Matthew 28:18-20 - An Outwardly-Focused Faith

Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20.

Matthew 28:18–20

Some of you may know these verses.

They're often called the Great Commission.

Says this, starting in Matthew 28, verse 18.

Matthew 28:18

Jesus came to them, that is, the disciples, and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

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, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Let us pray together.

We thank you, Father, that you are with us, that you command us, and you provide your presence.

Would you guide us?

Help us to be receptive to your word.

May we hear well, may we communicate well, may we obey quickly.

We ask for your help and in your name.

Amen.

Having uh spent many of my formative years growing up overseas, I have spent a lot of time in my life sitting on airplanes and looking out airplane windows.

Now, I always liked it when I had the window seat because I could control the shade, the up and down shade on the window.

And whenever we were taking off and landing, I liked looking out the window, especially when we were coming into a big city.

I like to look at the skyline.

Sometimes, however, I was not fortunate enough to have the window seat, and I'd have to sit in either an aisle seat or the dreaded middle seat, which is the worst.

But the problem with all of those seats that are not the window seat is that I could not control the up and down shade to look out the window.

And sometimes I would be stuck in a row with a window seat person who put their shade down and I couldn't look out the window.

Now, I don't know why if people have a window seat they want to look out the window, but some don't.

Some don't care about the view, I guess.

Some just want to put the shade down and go to sleep.

I suppose that's fine.

It's not my preference.

I like the shade open.

I like to look out the window.

I'm a big fan of looking outside.

Now it's okay if other people don't, it's just my preference.

But I want to use that idea of looking outside, looking out the window to get our minds around what Jesus is commanding us to do in these verses.

Jesus is directing us to have an outwardly focused faith.

Jesus is directing us to have the kind of faith that looks outside, that looks beyond itself to what's going on around us.

Think sometimes in church we get comfortable and we have a tendency to want to pull the window shades down and not pay attention to what's going on outside the walls of the church.

Simply focus on what's going on in here.

Say, well, we're on this flight to heaven.

We can put down the shades and don't have to look at what's happening around us.

Jesus, I believe, calls us to a higher and loftier vision.

He calls us to have the kind of faith that doesn't simply look inwardly but looks outwardly.

The kind of faith that notices and that pays attention to what is happening in the world around us.

And Jesus calls us to this because he calls us to make disciples, to help others follow him.

And as we will see, it is very difficult, impossible to make disciples of others if we are purely focused on what's happening within the walls of the church.

Jesus calls us to broaden our horizons, to expand our vision, to give attention and consideration to those whom he is reaching, but who are not sitting here in this room.

Jesus gives us in these verses, often called the Great Commission, he gives us a series of steps, ways that we can be involved in having an outwardly focused faith.

The main command in this passage is to make disciples.

Jesus tells us to make disciples.

A disciple is simply a follower.

A disciple is one who follows Jesus, who believes in the teaching of Jesus and commits themselves to living in the way of Jesus.

We are called to follow Jesus in our own lives and to replicate that in the lives of others.

The fruit of our Christian life should be others following Jesus as well.

And Jesus gives a series of commands to help us live out disciple making.

We're called to make disciples, and Jesus tells us some ways that we're to do it.

He gives this command right before he is taken up to heaven.

He has died for our sins and resurrected from the dead, and he's about to ascend to the Father.

But he's still going to be present.

The way in which he's going to be present in the world is through his church.

We are the body of Christ.

We incarnate the presence of Christ, make Christ bodily, physically present in the world through our witness as we make disciples.

Jesus continues his earthly ministry not by being here in the flesh, but by indwelling us and sending us out to be disciples and to make disciples.

How do we make disciples?

How do we have an outwardly focused faith?

Jesus tells us, first of all, that we're to go.

If you want to have an outwardly focused faith, you have to go.

He says, verse 18, therefore, go and make disciples.

We're told simply to go.

Sounds very straightforward.

Often we think about this as applying to missionaries.

We think about those who traverse the globe, go to the other side of the world to make disciples.

And certainly that has an application to missionaries because it says here that we are to make disciples of all nations.

The disciples started in one geographic locale and spread their influence throughout the world.

So indeed, the church's mission is global.

It can't be restricted to any one people group, any one ethnicity, any one language.

God is the God of the whole world, and the church is called to make disciples of all nations.

That does not mean, however, that each individual Christian is necessarily called to travel around the world, nor does it mean that if that's not your calling, that this isn't for you.

This is for everybody, no matter where they are at.

But it might mean going a few steps over to say hi to your neighbor when it'd be easier to pretend you don't see them.

Going might mean going over to somebody in the store that you know and saying hi to them and striking up a conversation.

