When we lived in Indiana, the natives there called themselves “Hoosiers.” But did you know that no one knows what a “Hoosier” is?

When my son James and His wife Kayla, began their work as campus missionaries on the Chico State campus for CRU (Campus Crusade for Chirst), no one on their team at Chico State had ever heard of a “Lutheran” and, in fact, were kind of fearful at first that they were part of a Christian cult. Today, we remember and rejoice in who we are in Christ as Christians who share this tribe, “Lutheran.” So, you got questions? Trust me, it’s not like “Hoosier.” James really had an answer – and a Christian witness – that put the whole team at ease and created Christian friendship. Oh, and if your question is more along the lines of “What’s a reformation?”, no problem, it’s not like “Hoosier” either.

Everyone is looking to be happy. How is that working out for you? And could it be that the very ways we look to be happy is at the root of our problem?.... always looking but never finding? Today we look at the two ways all of humankind tend to try to find happiness….And just maybe a third way will be revealed to us that will finally give us what we seek.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “the rest of the story?” Many years ago there was an announcer on the radio – his name was Paul Harvey – who made this phrase famous. After doing the regular Newscast, he did a bit he called “the rest of the story” in which he would take one of the stories in the news and elaborate on it, giving the listener a much more in depth – and amusing – angle on it. It made him famous. Today, we take a closer look at the two sons in our story. They were both lost….and so are we.

Many have compared this story Jesus told to a Two Act play. So today, we are setting the scene, giving the context, describing the audience, revealing the characters, and in all this finding where we fit in the action. If it’s true that this story is a microcosm of the whole Bible, this is all kind of important, don’t you think?...especially where we fit into it all?

Following Jesus is never just about “Jesus and me.” It is always looking beyond “me “to the other that I can bless as I grow him/her as a disciple of Jesus. It is living in the heart of God who “loved the WORLD so much that He sent Jesus.” Disciple being and making is the way Jesus chose to bring His life to the whole world. We are always both following Jesus in relationship and connecting with others in relationship to grow them in following Jesus…who in turn are connecting with others in relationship to grow them in Jesus. This is the way of exponential reproduction so that in every nook and cranny of the world people might follow Jesus in the way of life. This is the mind of God, the paradigm of the kingdom and Jesus would have us in awe joyfully embrace it and live in it!

To hold one accountable means that something matters. To want to be held accountable means that I agree that it matters. To walk with Jesus matters. To disciple others to walk with Jesus matters. I am convinced that one of the greatest ways we show love to each other is to, in love, hold one another accountable. Just ask any parent! Oh, and by the way, it is what Jesus does for us – and what He would have us do for one another!

When I was in college, I did a paper on this new kind of knee surgery called Arthroscopic Surgery. It was so new that I had to use the research library in the hospital where my mom worked as a nurse. Of course, the advancement in caring for injured knees was amazing but one thing that came up again and again in the research papers was the absolute correlation between success and how many times the surgeon had done the procedure. You can be told how to swim, you can watch someone else swimming, you can write about swimming and even talk about swimming, but the only way to learn how to swim and to get better at it is to do it – and then to practice! So it is with being – and making – disciples! Today, we explore what this means!

Every teacher will tell you; one of the most effective ways to learn and to grow – to put knowledge into action – is to have a peer model “what it looks like.” This is especially true with any kind of “movement” as any coach will tell you. To see what it looks like is powerful and helps us to learn to do it! Today, we focus how Jesus models for us what it looks like to make disciples so we can do the same.

In Matthew 28, Jesus gives His people their “marching orders.” He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations…..teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you.” When I got my California Teaching Credential, I remember we learned about various levels of learning. The lowest level was rote memorization with the highest level being the student internalizing it, making it part of who they were. Jesus said, “blessed are those who hear my words AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE.” This is a lifelong learning endeavor both for ourselves and for those who we are disciplining and those who they in turn will disciple. Certainly, we are called to “know about” the things of God, but true teaching (and blessing!) comes as we grow and teach others how to put them into practice!

One out of two people in our society have no one to talk to. This is what sin does. It isolates us…both from God and from others. Adam ran away from God and “threw his wife under the bus”- “this woman that you gave me!” He was absolutely alone! To be a disciple is to live in relationship with Jesus. To live as a “disciple who makes disciples” one must forsake the notion that my life with God is just “Jesus and me” and embrace living in relationship with others. For this-relationship – is what we were created for! “With God, nothing is impossible!”