When I started writing this sermon, I noticed in my notes that I had written down a question for each of this month’s sermons with the intention of asking it at some point in the sermon. Well, I failed to do so last week and so it is with that question we begin this week’s message.
(Slide 1) What is the church for? Not ‘who’ is it for? (An important question to be sure.) But ‘what’ is the church for?
It is for God’s purposes and God’s plans. It is part of God’s purposes and God’s plans.
I used the term ‘ekkelsia’ last week. It is a Greek term that has a community emphasis to it and when we trace this concept back to the Old Testament it is tied into the communal nature of ancient Israel.
So what is the church for? It is for God and it is for us and… it is for those who have yet to come (or come back.)
We say that this is ‘our’ church or that we ‘go to’ the First Church of God. But ultimately, the church is for God’s plans and purposes and ultimately that is centered in God’s redemption of you and me and… others.
I gave you an interesting image at the conclusion of last week’s message that I want to illustrate as follows today.
(Slide 2)
These are communities that I know we either work in, have family in (or come from), and we often visit to shop, go to the doctors, etc. We have connections in these communities through work, family, play, and life in general.
This leads me to the second question, the one that I wrote for today’s sermon. (Slide 3)
Where do we go and who is a disciple?
Our main text for today is Luke 24:47 (Slide 4) ‘With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘there is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.’
This is Luke’s account of the giving of what we now call the ‘Great Commission’ that is normally read from Matthew 28. There the word ‘disciple’ is used whereas in Luke’s writing it is’nt used.
But, I felt led to this passage because it gives us a different (but biblical) perspective on what Jesus told the disciples to go and do. This is what Jesus says about ‘going… and making disciples.’
(Slide 5) ‘With my authority…’
The first thing Jesus says to them, is ‘with my authority.’ Whose authority? Jesus’ authority! Not their authority or the Romans’ authority or the Pharisees’ authority but only with Jesus’, and hence, God’s authority.
This is the opening statement and because it is the opening statement, it carries great weight. In the courtroom, opening statements are made to inform the judge and jury why or why not the accused is guilty or not guilty of whatever.
The beginning of a sermon is the opening statement. Now I know that when I open my mouth to start the sermon each week some of you have said about me over the years, ‘we don’t know what is going to happen next.’
Sometimes I am probably successful at creating a valid opening statement and sometimes,… well, there is always next week!
Jesus makes three important points with this statement. (Slide 5a)
WITH my authority
with MY authority
with my AUTHORITY
First, He says, ‘by means of; in the midst of; in the company of my authority that God the Father has given me’ go do this. Jesus was sending out the disciples (as He sends us out as well) in the midst of and by means of His authority to ‘take this message of repentance to all the nations.’ To be missional is to answer the question ‘Where do we go and who is a disciple?’ We go in the company of Jesus’ authority to be His disciples.
Now, what is a disciple? (I’m glad you asked!)
Here is one definition by Xavier Leon-Dufour (Slide 6)
“[The word disciple] is never a case of the “pupil” who receives instruction from a master, but always of someone who shares a close and definitive relationship with one person.” Xavier Leon-Dufour
I like what my fellow pastor Scott Gamiel recently said, ‘Jesus didn’t recruit disciples with the Great Commission- He called them "to be with him. The [Great Commission] came after 3 years of relationship.’
He quotes Mark 3:14, which confirms Leon-Dufour’s definition of disciple. ‘Then he selected twelve of them to be his regular companions, calling them apostles.’ A companion, as I understand it, is not a pupil. There is a relationship implied in the term that goes beyond a pupil/teacher relationship.
Jesus calls us to follow Him as well but He also directs us to ‘take the message of repentance to all the nations.’ But we cannot do so until we first make the conscious decision to follow Him. Now having this understanding of disciple as not a pupil, but a companion, of Christ, can we not feel the impact of this word, ‘with?’
But there is more…
(Slide 7) Jesus also defines whose authority is being expressed – His! ‘With MY authority,’ He says.
Jesus’ authority was the subject of much discussion during His earthly ministry. The Pharisees at one point claimed that His authority came from the prince of demons as we read in places like Matthew 12 where in response to His healing of a demon-possessed man we read that the Pharisees said (verse 24) “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
His authority was also the subject of much admiration by the common people. In Luke 4:31-32 we read, “Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. 32There, too, the people were amazed at the things he said, because he spoke with authority.”
And then, in His temptation experience recorded in Matthew 4, Jesus is tempted by Satan to surrender His authority and receive the authority to rule the world if He would ‘only kneel down and worship me.’ Jesus of course, refuses to do so with the words, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve him only.’
The authority of which Jesus speaks and empowers the disciples is derived directly from God the Father. It is therefore, the authority of God.
This leads us to the final word of Jesus’ initial statement – AUTHORITY. (Slide 7a)
This authority is spiritual in nature…
It is not political authority. It is not economic authority. It is not educational authority. It is spiritual authority. It is spiritual power. (Otherwise, why would Satan have tempted Jesus to give up His authority and accept Satan’s authority?)
