Rafiq
In Arabic, Rafiq (رفیق) refers to “intimate
friend”, “companion”, and “comrade.” One time a local newspaper in London gave
the following quiz to their readers: “What is the fastest way to get to London
from Manchester?” Many people, including mathematicians, scientists, students,
entered their names with ingenious answers. But the winning answer was
“traveling with a good friend.”
Today’s scripture is about calling the first disciples of Jesus. Why did Jesus call twelve disciples? Mark 3:14 answers this way: “He [Jesus] appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons.” Jesus still comes to us, inviting us and calling us, to be our Rafiq, our companion.
Come and See: “Being Disciples” (Discipleship)
In today’s passage Jesus first
calls two people – Andrew and John, with a simple and straightforward
invitation, “Come and see” (v. 39). In our lives there is a person like John
the Baptist who points us to Christ, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God.” But
that’s not enough. We must come and see ourselves at first hand. We must taste
and see that the Lord is good at first hand. At first, they called Jesus “Rabbi”
or “Teacher.” But after spending an entire day with him, they shouted with
excitement, “We have found the Messiah – the Anointed One!” (v. 41) The next
day when Philip invited his friend Nathanael to come to see Jesus, Nathanael was
skeptical and said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (v. 46)
Basically, to him Jesus was a mere “Nazarene” – a country bumpkin without an
education. But after he did come and see himself, he now exclaimed with
conviction, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (v. 49)
At the heart of discipleship (being a disciple of Jesus) is to come and see, and to spend quality time with him day by day. If you asked me, “Who is Hannah?” I can describe her quite well. But if you asked me, “Who is Lydia?” I can give you a much more in-depth answer - who she is as a person, because I have spent much more time with her. “Who is Jesus to you?” That is one of the most important questions in life. The more we spend time with him, the more our answer would become rich, meaningful, and personal.
The question is “How do we cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus in our everyday life?” For me personally, I find the story of missionary Frank Laubach very helpful. Mr. Laubach went to the Philippines as a missionary. But after 15 years, he became very dissatisfied with his spiritual life. He realized that he had not lived every day in minute-by-minute effort to abide with God. Then, he resolved to bring God to mind at least once each minute, at least one second out of every sixty. He called this experiment “the Game with Minutes.” He began to talk and listen to Jesus, work and rest with Jesus, eat and sleep with Jesus, twenty-four hours a day. Moment-by-moment he asked these two questions: “What, Father, do you desire said?” and “What, Father, do you desire done this minute?” For the first few weeks nothing seemed to change. But later, he said, “The results of this practice grew rich after six months, and glorious after ten years.” In his letters sent to his father, he provides practical suggestions about how we may deepen our relationship with Jesus in everyday life[1]:
1. Pray.
2. Recall God.
3. Sing or hum a devotional hymn.
4. Talk or write about God.
5. Seek to relieve suffering of any kind in a prayerful spirit.
6. Work with the consciousness of God’s presence.
7. Whisper to God.
8. Feel yourself encompassed by God.
9. Look at a picture or a symbol of Christ.
10. Read a scripture verse or poem about God.
11. Give somebody a helpful hand for the Lord’s sake.
12. Breathe a prayer for the people you meet.
13. Follow the leading of the Inner Voice.
14. Plan or work for the Kingdom of God.
15. Testify to others about God, the church, or this game.
16. Share suffering or sorrow with another.
17. Hear God and see Him in flowers, trees, water, hills, sky.
We become disciples of Jesus as we fix our eyes on him and practice “being with him” moment by moment.
Come and See: “Making Disciples” (Evangelism)
True
disciples make disciples. But how? We can learn from Philip, one of the
first disciples of Jesus. After Philip spent a day with Jesus, he was
transformed. He couldn’t keep new-found joy inside. He had to share it with his
friend, saying, “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the
Prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth!” But his friend Nathanael
was unimpressed and skeptical. Philip didn’t argue with him; but instead, he
simply said, “Come and see!” (v. 46) This is how we make disciples. Oftentimes
we don’t feel confident or equipped to share the good news of Jesus with
others. We feel like we need to have more biblical knowledge. Not so. Our job
is not to advocate or defend God. It is not to convince or persuade people. We
know we cannot change people – their hearts, their convictions. Only God can.
Our calling is simply to invite them and to point them to Christ, saying, “Come
and see!”
We can start with the person next to us – our own family members, our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. This past week I was kind of physically “half-homebound.” I spent most of time on housekeeping – fixing meals, washing dishes, doing laundry, and cleaning – during the day. I didn’t have that much opportunity to go out and see many people within and without the church. But then, all of sudden I realized that my main parish is where I am – my home. Housekeeping in Korean is “Salim” (살림). Interestingly enough, Salim also means “Letting (others) live.” As I was doing the housekeeping, letting my children live, God opened the door for me to disciple my children. Each day on the meal table, beside the bathtub or sink, on the floormat at night, we had lots of meaningful conversations. They asked so many questions; I had so many opportunities to point them to Christ. We talked about relationships with friends at school and marriage, time management and sabbath, allowance management and tithing, etc. We can make disciples who are right next to us. We can start from where we are.
A Disciple’s Life
We are continually “becoming” –
becoming disciples as we ourselves come and see, being with Jesus day by day.
We are faithfully “making” – making disciples as we invite our people and help
draw them closer to Jesus with our words and our actions, “Come and see.”
Perhaps some of you who are hearing, or watching, or reading this message may feel like you are not doing much for the Lord because of your life stage, or your family or health situations. I pray that Missy Buchanan’s prayer poem, “Ordinary days”[2] may encourage and comfort your souls:
There’s a slow, steady rhythm to ordinary days.
Uneventful kind of days that follow a simple routine of meals,
medications, and favorite TV shows.
During this time, empty squares march across the calendar.
One day feels like the next.
In truth, I like days that are uninterrupted
by crisis or sudden change.
I am thankful for the repetition.
But Lord, it’s easy to get lost in the monotony.
Save me from the emptiness
that comes with too much time to think and too little to do.
It is fertile soil for negative thoughts to grow.
And if I hold too tightly to rigid routine,
remind me that I may miss out on a wonderful surprise.
Help me rediscover the abundant blessings in my life.
Today I will turn the pages of an old photo album,
and I will give you thanks for my life stories.
I will pray for my loved ones, calling each by name.
O Lord, show me the extraordinary joy in ordinary days.
This is the prayer of the disciple. Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work, as Oswald Chambers said. Whether our life is mundane or challenging, may we come and see, staying close to Jesus, day by day, minute by minute. Wherever we are in our life journey, may we invite our people to come and see Jesus as long as ever we can. Amen.
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