THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Answering the call to follow the Lamb of God, as Jesus’ disciples did, is a daily decision made in the little details of how much we consume, what and how we buy, what we drive, where we live, what we eat, how we use energy, how we work, how we treat others and how we care for ourselves. Many of these decisions result in sacrifices that we would probably prefer to avoid. At its heart discipleship is about recognising that our faith is not an individual journey but is connected into community. Our choice to sacrifice or not impacts others in our churches, neighbourhoods and world, and so we find that as we follow Christ, we are brought face to face with others, and the impact of our choices and lifestyle on them.
To make the sacrificial changes that will lead to a world of peace, justice and love – the world that Jesus proclaimed – we need resources beyond ourselves. For this it takes both the recognition that the Christ we follow is the Lamb of God who calls us to take up our crosses, and an openness to receive the “baptism in the Holy Spirit” – the transforming, empowering encounter with God – that John said Jesus would offer. But as we embrace the life of sacrifice and of following Christ, we each become foundation stones like Peter in the reign of God which is being built among us.
This week we explore what it means to be a disciple and to make the necessary sacrifices that help to bring God’s dream to reality in our part of the world.
To download this week’s reflections in PDF format, click here.
