This week, we are talking about
the reality that, some 2,000 years after God delivered on His promise to reveal
His presence in the most powerful way imaginable, there is a tension, isn’t
there. There is a tension because we are not able to see and touch the presence
of God. And because of that reality, we can find ourselves facing the tension
of wondering if God’s presence is present. We are asking the question "What
do we do with this tension when it comes to God’s presence being present?"
To answer this question, we are
looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in the Bible that reveals
the reality that the disciples, the very people who had seen and experienced
God’s presence in the most powerful and radical way imaginable, wrestled with
this tension. The very people who had witnessed Jesus arrest; the very people
who heard of Jesus death; the very people who had encountered Jesus after He
was raised from the dead; they wrestled with this tension. We see this tension
revealed for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called
the gospel of Matthew. Yesterday, we looked on as the disciples wrestled with the doubts that
flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What
are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going
to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is
your presence going to be present in our lives?”
You see the disciples doubted
how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth
while Jesus was in Heaven. The disciples found themselves wrestling with the
tension of wondering if God’s presence would be present. The disciples found
themselves wresting with the very tension that some of us may be wrestling with
this morning. Is God’s presence present?
And it is in this context that
we enter into this event from history. And in this event from history Jesus
makes a statement that is one of the most famous statements that is recorded
for us in the entire Bible. And it is in this statement that Jesus makes a
promise that is often overlooked but provides us the confidence that we need to
navigate the tension that we can experience when it comes to the issue of
whether or not God’s presence is present. So let’s begin to look at this famous
statement together, beginning in Matthew 28:18:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth.
In the midst of this scene of worship of Jesus as “God in
a bod” and the doubt that the disciples were feeling as to what they were to do
with their future and with whether or not Jesus presence would be present,
Jesus takes the initiative. Jesus did not wait for the disciples. Instead,
Jesus approached the disciples and explains that “all authority has been to Me
in heaven and on earth”.
In other words, Jesus declares to His disciples and to
His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything.
God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and
control over all of creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He
was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise
control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.
And because of the universal authority that Jesus
possess; because Jesus is large and in charge of all of creation; Jesus has the
right to give His followers Divine direction when it comes to the question
“What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And as Jesus continued to take the
initiative with the disciples, He proceeded to give His disciples and followers
of Jesus throughout history a divine directive that answers the question “What
now?” and that reveals God’s kingdom mission for followers of Jesus throughout
history in verse 19:
"Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you;
Now whether you regularly attend church or whether this
is your first Sunday in church; whether or not you regularly read the Bible,
you are probably at least somewhat familiar with what Jesus says here. You are
probably familiar with Jesus words here because this is one of the two sayings
of Jesus that are described with the adjective great. This statement is often
referred to as the “Great Commission”.
Jesus here is giving His followers a mission; and that
mission is to make disciples of all nations. The phrase “go and make disciples
of all nations” in the language that this letter was originally written in,
literally reads “as you are going, make disciples of all nations”. God is not
commanding us to go. God is commanding us to make disciples as we go. In other
words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers
of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the spheres of influence
that we have been given.
Now a natural question that arises here is “well how are
we supposed to make disciples? And how do we know that we are actually being
successful in making disciples?” First, we are to make disciples by going to
those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our
relationships; in whatever sphere of influence we have; we are commanded to
live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those
who are far from God to become followers of Jesus.
You see, you do not need to go to a foreign country to be
a missionary. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be missionaries wherever
we are. And in your day to day life, God has already positioned you in areas of
influence where you can be a missionary to those who are far from God.
Second, we are to make disciples by baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. When we see baptisms
occurring in the Bible, we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves
to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus. A person who is being baptized is publicly
proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who desires to be a part of a community
of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”.
So a major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring
those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in
God’s transformational activity through Jesus and who publicly identify
themselves as partner of the community of faith that is investing their time,
talent, and treasure in God’s kingdom mission. You see, evangelism is not a
separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of
discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through
Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus
as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His
follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.
Third, Jesus explains that we are to make disciples by “teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the
language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist
in obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their
faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time. While there may be occasions
where a follower of Jesus commits sin, a follower of Jesus, over time, will live
a life that is becoming more like Christ in character and conduct.
And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called
to create environments where we are able to understand and embrace the message
and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in our spiritual growth and
spiritual good. That is why we are such huge proponents of community groups at
the church where I serve. That is why we create environments such as the Adult
Bible Fellowship and Kids Konnection on Sunday mornings. That is why we create
environments such as AWANA and Fusion student ministries. We desire to create
environments where followers of Jesus can explore faith, grow in their faith,
and experience and become a part of a genuine and authentic community of
followers of Jesus.
Friday, we will uncover a timeless promise that is
contained in this famous statement by Jesus that reveals for ua a timeless
truth when it comes to God's presence...
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