"THE GREAT COMMISSION"
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I wanted to share with you this morning from the 28th Chapter of Matthew, 16-20, the great commission. Dr. Al Vom Steg, who is President of the Mission Society of the United Methodist and is a mission organization writes: Recently I was in France visiting missionaries with the Mission Society for United Methodists. We held a retreat for them in Normandy, not far from where the invasion of Europe began on June 6, 1944. We walked the beaches where thousands had died. We stood in the bunkers where the enemy forces had stood. Everywhere we looked were reminders of the great price our victory had cost. While still in Normandy, in an old fishing community, we came across a church built in 1493 by shipbuilders and sailors. It drew us like a magnet. Inside, against the back wall, almost hidden in the darkness, was a painting. In the scene was the sea and beach. A man lay on the sand, stained by his blood. Standing by him was a man in a clerical robe, hands folded in prayer, his head lifted up toward heaven. Behind him stood several men, one with a large curved sword. The priest, it seemed, would be next to die. For several minutes I stood there, studying this painting. Here again were men dying on France's beach, this time for their faith in Jesus Christ. I was struck by this scene because it was a poignant reminder of France's rich Christian history, a history that now seems all-but-forgotton. He points out some statistics: * 85 percent of the population is Roman Catholic but only 12% ever attend church. * Only one out of five homes has a Bible. * France leads the world in consumption of antidepressant drugs. * There are 50,000 witches, and the use of fortunetellers is rampant. He ends by saying - Europe (and France in particular) may not have jungles and the threat of malaria, which we often think of as pre-requisites for a "mission field." But it does have a generation of people who have not encountered the story of salvation in a compelling and personal way. And it has people with broken hearts and lives who need the love of Christ. I share that with you - that is one man's thoughts on the Great Commission and why there is a need for missionaries in France. I want to say today that America today is also a mission field. American too has many, many people who need the touch of Jesus Christ and his love. Many people simply today do not know Christ. They are going through their lives without the sense of Christ love and compassion and His direction in their lives, and they need the touch of Jesus Christ. When we hear the Great Commission, it seems it strikes fear in many Christians, fear that God might actually expect me to open my mouth and say something about this faith that I have. Fear that I am inadequate if someone asks me to speak, fear that I would be rejected if someone asks me to share my faith. But there is more to it than that. When Jesus says to go and make disciples, He is calling us to live this faith in such a way that people will be attracted to Christ. They will be attracted to Christ because of the love we have, they will be attracted to Christ by the kind of love that we have for them, they will be attracted by the devotion we have to Him. They will see in us Him. He is the one who said when I am lifted I will draw them to myself. I want you to think for a few moments today about the Great Commission. First of all, what is the Great Commission? Simply put by Jesus - it is to make disciples. It says when the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told him, when they saw Him they worshiped him but some doubted. These eleven (Judas had gone out and hung himself) had lived with him for three years, they had seen people rise from the dead, they had seen dramatic healings - they had seen the lame walking, the blind seeing, and yet, some doubted. They are still struggling - is this really Him, is this not a ghost. They are struggling. Jesus is still counting on them. He says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me - he has conquered death - he is risen from death, he is still alive. He says, "All authority has been given unto me". What is the authority to do? It is to make disciples of all nations. A disciple is a 'learner'. That is, we want more than someone to be converted. We want someone who is going to grow in their walk with Christ. I think of when I came back to Christ - the Lord was very gracious, not only by placing people strategically in my life to turn me back to the Lord but after I did, He also put people strategically to help me to stay on the right path. That's very important. Then, as we grow in our walk, we are to teach them to observe all that I have commanded you - again, the whole concept of growth is important. That's why Bible study, education, worship, is so important in the church of Jesus Christ. And then this assurance, "Lo I am with you always, even unto the close of the age". These early Christians - their primary strategy was to go to the Jewish synagogue, to go to the Jews and after all, Jesus was a Jew - they felt they needed to know that Jesus really was the Messiah - we are here to say He is alive, He is risen - that was their strategy. They got in prison for that, they were persecuted for that but really it wasn't until the intense persecution came ten years later that they begin to take the gospel to the Gentiles. That was their strategy and of these eleven. Ten died violent deaths and one died on the Isle of Patmos. They went forth but they were fuzzy about what the Great Commission was but it was to share Christ. It was to invite people to love Him and to follow Him and Jesus had called them. Why do we need the gospel today? People's lives are desperately in need of Christ. Here is one example I love. Meredith Whitaker was a church and community work among the Native Americans Indians in eastern Oklahoma in 1990. She was asked to lead services each Sunday for the struggling Centebury Chapel UMC. It had two worshipers. She went faithfully to preach to them for about a year. For eighteen months she preached to the two people and the writer says they ran off the occasional visitors but you would think they would hug them and not let them go but they had to check them out. Whiatker observed that many people who were being helped in the community were being helped by Alcoholic Anonymous and needed to know more about God than the Serenity Prayer. They had nowhere to go to church so she persuaded the two members to turn that church into a twelve-step church. They got the word out to the AA community and 27 came that first Sunday. Whitaker indiginized the service to fit the AA culture. They begin with the Serenity Prayer "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Meredith Whitaker used the Serenity Prayer, they closed with the Lord's Prayer, and they encouraged casual dress. Six years later, they had 60 regular attendees, 100 new members, most had never been to church and in 1999 they built a new chapel to set 200. They are filling it up and the call it Serenity United Methodist Church. What did they do? They just simply took the gospel in a specific way to their community. Think today of the people whose life would be different if they met Jesus Christ. Would they be happier, would they have a sense of purpose, would their families be different? Why do we need it today? People need the Lord. It hasn't