Disciple Makers (9.10.17) 1

Sermon title: Disciple Makers

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-12

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spiritdistributes them.5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.6There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyoneit is the same Godat work.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.8To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom,to another a message of knowledgeby means of the same Spirit,9to another faithby the same Spirit, to another gifts of healingby that one Spirit,10to another miraculous powers,to another prophecy,to another distinguishing between spirits,to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

12Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,so it is with Christ.

Second Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.18Then Jesus came to them and said,“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20and teachingthem to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youalways, to the very end of the age.”

  1. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I have good news and I have some potentially disturbing news. The good news is that God has a plan to save the world. He has a plan to bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the broken hearted and new life to those who are consumed by death! The potentially disturbing news is, weare the plan! There is no plan 'B!'
  2. The reason this is potentially disturbing is illustrated in a story, a modern day parable really.It is about a town that lived on the banks of a reef ridden and rocky coastline. So dangerous were the reefs and rocky coastline that ships often wrecked and many perished. Some concerned citizens of this town decided to form a Rescue Society dedicated to save the folks who were ship wrecked. As the years past the society saved many people. As the next generation entered into the Rescue Society they decided to learn new rescue techniques so they might become better at saving lives. So they went to workshops on the best practices, and invited vendors in to sell the latest rescue equipment. Eventually they began having so many workshops and meetings, they spent more time in meetings than actually rescuing people. One night the whole rescue society was at yet another meeting. During this meeting there was a shipwreck but no one to rescue them and many people perished! Commenting on this story, Dr. Mulholland writes "The rescue society had come to exist for its own perfection, not for the sake of others."
  3. When we look at church history we see the church losing its focus often. So much so that someone more clever than I wrote a bumper sticker that says "for God so loved the world he did not send a committee!" In considering pressures from outside the church and the fighting within, it is no wonder we lose focus on the purpose we have been given. This morning we are starting a sermon series entitled Disciple Makers. In this series we will consider how God wants us to live out our purpose as individuals and as a church. The purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ.
  4. To introduce this series we will consider two questions. First what causes us to lose our focus on being disciple makers? Second, and perhaps just as important, how can we overcome those things? To answer these questions we are going straight to the source, the great commission. These words recorded at the end of Matthew's gospel helped transform a scared, confused, and desperate rag tag bunch into the greatest, most focused, and effective, missionary force the world has ever known! Can these words help transform us?
  5. Just prior to the reading out of Matthew this morning is the story of the guards reporting to the chief priests about the empty tomb of Jesus.
  6. When the guards report to the chief priests what had happened, the guards were told to report that the disciples stole the body of Jesus. Here we see that the church was born under pressure. From the very beginning, the church was pressured to depart from the mission it had been given, the mission of making disciples. We see this throughout church history. From our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world that face death for being followers of Christ, to the more subtle chiding we receive from an increasingly non-Christian, sometimes anti-Christian, culture the church faces pressure from without.
  7. Perhaps it was pressure like this that caused some of the disciples to doubt when they saw the resurrected Lord. We are not told what they doubted. They might have doubted Jesus' resurrection. Maybe they doubted their loyalty to Jesus, who knows. Pressure from the outside can cause us all to doubt. Pressure like living in a culture where not as many people are going to church, or people are becoming increasingly suspicious toward religion. Whatever the source, external pressure can cause us to lose our focus on disciple making.
  8. One way external pressure causes us to lose focus is in tempting us to turn inward. In the face of external pressure our temptation is to circle the wagons.
  9. Sometimes the pressure is only perceived, sometimes it is real. Real or perceived, this outward pressure tempts us to focus inward. Just like the Rescue Society, we begin to exist for our own sake instead of for the sake of the world. There are at least three symptoms that come from an inward focus. They are distortions of the mission we have been given.
