We are working toward becoming one church community united by common learning goals, even as we are scattered commuting people.

This week we’re studying a passage from Ephesians that includes this line: “until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”

We want to highlight the process involved.  The aim is to become more and more like Jesus, not just in outward appearance, but completely, the “full stature”.  This is clearly not instant, but a maturing process, since no one on this earth has ever been completely like Jesus.

I have shared a few stories from when I studied engineering, and the importance of learning problem solving and analysis.  That principle can be applied to any scenario, even the unprecedented and complex ones.

Discipleship is about theological problem solving in similarly complex and unexpected situations.  Paul was involved in discipleship to help his church members avoid being thrown around by every idea, doctrine like a small boat in wind and waves.

Contrast a road and ocean.  Some want faith to be a roadway, with clear boundaries, signs, maps and directions to follow.  But the problem is that real life is much more like an ocean, where you can’t give a plan for every scenario , but follow a compass heading with a specific end in mind, but the actual journey will be less strictly defined.  This is the pursuit of discipleship, to set a compass heading of what the bible calls “Christlikeness” – becoming like Jesus Christ.  We will get there by navigating all sorts of wind and wave action, and keeping focused on the end goal.

This is a series on church community, becoming like family.  Discipleship is a family effort, done in a group.  I remember engineering projects that would have been impossible for me to do it alone – I knew one aspect of the project, while others knew theirs, and together we accomplished something greater than any one of us could do on our own.

In the same way, we aren’t meant to grow as a disciple alone.  We need challenge, encouragement, and complementary gifts like the five we saw yesterday.

Question: Are you more comfortable in a spiritual ocean or roadway?  What part of life feels like an ocean today?

Coffee Hours this Week:

Have questions about the challenges, do you want to meet others exploring the same content, or connect with Ryan?

Join us for our coffee shop drop-in tonight, Wednesay, October 30th from 7:30pm-9:00pm at the Starbucks in the Ajax Chapters.  Look for Ryan Sim in the drink line, or a Redeem the Commute postcard on a table.

If you know in advance that you’re coming, please RSVP here 

Ryan Sim - September 17, 2013

Tuesday - Study It - Strangers to Neighbours

Last week, a lawyer asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment? Jesus answered that it was to love God with everything, and love our neighbours as ourselves. Then, right after that answer, Jesus told a story: But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37 ESV) Jesus set up a high standard, based on the Old Testament part of the Bible, that was undeniable for the lawyer. So, instead of challenging it, the lawyer tries to get around it. He tries to find a loophole, by asking Jesus to define neighbour. If he has to love his neighbour, perhaps he can choose who qualifies as a neighbour. Just the people next door? Just those of my race, religion, education or income level? He’s asking the same question as many readers today - who exactly is my neighbour, so I can make sure I love the minimum number of people necessary? So Jesus tells this story, known as the story of the good Samaritan. The two religious professionals, the Levite and Priest, are too concerned with ritual purity to stop. His first Jewish hearers might have been thinking this was an anti-clerical message about underdogs like them being heroes in contrast to prideful authorities. But then Jesus introduces a Samaritan into the story as the hero. Samaritans and Jews avoided each other. There was lots of bad blood, that went back a long way. And yet Jesus makes him the hero. The Samaritan was a true neighbour, even to his enemy. Jesus challenges the prevailing beliefs about what it meant to love God. Good piety includes loving care for others, not just purity. Then he goes further, and tells the legal expert, “You go and do likewise.” He’s essentially saying, “Legal expert, be like this guy, who followed the law you claim to know. “ After hearing Jesus’ command to love our neighbour last week, how many of us tried to find a loophole? Is loving our neighbour really that bad? When I trained to be a paramedic, one of the first questions the class asked was, “When I’m off duty, do I have to stop and pull over if I see an accident?” The answer was no, you can drive past, but if you stop you need to stay until another professional takes over. There’s a loophole – a paramedic off duty simply can’t stop at every accident. But as a Christian, is there a similar loophole? Question: How have you tried to justify or rationalize not loving someone like yourself?

Related Topics: Loopholes, Neighbours | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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