OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO SERIES1
8 August 2017
I. Introduction
[Show
Video]
-- tonight,
we are finishing up our sermon series, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” -- in this
series, we looked at several commands from God in Scripture where He told us to
“Go,” and then we talked about how we could follow His command and what it
would mean to us if we did, which is what the video we just watched was all
about
-- we
started this series by looking at the story of the adulterous woman in John
Chapter 8 and considering Jesus’ command to her to “Go and leave your life of
sin” -- to “Go and sin no more” -- then we looked at the story of the Good
Samaritan and heard Jesus’ command to “Go and do likewise” -- last week, we talked
about God’s call to Abram as He commanded him to “Go to the place I will show
you” -- and, tonight, we will be finishing up by looking at the Great
Commission and the command by Jesus for us to “Go into all the world”
II. Scripture Lesson (Matthew 28:16-20)
-- so,
let’s get right into it -- if you would, turn over to Matthew 28:16
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.
-- this
passage occurs after the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday but before His
final ascension to heaven -- in the verses before this, Matthew tells us that
Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden where He had been buried
-- He instructed her to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee
-- and, so,
as we open this passage again, that is where we find the disciples -- they have
come to Galilee at the direction of Jesus -- and it is there that Jesus meets
them and tells them what they are to do now
--
Matthew's account of the resurrection and of Jesus' appearances to the
disciples is briefer than the other gospel writers -- he doesn't mention the
appearance of Jesus to the disciples in the upper room -- he doesn't tell us
about Jesus appearing again in the presence of Thomas -- or of Jesus walking
along with Cleopas and his friend on the way to Emmaus
-- Matthew
gets right to business -- for him, what is important is the fact that Jesus has
risen just as He said and that He is leaving them to carry on His ministry on
earth -- and so he carries us straight to Galilee -- which begs the question,
"Why Galilee?"
--
surprisingly, most of the commentaries I looked at were silent on this -- they
didn't say anything -- but as I studied this passage, it occurred to me that
this made perfect sense given the context of these verses and the Great
Commission that was to come
-- you see,
Galilee was the starting place -- it was in Galilee that Jesus lived most of
His life -- it was in Galilee that most of Jesus' public ministry took place --
especially in Nazareth and Capernaum -- and, it was in Galilee that most of the
disciples were originally called -- it was in Galilee where Peter and James and
John heard Jesus say, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men" -- and now, it is in Galilee where Jesus will once again call the
disciples -- this time to an even greater ministry
--
typically, when people read the Great Commission, they skip verses 16 and 17 --
I think one reason they do so is because of verse 17 -- Matthew tells us that
when the 11 disciples saw Jesus, they worshiped Him -- but, he says, some
doubted -- and that part of the verse troubles us
-- Jesus
had appeared to the disciples several times -- in response to Thomas' doubt, He
had appeared to him in the upper room and told him, "Put your finger here;
see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and
believe," -- and even Thomas believed
-- so, why
does Matthew say here that some doubted?
