NEWS AND INVITATION

Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in the Netherlands Greetings from Boston, Massachusetts! Louise and I are stopping with our children and grandchildren for a few days before heading on down to Ridgecrest this Sunday. We have been very busy recently with a family baptism, my regular talks, services, Bible Studies, and meetings. Thankfully our belongings from South Africa arrived and we have turned our house into a home. Thank you for all who were praying for us during this time. We have just heard that our residence permits have been approved so things are moving ahead! I will always remember the Ethiopian proverb: "Slowly by slowly, the egg walks". After the SAMS-USA Retreat and the New Wineskins Conference, Louise and I will be starting Dutch language classes as well as attending our very first Archdeaconry Synod in Ghent, Belgium. Please pray for us on both counts. Learning the language is vital if we are to communicate the Gospel to our neighbours and if we are to speak to the church children! From what we have experienced so far in Heiloo and in other parts of the Netherlands, people are hungry for truth. As we have mentioned before, the Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in the world and people desperately need the Gospel. This is true for a number of European countries as well. Very few missionaries come to this part of the world, often because most do not think of Europe as a mission field. But, believe us...it is! We would also like to announce that the sequel to "Breakfast on the Beach: The Development of Simon Peter", aptly titled, "For the Life of the World: The Multiplication of Simon Peter", is now available for pre-order. Please follow the link below. https://langhamliterature.org/books/for-the-life-of-the-world As with Breakfast, this book is designed to be used together with the relevant biblical texts and provides good material for evangelising, preaching, and discipling. Both are also good books to give to non-believers as well as new believers, or to use as a personal devotional booklet (taking you through the Gospels and Acts in chronological order) or as a small group Bible Study resource. We have found that Breakfast has been a very helpful tool in communicating the Gospel to our Dutch friends. It is non threatening and yet it conveys the truth about Jesus! AN INVIATION: You are also invited to join SAMS-USA on the opening day of the New Wineskins Conference held at Ridgecrest, NC, September 22, 4 PM. The complimentary SAMS-USA Celebration includes a reception, missionary book-signing, dinner, prayer, and missionaries sharing stories from around the world. It will be held (prior to the first plenary session of the conference) on Floor 2 of the Johnson Springs Building. No reservation is needed, but guests may desire to arrive between 4 and 4:45 p.m. to insure a seat for the dinner. PLEASE COME AND SEE US AT ANY TIME DURING THE NEXT WEEK. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to ask questions about what we are now doing in Heiloo. As always, there is so much more to say, but may it suffice for us to thank you for your participation in the ministry of the Gospel. Without your encouragement and faithful support, Louise and I would not be able to live out the Gospel in this spiritually impoverished and dark corner of our Lord's world. We are truly grateful for you. Our prayers are with you daily. Blessings Johann and Louise Support Us Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. They then worked in Southern Africa, serving in seven southern African countries, while continuing to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are now serving in Heiloo, the Netherlands. We are sent  through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.  Support SAMS Copyright © 2016 Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, All rights reserved. www.sams-usa.org      Our mailing address is: PO Box 399 Ambridge PA 15003 Attention to: Johann and Louise van der Bijl Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

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Statement and Prayer on the death of HM, Queen Elizabeth II

As you all know, HM, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 on Thursday, September 8, 2022. Most of you will know that the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth was considered “the governor of the Church of England”, the denomination of which Christ Church, Heiloo is a member. Interestingly enough, when asked if she was the “head of the church” her majesty apparently replied, “No, no, Jesus is the Head of our Church,” explaining that under Jesus, we all have different systems of governance. 

Some of you might be aware of the fact that the Queen was also patron of the Intercontinental Church Society from 1952 to 1999, a society of which we too are members. 

But today, I do not wish to remember her as a Queen, or a governor of a denomination, or even a patron of our society. Today, I would like us to remember her as a sister in Christ. I am open to correction, but I do believe that there is no head of state in the world today, that so openly, unapologetically, unequivocally, and publicly expressed her personal faith in Jesus as the Saviour of the world as well as her belief that the Bible was the source of truth for all levels of life and practice. 

While Sultans and Sheiks, Kings and Queens, Presidents and Prime-Ministers globally all testify to their personal faith in Allah or other nongods, or in their political ideals or ideologies or philosophies, Elizabeth was not ashamed to confess her faith in Jesus. 

