March 5, 2006
Lenten Disciplines
Malachi 3:1-5
Hebrews 12:5-13
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Matthew 11:28-30
Duffy Daugherty, for many years the football coach at Michigan State, tells of Dave Kaiser's winning field goal against UCLA. As Kaiser came back to the bench to the roaring enthusiasm of his teammates, Coach Daugherty said: "Nice going, Dave, but I noticed you didn't watch the ball after you kicked it. How come?" Kaiser replied, "You're right coach, I didn't watch the ball. I was watching the referee to see how he would call it. I forgot my contact lenses; they're back at the hotel. I couldn't even see the goal posts!" At first the coach as furious. Then he thought it over and changed his mind. He realized Kaiser was a disciplined kicker who had practiced for long hours. He knew well the angle and the distance to the goal, even without seeing it. In that moment, when the ball went through the goal posts, that discipline paid off.
Daily discipline and persistent practice is the pathway to perfection in athletics, music, the arts, and in many other endeavors, including the spiritual life as we try to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. So, as we begin the season of Lent this morning, we're going look at the notion of discipline, not so much the kind that punishes or chastises, but rather the kind that molds, strengthens, and perfects a person. We all need discipline - children do at home and in school, teenagers do even as they attain more freedom, and adults do also. We undertake some disciplines almost automatically, others more intentionally. We discipline ourselves in how we use our time, how we spend our money, and how organized we are. We all live under various kinds of discipline imposed by government and society - laws, regulations, what's appropriate behavior and what's not.
Discipline and disciple are both derived from the same Latin word, the one we translate pupil. If we want to be better disciples of Jesus, better pupils, if we truly want to live up to our commitments, then it's helpful to follow disciplines that will help us achieve these goals. The Bible talks about two kinds of discipline - God-imposed and self-imposed. The God-imposed kind is often a corrective, sometimes punishing, often testing discipline. Our passages from Malachi and Hebrews illustrate this kind. God's discipline is like a refiner's fire to gold and silver, refining and purifying us, since we are precious to God. But God also judges against those who oppress the needy and the powerless, and against those who ignore God's discipline. God is also likened to a parent disciplining a child - training us to endure, correcting us when we've gone astray, preparing us for a greater holiness. Yes, it may be painful, but good can often come out of it.
The self-imposed discipline of which Jesus and Paul speak is quite different. Here there's a choice - one can choose discipline, discipleship, or not. The religious Law was very demanding and burdensome with endless rules and regulations. The good news that Jesus preached was freedom, freedom from the heavy weight of the Law. Although in Christ a burden is lifted, something else is to be taken on in its place - a yoke, like an oxen yoke, so well-fitted that it's easy to wear. Taking that yoke of love upon us lightens the burdens of life.
Paul in his letter to the Corinthians takes another tack. He often uses sports images in his letters, and here he refers to a foot-race and a boxing match. What Paul proposes for the Christian is sustained training, self-discipline, and self-control. Living the Christ-like life is a costly matter. The demands of Jesus Christ are high and exacting. Life is like an athletic contest. Out-of-shape basketball players cannot keep up with the others in an intensely competitive game; slack runners cannot win races; untrained boxers cannot win boxing matches. To compete in the game of life also demands discipline - of our bodies, minds, and souls. This is not a short, one-time thrust, not a snapshot, but rather a long time-exposure, lasting all of life. And we need to know the goal before we begin. A runner must know where the finish line is and what the prize is for winning, before being motivated to run. The believer must also know his or her goal, entrance into the kingdom of God. (ii) Jesus' great appeal was that when he motivated others to follow him, it was not based upon fear of penalty or punishment, but rather the rewards. He'd say in so many words, "Look what you're missing if you don't take my way." The goal is life - enriched, fulfilling, satisfying life - and indeed it's worth anything to win that. (iii)
Paul concludes by saying in effect that shadow-boxing may be good exercise and training, good discipline, but by itself it does not defeat an opponent. You have to have the opponent in the ring with you. And who might that opponent be for us? Perhaps ourselves. Often we are our own worst enemies, and our excuses, our laziness, our good intentions with no follow through prevent us from becoming what God wants us to be. So our discipline needs to be the kind, not so much imposed on us, as that which we take on ourselves, like the yoke of Christ.
Throughout Christian history individuals and groups of believers, have taken upon themselves some kind of rule of life, like St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries from the 6th century. Their goal was greater commitment to Christ through rigorous self-denial and exacting discipline. I would like to suggest to you today, on this first Sunday in Lent, five disciplines for you to try between now and Easter, and hopefully even beyond. These disciplines are not extraordinarily rigorous, not terribly self-denying, not really even very painful, but I guarantee that if you accept these disciplines and follow them over the next six weeks or so, I guarantee that you will be a significantly different and better person, a more faithful disciple, and a more joy-filled Christian. I've thrown down the gauntlet. Here are the details.
