Chosen and Appointed

​The Venerable Joan Clark

John 15:9-17

Jesus’ disciples were very different kinds of people. Very different. Let’s just say that the only thing that held them together was Jesus. Other than that, they would have been perpetually at odds and I suspect often were. Otherwise, Jesus would not have had to keep emphasizing the scripture we read today about loving each other!

Peter, called “the rock” could be impulsive, forceful, impetuous, and sometimes belligerent. While Jesus would have valued these qualities, as he knew they would be important for Peter’s ability to endure the challenges of opposition in the days of the early church, still it seems Jesus struggled sometimes to keep Peter in check and on task. Peter could be prone to doubts. One minute he was loyal and faithful, the next doubting and denying. Loud and often challenging to Jesus, still, Jesus named him his right hand man.

Andrew, Peter’s brother, also a fisherman, was nevertheless quiet and tended to stay out of the front lines. Jesus knew he had a good heart, but he tended to want to spend his time studying and learning rather than fighting and leading.

James was one of the sons of the fishing mogul Zebedee. Along with his brother John, they were called by Jesus, the “sons of thunder” for their boisterous, loud, raucous language and behaviour. They were used to the rough, underbelly of the fishing industry, and tended toward uncultured behaviour and spontaneous outbursts of emotion and opinion. You always knew what they were thinking. Their fiery temperaments may have made them zealous about the mission but rough around the edges in dealing with people.

On the other hand, Philip and his friend Nathanael were studious and theologically focused. They were avid students of the Torah and powerful preachers in the early church. The intellectuals of the group, they were interested in change, but they tended to go about it in quieter, more organized ways, supporting Jesus’ teaching and doing what needed to be done. They were the more traditional students of Rabbi Jesus.

Matthew had been a customs official in Capernaum harbour and worked for Rome. He taxed imported and exported goods and was a seasoned politician but was despised by his Jewish community for working for the “enemy.” Matthew was a negotiator, a communicator, and had an analytical mind. But stuck in a job he didn’t like working for people who didn’t respect him, he longed for meaning and change, belonging and identity, and Jesus gave him the opportunity to do something that would make a real difference.

Thomas was the rational mind of the group, a sceptic but also the calm one in the face of trouble. He could be courageous and daring when he believed in something but also would ask the right questions and seek answers before making decisions. Thomas needed to buy in in order to be convinced that something was worth doing. His steady, scientific-style mind would be needed in the midst of some of the more impulsive, emotional moments exhibited by his fellow disciples. Faith was a bit more challenging to him, but once committed, he was all in.

James was quiet, a follower, so quiet, we hear little about him.

Simon was a zealot and a revolutionary. Eclipsed by his fisherman brothers, nevertheless, he was interested in overthrowing Rome, and his political sense drove his sense of mission.

Thaddeus was also fairly quiet, gentle-hearted, and caring about people. He admired Jesus’ heart for the unsupported and marginalized and was an advocate of healing and mercy. He listened enthusiastically to Jesus’ teaching and was in awe of his healing ministry.

Judas could be unpredictable and had strong opinions about everything. He was an insider and understood the Temple system, had colleagues within it, but yet hoped that Jesus would reform the system, make waves, and instigate change. He was all for having a political position in the new order. The financial treasurer of the movement, he was organized and savvy, but also could be untrustworthy and underhanded with the funds. He protected himself above others and could easily switch sides if he felt it in his own interests. The wild card in the bunch, he was loyal to Jesus until Jesus challenged his sense of direction and the way he thought things should be handled. Then he took over and went his own way.

Recognize any of these personalities? Every church has at least some of them. Why on earth would Jesus choose such diverse and controversial personalities as his disciples and inner circle? Because in order for Jesus’ mission to be successful, he would need to prove that his prime directive worked. What was his prime directive?

Love one another. As I have loved you, love one another. Bear fruit together. Jesus said this over and over and over again. Why? Because it had to have been hard to do!

How would he get such different personalities with such different hopes and dreams and reasons for following him to work together for the good of the mission when their only common factor was him? How would they continue to do so after he was gone?

Love one another, he said.  Enough to lay down your life for each other. Enough to be in mission together. Keep your eyes on what needs to be done. Enough to show the world that being my disciple means that even the most diverse and at-odds people can be in community together and work for the common good. Show the world that this works!

Jesus in his very inner team, in his choice of trusted right-hands, would challenge the world and its workings, the divisions of his time, the bias and isms of his time by creating the most effective, loyal, and unstoppable team in history made up of the most diverse and unlikely individuals he could find.

They proved him right.

A good team is not about being of the same mind and doing the same things. It’s not about agreeing on everything or having like personalities. It’s about loving one another. Respecting each other’s differences and unique take on life and the mission. Most of all, respecting each other’s faith in the one thing that matters: Jesus, resurrected and ready to change the world, one team at a time.

Jesus didn’t put out a call for a disciple sign-up. He didn’t interview disciples for certain kinds of qualities. He didn’t demand that they conform to certain kinds of standards. He allowed them to be who they were, even to the last moment. And he encouraged them to use their unique personalities and gifts to make a difference in the ways they could. Their qualities were all different, but united, they could rely on each other to balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They each had a role to play and a way to be involved in the mission. They each found their own way of doing that in Jesus’ lifetime and in the years of the early church. They worked, because they were all focused on something bigger than themselves, bigger than their differences –the mission of Jesus.

Max Lucado once told an interesting story about a group of men who went on a fishing trip. When it rained, they were all stuck inside their trailer with nothing to do. As a result, they began sniping at each other, critiquing each other, lashing out in tempers, and feeling grouchy. His verdict: when fishermen don’t fish, they fight.

Disciples in mission are focused on the mission. Disciples who are not focused on mission will focus on their differences.

In our scripture for today, Jesus tells us, “You did not choose me but I chose you.” “I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” “I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.”

Be united in your mission, Jesus tells them. I chose and appointed you to carry on the mission I have started, to change the world, to heal the sick and doubting, to proclaim God’s sovereignty and saving grace, to let people know, they are beautiful exactly the way they are in all of their differences and diversity, to be their example of what the world can look like when people work together toward a common goal.

“If you love the parent, you love the child,” John tells us in his letter. “As the father loved me, so I love you,” said Jesus. We are all adopted sons and daughters of God, said Paul. These are messages that assure us that being part of the family of God has nothing to do with genealogy, culture, type, or blood DNA, but everything to do with sisterhood, brotherhood, and the beauty of God’s creation. In the end, it all comes down to love. Love for God. Love for each other. And belief in a mission that upholds and initiates this kind of loving.

Who are your brothers and sisters? Who are your neighbours?

Everyone. Not just the people in your neighbourhoods. Not just the people in your buildings. Not just the people you know. But everyone. You are all sons and daughters of God.

The more we see the world this way, the more loving and beautiful the world will become.