The Boss Has a Job for Us…
Matthew 28:16-20
November 29, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Introduction
Today we finish what has been a pretty long journey through the book of Matthew.
We actually started going through this book six years ago.
We’ve taken a number of detours, like for Christmas seasons, Easters, and various other series and messages from time to time, so it’s not like I’m just extremely slow, okay?
But today we finish this up. And we finish it up with one of the last things Jesus tells His disciples before going to the Father in heaven.
It’s some of His last words.
If you knew you were about to leave the earth, and you had your closest friends and family around, what would you say?
Jesus takes this opportunity to pass on something. It’s a task – a commission that He wants us to take care of until He comes back for His people.
Now, everything Jesus said was important, right? But these words that we’re going to look at today are important because He tells us that we have a part to play in His kingdom.
God: Matthew 28:16-20 (p. 706) –
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Here is what in your note-taking guide is the “prelude:” some of the disciples, here in the presence of the risen Savior, doubted.
What did they doubt? The passage doesn’t tell us, and the commentaries I looked at didn’t have much for answers, because there are a lot of different ways to look at it.
I think that maybe all of us have doubted God at one time or another.
There have been times even since becoming a pastor that I’ve laid awake at night and it wasn’t just insomnia, and said, “What if it isn’t true?”
If it’s not true, then I’ve been guilty of not only believing a lie, but persuading other people to believe a lie. And that’s a pretty scary thought.
To me the issue isn’t the doubting. The issue is what you do with it.
Do you let the doubts carry you away from Christ, or do you see the doubts as an opportunity to learn?
I can tell you that my faith is all the more stronger because of my doubts as I’ve faced them and really investigated them.
Again, the Scriptures don’t say just what the doubts were that these guys face. But apparently Jesus was able to help them through those doubts, because every single one of them endured suffering, persecution, and even death for Jesus – with the exception of John – he only suffered and lived through it.
Folks, don’t let doubts drive you to despair. Let them drive you to action. Do something to learn about what is at the bottom of your doubts, and allow the truth of Christ to fill your hearts with an even stronger faith through your doubts, okay?
And by the way, hoping your doubts “will just go away” isn’t doing something! They will never go away by just ignoring them.
For some of you, all you might be able to do at this point is to simply say like the man who brought his son to Jesus for help, “I do believe – help me in my unbelief!”
That’s a great start – and I’ll guarantee you that if you’re serious about it, Jesus will grant your prayer.
Okay, let’s move onto the rest of the passage.
In these next three verses, Jesus gives us three things we need to understand in regard to His mission for us, this thing we call “the Great Commission.”
1. Jesus is the Boss.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
You’ve got to understand this.
All authority has been given to Jesus. The Father said, “Okay, Jesus – it’s all Yours. I’m giving You the authority. You’re the Boss.”
Over all of heaven and earth. Over everybody in heaven and earth.
He’s the Boss.
He is the Master of the universe – and He has the authority over all those who call themselves Christians.
God help us to live like we really believe that – and Lord, start with me.
Because I don’t always live like He’s the Boss of my life. I think I’m in pretty good company.
And not only does He have authority over you and me, if we call ourselves Christians, it means He also has authority over the Church – both here and around the world.
And Church, the Boss has a job for us, and that’s the second fact about what Jesus tells us here…
2. The Boss has a job for us.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
This is the actual thing we call the Great Commission. Lots of Christians know and can even quote these two verses, but there are some things we need to keep in mind, because a lot of people get this stuff wrong.
> The commission is not to “go,” the commission is to “make disciples.”
Most folks, when they read this passage, look at it and go, “Okay, Jesus commands us to go. So it means that I need to go overseas and be a missionary. In fact, it means that everyone is supposed to go overseas and be missionaries.”
Some people have looked at this passage and said, “Unless Jesus commands you to stay, then He commands you to go.”
The problem with that is that Jesus isn’t commanding us to “go.”
What do I mean by that? It says here, “go.” How can you say it doesn’t say that?
It says that in this translation of English. However, in the original writing, Jesus says, “As you are going, make disciples.”
The verb isn’t “go,” the verb is to “make disciples.”
How many of you actually enjoyed grammar in school?
I hated it. Big time. To this day I couldn’t diagram a sentence to save my life.
But one thing I remember is the verb form “imperative.” It’s the command. In this sentence in the Greek, “make disciples” is in the imperative – and yes, I mean in the Greek language, not the English language.
