Jeanette Renouf

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew, the first of the twelve apostles. Like  most of the other eleven, and Jesus, he was crucified.

The epistle for today is one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians in which he outlines very clearly the difficulties he has suffered in his ministry of following Jesus.

We don’t like to look at the price of discipleship and tend to prefer Christianity lite. To truly follow Jesus is not easy and there is often a cost, in the case of many early Christians the cost was their life.

My husband and I were missionaries of the Episcopal Church for 10 years. Our lives were in danger most of that time. We didn’t dwell on that because we were busy doing our jobs. But our young adult children, who all lived in the United States, were very anxious for our well being. Every time there was a bombing or shooting reported we would get phone calls from them. So the cost can be for family members, as well.

We, who claim to follow Jesus, are being asked daily to stand up and live that belief. Even today there can be a cost. A loving, caring, compassionate God who accepts everyone, especially those who are outcasts, is not popular. Jesus was always counter-cultural and perhaps still is.

Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you willing to pay the price of discipleship?

Hopefully we can support one another in this ministry.

Love and peace,

—Jeanette