-- some
commentators make the case that Jesus was not just speaking to the 11 remaining
apostles in this passage, but that He was speaking to a large group of people
there by the Sea of Galilee -- they say this gathering, probably the 500
eyewitnesses who Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:6 saw the risen Christ, included
some who believed and put their faith in Christ and some who doubted that Jesus
was really risen from the dead and was really the Messiah -- so that’s the reason
for Matthew’s statement that “some doubted”
-- but I
think there may be another reason -- when Matthew says that “some doubted,” I’m
not sure he means they are doubting Christ -- I think he may mean they were
doubting themselves -- there’s several ways this could be the case
-- first,
they doubted their own preconceived notions about who the Messiah was and what
He would do -- as Jews, they had believed their whole life that the Messiah
would come to overthrow the oppressive Roman government and establish the
throne of David in Israel once and for all
-- but
instead of having them meet Him at the temple or at the Roman Governor's
mansion where His conquest would begin -- Jesus has them meet Him in the
wilderness of Galilee -- it was becoming evident that Jesus was not going to be
a conquering Messiah -- at least, not as they originally thought
-- second,
they doubted their own traditions and orthodoxy -- Jesus was not only
rearranging what they thought about the Messiah -- He was rearranging what they
knew about being Jewish -- He had already changed the Passover Meal and
introduced a new sacrament -- Holy Communion -- and, He had instituted a new
covenant, fulfilling the old Jewish Law and making a new covenant of grace
through His death on the cross -- all that they knew -- all that they believed
-- was being shaken before their eyes
-- and,
finally, they doubted themselves in the sense of who they were and what they
might accomplish -- remember, the majority of Jesus’ followers were not men and
women of position or power or prestige -- they were fishermen -- tax collectors
-- common, everyday folk -- they were not priests or scribes -- they were not
Pharisees or rulers -- but now Jesus was calling them to go and change the
world -- and they doubted their abilities -- they doubted whether they could do
it
-- which
brings us to verse 18
18. Then Jesus came to them and
said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
-- in response to their doubt and their
feelings of inadequacy, Jesus said, "Don't doubt" -- I have the
authority over heaven and earth -- it was I who established who the Messiah was
and what I would do -- it was I who fulfilled the Jewish Law -- it was I who
poured out myself for your sins and the sins of the world -- and it is I who
will fill you and who will empower you to go forth in My name to do great
things
-- and just
as the world does not define Me or what I will do as the Messiah, the world
does not define you -- I do -- the world does not give you position -- I do --
the world does not give you power -- I do
-- it is My
authority and My will for you to go forth and to change this world in My name
-- don't doubt who you are -- you are Mine -- and I have given you this charge
today
-- verse 19-20a
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.
-- we’ve
been talking a lot over the last several weeks about what it means when God
tells us to “Go” -- Jesus uses the same word here in what we know as the Great
Commission when He tells us to Go to all the nations -- to go into all the
world -- and make disciples of them
-- now
what’s important to understand here is that in the original Greek, the word
translated as “Go” here actually means to “Go” -- everybody clear? -- when
Jesus tells us here to “go,” He literally means for us to get up and to go
-- the
Greek word for “Go” actually means, "as you are going" or "go
and keep going" -- it implies a continuation of movement -- an action on
our part -- and we haven’t been doing a very good job of that in the church today
-- church membership and church attendance is at an all-time low in America --
every mainline denomination in this country has been losing members over the
past 50 years -- why is this? -- it’s because somewhere along the line we quit
going and started waiting
-- honestly,
I think we've gotten complacent -- since the time of Constantine, the Christian
church has been the dominant religion of the world -- at least, the western
world -- and I think we've gotten used to being in a position where we're the
only game in town
-- why
bother to go and seek disciples when there's nowhere else for them to go? --
it's easier to just sit here within the walls of our churches and wait for them
to come to us -- and for most of the history of Christianity, that approach
worked -- the churches were built -- the bells rang out on Sunday morning --
and the people came
-- but, now
they're not coming -- and instead of going after them, we just ring the church
bells louder -- we come up with catchy slogans and snappy bumper stickers -- we
put little Jesus fish on our car and say, "Follow us -- we're going to
church" -- and we wait and we wait and we wait while the culture drifts
away
-- instead
of going, we are just sitting and waiting for people who aren’t ever going to
come on their own -- that’s not what Jesus told us to do
-- look at
verse 19 again
19. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations
-- "Go
and make disciples" -- not “sit around and wait for people to come” -- but
to get up and go out and make disciples -- we’ve forgotten the going part
-- one
thing that I’ve learned in the past several years is that Christianity is,
first and foremost, about relationships -- I always thought that it was about
going to church -- about reading the Bible -- about prayer and the sacraments
-- and those are important -- they are a part of what it means to be a
Christian
-- but, if
we are going to do what Jesus says in this passage -- if we are going to “Go”
and make disciples of all nations -- then we have to be intentional about
making relationships with other people -- about sharing with them the good news
of Christ -- about showing them the presence of Jesus through our love
-- this
means we go where the people are -- we don’t just stay where we are at -- we
don’t just stay at church or stay at home but we go out and meet others and
tell them about Jesus -- that means where we work and where we play and
everywhere we find ourselves, whether at the coffee shop or the grocery store
or the park
-- Jesus
says here that we are to go to all the nations -- in the Book of Acts, Jesus
told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth -- in other words, the
disciples were to go out and make disciples first in their hometown -- then
their community -- and then beyond that to the ends of the earth
-- we can
do the same -- we don’t immediately have to jump on a plane and head out to
Africa or Asia or to parts unknown -- we can begin to go and make disciples
right where we are -- beginning with our family and friends and branching out
from there
-- and,
whether you’ve considered it or not, you have the unique ability to impact the
world right from where you live -- just look around you when you’re in town
this week at the diversity of people in our community -- with the university
and the Air Force Base and with the large migrant worker community -- we have a
lot of people right here in our midst from the ends of the earth we can reach
with the gospel of Christ
-- who
knows what impact you can have just by reaching out to a migrant worker and
sharing with them the good news of Jesus? -- what if you reach just one worker
or one student or one airman who then carries the message of Christ back home?