So why doesn’t it say that here in this English Bible?
Because it says it this way in the King James Version, and because it’s so ingrained in our culture, to actually put it the way it’s supposed to be would cause people in churches all over America to have riots and burn down Christian bookstores that carry it.
The closest I’ve seen is in the God’s Word translation where it says –
“So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations.”
The Great Commission is to make disciples. Of all nations.
Last I checked, that means outside of just this church and Brown County.
The literal translation of “all nations” is “ta ethne,” which means “all people groups.”
Here in Aberdeen we have a ton of different people groups, don’t we? And because we have students coming to our door from Asia, we have the opportunity to impact people around the globe.
The school here is impacting young men and women so they will be equipped to make disciples both here in the US and around the world if God calls them.
It’s why we support missionaries around the world and around the city.
But how do we “go?”
There are lots of ways to go. You can be a missionary, or a pastor, or something like that.
But I believe most of us “go” by leaving our personal, self-centered bubble, and looking for opportunities to impact others with the good news of Jesus.
And as we look to impact others for Jesus, we look for opportunities to help them both find Jesus and live for Him, which brings me to the second thing we need to keep in mind about the Great Commission…
> The commission is much more than evangelism.
Evangelism is telling people about Jesus and helping them find Him.
Making disciples, according to this verse, includes baptizing them and teaching them to obey Jesus.
We don’t just help someone find Jesus and say, “Okay – now we’ve got that done. You just go and be on your way, okay? See ya in church! God bless you!”
Baptizing and teaching are part of the process.
That’s why we became intentional about bringing a baptistery into the church. It’s why we’re being intentional about offering Sunday School classes and mid-week studies for all ages.
It’s why we brought these screens in. These are discipleship tools.
It’s why I want to see people learn how to meet one-on-one with people and enter discipleship relationships long-term with people to help them live for Jesus.
It starts with evangelism. Because you can’t be a disciple if you’re not a believer first.
And just because you’re a believer doesn’t mean you’re a disciple. A disciple is someone who is baptized and learning to obey Jesus.
And that leads me to this third thing to keep in mind when it comes to this whole Great Commission thing:
> The commission is a process, not an event.
When a person becomes a Christian, that is an event. It is a point in time when a person has put their faith in Jesus.
Even baptism is an event. But the whole “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded them” takes a while.
In fact, it takes a lifetime. No one here is a perfect disciple of Jesus.
I used to meet with guys on a one-on-one basis when I lived in Brookings. I hope to be able to get back into that very soon.
I spent years with these guys, talking with them, praying with them, answering questions, helping them learn to walk with Jesus and live for Him. Developing deep friendships with them.
It would have been wrong for me to just say, “Okay, you’re a Christian, so now you’re a disciple. Good luck living for Jesus, okay?”
Making disciples is long-term process. You got the picture?
Jesus is the Boss. The Boss has given us a job. And number 3…
3. The Boss is there to help us do the job.
Verse 20 –
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Two things here:
* He’s with us as we do the job.
He doesn’t just throw us out there and expect us to get the job done without any help from Him.
It’s like I’ve said about just about everything about the Christian life, He is there to help us.
He’s there to help us live for Him, and He’s there to help us help others live for Him.
The Scriptures are here to help us do the job He’s given us. Second…
* The job will last until the end of the age.
Let me ask you a question? Has Jesus returned? Not according to what Jesus says will happen when He comes.
He says it will be obvious to all of creation when He comes. He didn’t come secretly like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and so many others say.
He’s coming publicly. And if Jesus isn’t lying about that stuff, then He hasn’t come yet.
So what does that mean? It means that the “end of the age” hasn’t come yet. And so our job hasn’t ended yet.
You: Three ways to react to this:
1. Ignore the command from the Boss.
There are some things that I don’t like to do, that simply have to be done. One of those is shoveling the sidewalk.
I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled that we haven’t had to really do that so far this season.
But here’s what I have done to better handle that totally no-fun chore: I make my teenage boys do it.
That’s fair, isn’t it? I’ve done my part over the years, now it’s their turn. I like that idea.
The problem is that so many people in the church of Jesus – most of them, in fact, look at this job of making disciples and say, “Let the teenager do it.” What that means is, “Let the pastor do it.” Or, “Let the Sunday School teacher do it.” Or whatever, as long as it’s not me.