Let it suffice for me to quote from one of her messages delivered in 2011. “Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive…Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships, and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.”

I therefore ask you to join me as we thank God for the faithful witness of his daughter and servant, Elizabeth, as well as to pray for his comfort and peace, his wisdom and guidance, his saving power and almighty governance to be extended to her family in general, as well as to King Charles III more specifically. May he who holds the hearts of rulers in his hands see fit to turn the King’s heart, as well as the hearts of all who govern the nations of the world, whichever way he will.

Let us pray.

Almighty God and Father, today we acknowledge that you alone are the one who rules and reigns over all things. You alone are the Lord. You alone are God. There is no other. We also acknowledge that it is by your will alone that men and women are raised up to positions of power and authority and that it is by your grace and mercy that they remain in these positions as long as it pleases you. 

We thank you today for the life and witness of our sister, your daughter and devoted servant, Elizabeth, and we humbly ask that you grant that all your children will possess the same humble courage and conviction to publicly and unapologetically profess our faith in Jesus Christ, the only saviour of all. Raise up many leaders across your world who will seek to uphold the truth as revealed in your holy Word. 

May we, as followers of Jesus and as those who believe that he is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life, be equally bold in our witness to you in our own spheres of influence.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns together with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forevermore. Amen.

Counting the Cost

Jeremiah 18:1-11                     Psalm 139:1-5, 12-18                           Luke 14:25-33

Counting the Cost

As I was preparing for this talk, I found this meme giving us ten reasons why we should be missionaries.

 

Now, I’d like to add one more to this list: you also get to test all different types, shapes, and sizes of loos around the globe…or, you might even get to build your own…

But now…from the ridiculous to the sublime: 

There once was a man who came from a very wealthy, well-known, and well-respected family. He had been privileged to study under the tutelage of one of the most famous teachers of his time and in his chosen vocation, he was progressing far beyond many of his contemporaries, because he was extremely passionate about everything he believed and did. 

But then something rather dramatic happened to him. He had an eye-opening encounter with Jesus…and he was soundly converted…a decision that was on the one hand extremely good news for the Church, but on the other hand extremely bad news for his family and his friends and his colleagues. People turned against him, rejected him, and, at times, even tried to kill him. Because of his decision to follow Jesus, everything he once had…everything he once considered of value…everything he had once believed in and cherished and yearned for…everything was lost. 

Now, some might call this a tragedy, but to quote from this man’s own words: “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” 

Y’all might have guessed by now that this was the Apostle Paul’s testimony. 

All things he had once considered important…family, friends, position, power…all things he had once held dear were now considered worthless in comparison to truly knowing and following Jesus.

But that was the Apostle Paul.

May I be so meddlesome as to ask you what it means for you to be a follower of Jesus? What has it or does it cost you to be his disciple…to be his follower?

Before we examine Jesus’ teaching in our Gospel lesson for today, I’d like us to remember the whole context in which this passage is found. Now, I hope you can recall the message of last Sunday…Jesus was at the house of a Pharisee where the invited guests were all trying to sit in the places of honour, remember?  

What was the punchline of Jesus’ parable? “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.” 

This is a basic principle of life in the kingdom of God. Humility. Always being the least. Always putting others before yourself. A basic, foundational lesson all followers of Jesus would do well to learn, because that is the mind of Jesus…humility…other-person-centredness. 

Jesus then advised them to invite to their feasts those who would not be able to invite them in return…again a lesson in humility. Associating with the lowly and not striving to curry favour with the wealthy, the famous, and the powerful. 

And finally, he ended that part of his teaching with the well-known parable of the great banquet where the original invited guests all refused to attend the feast and were then subsequently replaced by the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind…all categories of people not permitted to enter the Temple precincts in First Century Judaism. 

That is the background to the passage we read today… 

Now, Luke began the section we read from today with an important statement. He wrote: “Large crowds were travelling with Jesus.” This is important to note because from what follows we can safely conclude that it is not enough to simply be part of a large (or even a small) group “travelling” with Jesus. Jesus tells us here that to be his disciple demands more than close proximity…to be his disciple demands a deeper commitment. Following Jesus demands total realignment, total relinquishment, total renunciation, and total reliance. 

