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The Costs--and Rewards--of Discipleship

CONNIE: How good of a waiter are you? Do you find it hard to be patient when you’re waiting for someone? How about when you are waiting for Jesus to return? Join us for a look at what we should be doing while we wait.

CONNIE: Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Thanks for joining us today. You know, Connie, just last month we celebrated the 75th anniversary of Voice of Prophecy’s radio ministry. That means we’ve been proclaiming the soon coming of Jesus for longer than most of our listeners have been alive!

CONNIE: Doesn’t it sometimes make you a little impatient? I mean, how long are we supposed to wait?

LONNIE: As we’re studying the parables of Jesus, I’ve noticed that quite a few of them have to do with this issue of waiting for Jesus to return. And the ones we’re looking at today are no exception. In fact, they’re specifically about this point, and what we should be doing well we wait.

CONNIE: I was talking recently with Ken Wade, the producer of our program, and he told me a story about a time when he was having questions about the soon return of Jesus, and something that happened that helped him to better understand how we should respond to what seems to us to be a delay in the return.

CONNIE: I believe we recorded a portion of that conversation, so let’s listen in.

CONNIE: You know, Ken, you and I were talking the other day about the second coming, I mean…how should we think about it? Isn’t it hard for people to keep their hopes up for the soon coming of Jesus?

KEN: Well, I think that the older we gets for a lot of people…they think, you know, I’ve been expecting this for so long…Connie I can remember a time back in the early 70’s, I was a pastor, and yes I was young at one time, and I still feel young

CONNIE: 30 some years ago…

KEN: We won’t count…But we had a Christian musical group come to town, and I, being young and a pastor had the privilege of taking some of them from place to place. I remember having this one fellow in the car and he was talking to me about how sure he was that Jesus was coming soon, and he said, you know what, I really think that Jesus is going to come this year, and if not this year, defiantly next year.

CONNIE: And how did that make you feel?

KEN: Well, that made me enthusiastic, I mean, here’s this Christian who’s a musician, he’s going around and his life is totally dedicated to God, maybe the Lord had given this guy some inside info. I was ready to go home…I was in Wisconsin for goodness sakes, it was cold.

CONNIE: But, you never doubted his sincerity, I mean we all believe that Jesus is coming back soon, right? You were telling me about a book…

KEN: …Years ago I was camping with my family and I brought along a big thick book called Jesus is coming soon, or something along those lines, and I was ready that book and I said, you know, I’ve read all of this stuff before. Some thoughts began to creep into my mind, and I began to think to myself, do I really believe on all of this stuff. People have been saying this for a long time, and began to really trouble me. It was about that time, it was early in the morning, and I was reading on a picnic table in the camp ground, and I started to hear this big racket coming from the campground just across from us. I looked over there and there was a camper and a dog outside the camper. This dog was just pasing back and forth, and looking up at the camper and every once in a while he would put his paws up on the back of the camper, and soon I began to hear noise coming from inside the camper too. I t was a racket, and I thought to myself, what in the world is going on, and it had taken my eyes off of the reading for a little while, and I was just watching to see what in the world was going to happen. The racket continued for about 15 minutes, and the camper was moving, and I was thinking…is somebody hurt and trying to get out in there or what. And then just a few minutes later the back door opens, and out bounds another dog that looked just like the one that was outside already and those two dogs had the reunion of their lives. They were just prancing around each other having the best of time. And I thought to myself, that dog had no conception as to how long it would be until his buddy would get out of that camper. He was just sitting there expecting something big to happen in his life.

CONNIE: He was happy! He knew his best friend was inside the camper, but how long would he have kept up that excitement for ever seeming his buddy again?

KEN: Yeah you wonder how long it would have been before he just gave up and sat down or found something else of inertest. So I was thinking, maybe it’s not how long we wait, but how we wait. That dog wanted his friend to come back…if we focus on Jesus and thinking of our friend returning maybe it won’t seem so long. We just believe and that keeps that continuous faith in our hearts.

CONNIE: Amen! That was the King’s Heralds, and the song is found on one of the CD’s in the King’s Heralds Collection set. For more information about the music you hear on our broadcast, we always invite you to visit our web page at VOP.com.

LONNIE: <Like that song because it talks about waiting cheerfully for Jesus to return. I know some people seem to be very worried about the end of time and what’s going to happen before the Second Coming. I don’t think that’s the way Jesus wants us to be while we’re waiting for Him to return.