Going might mean, for me, actually having a human check me out at the grocery store rather than using the self-checkout so I don't have to talk to anybody.

Going is simpler than perhaps we make it out to be.

Going might mean that when I'm scrolling on my phone watching videos for no good reason, maybe I need to take my thumb and call or text somebody that I've been thinking about.

The going might be as simple as moving my thumb.

Going can be simpler than we often realize.

There's a saying that I like, and it says this think globally, but start locally.

Think globally, but start locally.

In other words, the church's mission encompasses the whole world.

But we start that mission locally, where we are at.

Take steps to make disciples where we are at.

If we want to have an outwardly focused faith, we need to get started somewhere.

There's a proverb, you may have heard, that says that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

It could be quite literally a single step over to say hi to somebody.

But we have to get started somewhere.

What opportunities do you have to go?

Right where you are.

You might not have to go far.

There are opportunities around us if we are willing to be sensitive to the leading of God's Spirit.

I encourage each one of us, each day, to pray and to ask the Holy Spirit for an awareness of opportunity around us, of people we might go to, even in small ways, and bless in the name of Jesus.

If we want to have an outwardly focused faith, we have to go.

Go somewhere.

But all right, once we go, once we make some kind of a connection, well then what are we supposed to do?

What next?

Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The next verb, the next action, he says, after go is baptize.

Now, baptism is a public sign of faith in Christ.

We had the privilege a couple of weeks ago of having a baptism here, and that was a joyous occasion, as we got to witness individuals publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ.

The apostles in the New Testament often baptized people when they came to faith in Christ.

Traditionally, today, baptism is done in the context of the gathered church upon profession of faith in Christ.

So when Jesus says that we are to baptize, it doesn't necessarily mean that every individual Christian is to be baptizing people, although it's possible that God could lead you to do so.

But even if you are not physically baptizing people, each one of us is to play a role in helping others make a public profession of faith in Jesus.

Each one of us is to play a role in helping others make a public profession of faith in Jesus.

What it means is that when we go, we strike up relationships.

And when we strike up relationships, we have the opportunity to bear witness to Jesus, both in word and in deed.

We bear witness to Jesus in word and in deed as a way of helping others come to a place of faith.

Witnessing for Jesus involves both what we say and how we live.

We're to live in such a way that it indicates that we follow a different master, that we worship the risen Savior.

Unfortunately, regrettably, the church often has not been really great at this.

I want to admit, there's been in many cases a discrepancy between the faith that we profess and the way that we live.

And often this creates a hindrance to people coming to faith in Christ.

On the other hand, there are many who have come to faith through the witness of the lives of faithful Christians around them.

People could witness those living for Christ and see that there was something different about their lives.

We are to live in such a way that people realize we march to the beat of a different drummer, that we live according to a different standard, we follow a different master.

Jesus says that what you do for one of the least of these, you have done to me.

There is an intimate connection between the way that we treat other people and our attitude toward Jesus Himself.

As we soften in our attitude towards Jesus and grow in our love for him, we should likewise soften in our attitude toward other people and grow in our compassion for them.

Our faith is to have its outworking in compassion and in mercy for the least of these.

We're to witness to Jesus through how we live and also through what we say.

We're to proclaim the gospel verbally.

There's a saying, perhaps you've heard, I've heard it from time to time, it says this preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.

Anyone heard this?

Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.

There's a similar saying comes to mind when I go to cook dinner.

Cook food at all times, use ingredients if necessary.

Preaching the gospel requires words.

Preaching the gospel requires words.

The saying, preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary is well intentioned, I think, to emphasize that our lives should communicate the message.

But the gospel has a verbal component and it needs to be proclaimed.

People need to understand that Jesus died for their sins.

People need to understand that Jesus rose again to new life.

People need to understand the importance of trusting in Christ.

So we do need to preach the gospel, and if we are to do that, we are to use words.

Now that being said, Bible verse bombing people is rarely an effective evangelistic strategy.

Lobbing verses at strangers rarely is the most effective way.

Speaking the truth in the context of relationship, I would suggest, is the best approach to take.

Build relationships with others, and those relationships then open the door to verbal witness.

We build relationships with other people, and it is within the context of that relationship that we have the opportunity to tell them about Jesus, to bear a witness to Jesus.

Beginning, perhaps, with just asking them questions.

Do you have any kind of a faith background?

How do you think about the important questions in life?

What guides you in life?

What's most valuable to you?

People might not know the language of Christianity, they might not know much about Jesus, but everybody has something that they hold sacred.

Everybody has something that guides and directs their lives.

Everybody has something that is most important to them.

Even opening the door to conversation can be a way to discuss and introduce the claims of Jesus with people.