So, let’s look at each one of these requirements separately.

1. Total realignment.

Many believers have struggled with Jesus’ statement in verse 26. How could Jesus advocate hatred for anyone, especially parents whom we are clearly commanded (in the fifth of the ten commandments) to honour? Besides, didn’t Jesus himself say that the second greatest commandment is to love…to love our neighbours as ourselves? But in our text for today, Jesus seemed to demand hatred…hatred towards one’s parents, hatred towards one’s spouse, hatred towards one’s children, and hatred towards one’s siblings…those whom we are specifically told elsewhere in Scripture to honour, protect, and love. 

How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?

Well, I believe in order to understand what Jesus was saying here, we need to understand his First Century setting and culture. What I mean is that we need to understand his use of typical Jewish idiomatic exaggeration or hyperbole. For instance, in Genesis 29:30–31 Jacob is said to have loved Rachel and “hated” Leah. From the number of children that were born to Jacob and Leah, we may safely assume that the word “hate” clearly did not mean what we think it means today. 

“Hating” was a common Jewish expression that meant, in comparison, you loved one person less than the other. Therefore, Jesus was not teaching us to feel intense hostility or animosity towards our families and friends but rather to love him more than any other normal or usual recipient of our love and devotion. In other words, Jesus always…always…always comes first as far as our allegiances are concerned. Matthew’s wording of this same statement helps us better understand the thrust of what Jesus was saying here (Matthew 10:37). Matthew recorded Jesus as saying: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

In other words, a disciple and follower of Jesus must love him more than anyone and anything else, including life itself. Our primary allegiance must be to him. Jesus must occupy the supreme position in our lives…above everyone and everything else including ourselves, our dreams, our ambitions, our aspirations, and our desires. 

This can and often does cause division within families, within communities, within social groups, within marriages, and may even create division (or a struggle) within yourself. But Jesus states clearly that we must love him more than anything and anyone…more than life itself…because he is the Lord of all. We can have no more life, no more abundant life, than in Christ himself. 

Now, of course, it is equally true that as a person commits himself or herself totally to Jesus, they will develop a greater love for all. If we truly love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we will love others better than ourselves because loving Jesus means loving as he loves…sacrificially and unconditionally.

Be that as it may, the bottom line is simply this: if you wish to be a disciple and follower of Jesus you must be totally committed to him…as in your marriage vows, a disciple of Jesus must forsake all others and be faithful only to him in all things. Nothing and no one can come between you and Jesus.

2. Total relinquishment.

Jesus’ demand for absolute loyalty to him is further described by a second condition for being his disciple. In this passage, Jesus used the illustration of being crucified as a description of truly following Him. A disciple must sacrifice his life…himself and his desires…in order to follow Jesus. “…anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciples.” Radical. Crucifixion was a shocking metaphor for discipleship. It was a well-known method of execution used by the Romans to execute people they viewed as criminals. There wasn’t a Jew in the First Century who would not have understood what Jesus was saying here. Hundreds of crosses dotted the Judean landscape. 

But many who were crucified at that time (and this is important) were crucified because of what they believed. Many had stood up to the tyranny of the oppressors and they had paid for their convictions with their lives. First Century Jews would have immediately made that connection. So, when Jesus said we must be willing to be crucified…to take up our cross and follow him…his audience would have assumed it was because of what they believed about him. Belief in a Jewish King was tantamount to sedition…rebellion. There had been many other so-called Messiahs before Jesus and every one of them had been squashed by Rome.

I know that this has often been interpreted as being willing to put to death our own desires and our love of this life, in order to follow Christ…and that sentiment is true…but I think that the First Century listeners would not have made that spiritual connection. This was a willingness to die for what they believed. I have been told that here in the Netherlands, being vocal or obvious about your belief in Jesus is social, political, and vocational suicide…so, in this sense, the image applies here too.

But, as some wise person once said, dying for Jesus is often easier than living for him…so, at least in this part of the world where faith in Jesus does not carry the death penalty, we may well challenge ourselves by asking if we are willing to put to death anything that will prevent us from living entirely for Jesus.