CONNIE: I think that’s one of the neat things the story Ken told me brings out, and it’s one of the points he makes in a book he wrote about waiting for the Second Coming. The book is called Jesus for a New Millennium, and we’d like to share a copy of this book with you. It’s especially encouraging for people who are wondering whether we should still be expecting Jesus to return soon. Now, don’t misunderstand the title please. Ken isn’t suggesting that we should expect to be here on earth waiting for Jesus for another thousand years.

LONNIE: Not at all, in fact the book gives us good reasons why we should be expecting Jesus to return soon.

CONNIE: We’ll have information on just how you can get your own copy of this book in a few moments. But right now, let’s listen to Pastor Lonnie’s message for today: “The Costs—And Rewards—Of Discipleship.”

Costs—And Rewards—of Discipleship

I would not want to be the man identified simply as “Mr. Stanley” in the report we read recently of the last voyage of the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise.

On March 6, 1987, the huge ship—one-and-a-half times as long as a football field—backed away from the dock at Zebrugge, Belgium on a routine evening trip, headed for Dover, England. But she never got anywhere near the white cliffs made famous in the World War II song about blue birds, shepherds, and little Jimmy.

As the ferry turned and pointed her bow toward England, she suddenly began to list to the port side. It happened so fast and so unexpectedly that no one could prepare. Within 40 seconds, the ship was on her side and sinking into the cold waters of the English Channel. Suddenly floors and ceilings became walls. And doorways became chasms that passengers and crewmembers struggling to find their way out of the ship had to make their way across.

More than one-third of the people on board lost their lives in the chaos that followed. It was the worst peacetime British shipping disaster since the sinking of the Titanic 74 years earlier.

As investigators sought the cause, all fingers finally began to point at one Mr. Stanley. Not that the disaster was entirely his fault—investigators also pointed to flaws all through the system that should have guaranteed the safety of the passengers on the ferry—but Mr. Stanley certainly had to take part of the blame. He had literally been “asleep at the switch” and had failed to do his duty. He was an assistant boatswain and when that ferry had pulled into port, it had been his responsibility to open the gates to let the cars and trucks drive on and off the ship. While the ship was in port, he’d been temporarily relieved of his duties by his boss, and had gone to his cabin to rest.

That’s when he fell asleep. And somehow he managed to sleep through the public address system call that was supposed to alert crew members and get them back to their stations for the voyage to Dover.

And that’s why he wasn’t where he was supposed to be when the ship left port.

And that’s why he didn’t close the bow doors that were supposed to keep water out of the car decks.

And that’s why icy cold seawater suddenly began flowing into the ship at the rate of 200 tons per minute.

And that’s why the ship sank just minutes into its trip.

Just one man asleep at the switch, and nearly 200 people lost their lives. Mr. Stanley’s position, as an assistant boatswain hadn’t seemed all that important up until that day. But suddenly it seemed very important.

This story puts me in mind of two of the parables that Jesus told while He was on earth. Parables that have been important all through history, but that are especially significant right now.

In the twelfth chapter of Luke, we find two parables about masters, employees, responsibility, and rewards. They’re in the Bible to teach us about the costs and rewards of being a disciple of Jesus.

We’ll begin by looking at the parable found in Luke 12:35 and following.

“ ‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;’ ” Jesus says, “ ‘be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; (Luke 12:35-37, NRSV).

Now, when you read this parable, you can’t help but think of another parable about preparedness—the parable in Matthew 25 about the ten virgins on their way to the wedding banquet.

The parable is also very similar to the one that follows it in Luke 12. That parable begins like this: “‘who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives’ ” (Luke 12:42, 43, NRSV).

Jesus told many stories that had to do with waiting and with preparedness, and it’s in Matthew’s gospel that we get the clearest picture of the reason for these stories. Because Matthew lumps several of them together, revealing that Jesus probably shared them all about the same time, near the end of His earthly life.

These parables aren’t addressed to the scribes or to the Pharisees or the priests in Jerusalem. These are stories for Jesus’ own disciples, and for Christians living today.

After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus met several times with His disciples to prepare them for what was to come next.

It’s clear from reading the gospels that the disciples expected Jesus to set up His kingdom here on earth immediately. They didn’t expect their master to go away on a journey, and they certainly didn’t expect to have to wait for Him to return and establish His kingdom.

So, even before His crucifixion Jesus began to prepare the disciples to be His servants “for the long haul.”

Then, after His resurrection, He gave them instructions that would help them to see that these parables applied to them and their future.