  10. The first distortion is how we define a disciple. It is a distortion to believe that discipleship is only for pastors and 'super Christians.' VoddieBaucham is a preacher and he was speaking at a men's conference when he made this point. In this example, he is addressing all men but the principle applies to all Christians. Voddie says this, "American Christianity is the only place where we tolerate, even celebrate,mediocrity. Pick any field, welding, tool and dye, brick laying, they do not even have to be Christians, even lost pagans that have jobs like this. Imagine a man that has been laying bricks for 30 years. A young man comes along side him and says, 'You have been laying bricks for 30 years, you must be a master at it. I am just starting out, can I come alongside you and learn the trade?' The bricklayer says, 'I don't know anything about bricklaying, why would I?' But what if a man claims to have been walking with the Lord for 30 years. A young man comes to him and says, 'Can you mentor me in the things of God, in my discipleship.' What's the likely response? 'I don't know anything about doctrine, I'm no preacher.'"
  11. The word translated 'disciple' literally means learner, or pupil. It has the connotation of an apprentice who is working with a journeyman. If we are apprentices to the greatest journeyman in the universe for 30 years, we won't be as good as the journeyman, we never will be, but we will have certainly learned from the master. To be a Christian is to be a disciple! To be a disciple is to focus on the mission Jesus has given us which is to make more disciples. When we focus on ourselves and not Jesus and His mission the second thing that gets distorted is beginning to hold tightly to strategy rather than mission. The different ministries we do, they are strategies. They are not valuable in and of themselves. Instead they are valuable in as much as they help us as a body of believers accomplish the mission.
  12. One cause of clinging to strategies and losing focus of the mission is that our strategies represent our preferences and we don't think about God's purposes. That's the third distortion, choosing our preferences over His purposes. There are many strategies to make disciples, and many gifts needed, but only one purpose! This is what Paul was communicating in 1 Corinthians 12. There are many gifts, but one Spirit that gives them, and one Lord who gives us our purpose. Not only that, we need each other! Paul goes on to show how silly it would be if the eye said to the hand "I don't need you."
  13. Could you imagine how silly it would be if our bodies were one giant eye? Not only would we need an excessive amount of Visine, we would not even be able to do simple tasks. Think about taking a drink of water. Our hands work with our eyes to see and pick up the glass, our mouth opens and swallows the water. All these parts have distinct roles but one purpose. In the same way, we all have many gifts but one purpose!
  14. So how on earth can we overcome our preferences in favor of His purposes? How can we overcome the pressures from outside the church trying to get us off mission? How can we overcome the infighting and preference driven decisions that cause us to lose focus on being disciple makers?
  15. Is it hopeless, should we just have a nice pot luck after worship and then give up? It might be, unless... unless Jesus was telling the truth. When the disciples come to Him in our reading this morning they are fractured from within and pressured from without. What does Jesus point them toward? Does He point them inward, tell them to fix themselves before going on mission? Does He point them outward, telling them to accommodate to all the people that are mad at them? No, He points them to Himself saying "all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me." It is upon His authority that we make disciples!
  16. And who are we to make disciples of? He says go into all nations! The word translated 'nations' is ethnos, it is where we get the word ethnicity. When the original disciples heard this word they would have heard Gentiles, it is the same word. Jesus is saying go to those who are not like you and introduce them to Me, My teaching, My love, My forgiveness, My way of life, My hope, My wholeness. Introduce them so they may surrender their lives to me, become my disciples, and experience the abundant life that can be found in Me!
  17. Brothers and sisters in Christ it is good news that God has a plan. That He has a plan to bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the broken, and new life to those who are lost. But how can we possibly be that plan? How can we, a group of rag tag sinners possibly be up for the challenge? The same way that the original group of rag tag sinners were up for it.
  18. After Jesus gives them the command to be disciple makers He gives them a promise. The promise that enabled them and enable us to have the wisdom, courage, and strength we need to grow in our discipleship and be disciples makers. A promise that we need to accomplish the mission we have been given. The promise is this, after giving them the command to make disciples Jesus says, "Behold I am with you, to the end of the age!" By the Holy Spirit it is because of His presence that we can rise above our preferences and the worlds pressure. It is because of His presence that as God sets out on a mission to bring wholeness to a broken worldHe looks upon us, the church, and says you are My plan!
  19. Let us pray: Father send Your Holy Spirit so that we will fix our eyes on Jesus and live out the mission He has given us. The mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, in Your name we pray, Amen.
  20. Receive this blessing and benediction: Let us go forth, disciple makers. Living out the marching orders given to us by our Lord and Savior when He said, "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 teachingthem to obey everything I have commanded you." For He is with us always, to the very end of the age! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you may go in peace!