-- you may just have impacted an entire region for Christ
-- and
think about the internet -- right in your home -- probably right in your pocket
if you have a smart phone -- you have the ability to speak to people from
around this world in an instant -- you can share God’s message with people on
the other side of the world, even people in countries where Christianity is
outlawed or persecuted -- with my blog, with as few people as I reach, I have
people from around the world come to that site and read my messages -- I’ll
never know what the impact of that is, but it is a form of “going” as Jesus
tells us to do here in this passage
-- the
methods are many -- the key is to actually start “going” -- to just get up and
do something
-- now, you
might be thinking, “I can’t do this -- I can’t talk to others about Jesus -- I
don’t know the Bible good enough -- I don’t know what to say” -- that brings us
to the rest of this passage
-- verse
20b
20b. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age."
--
here’s the good news -- you don’t have to do this alone -- Jesus promises to
always be with us -- to never leave us or forsake us -- in Matthew 10:19-20,
Jesus told us not to worry about what to say or how to say it -- at that time
-- when we need it -- we will be given the words to say, because the Holy
Spirit will speak through us
-- our
job is to just trust and obey -- to believe in Him and to go -- to open our
mouths and tell others what Jesus has done for us and in us -- and to trust
that God will give us the message He wants them to hear
-- it
all begins with the going and with believing that we are not alone, but that
Jesus goes with us and that His authority and His power are there for us
III. Closing
-- let me
close by leaving you with the story of a preacher in a small European village
-- He was greatly loved by the people there and they believed he had an
especially close relationship with God -- the preacher had this strange habit
-- every Friday, he disappeared for several hours and could not be found -- the
villagers boasted that during those hours the preacher actually ascended to
heaven and talked with God face-to-face
-- now,
there was a newcomer in that village -- he was a skeptic who made fun of the
faith of all the other people -- and he got increasingly irritated by all the
claims about the minister and his supposed devotion to God -- so the newcomer
became determined to find out where the preacher really spent his time on
Fridays -- one Friday, the skeptic hid near the preacher's house -- he watched
as the preacher rose early, spent time in prayer, and left his house in the
clothes of a peasant.
-- The
young skeptic followed the old man from a safe distance -- he watched him cut
down a tree and chop up a large stack of firewood -- he continued to watch as
the preacher made his way to a shack in the poorest part of the village and
stacked the wood -- it was the home of an old woman and her sick husband --
after leaving the couple enough wood to last them a week, the preacher quietly
returned to his own home without a word to anyone
-- The
villagers were startled the next Sunday when the young newcomer was in church
-- they were even more surprised when he became a Christian shortly thereafter
-- the former skeptic thought highly of the church's godly minister and -- upon
his death -- became his successor and took over as the preacher for the village
-- for the rest of his own life, whenever he heard one of the villagers speak
of his predecessor and say, "On Fridays he would ascend to heaven,"
he would add softly, "If not higher."
-- this is
what Jesus meant when He told us to “Go” here in this passage -- this is a
picture of what Jesus envisioned for us and for our churches -- He wanted us to
“Go” and make a friend and be a friend and introduce that friend to Christ --
to “Go” and minister to others in His name -- to teach them what it means to
follow Him by showing them how a Christian lives and loves and serves
-- so this
week, I want to challenge you to do just this -- to go and do what Jesus commanded
in this passage -- to get up and go out and share your life and the message of
Christ with the world around you
-- let us
pray
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