Jesus tells us to have an outward faith.

And it means taking opportunities to build relationships.

We're to go.

Then when we go, we are to help others come to a place where they make a profession of faith in Christ.

That's baptizing.

But there's one more.

Jesus says, Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Helping people come to an initial place of faith is great, is very important.

But you see, the call to have an outwardly focused faith isn't simply about helping people cross the starting line of faith.

It's about helping people run the race well throughout their lives.

And that's why Jesus says that we are to teach all things.

We're to teach people to follow Jesus, to obey all the things He's commanded.

We live, I think, in a church culture that values the importance of making a decision.

Making a decision for Jesus.

And so often I will see reports that however many number of people came to faith in Christ at a revival meeting.

Thousands of people came to faith in Christ.

I heard something recently on the news that at a beach in Florida, 2,500 people were baptized all at once.

Well, that's wonderful.

Praise God for that.

But that is a starting point, not an ending point.

How many of those 2,500 people continue to grow in faithfulness as they live out Jesus' teaching?

I don't know the answer to that.

But that is the true test of one's faith commitment.

We're not simply to help people walk an aisle, get dunked, raise a hand in a service, make a decision for Jesus at one point.

We're to help them live a life of slow and steady faithfulness consistently throughout their lives.

We are to teach them all things that Jesus has commanded.

When I was in college in Chicago, downtown, I had a roommate who was really committed to he wanted to run the Chicago Marathon.

I could not understand what would possess somebody to want to do that.

To run a marathon.

What is that, like 24, 26 miles, something like that?

It's far enough that like it's a long drive in a car.

Why would you run it?

Well, my roommate was really committed to running the Chicago Marathon.

And he didn't even really train for it very much, to be honest.

He just kind of registered, and then one day he up and he did it.

And uh I was surprised when I came home.

Uh it was on a Sunday morning, and uh so I came home Sunday afternoon or back to our apartment, and he was there, and he told me he said I finished the marathon.

And I was proud of him.

I was I was impressed.

You know, that's a real accomplishment.

That's great.

He said, I finished the marathon.

Now, let's imagine the scenario a little differently.

Let's imagine that I came back to the room one afternoon, he stood up and he said, Eric, I started the marathon.

But he said, Well, Josh, even I can start a marathon.

Okay, the glory isn't in the starting.

The glory is in crossing the finish line.

Okay, I can start a marathon, I just sure can't finish it.

The life of faith is not simply about starting, but about finishing.

And we are to help others come to a place where they are willing to make a profession of faith in Christ and then also play a role in helping others continue on in faithfulness throughout their lives.

Now, if we are to teach others, that assumes something going into our lives.

If you are to teach others, that assumes somebody is teaching you and that you are receiving, because we cannot teach what we have not received.

So let me ask you this where in your life are you being fed and strengthened by the Word of God?

Are you, on a consistent basis, studying the scriptures, growing in your love for Christ, growing in your understanding of God's word?

Are you taking advantage of opportunities?

Here at the church?

Both Sunday mornings, Sunday school, Bible study, Thursday evenings?

Are you taking advantage of opportunities here at the church and elsewhere to grow in your faith and in your understanding of what Jesus teaches?

We cannot teach if we are not being poured into.

We have to receive in order to be able to give.

So we are to teach others.

And this is not something that is only for pastors or those who have an ordination certificate.

This is for everybody.

The entire body of Christ is to play a role in teaching others.

May have mentioned this before, but I lived with my uncle for a couple of years when I was in high school.

And one of the things that I was really struck by was the fact that he woke up very, very early every morning for work.

Like 1, 2 a.m., something like that.

Went very early.

For him, it was a good day when he could sleep in until 4 or 5 a.m.

He woke up very early.

And so one Sunday morning, he started going to church a couple hours early.

And I thought to myself, well, you know, this guy gets up early during the week.

Why is he going to church early?

Well, it's because there was somebody, a young man who'd been coming to the church and he hadn't professed faith in Christ, but he had a lot of questions about the Bible.

And so my uncle agreed to go to church early and to meet with him and discuss the scriptures with him.

And that stuck with me.

His commitment to teaching others, to helping others grow in their understanding.

Each one of us is to play a role in helping others grow in their ability to follow Jesus.

Now, Jesus has given us this series of commands: go, baptize, teach.

It is possible that we will have the opportunity to do all three of these for somebody, to lead somebody to faith in Christ and to teach them to disciple them.

It's possible.

But it's also possible that even if you are not with somebody for every step of the way, you can play a part in somebody's journey.

Perhaps you have the opportunity to share the gospel with a stranger and you never hear from them again.

You don't know what fruit that could produce.

