Go And Make

We're closing out our series called Disciple This Morning.

And so what we've been looking at over the last several weeks is this reality that we're called to be disciples of Jesus, but not just called to be disciples, but to make disciples.

Our mission here is to be sent on mission to make disciples and plant churches.

And so before we can make a disciple, we have to understand what a disciple is.

And so we've been working through that.

We've looked at the call of discipleship, the cost of discipleship, the way that we understand a disciple is someone who is with Jesus to be like Jesus and to do what Jesus did.

And so this morning we're going to be looking at go and make.

Here's what I want us to start thinking through.

It's this notion that it is far easier to become than it is to make.

What I mean by that is if we were to assess and measure the time and energy we put into our spiritual life, we're gonna see a very heavy-handed reality where there's a focus on becoming.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus, becoming more faithful to him, becoming more intimate in relationship with him, right?

There's a ton of energy put into that.

What we'll see is a deficiency in time and energy making others disciples of Jesus.

We've lost that focus and drive in the church today.

And so we need to understand that these two things are not able to be separated from one another.

In fact, they are locked in together when we understand the holistic reality of what Jesus is calling to when he says, follow me.

You see, the scriptures show us that there really is no becoming without making.

Over the last several weeks, as we've looked through what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, we've worked to understand it through this progression of maturity.

Disciples are those who orient the entirety of their life to be with Jesus, to be like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did.

And this pathway focuses its attention primarily on becoming a disciple of Jesus.

But as I said before, we would discover a deficiency in our spiritual lives if we simply ended there.

This thing called Christianity, the life that Jesus calls us to, is not fulfilled in simply becoming.

You see, true discipleship is not only realized in the becoming, but it is fully known in the making also.

That's what the life of a disciple actually aims for.

To go and make other disciples of Jesus.

The kingdom of heaven expands and it impacts the culture that we find ourselves in through the principle of multiplication.

How did the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ spread throughout the known world?

How did it change entire civilizations?

How did it make this cultural impact that we really can't even fathom and understand?

It was through this principle of multiplication that Jesus' disciples were sent on mission to make other disciples of him.

The very assignment tasked to Jesus' disciples before his ascension was to go and make.

This is exactly what you would expect a rabbi to say to his disciples at the end of their training.

I've matured you, I've poured into you, I've equipped you, I have built you up.

Now go and make more.

And this is the commission that's been passed down to us to be a people who are sent on mission to make disciples.

So in the Gospel of Luke, where we're at this morning, turn to your Bibles or open your app, Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

We see in the Gospel of Luke the physician a time where Jesus commissions those following after him to go and make disciples in the surrounding areas where Jesus is about to go and minister.

So he sends these 72 out in front of him to the places of where he's about to go, and he charges them to be on mission with the gospel and the message of the kingdom of God in hand.

You see, Jesus and his followers, they're making a route here in the gospel to Jerusalem.

And along the way, as they're journeying there, he actually cautions them of the cost of being a disciple.

He warns them of its absence of comfort, its demanding urgency, and its focused dedication.

And from this admonition, from this caution, he sends out 72 to proclaim the kingdom of God.

That's where we pick up in 10 1.

Says this after the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Here's what Jesus does.

Now, if you were to think of what is the obstacle of mission, right?

If you were to sit here and try to assess and analyze, if we were gonna go out into the culture and preach the kingdom of God, right, what's the obstacle that we're gonna face?

What's the primary one?

I'm guessing it's not gonna be what Jesus says it is, right?

Here's how he articulates the obstacle to mission.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

You see, we tend to go through life with a very different perspective.

We look out across the field of culture and we see a desolate wasteland where there is no hope for anything to take root, grow, and produce a harvest.

We convince ourselves, right?

We look at the worldview of others, we look at the politics, the lifestyle, we look at the way that they engage with one another, and we convince ourselves that the culture is far too antagonistic, too progressive, too disconnected, self-absorbed, degenerate, that their hearts are too hardened, like a rock upon which nothing could ever grow.

So, what do we do?

We shrink back.

We shrink back, and here's the here's the the detrimental part of it.

We don't focus on going and making, we focus on self-preservation.

We don't go and make, we retreat and protect.

That's what the church has been known for for the last several decades.

How can we survive in such a hostile culture?

But Jesus positions the obstacle of mission from a different view.

It's not that people's hearts are so hard that nothing can grow.