3. Total renunciation.

Let’s be honest here. We all love our comfort, don’t we? We love our money, our wealth, and our possessions. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with comfort, but often people put their trust in something other than Jesus…they put their trust in their education, their jobs, their positions, their finances, their bank balances, their pension schemes. 

What someone values often reveals whether or not they have renounced all things for Jesus. Like the rich young ruler. After he gleefully told Jesus that he had obeyed the ten commandments since his youth, Jesus pushed him a bit further by telling him to go and sell all that he had, to give the proceeds to the poor, and then to return to follow him. Of course, we all know what the young man chose, but we must also allow Jesus to push us a bit further too with the things we value. 

What are you not willing to give up?

The famous English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once preached on the subject of giving in his church. (A church, I just learned, apparently attended by Vincent van Gogh when he lived in London.) After the service, a wealthy man said to him, “Mr Spurgeon. You will never reach my pocket until you have reached my heart.” To which Spurgeon replied, “Yes, I know, because that is where your heart is.” Ouch! 

But this is not just about money…we can rob God of more things than money! (Malachi 3:6-12) What are you withholding? What are you unwilling to give to Jesus? You can often tell when people start making excuses…I can’t give that, I can’t do that…oh, but that’s from the Old Testament, isn’t it? To me that sounds like another version of “has God really said?”

No, Jesus makes it clear that nothing must come before God. Nothing must have a greater value to us than God. He must be first. So, ask yourself. What comes before God in your life? If it money? Is it status? It is comfort? Is it your family or friends? Is it convenience? Is it your reputation? Is it your work? What is more valuable to you than your relationship with Jesus?

4. Total reliance. 

To be a disciple of Jesus is costly and it is very important for us to understand this. It is not as free as some people believe. To be a disciple of Jesus means we give up everything…even our very lives. The three descriptions Jesus gave, (1) loving him more than anything or anyone else, or forsaking all else for him…(2) being willing to die for what we believe about him, whether that death is physical or social or vocational or otherwise…and (3) being willing to give up all that we value…these things emphasize the need to seriously consider the type of commitment we make when we choose to follow Jesus. Jesus does not encourage a hasty, emotional decision. Instead, he urges those who would follow him to seriously “count the cost”.

Why? Because we are hopelessly “outnumbered” in our spiritual walk with Jesus. Many things demand our attention and our allegiance. We live in a very visually stimulating world…we have advertisements that promise happiness if only we own this, that or the next thing. We live in a very secular part of the world, where confessing Christ may result in rejection on so many different levels. 

Jesus is simply not an optional extra…a good idea or ideal or ideology to add onto our neatly compartmentalised lives. No. Jesus says he is either everything or nothing and we need to regularly ask ourselves if he is where he ought to be in our lives. And we must be brutal…elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus speaks of chopping off offending hands and gouging out offending eyes…Jewish hyperbole to be sure, but radical, nonetheless. 

So, in this passage Jesus tells us that being his disciple is costly. It is not for the faint of heart. A lot of people will follow their idea or image of Jesus, for a while. A lot of people will say they are his disciples, for a while. A lot of people will be a part of a church, for a while. Until something happens – until it becomes inconvenient, until it becomes a problem at work or in the neighbourhood or in the family, until it becomes too costly for them to be with Jesus. 

As Luke pointed out in the opening line of this passage, it is not the large number of people who travel with Jesus for a while, but the smaller, sold-out, committed group who remains in him…abides in him…against all odds…it is those followers that count.

May I ask, which are you? What Jesus said in this passage described complete commitment to him. Those who would dare to follow him must be totally committed to him if we are to be his disciples. We must love him more than anything and anyone else and we must surrender all, including our very lives, to him. That is the cost of being a disciple. That is what it means to follow Christ. 

So, I dare to ask again. Are you fully committed to following Jesus? Have you considered the cost? Are you willing to count all things loss for the surpassing glory of knowing him? Are you willing to allow him to make, break, and remake you according to his own design and purpose as the Potter would with the clay? 

Following Jesus demands total realignment, total relinquishment, total renunciation, and total reliance. But the prize for which God called us heavenward far outweighs the temporal things this world has to offer. As Pastor David Platt once said: “The task of mission will require suffering, but the light of eternity will prove the price was worth paying.”

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl August 2022