"Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and we
will be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time,
Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my
own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
" 'Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if
you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell
you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.'
"I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.'
" 'If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he
abides with you, and
he will be in you.'
" 'I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while
the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also
will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and
I in you.'
" 'They who have my commandments and keep them are those
who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love
them and reveal myself to them.'
"Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, 'Lord, how is it that you will reveal
yourself to us, and not to the world?' Jesus answered him, 'Those who love me
will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and
make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and
the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
" 'I have said these things to you while I am
still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to
you.' "
- John 14: 14 - 26 -
As you have read, the original
disciples received their 'currency' directly from the words of
Christ; and also by the deeds he performed. To make it perfectly
clear to his disciples, Christ removed all doubt in their minds as
to whom the person was before them: God in the flesh. Thus, the
first disciples were receiving their instruction directly from the
Source, which is God the Father in the human form of Jesus Christ.
Jesus then went on to not only
assure his disciples they would be all right after he left the
world, but promised that another would come to comfort and educate
them - the Advocate, also known as the Holy Spirit of God.
The disciples were promised they
would not be abandoned at the moment of Jesus' sacrificial death -
left to their own devices wondering whether the past three years had
been a time of folly.
'I will not leave you orphaned...'.
If ever there was a more marvelous, heart-warming, fear-dispelling
guarantee of protection and love from our heavenly Father, I've yet
to discover it within the confines of the Scriptures, or outside in
the manner of illuminated thought from human insight down through
the ages since the time of Christ on earth
Then, as promised above, fifty
days after the resurrection of Christ, there was the great departure
of their Master and the arrival of the promised Advocate Comforter,
the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). What a marvelous gift from God, and in
such a short amount of time. Instantly, not only could the assembled
disciples understand the languages of all who were in that room,
(many were there from distant nations) but just as suddenly were
imbued with the complete understanding of all that Jesus had taught
them. The multitude of disciples, under the guidance and leadership
of the 12 Apostles, were now ready to go forth to proclaim the
Gospel and establish the
Church of Christ on earth.
Today's Christian disciple learns
of the message of Jesus either by reading the Bible, or receiving
personal testimony from another believer, directly from the Holy
Spirit, or a combination of all of these. Usually, a non-believer
discovers the Christian good news by something as simple as idly
perusing a Gideon Bible discovered in a hotel room. Or, out of
curiosity, a person comes across a television ministry and is
intrigued by the message. Or, the non-believer is, inexplicably,
compelled to get up and take him or herself into a church. Remember,
I previously
cited in another lesson where Jesus
told his disciples that no one comes to him unless the Father sends
them. God has a direct hand in a person's spiritual calling
Today's disciple, if they have a
conscience, is often vexed with this thought: 'How do I know it is
the Holy Spirit who is speaking to me... and not some form of
self-delusion, temporary insanity or worse, Satan?' This isn't a
hypothetical question; for anyone familiar with the writings of
classical authors who wrestled with this subject will recognize the
premise: Each and every one of us, whether we are followers of
Christ, or not, have to deal with our own ego and the
long-established reality of self-centeredness. Many, many believers
- struggle as they may - just cannot get their 'self' out of the way
in order to clear the way for communication with the Supreme Self:
God. It is best said in Psalm 46:10 - "Be
still and know that I am God." Yet, the mind
is filled with distractions, cross-thoughts, preoccupations,
self-concerns, desires, memories, and a general state of
non-disciplined thought. Church history is filled
with the exploits of both believers and clerics who devoted their
mortal lives in pursuit of clearing thoughts from their mind so they
could come into a more pure state of communication with God.
Those who practice Zen Buddhism
have the advantage over most Christian disciples. Zen practitioners
can and do clear their minds so as to be at the special place where
they have communication directly with the Supreme Self: God. And, to
be clear about this, Buddha never proclaimed himself to be God.
Buddha perfected a method of daily living and meditation, when
practiced by his disciples, would provide for the best option in
living life: moderation and non-suffering. It is called, The Way.
Buddha did away with the austere extremes of Hinduism and hedonism.
Instead, he found the 'sweet spot' of living, where one first clears
the mind of stumbling blocks, and then seeks intimacy with the
Supreme Mind; and then applies what has been intellectually and
spiritually received to others around him who are suffering. If this
sounds familiar to the Christ we have come to know, be advised:
there is no coincidence in the scheme of God's plan. People appear
in history, and events take place, all in accordance with the
Father's will. Buddha, who never once mentioned 'God' was
nonetheless in communication with the
Supreme Creator of existence.
This is where today's Christian
disciple has to find him or herself - at that point where the Spirit
of God freely flows through them as naturally as air flows through
their lungs. Today's disciple must always be in touch with God, both
in waking and while asleep. God should be foremost, consistently, in
every believer's thoughts; and for a disciple the word 'should' is
replaced by the word, MUST. To be candid with the reader, if it were
not for the lessons I learned from Zen (the Chinese and Japanese
form of Buddhism), I would not have arrived at that place of
understanding where I could fully receive the continual
communication of God's Spirit. My 'obstacles'... my stumbling
blocks... have long ago been removed. Now, God and I are in constant
fellowship. Friends, there is not a sweeter place to be for a
believer. And, while Zen offers a pathway of communication with God,
it does not present an answer for the problem of one's sins and the
forgiveness of those sins. Only Christ has that answer, and this is
one Zen student who has been given the enlightenment to see the
truth and promise of salvation in Christ's Gospel.*
What is to be achieved by the
Christian disciple is complete harmony with God, and from this the
powers promised by Christ are to be realized. Skepticism disappears.
Spiritual strength increases. Nothing is impossible, and the
disciple is not afraid to proclaim such. It must always be kept in
mind that the world is full of suffering souls, and as disciples, it
is our mission - nay, command - that we offer to hurting souls the
pain-relieving balm that heals the troubled heart and mind. With the
Holy Spirit - the comforting Advocate - embedded in our spirit,
continually guiding and educating the disciple, then the disciple
cannot go wrong. It's impossible; for God is charting the course and
directing our lives. This is from whence the 'Currency of God'
continually flows. It comes from God himself.
If interested in this subject, and the reader
desires to study it, I recommend the book:
"Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master"
from The Paulist Press.
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©Copyright 2009 - Donald Neal McKay -
The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP
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