It's that there aren't even enough laborers to go and harvest the abundance of fruit that's hanging off the vine.

To see the culture as Jesus does, right?

This is what we have to do as Christians.

We have to try to renew our minds so that we might see the world around us in the way that Jesus Himself does.

He sees it through a lens of abundance.

He sees it from this hope-filled harvest that is surrounding us.

He does not see it through a lens of destitution.

We have to renew our outlook and thinking because the obstacle of mission doesn't reside in the culture.

The obstacle of mission resides in the church.

Let me say that again.

The obstacle of mission does not reside in the culture.

The obstacle of mission resides in the church.

Jesus gives us a way to overcome this obstacle, though.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Here's what I know to be true.

Here's what I know to be true.

We love self-reliant strategy.

We despise dependence.

We love to be self-reliant.

We hate being dependent.

And so, what do we focus our time and energy on?

Strategy.

How are we gonna engage the culture?

How are we gonna do this?

How are we gonna set up small groups?

How are we gonna preach in such a way?

How are we gonna dress so that people will like us and think we're cool?

This happens like I'm behind those doors when they're like, oh, I think we should play music that no.

Stop depending on this self-reliant strategy.

You have got to be dependent upon God Himself.

Prayer is rooted in utter dependence.

God, I can't do this.

You can do this, do something.

Right?

That's what the heart of prayer is.

I have no ability, resource, strength, energy, courage to be able to do what is in front of me.

God, you've got to do it.

Pay attention to the reason that we cannot function in self-reliance and we must work to function through dependent prayer.

It's because God is the Lord of the harvest.

This is what Jesus says.

Pray to who?

Pray to the Lord of the harvest.

This is his.

This isn't ours.

We're laborers in the vineyard.

He's the vineyard owner.

The harvest of souls is his.

I've set an alarm on my phone to go off Monday through Saturday at 10.02 a.m.

So Luke chapter 10, verse 2 says, pray to the Lord of the harvest that he might send laborers into the harvest.

Luke 10:2

I just have that titled Pray for Laborers.

So 10.02 a.m.

every day, except for today, because it'd go off on preaching, right?

And I'm probably gonna be asleep at 10.02 p.m.

Uh, I have this alarm go off to remind me, to pray.

I'd love for you to join me in that.

It's a simple way to be reminded, no matter where you're at.

Hey, even if it's Lord, send laborers.

And then you got to get back to data entry or whatever you do, right?

I don't know, but to overcome the obstacle of mission before us, church, we need to be utterly dependent in prayer.

And we need to refocus our sight to see the culture as God sees it.

And how does God see it?

He sees it as a plentiful harvest.

Verse 3.

Go your way.

Go your way.

Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

Now, here's what I want us to understand.

We would be foolish to assume that there is no danger in gospel mission.

We would be foolish to assume that there is no danger in gospel mission.

Jesus told his disciples in John 15, he said, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.

But because you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world.

Therefore, the world hates you.

Here's what we have to understand about this passage in light of its previous one.

Okay.

It's not that there is no danger in mission from a hostile and antagonistic culture.

It's that their hostility isn't the greatest obstacle to mission.

So we need to prioritize our understanding.

The greatest obstacle doesn't reside in the culture, it resides in the church.

But that's not to say that there's not an obstacle once we go out.

That there's not fierce wolves that reside within the city we are trying to reach.

You see, when the sheep of God's fold are sent out to be witnesses of his glory, they are vulnerable to the attack of fierce and hungry wolves.

Enemies are waiting to tear them to pieces with angry words and violent assaults.

This has been throughout the entire history of the church.

Because the darkness hates the light.

And what does it do?

It tries to extinguish the light.

That's what darkness tries to do.

And so this is expected as we are sent on mission to reach this culture.

The life of disciple is not centered around the avoidance of suffering, right?

That's not what we're trying to do.

This is what we have been trying to do.

Our mindset has been we're going to try to avoid as much suffering as we possibly can.

And so, therefore, we've retreated and we function in self-preservation.

That's not the mindset of a disciple, it's not what Jesus calls us to.

It's about knowing and treasuring the joy of suffering.

Because Jesus is with us.

Let us reshape our thinking.

The life of a disciple is not centered around the avoidance of suffering.

The life of a disciple is about knowing and treasuring the joy of suffering for his name's sake.

To have the posture of heart like Peter and the apostles did in Acts 15, who's who did this.

They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name.

