While You are Going

Anyone ever see that commercial?

I think I talked about it awhile ago, but I had to show the video,

Because I have always connected to this because I know about 75% of what I am but there is a 25% that my grandmother has changed back and forth between syrian and greek

And so I want to know, because that commercial has given me a fear that I’ll go on a long journey and then discover I am not who I thought.

But you know there is something just neat about getting in touch with who we are.

and really today part of what we are talking about is what our identity is as people created in the image of God

because if you are created in the image of God it means you are loved beyond measure,

Psalm 139 says I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says that you are a temple, because in the Old Testament they would have temples where they believed the presence of God would dwell

And the person who wrote this is saying no, I have designed you to be a dwelling place for the presence of God.

Where his spirit no longer fills buildings, but people.

And I could keep going, but there is an issue, because while every person on this planet has this amazing identity, to often we allow things to confuse us or cause us to mix up this amazing identity for something that is a cheap knock off.

And what happens is we catch ourselves really far off from this amazing identity and begin to adopt things that are not good.

Instead of understanding we are loved beyond measure, we get to a place where we go if you knew me you wouldn’t love me

We go from being fearfully and wondrfully made to thinking, whats so special about me

We go from being a dwelling place of God to beginning to allow things dwell in our lives that are really toxic and harmful.

And may even tell God we do not want you.

And I guess the question becomes how do we get back to understanding who our God is and who our identity is?

Because I am sure you guessed this but during this series we are talking about discipleship.

And as we get into this I think its important to understand the goal of discipleship,

Because the word discipleship comes from this greek word “Matheteuo”

Which is literally translated at “learner” or if you are the discipler it would be “to instruct”

But the issue is that I think this cuts it a little short

because if we look at the discipleship that Jesus modeled and how he taught His disciples it made them understand who God is, but also understand who they and every other person is in the light of God, and this impacts every area of our lives.

And so I do not want to get to far ahead of my self but we are going to be in Matthew 28:16-20 today and my prayer for us today is to understand first off what is discipling me in my life?

But secondly how am I discipleing others in my life.

Because while we want to be discipled each one of us should be discipling as well.

So I am just going to start in the first couple verses, and let me set the scene in this passage, because before this is after Jesus has died on the cross and risen and in the book of Matthew this is actually the last thing Jesus says to his followers.

And if I told you I am leaving, probably the last thing I would tell you would be pretty important right?

And so what Jesus tells His disciples is big.

And so he tells them to a mountain in Galilee and he meets them there and

And this is what the first couple verses say:

Matthew 28:16–18 NIV

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

So Jesus is up on the mountain top and the disciples begin to worship Him.

And in verses 18 Jesus tells what is going to fuel what He is about to tell us.

And what he says is “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”

So you know that song “He’s got the whole world in His hands”

Its kind of like that, but He says I have all of heaven, and all of earth in my hands to use.

I am not a scientist, but if we have a God that can use everything on earth and everything on Heaven to help people know about Him, that is a lot of resources. isn’t it?

And heres what I want you to get because when you have a lot of resources you live a little differently.

If Publishing clearance house came to your door and said you won 7000 dollars a week for the rest of your life.

I am assuming we would start to see some changes in your life.

You would say Brendan what happened to the Kia Sorento and where did you get the Ferrari?!

You would probably start to go wow, Brendan and Arika are always going out to eat (that realistically what would happen).

You would probably see our family traveling more or going different places.

But its amazing what you do when you have a lot of resources, because you meet people you might not usually meet, go places you might not normally go and probably live a little differently.

And this is what I want you to get because when we talk about discipleship it can be a little scary, because we go how do I disciple someone and how do I get discipled when I feel kind of far from God.

But Jesus starts by saying look at the resources you have because I can use anything around you and not just that but all of heaven (including himself to do this task).

I mean that should give us a little bit of confidence shouldn’t it?

Because you might think I feel ill equipped or I don’t even know where to start, but the beautiful thing is we have a God that goes with you and will equip you with the resources you need to accomplish what I am calling you to do.