changed. How do we full fill the Great Commission? It's a tendency for churches to look at others who are growing and to copy their methods and to forget, like the church I mentioned, and the Great Commission is all about introducing the people to Jesus Christ and God will give us the strategy and the methods, but to copy sometimes can be a mistake. There is a pastor named Michel Slotter in Ohio, at Ginsbury UMC, a 200-member church. The attendance was declining and they started to make some changes in the worship and style of the congregation. He found out that some people were really reluctant to change the worship style and some people said if you change, we'll leave. Well, they changed, they left, and what that church became was a leader in contemporary worship. That church numbers in the thousands of people worshiping. They have people coming from all of the country to seminars on how to conduct contemporary worship and now they are leaders in digital worship. I saw them one time on television, that worship service looked like filming of a t.v. program with the cameras and the sound system and I'm sure it cost a whole lot but they felt led to do this to lead people to Jesus Christ. If you were looking at the largest church in Methodism, you would step up your prayer ministry because the church in Seoul, South Korea has an incredible emphasis on prayer as do most of the churches in South Korea. Again, not just one method will do. One of the best books I've read on the Great Commission is called "Natural Church Development" and it was written by Christian Swartz, who was a German Christian. He led an institute of one of the most significant studies of healthy churches that's ever been done, surveying over 1000 churches across the world. He had some 4 million responses from people on what a healthy church looked like and he came up with eight essential qualities of a healthy church. He said when you see these eight qualities, you're going to find a church that is basically fulfilling the Great Commission. First of all, they have empowering leadership....that is the leadership of their church - they are not passive, they are empowered to take the gospel and do the work of ministry. Second, they are a gift-oriented ministry. They are teaching the people to use their gifts of the spirit and really, that's were evangelism takes place when we learn the gifts of the spirit and put them into practice. Third, there is a power of spirituality, especially that people have an enthusiasm for worship and for prayer and are learning to do that. Fourth, they have functional structures - that is their organization, the Council, the UMW, the UMM - they make sure it's functional. They are not just meeting to meet. They are meeting to do the work of Christ. Five, they have inspiring worship services. Whether it's liturgical or very freeful, the main thing, is it inspiring? Is God there, to have a sense of the presence of Christ in worship? Six, small groups. This is the most common factor in growing churches. People can be a part of a small group that is Bible Study, or support or just Christian life issues, but they have small groups, which they can go and that's like John Wesley having class meetings and the societies. Seven, need oriented evangelism. They made sure when they put the gospel in flesh, they were meeting the needs of those people around them and focused on the need of others. Eight, loving relationships. Really, isn't that what we want the reputation of. It's a loving church. People really love you there, regardless and they will be there for you. How do you fulfill the Great Commission of the church? Those are the eight of the best ways. Individually, how do you put this faith into practice? First of all, use this acronym. FRIEND.........friends, relatives and neighbors. Think right now who are your friends. Right now, Christ, His church, doesn't mean a great deal to them. Who are they? Relatives - they don't know Christ. Who are they? Acquaintances is for A. People you don't know really well but you see them on a regular basis. N is the neighbors. What do you do with those people? This is a list that you could write down for the summer. First of all, you pray for them. This is a spiritual ministry. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the labors are few. We pray people into the kingdom, we pray for them on a daily basis, we pray not only for them to know Christ but to have Him in all aspects of their lives. Second, we love them unconditionally. We invest time in their lives, we get to know them, we find out what they are interested in, what's on their heart and we love them. While we are reluctant and yes, sometimes I think we are distracted - we have a lot on our minds and we forget what it's like to know Him. I think back on my life and if someone would ask me who would be most responsible for me to be a Christian today, for me to really hear God's call to preach the gospel, I think of my parents. My parents weren't the type to talk about their faith a lot but they took me to church and they lived a good example before me. My parents definitely had an impact on my life. But I look back on Sunday school teachers who at the time, I didn't think anything profound about it but they prepared those lessons. They were really trying to share with young people their faith. I think about the Youth Choir, and the director. Then I think about being in college and struggling with the direction for my life and God placing a young man in my life who invested time in me. He invited me to study the Bible with him and he took an interest in me and I still resisted. Then I think of a preacher on Christmas Eve who shared the faith and sometimes I can think that it was him but it was a whole lot of people sharing their faith...and finally, it took. After that, God placed a Christian roommate in my life and He knew what he was doing. These people helped me along the way to know the love of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we get distracted. I remember a youth group at the end of the summer when we were getting ready to go back to school and I remember I was bogged down with studying deep theologically at Candler School of Theology and this president of the youth group said 'we are getting ready to go back to school and it's real important to have a good witness for Christ.' What was she doing? She was saying that people are watching us as Christians about the kind of life we are living. She was right. I was distracted and bogged down about other things. I share with you the Great Commission today that it's not a message for us to feel inadequate, to feel that it's for somebody else, but God has called us for the love of Christ that's in our hearts and to live it, to share it, because we are ambassadors. Christ is making his appeal through you and through me for the sake of all of us. Let us pray: Father, we thank you for the great opportunity you have blessed us with to share this faith, to live this faith. We confess at times we feel inadequate. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Lord, come to live in us and empower us especially to love people into your kingdom. Especially place these people's lives on our hearts this summer and help us to pray for them and help us to love them and Lord, help them to discover this amazing power and the changes you can make in their lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. |