react, but also act. Thanks to the new media, people all over the world can be reached more easily with the Gospel without going out to them. But – the good news is meant to go to all peoples. Faith in Jesus Christ is personal, but never private. Jesus spoke: «When the day dawns, shout out what I say to you today in the darkness. Shout from every rooftop what I am whispering in your ears, so that everyone can hear it»(Matthew 10:27)!
Who should go? Some think that a pastor is paid for this task. But isn’t that like saying to a drowning man: «Please wait until the lifeguard arrives»? «When is he coming», shouts the drowning man. «At the moment he is still overloaded with funerals, sermons and meetings.» «Then why don’t you throw me the lifebelt!», cries the drowning man. «I was not taught that«is the last thing the dying person hears.
The mission goes to the strong and the doubtful. «When they saw him, they worshiped him – but some still doubted» (17). There were doubters among Jesus» apprentices. Jesus does not even address this, but also gives them the mission to provide apprentices for Jesus. Could it be that this is precisely the best recipe against doubt?! Instead of revolving around your own state of mind, becoming part of something much bigger? Is there perhaps the potential to remove our doubts?
You also go or act when you invite someone to an event in the church. Our next Talk on 1 September is an excellent opportunity to do so. Walking begins with prayer. Experience shows: When you start praying that you yourself may lead someone to faith, it happens! Maybe after seven days, seven months or seven years. But it happens. In general, the rule is to pray more than talk with people who are close to you. Once the fronts have been drawn, pushy talk can have the opposite effect of what was intended. This requires a lot of tact.
Making disciples
So a disciple is one who becomes part of a new family. Christ is the Master. Now it’s about being an apprentice, watching the master and learning how to do a thing, and then doing it yourself. In the past, an apprentice could have it pretty bad with the master family. It’s different with Jesus. He is by far the best home. Jesus meets all our needs sustainably and gives us a living hope that goes far beyond our earthly life.
This is exactly the reason why we are to impart people into a teaching relationship with Jesus. It is not about banalities or maximising the fun factor, it is about real home, about an existence that outlasts death. Paul says: «Therefore, you are no longer strangers and without citizenship, but you belong to the faithful, to God’s family.»(Ephesians 2:19). And elsewhere: «But our home is heaven, where Jesus Christ the Lord lives»(Philippians 3:20).
When someone enters into an apprenticeship today, it merely represents a start to their professional life. Soon after the apprenticeship, there may be something completely different. The decision to enter into a teaching relationship with Jesus is permanent and thus of incomparably greater consequence.
Christening
At the end of an apprenticeship, there is a certificate of proficiency EBA or EFZ. Some people believe that baptism is something like a certificate of competence. When you have learned enough, removed all doubts and passed the final examination, you are baptised. However, baptism is not a certificate for something accomplished, but rather something like the apprenticeship contract at the beginning of training. Right after walking and before teaching comes baptising.
Paul compares baptism with the passage of the people of Israel through the Reed Sea. The Reed Sea was one of the first stations after the exodus from Egypt. This was followed by years of wandering in the desert with the goal of reaching the Promised Land. In the Reed Sea they shook off their enemies, the Egyptians, so that from there on they had their backs free.
This is exactly what baptism does. On the one hand, it seals the doctrinal relationship, and on the other hand, it keeps our backs open on the journey with Jesus. No one should renounce this. Jesus says: «He who believes and is baptised will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned»(Mark 16:16). Jesus takes it for granted that believers will also be baptised at the beginning of their journey with Jesus..
Teaching
«Baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to keep all the commandments that I have given you.» Apprentices are to be made and trained. So not all the work of training lies with the master teacher, but also with the co-founders of the upper years. Teaching should include practice. It is not just about knowing all the commandments, but keeping them. This requires holistic teaching. Our lives should set an example of what it means to live in the Christian faith. A teaching event, as worship services are, are inadequate. Perhaps this is precisely our problem. We are hearers of the Word and not doers.
There is hardly a theme that Jesus repeated as often as this one. Once he used a powerful parable. A person who hears God’s words but does not do them is like a man who builds his house on sand. An apprentice, on the other hand, who hears God’s words and does them, builds his house on rock. In the long run, only the house on rocks has a chance of survival.
Therefore, it is good when the Burger family is on site and shows people how to keep the commandments. Paul to the Thessalonians: «For when we brought you the good news, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you the certainty that we were telling you the truth. And you also know that we lived among you like this for your sake. You have followed our example as well as the Lord’s.»(1 Thessalonians 1:5f).
Do you want to experience more of the power of Jesus? Do you want to experience more of his nearness? Then you should participate in «Make disciples of the nations». Immediately before the commissioning Jesus says: «All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me» (16). Immediately afterwards he promises: «I am always with you until the end of time» (20b). We will experience both when we engage in the mysterious cooperation with the heavenly Father. For the Bible says: «No one can come to me unless the Father draws him to me»(John 6:65). We are challenged to commit ourselves fully to this mission knowing that we cannot do it. This drives us into prayer. The stakes are high!
Possible questions for the small groups
Read Bible text: Matthew 28:16–20
- What is a disciple of Jesus? How does the image of an apprentice 50 years ago help to understand the issue?
- The mission to make disciples is also for you? How does that make you feel?
- What does «going» mean to you? How could you take the initiative for other people?
- Where is the place of baptism in the life of a follower of Jesus?
- Why is the mission to connect people with Jesus so relevant?
A small exercise: Put a commandment of the Bible into practice!
