Discipleship: A Long Obedience
Cathedral Newsletter – 8 January 2026
Photo by Jonathan Göhner on Unsplash
As Cathedral regulars know, each January I simplify decision-making about preaching, by working through the Psalms in the summer holidays. Because each one can stand alone, it doesn’t matter for storyline continuity, if you miss one while on holidays.
This year, as Ben Gibson explained last Sunday, we have reached the “Psalms of Ascent”, Psalms 120 through 134 (see the prefix, which is part of inspired Scripture, for each one). It is believed they may have been sung or prayed by Jewish pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem to worship at various annual festivals such as Passover.
In his preaching commentary on these Psalms of Ascent, Eugene Peterson pinched a phrase from the atheist philosopher, Frederick Nietzsche, to describe the pilgrimage or journey of Christian discipleship.
He referred to it as “a long obedience in the same direction”.
In other words, he was stressing endurance with one thing: following Christ, no matter what.
Today we might call it “stickability”.
The late Dudley Foord served long in our diocese, and was also inaugural Bishop in the evangelical Church of England in South Africa. Several times, I heard Dudley say that you have to realise that reaching Christian maturity is often at least a ten year project of steady discipleship after conversion. That means working hard at learning from God’s Word, the Bible, and working hard at putting it into practice.
Today we live in an age of instant gratification. We want things immediately. We do not like it if it takes too long. We read articles, not books. We like our news in sound-bites, not in lengthy interviews of depth and subtlety.
What a tragedy if we take the same approach to discipleship with Jesus. It’s sometimes said that a demand for sermonettes will produce Christianettes! Maturity is not a short term gain, but hard won, by discipline at prayer, at Bible reading, at active and engaged church attendance, by service there and in the world, by deep thinking and honest reflection, by the persistent repentance and the seeking of forgiveness, above all, from God himself, and through Christ alone.
Happily for me, the Australian Cricket Team have won the Ashes. But that should not disguise the fact that they have been exceptionally prone to sudden batting collapses. It seems they have forgotten how to concentrate for extended periods, to see out a hostile attack, to get used to a difficult pitch, to grind out some hard fought runs. In short, they have forgotten how to be patient.
As another New Year dawns, what can you do to grow, to go deeper in discipleship? Maybe if you’ve only been reading short articles, or just scrolling or streaming, you ought to set a goal of reading a book every quarter. If you’ve been reading just a Bible verse a day, try a whole chapter at a time. If you’ve avoided the Old Testament, try Genesis, or Proverbs, or 1 Kings. If prayer is a struggle, try asking to borrow a spare green prayer book from the Cathedral, and use the daily prayer services for your own devotions. Maybe you need to meet up with one other Christian for Bible reading and accountability. Maybe you actually need to join a Bible study group. Maybe it’s taking some godly but difficult action you’ve been procrastinating on.
The possibilities are numerous for a long obedience in the same direction with Jesus.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney
P.S. Matthias Media have a New Year sale on some of their titles reduced to $3, $5 and $10. Browse here to find your interests, but at the latter $10 price point, I would especially recommend:
Forgiven Forever by Rory Shiner, examing such a central issue for us!
The World Next Door by Rory Shiner and Pete Orr, an amazing exploration of the meaning of life and the Christian answer based (loosely) on the Apostles Creed)
Know and Tell the Gospel by John Chapman, a classic on how to share your faith
Subjects and Citizens by Michael Jensen on politics and the Christian.