Sermon Tone Analysis

A few weeks ago we considered the Great Commission and we saw that we - the church - are called to collectively make disciples by teaching the Word of God and bringing people into the community of faith - into the church.

And we saw that since discipleship is the focus of the Great Commission, that those who carry it out need to themselves be disciples.

We need to know the Word of God, and we need to be contributing members of the covenant community - of the church.

In other words, disciples make disciples.

And we are called to make disciples, so we have to be disciples.

But there’s more to it than what we saw with the Great Commission.

Jesus gave multiple instructions to His church, on how to be the church.

Some He gave after His resurrection.

We can’t conflate all of those post-resurrection instructions into one like some and think they are saying the same thing.

They were different commands, given at different times, and even in different places.

We saw the Great Commission was given in Galilee shortly after the resurrection.

Here, we will see that these instructions are given in Jerusalem shortly before the ascension.

And today, we will see what Jesus tells His church to do along with the Great Commission.

And this is not a second set of instructions, like: we have a checklist of commands to get through.

We will see that this goes right along with the Great Commission - this is part of making disciples.

And it’s part of being disciples.

It is part of growing the church.

It is part of why we’re here.

So just like we saw with the Great Commission, while this is a mission for all of us as a church - MCC and the universal church of all time - this is also about what we each need to do as part of the church.

So I would like begin by reading a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

This is from his book The Cost of Discipleship.

The context is that he is trying to explain what grace is, and he wants to correct a false idea about grace in his day - and it is one that is prevalent in our day.

The false idea is: that since our salvation is by grace alone, that nothing is required of us once we’re saved.

That because there is nothing we can do to be saved, that there is nothing we need to do once we are saved.

He calls this understanding of grace, “cheap grace”.

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheap…wares.

The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices.

Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits.

Grace without price [and] grace without cost!

The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing.

Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite…

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession… Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has.

It is the pearl of great price to buy [for] which the merchant will sell all his goods.

It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.”

In other words, there is an understanding of grace that says “God did it all, and does it all, so there is nothing I need to do but passively receive His grace.”

And then there is an understanding of grace that says, “God did it all, and does it all, and by His grace I want to be part of what He’s doing, and I am actively going to seek the grace I need to be what He calls me to be.”

So here is my question this morning: why are we here (universal, MCC, us today)?

To passively enjoy cheap grace?

Or to actively pursue costly grace?

And I think we can find what our answer should be in our passage this morning.

So let’s set the context of what Jesus says here.

Luke records two post-resurrection appearances of Christ and mentions a third.

First, Jesus appears to the two men on the road to Emmaus.

They’re walking, Jesus shows up, and they don’t recognize Him.

So Jesus plays a little coy and asks what’s been going on.

And they tell Him of what happened to Jesus and say that they had hoped Jesus was the Messiah, but clearly since He died, He wasn’t.

So Jesus tells them that they should have known He was going to die, and we read:

And He goes on with them teaching them as they walk, and when they get to where they’re going, they invite Jesus - who they still don’t recognize - to eat with them.

And as He blesses the food - boom! - they realize it’s Him and He disappears.

And this is what they say to each other - they both had this same experience:

Now I want us to notice something here.

The risen Jesus appeared to them.

He physically walked with them.

He physically talked with them.

And they didn’t recognize Him.

But once they do realize its Jesus, neither of them says “we should have recognized Him when we saw Him.” or “We should have recognized Him by the way He spoke.”

No.

They both say: “we recognized Him when we heard the Word of God.”

“Hey, Cleopas, didn’t you feel it while the Scriptures were being expounded.

Didn’t your heart point you to Who He was as you heard the Word of God?”

So they now leave Emmaus and go to Jerusalem to the eleven Apostles, and tell them what happened.

And they find out that Jesus has also appeared again to Peter (maybe the conversation recorded in John 21).

And as they’re discussing all of this, all of a sudden, Jesus is just there with them.

They are startled because Jesus is just there.

But notice, they think He’s a spirit.

Why?

Because He died.

This must be His spirit.

And note, this is after the giving of the Great Commission.

We read in the post-resurrection appearances of Christ that the Apostles had some trouble getting their minds around the whole physical resurrection thing.

And here, even after He shows His hands and feet to them, and even after He invites them to touch Him, we read this:

This is now two of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ that we have looked at.

And in both, we are told that there was unbelief among the Apostles.

Here, they thought it was just too good to be true.

So just like we saw with the Great Commission, we need to realize: this has nothing to do with how great our faith is or isn’t.

This has nothing to do with how much we understand the entire Bible, how far along we are in our walk, how long we’ve been a Christian, or how ready we feel or don’t feel to carry out the work Christ has given us.

This is all about the object of our faith, Who He is and what He has done.

That’s why Christ says:

We are going to see that the instruction here is ultimately for the church to proclaim the Gospel.

But we are going to see that this proclamation is specific: it has a specific focus, and it has a very specific source.

And that source is the Word of God.

Jesus appeared to those two disciples, and He expounds the Word of God.

His physical presence did them no good, remember.

It was the Word of God that made their hearts burn within them and recognize Jesus.

He appears here to a bunch of disciples, including the 11 Apostles, and He expounds the Word of God - He tells them its all about Him.

His physical presence did nothing for their faith.

They didn’t believe it was Him physically.

It was the Word of God that gave them the understanding they needed:

What the two disciples needed to know Jesus was the Word of God.

What the Apostles needed to believe Jesus, was the Word of God.

And we are no different.

Remember, the source of our message - of our proclamation - is the Word of God.

So that means that we need to know the Word of God to carry out our mission as the church.

We need to know Christ and believe Him in order to fulfill our purpose - it is why we’re here!

Because, as I said, this is not about us and our faith.

This is about the object of our faith - Jesus Christ.

It is about Who He is and what He has done - which is exactly what He expounded from the Scriptures to the two disciples and then says to the 11 Apostles.

The Word of God is where we can find Jesus.