Introduction

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the darkness and the light. The world around us is so dark that we can’t even know what it means to live life well. But God responds by sending Jesus to us to show what it looks like to live well. As John says in his gospel,  “In him was life and that life was the light of mankind” (John 1:4). This week I want to talk about how we should respond to what God has done by reflecting that same love to others.

Last week, we discussed how learning to live well involves more than just knowledge; we need a role model to show us how it’s done. Jesus did just that for the first disciples. But for us, 2000 years later, Jesus’ example is a story in a book, not a living memory. And more, our cultural context is much different than Jesus’ was. So the question remains, how do we see what it looks like to live a good life?

This conundrum highlights the importance of discipleship. The scriptures we have are an incredibly important asset, but having stories alone is not enough. We should all read our Bibles, but we shouldn’t expect that Bible reading will magically transform us into well formed followers of God (after all, the Pharisees and Sadducees who persecuted Jesus and the early Christians knew their Bibles backwards and forwards). We still need living examples. We need someone to pass on a living faith to us. Jesus demonstrated what a life well-lived looks like to the Apostles, but it is for our sake that he commanded them to do for others what he had done for them.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20, NIV)

We often interpret this “Great Commission” as if it’s primarily about international evangelism. But the emphasis isn’t supposed to be on the going part. Instead, its on the part about making disciples. Jesus is sending the Disciples to tell everyone about what has just happened, but he’s also telling them to do so and to make communities of disciples among the nations (the ‘nations’ part is his reminder that it’s supposed to include everyone). Jesus is saying to his disciples, “I’ve spent the last three years showing you what a God-honouring life looks like. Now it’s your turn to do the same for others wherever the Spirit leads you.” The disciples are supposed to make disciples not by just passing on information, but by living like Jesus lived. They have been given an example. Now they are commanded to imitate it in their lives.

This speaks to the church’s role as a discipling community. The disciples passed on the life they learned from Jesus, and the disciples they made served as an example to the next generation of disciples, and so on and so forth. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Jesus’ example must be lived out by those who follow after him so that it remains a living story that can powerfully shape the life of the church.

I. The Tools of Discipleship

The idea that Jesus’ life should be visible in our lives is a fear-inducing responsibility. We know we’re not perfect. We’re also probably aware that the people who discipled us were not perfect. So the scheme of passing on the example of Jesus feels a bit like the idea of passing on a document by photocopying it and then photocopying the copy, and so on. We know that it’s only a matter of time before the document becomes unrecognizable. Because we can’t observe Jesus’ life directly, God has given us a way of correcting for errors that might otherwise sneak in if we were only able to see the example of imperfect role models.

God gives us the scriptures – the whole Bible, including the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. God also gives us the lived example of our spiritual role models, but the secret ingredient that makes this workable is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps guide our understanding of scripture. The Holy Spirit helps us move in new directions when those who have gone before us have failed, or when new realities mean we have to adapt in new ways. At the last supper, Jesus spoke about how the Holy Spirit would be critical for shaping the church following his ascension into heaven: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). Of course, if we’ve had any practice, we know that sometimes it’s hard to know when the Spirit is speaking to us, and when it’s own desires, fears or insecurities. In this case, we can see from experience and from the Scriptures when our, “I think this is what the Spirit is telling me” is wrong.

Although the Spirit can correct the mistakes our examples have induced in others, how much better that he instead corrects them in us before we induce those mistakes in others. This happens when we listen to the Spirit in prayer and humble self-examination. Do we give God the space to correct us, and do we make ourselves vulnerable enough with God that we are willing to hear his life-giving words of correction? In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector both going to the temple to pray. The Pharisee extols his own virtue to God while the tax collector pleads with God for mercy. Jesus points out it is the tax collector who leaves the temple in the right place with God. We need to be like that tax collector, humbly owning our own shortcomings before God. When we do, we are in a posture of receiving, and the Holy Spirit can reshape us, making us more like Jesus, so that our example will be more beneficial to others.

II. Setting An Example for Others

In the remainder of this sermon, I want to look at three examples of scripture where people are called to set an example for those who come after them.

