Great Commission!

2 Corinthians 13: 11-13; Matthew 28: 16-20

FPC; 5-18-08

          I don’t think it is a stretch to suggest that the Great Commission has been the catalyst for some of the Church’s most effective mission work.

          “Go, make disciples, baptize and teach them….”

          Hudson Taylor heard the commission and he went.  He went from his home in England to China in 1853 and helped establish the first truly interdenominational foreign mission field.  Anxious not to divert funds from other missions, he resolved never to appeal for financial support.  Instead he relied on prayer to bring in needed supplies.  Later, his son and daughter-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, wrote a biography about Hudson Taylor that quickly became a Christian classic.[1] 

          “Go, make disciples, baptize and teach them…”             

          David and Sue Hudson went, along with their sixteen year old daughter, Mary.  Some of you may remember David Hudson.  Back in 2003, when he was the pastor of Bethesda Presbyterian Church he came here for an annual meeting and shared with us some inspiring thoughts about stewardship.  After the Hudsons had engaged in earlier mission work in Korea and India, last April the Presbyterian Church reappointed them to the mission field; they are now back in India where they serve as regional liaisons for the Presbyterian Church USA.[2] 

          The Hudsons heard the Great Commission and they went. 

Once while visiting in a church, I was struck by the stained glass window located above the front doors that exit to the outside world. That window depicted this scene of Jesus and the eleven disciples on the Mountain where Jesus is commissioning them to carry on the work he has begun, to be his mouthpiece, his hands and feet in the world.  As we exited that sanctuary the window was a potent reminder to me and other worshippers that there is work in the world to do and that we are the ones commissioned to do it.

          Will this Great Commission be a great catalyst for you to go, for you to continue the work of Jesus?   

          This text may be commissioning you for Christian work in a foreign nation.  Maybe after hearing this text read, you will be inspired to go to Myanmar, challenge that country’s oppressive forces and practice the compassion of Christ there.  Or maybe the Great Commission will spur you to mission work in Haiti, one of the poorest countries of the world.  Well, if you feel like this text is commissioning you for work in a foreign field, I’ll support you.  My abiding hope is that this text will be a catalyst for you to do mission work in this nation, here in this community. We are living in a mission field and the harvest is ripe.   

          Today’s text, which repeatedly mentions some form of the word “all”-“all nations”, “all authority in heaven and earth”, “everything I have commanded”, “and lo I am with you always”-commissions the church to teach and make disciples of an ever widening circle of people; people in foreign places, but, also people with whom we live and work; people who are lovely and people who are unlovely, mainstream people and people on the fringes.  We are to teach and become makers of disciples.

           In my own life, the most effective, life-altering lessons about God’s love and about the importance of Christian discipleship have not been delivered from podiums or from pulpits; the most profound lessons have come from interacting with people of faith, from belonging to a church community and watching other Christian disciples as they carry out their day to day activities, seeing how their faith is practiced in the decisions they make and the ethics they maintain, seeing how God’s love is demonstrated in their lives; and seeing also how they use and manage their resources.  “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”   

          As Oliver Goldsmith once remarked: “You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”

          Recently I had a serendipitous encounter with a young man.  Even before the conversation, he knew my profession and I knew his.  “You know the person who owns and operates the company you work for is a member of the church I serve.” “Yes, I know,” he responded.  “He’s the best boss I’ve ever had.” 

          In hindsight, I wish I had said: “Tell me more”.  “What is it about Mr. so and so that makes him the best boss you’ve ever had?”  If I had invited that man to say more, I think I know what he would have said. He would have said, “Mr. so and so is the best boss I’ve ever had because he cares about me as a person.”  “He’s the best boss I’ve ever had because he’s always concerned about my well-being.  He is kind.  He treats me fairly.  He treats me with respect.” 

          Maybe they have devotionals together each morning and Mr. so and so verbally teaches that young man about Jesus and his love. Indeed, verbal lessons are important and valuable in our growth as disciples.  I suspect it is not so much the verbal teaching but, rather, Mr. so and so’s embodiment of Jesus’ love and his practicing of the Christian faith that is having the most profound, life-altering impact on that young man’s life. 

          Our mission field is here, in the church, in our homes, in our places of work.  The most effective way of making disciples is by being one and living as one, which requires sacrifice, a surrendering of our wills to God’s will.  

          Presbyterian pastor Michael Lindvall tells about the Franks, the pagan tribe of warriors that were among the first of the Germans to be converted to Christianity.  Like many of the tribes during this era (Lindvall writes), the Franks were converted to Jesus en masse, and the group underwent baptism by wading into a river to be baptized by the thousands.  They understood what this meant at some level, namely that this would make them followers of a new king, Jesus.   The story is told that when these Frankish warriors came to be baptized in the water of the Rhine or the Rhone, they were always careful to hold their swords above their heads out of the waters of baptism, not to save them from rust but to keep them from Jesus. 

Lindvall declares, “It wouldn’t do then and it won’t do now.  This Jesus asks for everything.  You can’t hold your sword out of the water.  You can’t hold your career out of the water. You can’t hold your checkbook out of the water.  Everything has to go under so that it can rise again.”[3] 

          Disciples are people who allow their relationship with Jesus to intersect and influence every component of life: finances, relationships with family and friends, careers.  You can’t hold your swords or your check books or your relationships out of Jesus’ reach and still call yourself a disciple. All dimensions of our lives must die in order to be resurrected.  To make disciples you must first be one and live as one. 

         We are living in a mission field and the harvest is ripe.  

         “Go, make disciples, baptize, teach, obey all that Jesus has commanded you and lo, Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age.”