They’ll say things like, “I’m not ‘called’ to do ministry.”
News flash – yes you are. All believers are called to ministry and especially to the ministry of making disciples.
The Bible says that my main job is to help you do the work of ministry.
We all have different parts in that process, but we are called to the process of making disciples.
Or they’ll make other excuses like, “Well, I think my part is just to pray.”
First, most people who say that don’t even do that much, and second, you can’t find anything in Scripture that backs up that idea that you can pray and not get your hands dirty in ministry.
And you know what? Jesus doesn’t give us that option. He expects everyone to be involved in the process of making disciples.
2. Accept the assignment like a burden from the Boss.
I’ve had jobs I didn’t like, and I’ve had bosses I didn’t like.
And when you’re at a job you don’t like with a boss you don’t like, then taking orders from that boss is like getting a paper cut and sticking your hand in a bowl of lemon juice.
It’s painful and you’d give just about anything to not be here in this job with this boss.
You’ll look for any excuse to get out of the task or pass it onto anyone else.
Or you may do the job just because getting fired is actually worse than doing the job.
And so the attitude of a lot of people in churches is, “Okay – I’ll do it. I’ll teach a Sunday School class. Or I’ll lead a Wednesday night class. Or I’ll host a Bible study or whatever. If it’ll get you off my back, I’ll do it. Sheesh.”
You don’t really want to do it, but you do it anyway.
Some people are in ministry right now in churches around the world and they don’t want to be. They only do it because they think someone expects it of them, or because they’re afraid Jesus is going to cut them off, or whatever.
Can I make a suggestion? If that’s you, then drop out, at least for a while. I mean that.
Drop out for a while and get your focus on the Boss. Get to know Him better so you can see that the job is wonderful, and the Boss is even more so.
And when you’ve got that straightened out, then come on back to ministry with a whole new heart and passion.
You might find out that you were in the wrong ministry to begin with and that is the cause of your attitude.
How many of you have been in a job you hated, but when you were transferred to another section, you loved it?
And when you got a new lease on things, you did your job better, didn’t you?
Because when you’re at a job you like under a boss you like, then you just become better at it.
Here’s the third response you can have:
3. Grab hold of the assignment with excitement at working with the Boss.
Folks, here is something that I have never been able to fully grasp.
That God Himself has chosen me, as imperfect as I am, to be part of His Kingdom and to be part of what He’s doing to build that Kingdom here in Aberdeen and around the world.
And He’s inviting you to be part of that as well.
Think for a moment about someone you admire.
Now let’s just say that this person has somehow heard of you and gives you a call and says, “Look, I need your help with something. Can I fly you over here and just get your input on something? And then we can talk about how to make this thing happen. But I really need your help on this.”
How would you respond to that? If you’re a normal human being, you’d probably jump at the chance to be around someone you respected and admired that much and who wanted your help with something.
Here we have the King of the Universe inviting you to be part of something that is bigger than anything else you can think of – expanding His kingdom by making disciples.
Grab onto that! Get involved!
Come see me and let me know that you want to be part of that.
We’ll help you become prepared to make disciples, so you won’t have to worry about not knowing what you’re doing.
We want you to be involved in making disciples. Jesus wants you involved.
Don’t say no to the Boss. Say yes – and watch your own life change.
We: Disciple-making is an intentional activity. It doesn’t happen by default.
It’s not my job. It’s our job. It’s the job that the Boss has given us.
There is no plan B. This is it. You and me, doing what God has called us to do to make disciples of all nations.
Rick Warren says that the local church is the hope of the world.
I used to kinda cringe at that, because Jesus is the hope of the world, right?
But I’m beginning to agree with his statement more and more.
Why? Because while it’s true that Jesus is the hope of the world, He has chosen to use the Church to bring that hope to them.
So let’s take that job and let’s take that hope and let’s hit our knees, asking God to move in such a way through this church that we will never be the same, from this day forward, because we are serious about this business of making disciples for Jesus.
We’re going to pray, and I’m going to open the altar. If you want to come and pray for this church, I’d invite you to do that.
If you want to pray and offer yourself in submission to the Boss for this awesome and holy task of making disciples, I invite you as well.
I want this church to be one of His main instruments for the Great Commission in our area, and even to use people from this church, even if they’re not here yet, to make disciples in other parts of the world.
Let’s pray.
