Church, Why Bother? You’re It
Matthew 28:16-20
May 18, 2008
-The Story of the Lifesaving Station…
-last week, as we celebrated Pentecost, and talked about how the church got its beginning – we made the point that the church became the church when the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ, suddenly indwelt the disciples – the church is result of the mystery of Christ’s indwelling presence
-then we concluded that the church exists to celebrate the mystery of Christ’s presence – primarily through worship – finally, we said the church is called to enact the mystery of Christ’s presence in the world – proclaiming and living out the Kingdom
-throughout much of history, the church has wrestled with who it is, why it exists and what it exists to do – like the lifesaving stations in our opening story, churches often split over disagreements about what they are meant to be and do
-many turn to the passage we read this morning from Matt 28, usually referred to as the “Great Commission” – it is a great place to turn because it speaks to who we are, why we exist and what we exist to do
-but as important as this passage is, I think it has become problematic in the way it has been interpreted and applied, in the last few centuries
-the fact that it is called the “Great Commission” speaks to the place of importance these words of Jesus have come to hold
-but who dubbed this the great commission and who decided that, among all the other things Jesus instructed his followers to do, this was the official mission statement of the church – well, to be honest with you, I’m not sure
-that it is a commissioning is clear, in the sense that it is instruction on what to do and clearly it was very important – it is the climax of Matthews gospel – what concerns me, is what has often been done with these words of Jesus – how at times, Jesus purpose is misunderstood and his commission too narrowly defined
-this morning I would like us to rethink this passage and its central point – to attempt to see it as the disciples may have originally understood it and to explore its implications for us today
-Jesus spoke this commission to his disciples somewhere between the resurrection and the ascension – its one of several post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples in which he instructed them as to what they were to do once he was gone
-there are some common things we read in these encounters – they usually include a statement in which Jesus confirms who he is – there is a statement that outlines an expectation of his followers, the commissioning, if you like – finally, there is a promise of Christ’s presence with them – that they won’t have to do it on their own
-our passage today has all these elements – Jesus re-establishes his right to commission them – “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.”– then he commissions them, “ make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” and finally the promise, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age”
-what is important for us to understand here, what we must get right, is what it is that Jesus is commissioning his disciples for
-there is one instruction here, only one command if you like – to make disciples of all nations – but while “make disciples” is the command, I think what would have stood out was not the words “make disciples” as much as the words, “of all nations”
-these apostles had witnessed how Jesus had made disciples of them and others – but at that point, they would not have had the concept that Jesus had come to establish a new religion – the early church existed for the first several of decades as a expression of Judaism not as its own religion – Jesus had come as the Jews long-awaited messiah – they would not have understood “make disciples” as converting people to a new religion, but, as they themselves had experienced it as Jews, convincing people to follow Jesus as their messiah – I don’t think that it was news to them that they were to continue to make disciples – the real news was that they would make disciples of all nations
-they grew up with the idea that the messiah was for the Jews – so this idea that they were to be witnesses beyond the Jewish faith was a profound shift they would not easily take to
-the book of Acts records how the emerging church struggled with this concept and, in fact, had a significant showdown over it –it records that it took a dramatic intervention by God in a vision to get Peter to accept the idea that Gentiles could be part of the Kingdom of God
-and it records how Paul and Barnabas had to fight to convince the church to take the redemptive message beyond Judaism
-the real commissioning here is to make disciples of “all nations”
-they were being commissioned to be global in their vision and to be inclusive in their focus – to make disciples of, and among, all people
-Jesus identifies three activities by which his disciples would carry out the commission to make disciples of all nations
-going, baptizing and teaching – lets talk about these:
-going – this is an aspect of this commission that has been misunderstood – I am frankly puzzled by the insistence of translators to translate this word into English as “go” when it is a participle and should be translated “going” or “as you go” – the problem is that it appears in our English Bibles as if the command is to go, as if they were being overtly sent – to pack up home and family and leave for other parts of the world – but the reality is that Jesus was saying “as you go, make disciples of all nations…” he was simply asking them, in the course of their lives, wherever that took them, to make disciples
-Jesus’ assumption here is that they will participate in the life of the community and that, as the go, they will make disciples
-Some, like Paul and Barnabas, would make the overt choice to go to other nations with the gospel – and, thankfully, some still do, but it was more of an assumption on Jesus’ part that his followers would go than a command to go
-second, making disciples of all nations would be carried out by…
-Baptizing – here we need to see baptizing in its broader meaning and scope – we need to be careful not to limit baptism to just a rite, to the act of immersing or sprinkling with water – baptism here refers to initiation – to the overall process of initiating people into Christ and his church by faith – celebrated and made public in the rite of baptism
-what Jesus is calling them to do is to welcome and initiate people from all people groups into the Kingdom of God – again it’s the call to inclusiveness – to have no barriers to the Spirit of God’s movement of establishing the kingdom – Finally, making disciples of all nations would be carried out by the activity of
-teaching – they would make disciples by teaching them to obey or observe everything that Jesus had commanded them
-I’m fascinated that Jesus does not say teach them to think right thoughts or agree with certain concepts – the focus doesn’t seem to be doctrine, its action, its life – he defines what it means to believe or to have faith not as agreeing as much as observing or obeying – it isn’t, get them first to agree with you about who I am, it is teach them be like me, to do what I have taught you to do, to live as I have shown you – the goal wasn’t just to simply change peoples’ minds so they can go to heaven when they die, but to teach them to be disciples, followers of Jesus who participate in what God is doing in the world – enter the Kingdom of God
-churches too often settle for concept of conversion that is limited to a single event or point in time when a person suddenly agrees to a set of doctrines or concepts about Jesus – i.e. son of God or died for our sins
-sometimes that is how a person’s journey starts – a dramatic, sudden revelation where everything falls into place – some of you have stories like that – but some of you have stories in which you would say, you came very slowly over a long arduous process – and still other here would say, I don’t know where I am in this – I’m considering being a follower – what we all have in common is the journey – because conversion, or coming to faith, or being a follower or a disciple, whatever you call it, in truth, is a process that begins for all of us in different ways – as a Jesus follower, I am in the process of being converted – as a disciple, I am being taught to observe all that Jesus wants me to observe – but I’m only part of the way into that journey, a long way from arriving *** (Zen Buddhist friend)
-Jesus in this approach of making disciples is really calling us to learn to walk with people through their process of becoming committed followers – Jesus was never content to simply have coverts who agreed with him – he called people to follow
-What Jesus was doing in this, and other commission statements, was tagging his disciples – making them “it” - like a game of tag, you’re it! – he tagged them as he left as if to say, your it and now you will do what I have done and you will, in turn, tag others and make them, “it”
-Making disciples is about: building into peoples lives and about depth of relationship – it is about life long commitment of a community of faith to the community in which it is placed
-it’s as much about teaching by example as it is about teaching with concepts – it’s as much about relieving suffering and being an advocate for justice as it is about proclaiming the claims of Christ
-it is about all these things for us, and it is about welcoming and calling and convincing and demonstrating and walking along side people as they become disciples, followers of Jesus – the game goes on as we tag others – Your it!