Perhaps you have the opportunity briefly to interact with somebody to help them grow in their understanding of Scripture.

You may not see the fruit of that, but it may well be that they go on to live a life of faithfulness in part due to your influence, even if you can't see that.

It's very difficult to discern often how God is using each one of us.

And if we look around us constantly for validation and affirmation, it can be easy to get discouraged.

But eternity will tell the fruit of our labor.

We may not know it this side of eternity.

We might not see massive revivals.

We might, we might not.

But the key is faithfulness.

Day in, day out steadiness, doing what Jesus commands.

And as we do that, we can trust that He is at work.

This is quite a job description.

An outwardly focused faith.

Outwardly focused faith.

It can feel overwhelming.

It can feel isolating.

It can be easy to think, well, I'm just not up to the task.

I can't do this.

This is way above my head.

I'm not qualified.

You're right.

You're not.

And neither am I.

Neither is either one of us.

None of us are qualified.

But Jesus chooses to use us in his mission to the world because our weakness displays his authority and his power.

So not only does he give us these commands, go, baptize, and teach, he gives us some promises to go with them.

As Jesus gives us this command, he promises his authority.

He says at the very beginning in verse 18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jesus is Lord of the universe, and what we do, we do in his name.

That is, with his authorization, with his explicit command.

And when we seek to follow him, we are serving the greatest King.

And if others don't like what we're doing or how we're living, then we can invite them to take it up with Jesus.

Because we're simply being faithful to the job description he has given us.

Jesus says that he has authority to give us these commands.

Many years ago I worked a part-time job in a grocery store, and uh as I was starting the job, I was getting to know my colleagues, and I was working with the manager on training, and one day I was working the shift, and uh I got along with all the co-workers pretty well, but there was one who had a particular reputation for liking to tell people what to do.

And uh every little thing I would do, uh he would come to me and say that I did it wrong or that I needed to do it differently, even when I was doing it the way that the manager had just trained me, because I was pretty new.

And this was happening over and over again.

And finally, I I said to this coworker uh when they told me to do something different again, I said, sorry, I'm new here.

Uh just to clarify, are you my supervisor?

And there was silence.

In other words, what are you commanding me for?

You have no authority over me.

When Jesus commands us, he has authority over us.

When Jesus tells us something, it is backed by the weight of his eternal and almighty authority.

Jesus promises us his authority.

And then finally, he promises us his presence.

Jesus promises that he will be with us in the task that he gives us.

He says at the end in verse 20, surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

We are not alone.

His presence goes with us to strengthen and sustain us.

He doesn't give us a task without accompanying us on the journey.

He's not merely using us to get a task done.

He's walking with us throughout the task and strengthening our relationship with him as we go about it.

Being faithful to the mission of Jesus is a primary way that we grow in intimacy and in relationship with him.

And we can be confident that as we go about his mission, we will experience the power of his presence.

There's a quote that God's work done God's way will never lack God's provision.

God's work done God's way will never lack God's provision.

And that's true.

Jesus is with us to the end of the age.

We're to have an outwardly focused faith.

We're not to be concerned simply with what's going on within the walls of the church, but we are to be attentive to the world around us.

Because that's the world Jesus is seeking to reach.

And he tells us that if we're to have an outwardly focused faith, we're to go.

We're to baptize.

That is, help others make a profession of faith.

And then we're to teach.

Help others follow Jesus.

And as he gives us these commands, he gives us these promises that he has authority and that he has given us his presence.

And as we go in his name, we can rest confident in his authority and take comfort in his presence.

Many of you may know the story of the Titanic.

It was a ship that sank in 1912.

It was on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, going from England to New York City, and tragically, on its first journey across the ocean, it struck an iceberg and began to sink rapidly.

Well, making the situation even more tragic, there was another ship about 20 miles away from the Titanic when it began to sink.

This ship was the Californian.

And the Titanic put out a distress call on the radio.

Well, the Californian had turned in for the night.

They turned off the radio.

The captain and the crew saw the flares, but they figured it was just them having a party and they weren't worried about it.

Because their radio was off, they couldn't hear the distress calls.

That ship was 20 miles away from the Titanic.

There was another ship, the Carpathia, that was about 50 miles away, more than two times the distance.

That ship had its radio on.

That ship in the distance saw the distress flares, and that ship immediately powered its engines and went to the scene of the Titanic to rescue the survivors.

That ship was responsive to the need around it.

Its radio was on, it saw the flares, and it responded when there was a need.

Let us be like the Carpathia, that ship that responded when there was a need.

Let us look out the window, see what's going on around us, pay attention to the need, and then ask Jesus to help us go about his mission in his way.