Sermon Tone Analysis

Sharing His Story

Matthew 28:16-20

If you have your Bible (and I hope that you do) you can go ahead and open it to Matthew 28, that’s the last chapter in Matthew’s Gospel.

There were a group of people who called themselves fishers and there were plenty of fish in the waters all around.

In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish.

And the fish in the water, they were hungry.

Week after week, month after month, and year after year this group who called themselves fishers held meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they could go about fishing.

They carefully defined what fishing meant, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be the primary job of fishers.

They continually searched for new and better methods of fishing, and for new and better definitions of fishing.

They loved their slogans too.

Things like, “Fishing is the task of every Fisher,” and “A fishing outpost for every fishing club.”

They sponsored special meetings called “Fisher’s Campaigns” and “The Month for Fishers to Fish.”

They held assemblies to discuss fishing, to promote fishing and to hear about all the new methods of fishing and whether any new bait was discovered.

These fishers built large, beautiful buildings that they called “Fishing Headquarters.”

The plea was that everyone should be a fisher and every fisher should fish.

There was one thing that they didn’t do though – fish.

In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishers to other places where there were many fish.

Everyone seemed to agree that what was needed was a board which could challenge fishers to be faithful in fishing.

The board was formed by those who had the great vision and courage to speak about fishing, to define fishing, and to promote the idea of fishing in faraway streams and lakes where many fish of different colors lived.

But one thing they didn’t do was fish.

Large, elaborate and expensive training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach people how to fish.

Over the years, courses were offered on the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish.

Those who taught had doctorates in “fishology.”

But, no matter how well they taught, one thing the good Dr. Fishers forgot to do was to fish.

Now it’s true that many of the fishers sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties.

Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day.

Some were ridiculed by people who made fun of their fishing clubs.

So, imagine how hurt some of them were when, one day, someone suggested that those who didn’t catch fish were really not fishers – no matter how much they claimed to be.

Is a person a fisher if year after year they never catch a fish?

Is a person a fisher if he isn’t fishing?

We’re focusing in this series on what took place between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus, when He appeared to individuals on several occasions over a period of a little longer than a month.

These encounters helped to solidify the faith of these first followers as Acts 1:3 tells us:

We’ve looked at how Jesus appeared to two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, he appeared to the disciples in a locked room without Thomas and second time when Thomas was present, and we saw Jesus share breakfast with seven of the disciples on the shore of Galilee and restored Peter.

Last week, we learned that Jesus wants us to love Him unconditionally, to serve others selflessly and to follow Him faithfully.

That’s really the Great Commandment: to love God and to love others.

This morning our focus is on the Great Commission, given by the Master Fisher of Men.

Sometimes, I think that we have gotten our priorities wrong in the church.

We get mixed up in the mission of the church.

We think that the church exists to meet our needs, to operate the way that we like it too, with the right number of services, the right kind of music, the right length sermons, plenty of opportunities to eat together, and basically keep us happy.

I want to suggest today that the main mission of this church, and every other church, is made very clear by the Savior.

His final words must become our first priority.

So, let’s pray and we’ll read Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20.

Pray!

We’re going to divide this text into five parts.

The first thing we see is:

Community

After Jesus had breakfast on the beach with seven of the disciples, and restored Peter to ministry, He then met with the eleven:

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

After initially appearing to the disciples in Jerusalem, He told them to travel to Galilee, away from hustle and bustle and the noise of the capital city, and wait for Him on a mountain.

Galilee was the site of so many miracles, much ministry and was the home of some of the disciples.

Being on a mountain must have given them memories of the time Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; when Peter, James and John went up on a mountain and saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes; and when Jesus would withdraw to a mountain by Himself for prayer.

In fact, Jesus actually told them about this meeting on the mountain before He was crucified in:

Then, after the Resurrection, an angel gave the women this message to give to the disciples:

Jesus Himself gave these same directions just a few verses later:

The disciples listened to the Lord and did as He said, traveling about 70 miles from Jerusalem to Galilee.

They weren’t exactly sure when Jesus would come, but they knew He would.

Once again, we see that they obeyed what was revealed to them.

Some commentators believe that this meeting included hundreds of other believers as well, pointing to:

There was community and then there was a:

Consecration

The disciples not only listened, they also worshipped:

17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

The word “worship” here means that they went to their knees and put their forehead to the ground.

Interestingly, this is the first time we read that the disciples responded like this.

When they saw that it was Jesus, the majority prostrated themselves before Him.

They were liberated, with nothing holding them back, as they consecrated themselves.

This is the response that Jesus wants from us today.

We are to be so in awe of Him that we can’t help but submit and surrender to Him.

John Piper reminds us that ministry and missions must always start and end with worship.

He says:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.

Worship is.

Missions exist because worship doesn’t.

Worship is the ultimate, not missions, because God is the ultimate, not man.

When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.

It is a temporary necessity.

But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions.

It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory.

The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”

We see that a number of the disciples bowed low in praise and there were also some who still doubted.

This is hard to believe, or is it?

These disciples had seen so much, and yet some of them still doubted.

Maybe they started looking around and wondered if they were up to the task before them.

This shows us at least four things:

We will always have to deal with doubts

Doubts don’t disqualify us from ministry

Every group has worshippers and doubters

The mission goes on in the midst of doubters

There was community, consecration and next a:

Claim

Those present have been liberated enough to worship (or doubt) and now the Lord makes an amazing claim in verse 18:

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Notice here that Jesus didn’t stay far away but came close to them.

Maybe those who doubted weren’t sure it was Him but now their uncertainty vanished as He appealed to the authority that had been given to Him.

Paul wrote something similar in:

Friends, there is nothing in this world that is outside the authority of Jesus Christ.

He has power over Satan and all his evil forces; stars, galaxies, planets and meteorites; wind, rain and tornadoes; every breath we take and every beat of our hearts; He has control over presidents and kings and congress; and even over you.

He has been given all power and all authority – there is nothing outside of His control.

The scope and magnitude of His reign is infinite.