A. Patient Endurance

The First way we follow Jesus’ example and set an example for those who follow us, is through patient endurance during times of hardship, adversity or injustice. As a culture, we’re obsessed with justice. While justice is a good thing, we can sometimes forget that God is the one who determines what that looks like and when it happens. Of course, God tells us not to act unjustly, but he sometimes calls us to endure injustice, trusting that, in his timing, he will make it right. The ultimate example of this is Jesus who endured the injustice of the cross, trusting God to vindicate him through the resurrection. 

Jesus serves as the model for those who come after. In 2 Peter, the Apostle writes to slaves among his audience and asks them to be willing to endure harsh treatment from their masters, tying this requirement to the example of Jesus:

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:18–21, NIV)

We might be uncomfortable with this passage, wondering if Peter approves of the enslavement of people. Is he justifying the mistreatment of slaves? Not at all. Peter accepts slavery as a given (throughout most of human history, slavery was a thing—In fact, it was only in 1981 that the last country in the world—Mauritania—abolished slavery as a legal institution). Peter is speaking to a live question some in his audience were dealing with: How do I respond to unjust and abusive authority?

We might conclude that since abusive authority is not submitted to the direction of God that it is illegitimate and can rightfully be ignored. Then the slaves would be justified in resisting their masters. But Peter explains that slaves are not free to disregard the wishes of their masters. If they are mistreated even when they do good, then they suffer in solidarity with Jesus. While we could debate the principles of responding to injustice until we’re blue in the face, Jesus’ example gives us a very clear picture of what God’s response is.

Of course, none of us are slaves (praise the Lord!) but Peter’s direction is still applicable to us. Many of us will be forced to endure harsh treatment in other places in our lives. It could be that when we are young we feel mistreated by our parents (of course there are many more teenagers who feel like they’re being treated unjustly than actually are). Either way, Peter’s advice would be, “submit to your parents’ authority, enduring the suffering as Jesus endured his unjust suffering.

Or perhaps we have a boss who is unnecessarily harsh. We could work to undermine them or rationalize stealing from the office but following Jesus’ example then means that we work for their good even though they don’t deserve it. Of course in the case of an employer, we’re free to look for other work elsewhere. but don’t stay in your job while trying to sabotage your boss thinking you’re justified in doing so.

Sometimes God uses the suffering that we endure to bring life to another. Paul talks about this when writing to the church in Corinth. He explains the suffering that he and his fellow apostles endure and its effect in blessing those after them:

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you (2 Corinthians 4:10–12, NIV).

Carrying around the death of Christ in the body is Paul’s way of talking about the physical suffering that his work often entails. Later on in his letter, Paul goes on to talk about his beatings, attempted execution, shipwrecks and endless and wearying travel. His work requires that he patiently endure suffering, but it’s worth it. Why? “death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”

The Christian life often means following Jesus’ example of patiently enduring suffering for the sake of those who come after us. Every parent understands this: we endure suffering – a lack of sleep, the inconvenience of arranging our schedules around our kids’ needs, the financial difficulties of supporting dependents, but because we love our kids we gladly endure these things so that our kids launch into the world with every advantage we can give them. We are the spiritual parents of those who come after us. Like parents who gladly endure hardship for the sake of their kids, do we gladly endure hardship so that those who come after us in the faith can see how it ought to be done?

B. Humble Service

A second area where we need to reflect Jesus’ example to others is in humble service. The culture in Jesus’ time taught people that humble service was something for the lessers. It was wrong for important people to do humble work, and doing humble work would diminish someone.

Jesus works to completely upend this bit of worldly wisdom. He shows us the alternative when he washes his disciples’ feet at the last supper. Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. Peter objects, but Jesus insists. Then he explains his thinking:

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you (John 13:12b–15, NIV).

Peter serves as our window into the scene. He is shaped by the culture around him and so he’s horrified that Jesus wants to wash his feet. Washing feet was a slave’s work, so Jesus’ actions are uncomfortable for two reasons: first, because Jesus is important, he shouldn’t have to wash feet (so maybe that means he should be the one doing it). and second because if Jesus is washing feet, then he’s making himself unimportant. As his disciple, Peter has hitched his star to someone whose value is diminishing in front of his eyes. Jesus does this shocking act because he needs to express just how opposed the wisdom of the age is from the wisdom of God’s Kingdom. Jesus is turning their world upside down.

