A COMMANDMENT, A COMMISSION AND 3 WORTHY GOALS

A COMMANDMENT, A COMMISSION AND 3 WORTHY GOALS Matthew 22:37-40; 28:18-20 August 20, 2000 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] The great American statesman, Patrick Henry wrote these words at the end of his life: "I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is faith in Jesus Christ. If they had that and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich; and if I had not given them that, and had given them all the world, they would be poor indeed." If you want to know what is truly important to a person, read his last will and testament, or ask him in a serious moment when he knows he will soon die, what is most important. We are privileged to have available to us the collection of the last words of the resurrected Jesus before He left this world. Ranking high in importance among those words is what we refer to as the Great Commission, and we find it most fully stated in Matthew 28:18-20 - "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.'" Here we have a record of the very words the Son of God delivered to His church before ascending to the right hand of His Father in heaven. And these are the words, perhaps more than any others, that Jesus wanted to echo in His disciples' ears as He left them. I read recently that the Lord's prayer includes 66 words, the 10 Commandments include 179 words. The Gettysburg address: 286 words. The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words. U.S. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words. This commission has only 60 words, but they have changed the world. In fact, just moments before He ascended to heaven He said it again, in shorter form, "After the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be my witnesses." David Jeremiah writes, "He didn't say: 'Organize a political action committee.' He didn't say: 'Remember to work for justice and visualize world peace.' He didn't say: ' Be tolerant of one another," "Save the whales," "Celebrate diversity," or "Commit random acts of kindness.' He didn't say, 'Arm yourselves and take dominion over Rome.' What He DID say was as clear as bright sunlight on a cloudless morning. There was nothing obscure or hazy about His final instructions." (Jesus' Final Warning, David Jeremiah) Just days before He died, Jesus was asked a momentous question that touched on an issue He considered very important. His answer to the question, prompted and then preserved by the Holy Spirit in the Bible at Matthew 22 and at Luke 10 teach us clearly something that was most important to Him. The question was a simple one. Whether it was asked sincerely or not we don't really know, but it gave Jesus an opportunity to gather all God's commands to mankind into one, simple commandment: "One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question, 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" (Matthew 22:36-40) There it is-the Great Commandment. The entire Old Testament in a nutshell. The Cliff Notes summary of God's Word. He says you may condense all the Law and the Prophets into these twin tasks. We, as part of the church of Jesus Christ, find our purpose and direction in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment of Jesus Christ. Let me say it clearly, there is nothing we can do that is more important to us as the church than to focus on these words of Jesus. We whom the Lord has saved by His grace through Jesus Christ, are called to a life of loving God, loving others and proclaiming the good news of salvation to them as effectively as we can in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we will be His church, we must unite our will with His will. We do that by saying first to Him, "I am determined to love you, the Lord my God, with all my heart, soul and strength." But this commitment cannot just be lip service. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you must be one who says, and means, "The Lord is the exclusive object of my devotion-I love Him more than anything else, and serving Him is my one desire." Anything less than that is idolatry. This decision is made at the individual level. You can't say, "Well, the church is the group of people who are totally committed to serving the Lord, and I am part of the church, therefore, I am fully committed to Christ." It doesn't work that way. Love and commitment to the Lord is an individual responsibility. Ask yourself that question just now-"Am I wholeheartedly, head-over-heels, absolutely and completely in love with the Lord my God?" Anything less than an enthusiastic "yes" is disobedience to what Jesus said was the most important commandment of all. Anything less than absolute love and commitment is idolatry. The second half of that commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, is the natural result of a loving relationship with God. "We love because He first loved us." Very simply, when you are so committed to God, you are energized to love and serve others. And this is what the church is called to do-to love and serve others in the name of Christ. Friends, I will say it again-what must matter to us more than anything, cannot be programs or policies or property-it must be PEOPLE. Why? Because people matter to God-and if we love and serve God, then they must matter to  us. In fact, people are to be the whole focus of what we do as a church-drawing people to a relationship with God through Christ, developing them to maturity in Christ, and then deploying them into ministry for Christ among.people. With that in mind, let's segue from the Great Commandment to the Great Commission. When we talk about loving people, it's easy to transition to the subject of bringing the good news of the gospel to them. What else do you do for people you love, but give them the very best you have to offer? And the gospel of salvation in Jesus is the best we have to offer. Once again, if we are disciples of Jesus, commitment to this commission is not an option. We cannot just give lip service to it without real involvement. We can't say, "The church exists to reach people for Christ, and I am part of the church, therefore I am committed to the Great Commission." It takes the individual choice. I must be involved in the lives of people, anxious for opportunities to draw them to faith in Jesus, to encourage them toward a faith commitment to Him and to continue to teach them. If we are to be the church that Jesus wants us to be, we must continually and repeatedly ask ourselves the hard questions-questions like, "How much of our time is being used up attending meetings?" And, "How much of our time and energies are being spent in serving people?" Those are hard questions, but very important ones. It is far too easy for the church to slip into a mode of self-perpetuation. That's when all the energies and resources of the organization are spent just to keep the organization around, but little is being spent on the real purpose of the organization. This is one reason we operate as a "cell-based" church. We want to focus the energies and resources of our members in the direction of people-people loving and serving people in the name of Jesus. If meaningful relationships and personal ministry don't happen as well in large group settings, but in smaller groups, let's focus our primary attention on mobilizing cell groups that will be committed to loving and serving people. If, as we discovered last week, a gargantuan amount of the New Testament is devoted to talk about "relationships," and relationships are formed best in smaller groups, then by all means, let's invest our energies and resources into cell groups. Here is what I believe the Lord wants to do for us: 1. He wants to move us from being spectators to being players. 2. He wants to move us from being consumers to being producers. 