Discipleship and the Miracle of Forgiveness

Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)

When the Lord Jesus gave this command to His disciples, He meant it. We live in a day and age in which there are an abundance of churches, and yet many still haven't heard and felt His love, He still means it. In a generation where the church has been tested and many have been shaken in their faith, He still means it.

His Word has never changed.

But we need to be clear about what Jesus meant and what He intended with those words recorded for us in Matthew 28.

What Jesus Meant

Beloved, Christ's command was not for us to bring many people to church.

His command was not for us to have followers of our own.

His command was not so that we would have a huge church with hundreds of thousands of members.

He didn't command us to build the church, because that's His role. He said in Matthew 16:18 that He would build HIS church. HE would build the church. The Church belongs to HIM.

What He has commanded US to do is to bring His love to the people, powered by His compassion for them. When He said "pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields" (Matthew 9:38), He actually wanted us to be the answer to that.

So what did Jesus mean by His command? Simple. He wants us to continue what He has started, that we would be His disciples and His representatives, That we would continue the work that He started. That we would continuing His work of bringing God's love and HIS salvation to all who are in bondage. We are not just His hands and feet – We're His bodily representatives on earth today.

One of the things that Jesus modeled impeccably and understood completely was forgiveness. And our failure to understand forgiveness can hogtie us and keep us from our mission to be disciples and make disciples.

This morning’s message title is “Discipleship and the Miracle of Forgiveness.”

Let’s begin with a passage that many of you have been reading on a regular basis for a while now. Turn with me if you will to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 12.

Col 3:12-15 ESV - 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Folks, if I can be certain of anything, it’s this. In the world we live in, getting hurt is unavoidable. And you and i have some choices to make as to how we will handle being hurt.

And when one of the suggested ways to handle being hurt is forgiveness, most of us get our hackles up.

To many people, the very idea of forgiving someone ho has hurt us seems to be unwise, troubling and deeply personal. But talk about it we must.