The story is told poignantly in the last chapter of the gospel of John. You probably remember it. It no doubt took place not long after Jesus met with the disciples on top of a mountain in Galilee (the story told at the end of the gospel of Matthew). There on the mountain, He had given them the Great Commission to go and preach to the entire world. But then, in the last story about Jesus recorded by John, we find the Savior meeting with the disciples again. It comes at a time when they are in great need, because they’re flat broke and they’re having lousy luck as fishermen. In fact, both their stomachs and their nets are empty.

But then Jesus shows up on the shore, cooks them breakfast, and stays by afterwards to talk with them. He especially wants to talk to Peter, who is still feeling guilty for having denied his Master three times, so Jesus asks Peter three times whether he loves Him.

It’s almost like Jesus is saying to Peter, friend, you fell asleep at the switch! You failed in your duty. Now, come on, do you love Me, or don’t you? Are you My disciple, or aren’t you?

Now, in the parables we’re looking at today, the unfaithful slave who falls asleep at the switch and doesn’t do his duty gets punished. And perhaps Peter is thinking, All right; just tell me what my punishment is. But Jesus isn’t interested in meting out punishment; He’s interested in redeeming His friend. Each time Peter answers that, Yes he does love Jesus, Jesus responds by saying something like, All right then, if you’re really My disciple—My servant—then take the faithful servant’s role and provide for those who are part of my household! “ ‘Feed my lambs . . . Tend My sheep . . . Feed my sheep’ He says (John 21: 15-17, NRSV).

Jesus knew that this is what His church would need— nourishment, tender care, encouragement—as they waited for His return. Prior to this He had spoken mainly about evangelism—inviting people to be a part of the church—but now He began to make application of the lessons He had taught in the parables about slaves waiting for their master to return.

These lessons are extremely important for us today as well. Because many Christians have grown discouraged and tired waiting for Jesus to return. Some have even begun to doubt that Jesus ever will come back, and they’ve begun to act like the unfaithful slave described in Luke 12:45, who said “my master is delayed in coming” and began to beat the other slaves and began to eat and drink and get drunk.

Friend, I’d be lying to you if I told you that I’ve never wondered why Jesus has waited so long to return. The founder of our ministry, H. M. S. Richards, thoroughly expected Jesus to return in his lifetime. And when I was a young boy, I really doubted whether I would ever have time to grow up before Jesus returned.

But now here we are at Voice of Prophecy, celebrating 75 years of radio ministry. Pastor Richards never expected that to happen.

And so we have to ask ourselves, What does it mean that Jesus hasn’t returned yet? What should we do? What should we be doing while we wait for Him? Growing discouraged? Questioning our faith? Taking advantage of the time by profiteering off from others like the wicked slave in the parable?

Of course not. That’s not what Jesus wants us to do. The parables teach us to be faithful while we wait. To continue providing good spiritual nourishment for the rest of the household while we wait. To take responsibility for our world, to help others grow in faith that the Lord will return, and to assure that we all are ready for that great day!

Notice in the parable that the master returns at a time when his slave least expects it. Here it is in Luke 12:46: “ ‘The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful’ ” (NRSV).

It seems to me that Jesus couldn’t have warned us any more directly that He would return precisely at the time when a lot of people had begun to think He wasn’t going to return soon. But now, I don’t take that as a sign that He will return right away just because a lot of people have begun to doubt. I don’t think He is sitting around waiting for doubt to be at its highest so that He can return. Not at all. He said He would return after the gospel had been preached to the entire world (Matthew 24:14). So what He’s actually waiting for is for more people to believe and be ready for His return. Peter explained this in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (NRSV).

Jesus isn’t wanting to sneak back to earth at a time when few are prepared. He’s eagerly waiting and hoping that the church will nurture many into a strong, healthy faith in preparation for His return. He’s waiting for people like you and me to be ready and waiting.

In the story we began with today, the story of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, there was no intention on the captain’s part to sneak out of port with out awakening the man whose job it was to close the gates. The announcement went out, and everyone who was awake heard it. But one man was sleeping at the switch.

I don’t want to be the one caught sleeping at the switch when Jesus’ final announcement to the world goes out, do you?

No, friend, let’s be among those good and faithful servants whom the Lord will find doing the work that He is given us when He returns!

There are costs to being a disciple of Jesus. There is work to be done. But there are also great rewards for those who are faithful.

I want to be one of those faithful servants, don’t you?