3. He wants to move us from being passive observers to being active participants in the ministry to which He called us. The Lord's will is that each of us become actively committed to loving and serving people. As I've studied church patterns and methodologies, I've found that the best place to mobilize the most believers for ministry is in small groups. There you have an opportunity to establish honest, genuine relationships with a few trusted others. There is where accountability can happen. There is where Christians find their greatest growth. Think back on your experience of Christian growth-when was your most rapid season of maturity-that time when you grew the most in faith and service? Wasn't it when you were meeting with just a few other Christians on a regular basis for prayer, Bible study, worship, ministry and mutual encouragement? Most Christians are best motivated in their obedience to the great commandment and the great commission when they are meeting regularly with a small group of other Christians who are likewise committed to the great commandment and the great commission. We human beings need personal examples, personal encouragement and we need personal accountability. And there is nothing like being in a cell group where you are asked what people in your life would you like to see come to Christ? Then you pray for those persons. Then the next week you return and you pray for them again, and someone asks you if you've had the chance to share the Lord with those you are praying for yet? There's nothing like being in a cell group and hearing the testimony of another believer who asks for prayer for someone he is witnessing to named Sam, and you pray for him, and the next week Sam attends your cell group meeting. And you and the other cell members get to share your faith in small ways with Sam. And then, six weeks later, Sam gives his life to Jesus Christ in a cell meeting. And the next week your cell group is there when Sam is baptized into Christ. And the next week Sam shares how excited he is about the Design for Discipleship course he is starting, and your group regularly takes time to answer his questions and encourage him and pray for him and teach him. You not only feel good about ministering to Sam alongside your friend, but you are encouraged to reach out to those you know who don't know the Lord. Soon one of the three people you have committed to share your faith with attends a cell bowling party. Several in the group take time to reach out to your friend. You notice that Sam is one of them. The next week in cell group you learn that Sam shared his testimony with your friend and he seemed genuinely interested. And Sam is excited, and you are excited and the group is excited. And do you know why? This is what you were born for! This is your eternal purpose in Christ! You are fulfilling your destiny, and you feel good about it. This is the fulfillment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission at its best-in the context of a small group that can carry it out in personal and relevant ways. Let's turn back for a moment to the Great Commission. I want you to notice a couple of things about what Jesus really said there. First of all, you need to know that the only clear verb of command in Matthew 28:19-20 is the term "make disciples." What did that verb mean to Jesus and His followers? To make a disciple was to make a learner, to somehow entice someone to begin to receive from a teacher. Notice, this verb has nothing to do with conversion. It has everything to do with Christian people acting and speaking in such a way as to attract people's attention to Jesus. Following the imperative verb "make disciples" we find a participle, "baptize". For two thousand years, baptism has symbolized a person's acting on their saving faith in Jesus, by permitting themselves to be lowered under water, as was Jesus, to dramatically enact in a physical way what is a spiritual reality in their lives. They are dying to themselves and rising to walk in a newness of life. Very simply, baptism is the "initiation rite" into the Christian faith. It is a disciple (or a learner) of Jesus having come to the place where s/he is willing and ready to make a life commitment to the Lordship of Christ in their lives. Following baptism, the disciple continues to receive teaching so that he will learn to "obey everything [Christ] has commanded [you]." The  diagram of this Great Commission reads like this: Make disciples by telling people about Jesus and demonstrating the difference He makes in people's lives - baptize them (when they are ready to finally say "yes" to Jesus) - then keep teaching them to obey the rest of my teachings. The two-fold job of the church is EVANGELISM AND EDIFICATION - leading people to Jesus, seeing them through conversion to Christ, and then staying with them, helping them grow to maturity. What we do for people before they are converted/baptized is evangelism, and what we do to help build them up is "edification". As this process takes place, more people are added, not just to the church roles, but to the life of the church. They have not just prayed a prayer of repentance and been left-they are joined with other believers in meaningful relationship where the latter half of the Great Commission can take place ("teaching them to obey all I have commanded you") In this context, the cycle of evangelism and edification can continue, and those who have been evangelized, and are continuing to be edified, are themselves evangelizing others. This is what God intended. So there are two goals we are called to: evangelism and edification. But there soon emerges another goal, because small groups that are doing this kind of thing don't remain small groups very long. Research has shown that when the small group becomes too large, it loses the dynamic it had as a small group. This is usually at the number 15 or so. What do you suppose happened in the early church as they met in homes when the number of people got to be so large that they could not reasonably meet in one home any longer? That's right-they made two groups out of the one group and met in two homes. This is what we call multiplication. While evangelism and edification are our spiritual goals, our structural goal is multiplication-making two groups out of one. Why? Because the dynamic of reaching out effectively to others is stifled if a group becomes too large. To maintain the growth that comes from this kind of outreach and to maintain multiplying cell groups, the church needs a continual number of people to step forward and say: "I can help lead a small group. I am willing to undergo training, be prayed for and step out with a couple of others to start a new group. Pray about your involvement in cell ministry. Pray about what you need to do now to become a cell group leader. It's not a job that requires a seminary degree, and you don't need to be a pastor or teacher. You just need a heart for the great commission and the great commandment, a heart for people. It's not your ability, it's your availability. The best cell leaders are those who never believed they could possibly do it. This is an invitation to a radical obedience to the things that are important to God. Jesus taught that he had come so that his followers might have abundant life, life to the fullest. That point is missed by many people who think that religion is restrictive and forbidding, who think Jesus came to scowl and scold and say "No!" The Jesus I have come to know and love leads his people to a large, wide and fulfilling life, not a life of narrowness. Jesus is not inviting you to fill a pew, or stand by and cheer on others who serve. He is inviting you to say a loud "Yes!" to a life packed with significance and purpose.       [Back to Top]