The idea that important people do humble things is still shocking in our much more egalitarian culture. We like to talk about servant leadership, but by this we usually mean, “I serve you by leading you,” not “I lead you by serving you.” The wisdom of the world is that we should avoid doing the humble things while trying not to appear to be doing so.

In a church context, we often revere the people whose work seems important (meaning highly visible). The people who preach, the musicians who do the music. The people in charge of ministries or who chair committees (in churches that are large enough for that sort of thing). Do we hold those who do the simple acts of service in such high regard: Is the person who scrubs the toilet or the person who volunteers to teach the kids while the rest of us listen to the preacher droning on? Jesus’ example reminds us that none of us are too good to do something that needs to be done, no matter how menial it might seem. To reflect the light of Jesus into the darkness means we must be willing to serve others just as Jesus served us.

C. Forgiveness

The final area I want to look at where we need to reflect Jesus’ light back to the world is forgiveness. Over the last few decades our culture has become rigidly sanctimonious. What some call “cancel culture” started out as a way of trying to hold powerful people to account for the ways they have abused their power (that’s a good thing), but those who are quick to hold transgressors to account, often had a vision of justice that was punitive rather than restorative. People are called out for wrongdoing, but not in a way that calls them to change their way of living in order to be restored to the community. Rather they are merely excommunicated from polite society with no possibility of redemption.

To be sure, some people in authority have so broken trust that it would be nearly impossible for them to ever lead others again, but just because someone isn’t fit to lead, doesn’t mean there is no place for them in a community. But with that qualification out of the way, we need to consider how we respond to those who fail us.

Is the justice we long for one that merely punishes wrong doing, or do we long to be reconciled to the one who sins against us? The example of Jesus is instructive. On a general level, humanity failed God. The Adam & Eve story is all of our story: we’ve been given freedom to live a good life, but we have all chosen to go our own way. God sent Jesus to save us, and we killed him. But God chooses to forgive and redeem humanity by what Jesus did.

Just so this doesn’t seem too abstract there’s also the example of Jesus explicitly forgiving the people actually driving nails through his hands and feet: “When they came to the place call ed the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:33–34, NIV). Jesus is forgiving the world, but he demonstrates how this can’t be just abstract by forgiving the people who are actively hurting him. What does forgiveness look like? Pleading with God to have mercy on those whose actions cause us harm. And this isn’t a nice optional bonus Jesus does just to show how much better he is than we are. He commands us to do likewise.

In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus talks about how a servant forgiven a great debt by his master is unmerciful to a fellow servant. His master hears about his lack of forgiveness and un-cancels the debt he had been forgiven. Jesus concludes with the observation, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Mt.18:35, NIV).

So to reflect Jesus’ light means that we expose darkness, but not with the motivation of destroying those who have wronged us, but in the hope of reconciliation. If we’re willing to expose those who sin against us, but not to walk the difficult road of reconciliation, we’re not reflecting his glory to the world.

Conclusion

So what we’ve learned over the last three weeks is that our world is a dark place, but God sends Jesus as a light into the world to show us what it looks like to live an authentically human life. Then, as Jesus went, so we go into the world as a reflection of his glory, demonstrating for others what it looks like to live as authentic humanity. Jesus showed the first Christians how it was done. And they taught the next generation. Each subsequent generation has a responsibility to learn the faith from those who came before and to pass it down to those who follow after. To that end, discipleship isn’t learning ideas about Jesus, but practicing Jesus’ way of life. with a special focus on these difficult areas: patiently enduring suffering, humbly serving and committing to forgiveness. As we do these things, we give our friends, our neighbours, our fellow believers a more nuanced picture of what God’s glory looks like. None of these practices are easy, but we have the Holy Spirit to help us, so that by his grace we can reflect the glory of Jesus into the world and into the church.

Jesus is the Son (S-O-N) but he’s also the like the (S-U-N). He’s the source of light for the world. We can never match him in luminosity, but we still have an obligation to be the moon to our world. The moon has no light of its own, Moonlight is the reflection of the sun back to the earth. The moon isn’t even all that reflective: It’s made of dark rock and dust, but the intensity of the Sun and the darkness of our world at night means that it can shine with intense brilliance. We’re poor reflectors too, but the Sun’s light is dazzling, and so what little we can reflect back to earth can light the way for others. So let’s remember that even as imperfect as we are, as we try to be faithful to Jesus, we can be a light in very dark places.