Our guests today have heard the words of our Gospel reading this morning, taken it into themselves, and gone out into the world to fulfill what has come to be known as the “Great Commission”.
Listen to the words of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 28:16-20, one more time: “Go, and make disciples of all the nations.” Did you hear that? “Go, and make…” Jesus gave His disciples the awesome responsibility to be His eyes, ears and mouth upon this earth. He told them to go out and be His work force to help people, all people, develop a deep, abiding, saving relationship with Him.
Jesus gave the responsibility for making disciples to the disciples. His disciples, for the most part, were not especially learned men, particularly when it came to religion. They were not pastors, priests or rabbis. They were what we today would call the laity of the church. They were ordinary people. There were more religious leaders, priests and rabbis in Jesus’ day than you could shake a stick at, but Jesus entrusted the life-changing, world-changing responsibility of spreading His Gospel to fishermen and a tax collector!
Praise God that it did not end there. For you see, Jesus not only gave the disciples responsibility, Jesus also gave them the authority to carry out their mission. Jesus tells the disciples in verse 18, “All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me.”
Now, Jesus could have been very selfish and kept all of that authority and power for Himself. Instead, Jesus bestowed that authority upon His disciples. Very early in His ministry with the disciples Jesus gathered them all together and “gave them authority to drive out unclean (evil) spirits, and cure every disease and every sickness.” (Matthew 10:1). Then Jesus sent them out to do just that.
The point that I want you to understand today is that Jesus gave the entire Church the responsibility to make disciples, AND Jesus gave the entire Church the AUTHORITY to carry out that task. When the clergy of the church gives out the authority to act, and the laity of the church accepts the responsibility for disciple-making ministry, the Church becomes an unstoppable force that reaches its full potential in Christ.
It was not only the disciples of Jesus’ time on earth that He gave the responsibility of carrying out His work of bringing new members into His Church, it is our responsibility also. All of us are given this responsibility. All of us are given the authority and power to carry out His commission to us. It is not only the pastors, priests and church leaders who have been given this task, it is every member of Christ’s Church. We, as Christians, are the descendents of those first disciples. We are part of the same heritage. We are part of the same family. It is our responsibility to carry our weight in this area just as the first disciples did.
The “Great Commission” of Jesus to the disciples of His time applies as much to us today as ever. Perhaps even more so. We are His Church, you and I, and all believers. And here is the best part. We do not necessarily have to go very far to accomplish the task. There is a need right in our own state, our own communities, our own friends, and even within our own families, to hear the Gospel of Christ and the salvation that only He provides, and see it in action.
Far too many Christians have the idea that all we need do is attend church regularly, go to VBS, Sunday school, Bible study and prayer services. While all of those things are good and important for us to do, what good does it serve for us to leave our faith, our passion and love for God, in the pews as we leave, simply to be picked up from where we left it again the next Sunday?
How many of us can truly say that we take our faith home with us and share it with others we meet during the week? How many of us display our faith in Christ to others, as we would show them a new car, new clothes or a new house? How many of us leave our glasses, our cell phones, our wallets or our purses in the pew all week until Sunday rolls around? Why then, do we leave our faith there? It is more important and vital for eternal life than all of those other things put together! While we are together on Sunday mornings, we are all very proud of our faith as expressed and proclaimed unashamedly in our singing, our praying and every act of worship and praise undertaken during the service. But far too often, all of that disappears the minute we walk out of the sanctuary door.
Why are so many Christians afraid to take our faith to others? Why are we so afraid to talk to others about Jesus Christ? Why are we so afraid to praise Him in the community? I know that there are those out there who would say we were “weird” or “nut cases” if we actually shared our love for Jesus Christ in public. There are those who might even try to sue us because we “offended” them with our proclamation of the gospel of salvation through Christ alone. But so what? Are we to be afraid and ashamed to declare our faith before others? Hear what Jesus says to us about that in Matthew 10:33: “But, whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him (or her) before my Father Who is in Heaven.” Strong words indeed! Understand this, we do not have to verbally reject Jesus to deny Him. Our silence can accomplish exactly that.
Christians will get nowhere if we do not take our faith outside the four walls of our churches. What does it profit us, what does it profit the Church, what does it profit the world if all we do is come Sunday after Sunday and sit and hear the “Good News” and never take it beyond the door and share it with others?
Too often, we feel so safe within the church walls. We have our music, our Bibles, and like-minded people all around us to encourage and bolster us, that we never want to venture out into the world that so desperately needs us. The “Great Commission” is your commission. Jesus has given you the responsibility and the authority to do it. Take what you have learned here and share it with others. If you go out and get a little beaten down, you are always able to come back within these four walls on Sundays for rest, re- energizing and continuing education.
I wish to conclude with this. Many of our churches are like a group of farmers desiring to gather in the harvest. Every Sunday morning they gather in the machine shed, sharpen their plows, grease their tractors, get everything in order, and then go home again. They do this Sunday after Sunday. Some even got the idea that they should start schools across the country to teach new and better methods of agriculture. So month after month, they go to class and learn all about these methods. Then some got the idea that they should write books about harvesting the crops. So soon, there were hundreds and hundreds of books describing proper harvesting methods. The books quickly became best sellers as farmers everywhere bought them and studied and studied. So every Sunday, for weeks and weeks, months and months, years and years, most of the farmers in all the land read, study, sharpen plows and grease tractors. But no one ever goes out into the fields to gather in the harvest.
God has given us the greatest gift ever, the gift of life. He has also given us a great task, to “go out and make disciples of all the peoples.” That is our call, your call to service. Let’s go out and get in the game. Let’s give it our best, through Christ and in His name and authority. We don’t go out alone, for the Holy Spirit goes with us and He will give us the wisdom and strength necessary to complete the task. The saying goes, “There is no disgrace in losing. The only disgrace is in never trying.” Go and spread the Word. Amen!