“Making Disciples”
Matthew 28:16-20
Why are you here this morning?
How did you get here?
I don’t mean did you walk or drive?
I mean, how did you end up in a Christian Church on a Sunday morning when so many other people are doing so many other things?
What I have just read is called “The Great Commission.”
The dictionary says that a “commission” is an instruction, command, or duty given to a person or a group of people.
It’s a task, a mission, an assignment, marching orders, if you will.
And the marching orders of every Christian are to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded” us.
Last week, one of you just happened to say to me--without even knowing that this was the Scripture passage I was working on for this morning: “Pastor, I have some questions about the Great Commission.
I don’t think Jesus meant for it to be for everyone.”
You continued, “For instance, I think of myself more as a seed planter and a waterer.”
My answer was: “That is disciple making.”
Also, I know you.
I have watched how you live your life.
You are most definitely a disciple-maker.
You show the love of God by how you treat others.
I’m learning a lot from you.
Becoming a Christian isn’t about reciting the right words or performing some magic formula.
It also isn’t something that people can force onto others.
And it isn’t something that others can talk others into.
It comes by grace through faith.
And that faith is a gift of God.
I used to think that becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ was confined to a “one-time event” for me.
I used to think that it all came from a decision I made when I was 18 years old, and that was it.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
That decision to follow Jesus.
That time of repentance and the decision to give my life fully to Jesus Christ is a huge defining moment for me.
I was most definitely born again.
My life has never been the same since.
But that was neither the beginning of my becoming a disciple nor was it the end.
When I was just a baby, my parents took me to church.
There, I was baptized and they made a promise to bring me up in the faith and in the church.
They kept their promise.
Also, when I was baptized, the church made a promise to me that they would proclaim the good news, live after the example of Christ, surround me with love and forgiveness, and provide me with opportunities to grow in my service to others.
They promised that they would pray for me in order that I would become “a true disciple of Jesus Christ who walks in the way that leads to life.”
They too, kept their promise.
But in order for them to be able to keep their promise, my parents, again, had to keep theirs’.
Some of my earliest memories are experiences I had in church.
I remember just about every minister I ever had.
I remember so many faces of so many church members.
My Sunday school teachers gave so much time for my good.
At home we said a pray before every meal.
When I had a problem my mother prayed for me.
I also watched as my mom visited persons who were sick, took meals to those who had lost loved ones and volunteered many hours at the church.
Hers was a faith lived out.
And so I was a learner, a “disciple” shall we say from an extremely early age.
For that is what a disciple is—a learner.
Now, I know that I am extremely blessed.
I had great parents.
I was a member of wonderful churches.
I was surrounded by quality people who were doing the best they could to follow Jesus.
But that’s not the way it is for everyone.
How was it for you?
Who has been a disciple-maker in your life?
How did you get here?
One of the pastors I had growing up, his name was Bob, wasn’t baptized as a baby.
As a matter of fact, his parents weren’t even believers.
When he was a kid he had a paper route.
And one of the persons to whom he delivered the newspaper was the local Methodist Minister.
One day, the minister told Bob that he didn’t have anyone at church to hand out the bulletins on Sunday mornings, and so he asked Bob if he would come to his church and be the one to hand out bulletins.
Bob showed up the next Sunday morning and every Sunday after that.
Bob met Jesus at that church through the initial invitation of that pastor, and through the disciples of that congregation.
Bob himself became a disciple and a disciple maker for the rest of his life.
The day before I left for college Bob showed up at my door with a small leather bond Bible.
It became the first Bible that I really and truly ever read and studied.
That Bible along with hundreds upon hundreds of followers of Jesus who had allowed their lives to be used by Christ helped lead me to the point where I finally made the decision to open the door and allow the Lord to take up residence in my heart.
Jesus says that “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to” Him.
That can sound scary until we learn how Jesus uses His authority.
Jesus doesn’t exercise His authority like a brutal dictator nor any human power figure.
Jesus doesn’t force Himself on us.
Think about it.
When the Romans had Jesus Crucified, He refused to retaliate.
Instead, He forgave.
When Jesus rose from the dead He didn’t scold His disciples who had fled from Him in His time of greatest need.
He loved them.
He gave them His Spirit.
He offered them a different kind of power, the power to live differently and to love fully.
And He gave them important jobs to do.
Jesus comes to us and loves on us.
Jesus uses ordinary people—people like you and perhaps even me—to bring others to Himself.
Jesus says that we are to make disciples…teaching people everything
He commands.
A command can sound kind of threatening and intimidating until we learn and remember what Jesus has commanded us:
“Be reconciled to one another.
Love and pray for our enemies.
Be peacemakers.
Do not return evil for evil.
Turn the other cheek.
Deny yourself.
Put the needs of others first.
Be humble.
Serve.
Forgive.
Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, give a drink to the thirsty, show mercy, be kind, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, help the poor, don’t play favorites.
And above all—love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
These are the things Jesus has commanded us to do.
This is the way we are to live our lives.
And this is how we make disciples.
Oh, and most important of all—we aren’t alone in this endeavor.
Not only do we have one another, but Jesus promises: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Being a disciple and making disciples goes hand in hand.
Both are life-long journeys.
It is what makes life worth the living.
It is the way to live.
That’s why I am here this morning.
That’s how I got here.
How about you?
Praise God.
Amen.
