AS AMERICAN CHRISTIANS, it seems that we have fallen away from the original Church discipleship
model. Like driving an economy car after high school or college, and realizing
it’s not like the higher class vehicles your parents drove… most people wheel along dismayed without saying a Word. Somehow over time, we’ve lost sight of the Truth, that in
Christian witness we are just twisting wrenches instead of really fixing lives. However, reading
scripture gives us a correct diagnosis. When the disciples were sent by Jesus
into Israel they went out... two by two. The dual exhaust worked.
Miracles occurred.
These
twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles,
and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of
heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast
out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. Take no gold,
nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two
tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And
whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and
stay with him until you depart. As you enter the house, salute it. And
if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not
worthy, let your peace return to you. And if any one will not receive
you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you
leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more
tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than
for that town.
(Matthew 10:5–15)
This reading reminds me of a crucial time in my
own life. I remember beginning to work next to a Christian named Phil
during the late '60s era. I was hired to repair automatic transmissions
at an Oldsmobile agency near the city of Philadelphia, PA.
My soon-to-be friend Phil was Pentecostal. He was a Christian. When I first met him, I just knew that he was a
good mechanic. He had a fast car… the only reason I talked to him in
the shop was that we both had a thing for fast cars. So we became lunch time buddies. We’d go to a local deli with another
Christian, another mechanic who was a converted Jew. What I didn’t realize,
however, was that I was being team-tagged by them to receive the Christian message… by
not one… but those two persons who spoke mechanic’s language.
It must have been a bit like that for the
disciples, as they talked with one another and others, and eventually followed Jesus. For sure, I didn’t talk with Jesus during those
late years of the ‘60s, however, I was told the good news about him
by those two men. Through their workings, I was prompted through the Spirit they possessed to read
God’s Word. Through that reading, by the power of the same Spirit working through
the scripture...I really met Jesus. My mind's eye could see him doing miraculous healing and more.
The rest of the story you can now easily measure with a spiritual torque wrench. I returned to the Church. So strong was
that calling from scripture, that I now wear a clergy collar as a pastor of the
North American Lutheran Church. Having done so, I find it absolutely amazing what miracles can
occur while learning from two men prompted by the Spirit, when someone is bold enough to say, “Come
and See”.
Think
of this! Because those two men in a auto repair shop said... "Come and
See, just order a Reuben sandwich." ... a potential disciple began to
learn about God’s grace poured out through the life and teachings of
Jesus. In the doing, all
three friends learned more
about God’s Law. That Law causes us to throw our hood up to see what's
wrong in the world and ourselves, and then proclaims the Good News to
crank the starter.
Those two believed that Jesus was crucified to pay the
penalty for human sinfulness, so that we can be restored to the company of the
Father. They saw
the power of the Holy Spirit, just as the apostles of Jesus working as the early Church saw the kingdom formed after Jesus
had risen from the dead.
Let me tell you as now a witness, as an award-winning
automotive mechanic, technical writer and minister… "I’m sure that the Gospel
message is much better than watching a 425 C.I.D V-8 powered Cutlass come off the starting
line wailing at 7000 rpm." Mmm… I can almost still hear it... the Gospel told once again.
Now... "May the Peace of God which surpasses all human
understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord."