It is the power of the Holy Spirit. I think that if we took the time to read carefully John chapters 15 through 17, we would get a very good picture and understanding of Jesus’ authority as we read these chapters.
Authority is defined as power, influence, weight, and clout. What Jesus is therefore saying, is I give you my power, influence, weight, and clout, to go and do this, (Slide eight) ‘take this message of repentance …‘there is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.’
The message that Jesus told the apostles to take is a very simple message. It is about the kind of change we all desperately need and want.
It is a message about hope not in our circumstances but beyond them. It is a message about hope in a power greater than ourselves. It is a message about a hope that is solid and eternal. It is a message about hope in a just and loving God.
This message is also about love, a solid love. A pure and caring love. An honest love. A love that we cannot often put into words.
It is also about freedom – freedom from guilt, from shame; a freedom to live with your head held high in spite of the past; a freedom not to do as we please but to do was we ought to from a heart of joy and peace.
It is a message about freedom and release and the future and eternity. It is a message about what happens when we truly and earnestly repent of our sins and accept God’s forgiveness.
That’s a profound message isn’t it? There is a lot to this message, isn’t there?
This is our message. This is what we are sent to share. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19, ‘For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.’
But this is a message that we are not to keep to ourselves. This is a message we are to ‘go’ out and take to others. And where do we start?
A look at our main text tells us (Slide 9), ’to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.’
Had this message of repentance stayed in Jerusalem, you and I would not be here. It is due to the unknown number of unknown people down through the centuries who took this message further and further from Jerusalem, that we are gathered here this morning. But we must also note that had it not begun in Jerusalem, at all, we would not be here either.
This brings me back to this chart from earlier. (Slide 10) Who is a disciple? You and I are if we have the personal and on-going relationship with Jesus Christ. It is our automatic mission and responsibility.
Where do we go? Look at the chart! This is our Jerusalem and Judea and even Samaria.
We take this simple message of repentance to others. We take it in our talk and we take it in our walk. We stand ready to share ‘the hope that is within us.’
Now there is another chart that I want to share that breaks down our work as missional and disciples. Here it is (Slide 11)
This is from the work of Dr Milfred Minatrea. The phrases in blue at the Noon, 3. 6 and 9 o’clock positions, are what he calls the four dimensions of missional churches: love God, live His mission, love people, and lead them to follow. These are four Biblical and essential beliefs, practices, to doing and being that we have talked about today and from last week.
The words in blue are what Minatrea calls ‘eight passion actions.’ They are worship, obey, serve, share, embrace, invite, equip and empower. I will have more to say about the four dimensions and, what I call these ‘eight missional commitments,’ next week in the concluding sermon of this series.
They are necessary commitments that we must make as a missional church here in our community because it is to this community, the city of Kendallville, and Noble County, as well as where we work and have connections with others, that we have been called to do all of this. This is our Jerusalem, this is our Judea, this is our Samaria.
We are missionaries here in northeast Indiana. We are witnesses of God’s love and forgiveness. We are to share with those in need, in Jesus’ name. We are to help others follow Jesus, right where we live.
We need to begin to see those we live with; those we live next to; those we work with; those we go to school with; and those we hang out with, in a different way. (Slide 12) Not as people to be manipulated into faith but as people to be loved and served into faith in Christ.
We live, I believe, in a new time, a new age, in which the old ways and practices no longer work. This is 2009 not 1959 nor 1969 nor 1979 nor 1989 or even 1999. The assumptions about Christianity and the Church, even in our little corner of the world, are not what they once were.
Jesus is the same ‘today, yesterday, and forever,’ and our faith is the same but people’s receptivity to God has changed and there is more skepticism and cynicism than ever before.
As you look at this list of these commitments again (Slide 13) I would have you consider this next week, which of these eight you believe that you need to work on and which of these we as a church need to work on as well.
I conclude this morning on this note: As I have talked with you during the week and on Sunday morning, I know that we are very concerned about our jobs.
14% unemployment is a very high figure. We are not sure what is going to happen next or when it will happen next. I have thought about this throughout the week, especially with the proposed cuts for our school district, and have wondered if I should not be preaching on something else that might be more ‘practical’ as it relates to our current local and national situation.
But as I concluded my writing of this message, I came to a realization that God’s Good News for us is not knocked over by economic uncertainty. God’s love for us is not limited by our lack of income. God’s care for us is not shortchanged by our employment situation.
If anything, we need to hear all of this today because we have been called in the strength and power of God through the Holy Spirit, who is not limited by anything, to go into the world and love and care for people, in Jesus’ name.
Let us keep doing so… Amen.
Sources: Xavier Leon-Dufour, ‘Dictionary of the New Testament.’
Gamiel quote is from a Twitter message (a ‘tweet’) sent to me on Friday, February 6, 2009
Milfred Minatrea, Shaped by God’s Heart. Pg. 20