And so look at the second half of this because the first word of verse 19 is the word “therefore”

Meaning because of this… Do this… Look at verse 19-20. It says:

Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV)

19 Therefore go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And so this first part tells us the people we are called to disciple and its actually two fold.

And its actually two fold because a lot of scholars say that a more accurate translation of verse 19 would be not “as you go” but “while you are going make disciples of all nations.”

And this is a pretty big difference because when you say “as you go”

It means first off as you live life.

Meaning the people you run into, (Your next door neighbor, people you work with, family, the person in the drive through, should be people that we make an impact on,

But secondly there is still this call that says “of all nations”

Which means we should be a people who care about whats happening outside of our community.

We should care about people hours away, we should care about people in other countries and on the other side of the world.

And what I want you to get is we need a heart for people here, but we also need a heart for people around the world.

Missions should be a a big part of what we do and to be honest this is a place we could improve as a church.

And so we know what fuels us, we know who we should be discipling are you ready to see what it practically looks like to disciple?

Because the in this it says Baptizing,

And if you know what baptizing is it is an outward sign of what God is doing in us where when we go down in the water it represents us dying to sin, and then when we come up it represents us coming alive in Christ and reclaiming that identity as a child of God

And so Paul is saying discipleship is helping people come to know Christ, but also know who they are in light of Him.

Because we can be a disciple of anything… .

Anyone love football?

Some of you know this but I lived in Green Bay for a summer, and when you live close to the city you can tell that the city of Green bay at its center is the Packers.

I mean everything in the city is centered on the packers,

Homes are painted yellow and green, you know not to go anywhere when there is a home game.

all the resteraunts are packer themed.

Because that is what shapes them.

And Paul is saying we need to realign the thing that shapes us is Christ.

And notice Jesus doesn’t just stop there but he says continues by saying “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded”

You know I think something we need to understand is when we accept Christ or introduce Him to someone else its great but its a beginning not an end.

I mean if you start dating someone you probably view that as a begining rather than an end right?

You don’t go great I have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, now I never have to see them again.

No you start hanging out with them right?

And to often we enter a relationship with Christ we view it as an end rather than a beginning.

Because once we enter that Jesus comes and says start to become shaped by what I taught. Help others be shaped by what I taught.

Because if you are in a relationship with Jesus it should impact your life.

And here is what I want you to get because I think to often we accept Christ, we might even come to church, we may come to small groups, but if we were honest how Christ impacts our lives outside of those areas are very minimal.

Because when we enter into a relationship with Christ it should impact every part of who we are where we begin to learn who God is.

And yeah small groups and church are important, but if we come and leave this place maybe just encouraged, if with that warm fuzzy feeling its proably not discipleship,

Because probably the best model of discipleship is what we see Jesus doing.

Because Jesus called all of his disciples from different places.

Some were low in society, some were high, but he said those words “come and follow me”

And do you realize how drastically his disciples lives were changed after they accepted that invitation?

They listened to Jesus teach, but they took it a step deeper and they followed and served with Him.

And sometimes they messed up, and you can picture Jesus going “what in the world did I get myself into”

But there is this beauty where Jesus doen’t give up on them.

You know this morning maybe that question is coming to your mind “what is discipleing me and who am I discipling?

Can I give some really practical steps?

Find a small group, its amazing how God can use people to push us further into who he is calling us to be and not just that but give us accountability.

Because if we are being discipled its so important to prioritze out lives

But as we close I want to point out somthing important.

Because what a lot of people believe was one of the most important moments of Jesus’s life was when he was with his disciples sharing a meal that we call communion.

And during this meal Jesus broke bread and drank with them,

But this meal talked about how He would die on the cross for them,

And one could argue when Jesus gave them His biggest sacrafice they fell short in the biggest way,

But whats beautiful is Jesus knowing this served this meal that was symbolic of Him dying on the cross.

This morning you might hear this and think, yeah I think I have fallen a little short, but the beautiful thing is that there is a God who is saying I want to be in communion with you.

And so as we close we are going to remember this mean and I would invite you to maybe reflect as we receive these elements and think Jesus has done this, how have I been impacted?

Will you pray with me?