The first discipline is the discipline of prayer. To fulfill this discipline we are to pray every day, and grace at the dinner table does not count. Daily, personal prayer is an absolute necessity for the seriously committed Christian, and it is the foundation upon which all the other disciplines are based. Prayer does not have to be necessarily out loud, though it sometimes helps for us to "hear" what we're praying. When should we pray? At the very least, before dropping off to sleep at night and first thing in the morning. Nothing is better for jangled nerves or possible insomnia than turning our problems, our very life, over to God. Upon awakening, why not pray something like: "This is the day the Lord has made. Thank you, God. I will rejoice and be glad in it." When else should we pray? Preferably at least one other time when we can be with God in an attitude of silence, of meditation, of telling God what's on our hearts, and listening for a response, for "God is still speaking." What should we pray about? For sure, our own needs, but try to make some of your prayers less me-centered and more other-centered. Pray for the world! God knows it needs our prayers. Pray for national and world leaders, that they may be imbued with wisdom and move towards peace. Pray for all those affected by wars and conflicts, including of course our own service people, and their families left at home. Pray for others you know - family members, friends, fellow church members, associates at work. Pray for your enemies - Jesus tells us to do that. Prayer is incredibly therapeutic and healing - linking us to a higher Power, giving us strength to avoid temptation, and enabling us to be more loving to others, maybe even to ourselves.
The second discipline is the discipline of study. Again, this is a commitment to a daily routine. There are probably hundreds of thousands of books to choose from, written with the purpose of furthering one's faith, books that have proven over time to have value to serious people of faith. Authors I'd recommend who I have found helpful include: Henri Nouwen, Frederick Buechner, C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Peter Gomes, Marcus Borg, and William Sloane Coffin. There are many, many others. Commit yourself to reading a book by a prominent author over the next six weeks, and then pick another after that. Daily Bible reading is also very important, and is a perfect companion to the discipline of prayer. Find 15 minutes each day when you can let the Word of God speak to you, guide you, inspire you - and then pray! The daily devotional guides in the narthex sometimes are helpful with this discipline. The Bible is like a compass, pointing us in the right direction, the pathway to the discovery of God and a closer relationship to Jesus Christ. Find your Bible at home, dust it off, and read it. If you don't have one, ask us and we'll give you one.
The third discipline is the discipline of worship - gathering with others at least once a week in a corporate service of prayer and praise. Part of the derivation of the word worship is "worth-ship." We come to church to be reminded again of God's worth as seen in Christ, to see our worth as God's children, and to see the worth of our fellow worshippers, indeed, of the entire world. And it's something we need to do in fellowship with others. As members of this faith community we sing together, pray together, learn together, express our guilt and receive forgiveness together, in a fellowship that sustains our faith and helps make us whole. (iv) This is what a worshipping community is all about.
The discipline of worship naturally flows into our fourth discipline, the discipline of service. A woman came to church late one Sunday morning, and the congregation was singing the last hymn. She asked the usher if the service was over, and he wisely replied, "No, the service is just beginning." The Greek word for liturgy, what we do here together each Sunday, really means the work of the people. And that work continues for all of us beyond the worship service. Because of God's boundless love and grace showered upon us, we give God our praise and thanksgiving in worship, and then continue that response outside these walls, where there are the hungry to be fed, the thirsty to be refreshed, the stranger to be welcomed, the ragged and destitute to be clothed and housed, and the sick to be cared for and visited. These folks and others, in all the many ways they appear to us, are our responsibility, our field of service. (v) The discipline of service requires that we intentionally devote whatever we can, and this may include our treasure as well as our time, to helping others in need. At the very least, it should also include random acts of kindness toward others each and every day.
The final discipline, perhaps the hardest for many of us, is the discipline of witness - testifying through our words or deeds to the faith we have. The church is often called the witnessing community. We witness in our worship, in the preached word, in the work we do together, and through the offerings we give. But witnessing should also be the discipline of each one of us, a very personal, individual thing. Now before you start to panic, let me assure you that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to witness. Witnessing to Christ is letting Christ be revealed through us. It may be a word spoken, but it may also be simply how we live our lives. "To witness to the fact that God is love is to act in such a way that we become channels of God's love. To witness to the fact that God cares is to act in such a way that we become channels of God's care. To witness to the joy of God is to become instruments of joy. To witness to the encouragement of God is to become instruments of courage. To witness to the suffering of God is to suffer ourselves when love requires it. To witness to the forgiving grace of God is to graciously forgive one another." (vi)
That's it. Five Lenten disciplines which I challenge each of us to undertake over the next six weeks, and hopefully beyond: the disciplines of prayer, study, worship, service, and witness. Some of you may already be doing two or three of these - for you the discipline won't be so hard. Others may have trouble doing only one or two. Be patient with yourself - God is - keep trying, push yourself, stretch yourself, you'll be surprised at how much you can do. Voluntary, self-imposed discipline strengthens our faith muscles and makes real the beliefs we profess. So, fight the good fight, run the race to the finish, pray, study God's Word, worship regularly, serve others however you can, and witness to your faith by your words and by your deeds. I guarantee you ... you'll be glad you did. Amen.
The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall
i Autoillustrator #4463, from Pastor's Digest, 2/89.
ii The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 10, pp. 104-105.
iii William Barclary, Daily Study Bible, Corinthians, p. 86.
iv Ralph W. Sockman, The Minister's Manual, 1980, p. 210.
v James W. Cox, The Minister's Manual, 1978, p. 198.
vi David Bartlett, The Minister's Manual, 1976, p. 67.