06.04.2023 - Called to a Mission

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew 28:16–20 NRSV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Called to a Mission

One last time.

One last time.

It was a strange few weeks—almost six weeks trying to keep up with Jesus. Easter was a bizarre final exam for the three years of teaching they had with Him, and after the resurrection, Jesus refused to stay put. I imagine Peter and the other disciples were desperate for a do-over because they all felt they failed Jesus during His crucifixion. But Jesus did not give them a new test. Instead, he followed up with his failed students in one-on-one meetings and small groups, explaining everything one last time.

There would be no new test for them to ace. So instead, they all graduated by grace. With graduation came a new job and an opportunity to put all those skills to use. But unfortunately, they were not ready for that job and could only do it once the Holy Spirit joined them as their divine guide. We may remember that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and did not live to see the resurrection. The other eleven drew lots and replaced him with a disciple named Matthias. But Luke’s gospel says there were ten times that many disciples before the crucifixion, and only John and a few women stayed with Jesus until the end. Or, to put it another way, 120 people graduated with the knowledge that Jesus was the Son of God, but only a few more than a dozen did anything with that knowledge, at least at first.

So, Jesus reminded them before He left. The Great Commission. It was not a new command. It was a reframing of all the work they had been doing the previous three years. Now that they had learned everything they needed to know, they needed to implement it. So, Jesus called them to pass on everything He had given them to the next generation of disciples.

Just like those who walked with Him in the flesh, we are called to be and to make disciples of Jesus.

📷

The Mission

I was involved in a district team of pastors going through leadership development about nine years ago. We spent six months learning to discern team values and vision, and I was enthusiastic about our progress. However, I grew concerned when we moved into discussions about the mission of our churches.

The coaches of our group gave us words to build our ministries around. For most people, that would have been a sigh of relief and one less thing for them to figure out on their own. I, however, was feeling rebellious and had enjoyed the prospect of inventing a new and better way to do ministry. So I argued with the coach for several weeks until he revealed an essential truth about mission: we don’t get to make our own up. Instead, we always receive a mission from a higher authority.

The old television show Mission: Impossible is an excellent example of this. A mission is given to a team. They can accept or reject that mission, and then they are responsible for figuring out how to accomplish it with their resources. Sometimes they even have to call in extra help. Those who have experience in the military or other hierarchical organizations may understand that well, but it was a challenge for me. Why shouldn’t we, as Christians in the Church, be able to discern our own unique mission for our own unique communities?

The simple answer is that all Christians have the same Lord, and if we all have the same Lord, we should all be working to accomplish the same thing. When we choose to come up with our own version of what we want to do, we stop serving Jesus and start serving someone or something else. Jesus gave us all one mission, and he gave us a lot of teaching and examples of how to accomplish it. We are to be disciples of Jesus who make new disciples of Jesus by inviting others to join us and by passing along everything that Jesus has given to us.

How do we do that?

📷

What are we looking for?

Jesus told the disciples that they would never be alone. He walked with them for three years, and the Holy Spirit came to take His place, leading them when Jesus left. This is very important to remember before getting into the details of disciple-making. Just as we learned last week about spiritual gifts, disciple-making only happens under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is essential to be a disciple before making disciples. You cannot give what you do not have.

So, like the very first verse in the Bible, we begin with God, not with us. God creates. We follow and obey. We watch what God is doing and get in line with Him. Once we understand God’s part and our part, the rest is mostly about paying attention and being obedient. Our mission of making disciples does not require rocket science or extraordinary craftsmanship. With God’s guidance, anyone can make disciples anytime.

We have to pay attention to God to make disciples. Jesus told us to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He did not mention how much water to use or where and when to baptize. The qualifications He gave were that we invite them into a relationship with all of Who God is, not just a part of God. Baptism is not about the water. It is a symbol of new birth and adoption into the family of Jesus. The emotion wears off almost before we dry, but our new identity in Christ remains. The first part of making disciples is sharing your new identity and adoption into the family of Jesus with others.

Who are the people around you that need to be invited into a relationship with Jesus? What are their names and their stories?

What made you want to belong to Jesus, and how can you share that belonging with them?

Once disciples are welcomed into the family of Jesus through baptism, we are to teach them everything He has commanded us. That sounds intimidating, but pay attention to the words He used. He did not tell us to teach everything there is to know about Jesus. He told us to teach what He commanded. What did Jesus command?

Love God with all we have and all we are.

Love others the way Jesus loves us.

We may all have slightly different ways of showing love to God and others, which is okay. We all have room to grow. When we grow in our love of God and others, we can add whatever new thing we learned to our list of things Jesus has given us to teach others.

What are some of the ways you have learned to love God and others? What is one thing you know or that you have that might be the most important to pass on to your disciples?

📷

Graduating and Celebrating

Disciple-making is a lot of work. But the good news is that there are endings to that work. Once you have passed on everything Jesus has taught you to your disciple, it is their choice to be obedient to Jesus or not. Much like children, they will always have a relationship with you, but there are moments of graduation, branching out, and opportunities for them to make disciples themselves.

Sometimes we move to new teachers who have different ways of loving God and others that we have yet to learn. In fact, in a church family where everyone was connected to discipling relationships, any person could have connections to every gift and all the wisdom of the whole church family. We could work together to build the entire body up, ensuring no one was left behind. We could become that vision of the church that Paul wrote about in Ephesians when he wrote:

Ephesians 4:11–16 NRSV

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Wow! That seems like Mission: Impossible. But it is not. With God, all things are possible. It only takes two things from us.

It takes a commitment to the mission that Jesus gave us. We must commit to be a disciple of Jesus and make new disciples of Him as He leads us. And we have to celebrate. We have to celebrate when new disciples are made and when we grow in our love of God and others. We place real value on the things we celebrate and pass on the things we value the most. If we are committed to Christ’s mission and celebrate the steps we take to accomplish it, we will become that Church that Jesus calls us to be and that Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4:11-16.

So, there’s only one question for you today. Will you? Will you accept the mission Jesus has given you today? And if you say yes, what will you do about it?

Today we celebrate Holy Communion together one last time. This liturgy leads us prayerfully through a commitment to be Jesus's disciples and make disciples of Him with His help. I invite you to join me today as we recommit our lives to fulfilling the mission Jesus gave us.

Communion – The Great Thanksgiving II

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Glory to God. Amen.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

And so,

With your people on earth

And all the company of heaven

We praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death, And made with us a new covenant

by water and the Spirit.

On the night to which he gave himself up for us

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,

gave it to his disciples, and said;

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

“Drink from this, all of you

this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.”

And so,

In remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.”

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory,

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,

all honor and glory is your, almighty Father,

now and for ever.

Amen

The body of Christ, given for you. Amen.

The blood of Christ, given for you. Amen.