Discipline and/or Discipleship

"Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating. It is important, however, to realize that discipline in the spiritual life is not the same as discipline in sports. Discipline is sports is the concentrated effort to master the body so that it can obey the mind better. Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance."

-- Henri Nouwen

Bread for the Journey

Hard Work

There is an ancient Roman aqueduct near the Spanish city of Segovia. An aqueduct is a sort of elevated trestle over which water flows. This one was constructed in the year A.D. 109. For 1800 years, the aqueduct carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. As many as 60 generations depended on this marvel of engineering for their drinking water.

Then came another generation, in more recent years, who said to each other, "This aqueduct is an architectural marvel. It's a historical treasure that ought to be preserved. We should give it a well-earned rest."

That's exactly what they did. They detoured the water flow away from the ancient stones and channeled it through modern pipes. They put up historical markers so tourists would know who had constructed the aqueduct, and for what purpose. They celebrated the fact that their city's water system was now modern in every way.

But then, a strange thing began to happen. The Roman aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating down on its dry mortar, without the constant flow of water to cool it, caused to to crumble. In time, the massive structural stones threatened to fall. What 18 centuries of hard service had not been able to destroy, a few years of idleness nearly did.

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The Covenant Cup -- sound familiar?

Rabbi Zola Levitt, a Messianic Jew [one who accepts Jesus as Messiah] from Israel, tells the story of the Covenant Cup, one that symbolizes the commitment God gives to us and seeks from us.

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Levitt tells of the Jewish tradition of a young man and his father going to the home of a young woman to whom he hoped to become engaged. When the father and son arrived, they would negotiate the price of marriage with the young woman's father.

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After a deal was reached, the young man would enter the adjoining room where he would be alone with the young woman. He would take his family's Covenant Cup, fill it with wine, and place it before the young woman with these words: "I set my covenant Cup before you, it is my blood, Take and drink this cup, and seal this covenant to be mine."

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The young woman had two choices: take the cup and drink, thus sealing the covenant with the young man, or refuse the cup and wait for another groom. If the woman took the cup and sealed the covenant, the young man would next report in a voice loud enough for the fathers in the next room to hear him: "I go now to prepare a place for you, and if I go and preapare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also."

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This engagement ritual was a ritual of commitment. Through the Covenant Cup, the young man promised to marry the girl, promised to prepare a place for her, and promised to return for her at a later time. The young woman promised to wait, to be faithful, and to marry the young man upon his return.

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Don't you hear echoes of this in Jesus' words to His bride, the church? What could we call the cup at the Last Supper, but a Covenant Cup? "This is my blood ... a new covenant." His promises to go and prepare a place for us, and a promise to return for us. He speaks in Covenant language, in marriage language, in commitment language. How wonderful!

I have no doubt that Jesus will be faithful to His promises. But notice the promise of the young woman in the tradition -- she promised to waith and BE FAITHFUL. While Jesus Christ will doubtless be faithful to us, have we, the church, been as faithful to Him?

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