Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Psalm 25:3-9

Philippians 2:1-13

MATTHEW 21:28-32

“The Apprentice” vs. “The Disciple”

“The Apprentice” is a very popular TV show. In it, a fairly diverse collection of young, intelligent, highly-motivated, would-be star businesspeople compete for a chance to get offered a job by Donald Trump.

The show is based on scarcity (one job available) and vigorous, perhaps even cutthroat, competition with the objective of power.

At the center of the show is Trump himself, who is the “icon” of what it is to be rich, powerful, glamorous, self-centered, shallow and mortal.

There could be another show with a very different basis and a very different center. I’ll tell you about it without trade-marking my idea, because it is so contrary to Hollywood’s values that it has no chance to get on the air.

I’ll call the show “The Disciple.” The show is based on abundance, not scarcity: there are many, many openings for would-be disciples, not just one. This show is based on teamwork and cooperation, not cutthroat competition. This show’s objective is servanthood, not power.

At the center of the show is Jesus Christ, who gave up unlimited wealth, unlimited power and unlimited glory and, in St. Paul’s words, took “the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on the cross.”

What is offered to those trying out for “The Disciple” is no guarantee of wealth, power or glamour; if any of those come to disciples in this life they come as collateral benefits, not as the result of being prime objectives. Instead of an icon who is self-centered, shallow and mortal, those trying out for “The Disciple” have, at the center, the icon of what it is to be other-centered, with unlimited depth, and both possessing and able to offer eternal life: Jesus Christ.

So, since Hollywood will never put on this show, it’s up to Christians to live it, to be examples as individuals and as teams, not just for a few weeks after each national disaster, but for the long term. “The long term,” meaning until Jesus returns in power and great glory to judge the living and the dead. That could be this afternoon, or it could be thousands of years from now. And we can live it in almost any walk of life, including business, but not limiting ourselves to the narrow world of “The Apprentice.”

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This may sound challenging, and it is. This may even sound exhausting, and it could be. This may sound exhilarating, and it may be that, too.

But it is not too challenging or too exhausting, or else Jesus never would have said, “Come, follow me.” It is not too challenging or too exhausting, because we are here listening to these words because others before us answered Jesus’ call and, with all their faults and weaknesses, became disciples. The “casting call” for “The Disciple” is not too challenging or too exhausting, because we have a loving and merciful Lord who is eagerly encouraging us.

Indeed, as St. Paul says, “it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Let us all be disciples, and grow in discipleship.

The Rev. Francis A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Monmouth Junction, NJ

September 25, 2005