Look at the way they view their circumstance.

Man, when we encounter suffering for Christ's sake, the first thing we do is we try to disrobe ourselves of the garment of which Christ has placed upon us.

Worthy to suffer for his name.

We're saying, no, no, no, get this off of me.

I want to do everything I can to avoid that.

But the disciples, when they knew Christ and they knew the promise that was before, and they knew the life that was obtained through him, they donned themselves with that garment in this joyful posture to say, I'm worthy to suffer for his name.

I'm worthy to suffer for his name.

In fact, I would imagine that if they did not experience the suffering of Christ, they would be worried about the authenticity of their confession.

Jesus is aware of who he is sending us out among.

Like Jesus isn't unaware.

Jesus isn't just like happy, go lucky, like, hey man, go out there and see what happens.

Right?

No, he understands.

We're sheep, they're wolves.

That's what's happening here.

He charges us to behold it in the text.

What's he actually charging us to do?

We're supposed to be sober in our awareness of the reality of what we face when we seek to proclaim the gospel to the city.

We're supposed to be wise as serpents, gentle as doves.

Truth and grace abide within us.

But see, what Jesus wants us to do is not just have an awareness of their presence, He wants us to be sheep who are joyfully aware of our shepherd's presence.

Man, this is Psalm 23.

Look, too many of us we're aware of the wolf's presence.

Can I tell you something, church?

There's the shepherd's presence next to you.

Psalm 23, verse 4.

Psalms 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

How aware are we of the shepherd's presence in our life?

Right?

We talked about being with Jesus to make him the resting home of our heart and mind.

When we operate in fear, when we operate in anxiousness and worry, right?

Are we aware of our shepherd's presence with us?

Does his authority, his rod and staff, does his power, does his lordship comfort your trembling heart?

Jesus makes us aware of this so that we will rely on his protection.

We must go out as sheep among the wolves, but we still have a shepherd who has promised to walk with us all the way, even through the valley of the shadow of death.

Verse 4 carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

So the disciples here in Luke 10, they were told to go as they were, without even taking so much as an extra pair of shoes.

Now, this charge that we see here in verse 4, it may be very specific to this particular sending event.

But there is a lasting principle that we can draw from it about being a disciple on mission.

I think this is what it is.

Not only should we be dependent on God's promises, but we must be a people who are dependent on his provision.

Not only should we be dependent on God's promises, but we must be dependent upon his provision.

What God calls us to, he will always provide to accomplish it.

You see, too often I think we become overly dependent on the things we possess.

Right?

Most of us we don't have a care in the world.

We've got more than what we could ever imagine needing.

And what do we do in that context?

We become comfortable and complacent.

Right?

Because of the abundance of the possessions of which we hold.

And perhaps this is why we hear the reverberation of revival coming out of countries who have nothing.

Maybe we're seeing spiritual awakenings throughout the world in places where people are so poor because they have no other option but to depend on God to provide for them.

Imagine a life where you didn't just provide on your stuff.

But you provided, you you depended upon Him.

Like days, weeks, months go by in our life where we don't cry out to God that He would move in our life because we got stuff that does it for us.

I don't need to worry when my kid gets sick.

I don't need to struggle through, oh, am I how am I gonna eat today?

I need to figure these things out, right?

Storm's coming.

Am I gonna survive it because I'm left to this natural disaster?

Right?

That's not what we deal with.

So we just sit there, sip our cortado in this warm, nice, cozy house that I have, and just take some Benadryl, right?

Everything's good.

That's what I did yesterday.

You see, in countries where there's no abundance, no prosperity, no vast possessions, there's nothing else but dependence.

Dependence upon a God who said that He would provide.

And I would submit there is a dreadful pattern that has developed in the heart of man.

The dreadful pattern.

That's developed in the heart of man is that the more we have of the natural, the less we seek the supernatural.

The more we have of the natural, the less we seek of the supernatural.

Because we have no felt need for it.

Why would you cry out to a God when you have little gods filling your homes to provide everything you could ever need?

The life of a disciple may very well be called to one of want.

Because we ultimately discover that in losing we truly gain everything.

You see, we must not allow the distraction of our possessions to keep us from the urgency of mission and the God Himself who promised that he would provide the supernatural means for us to accomplish it.

I love this quote by J.C.

Ryle.

He's an old Baptist preacher.

He says this let us strive to show the men of the world that we have no time for their mode of living.

Let us show them that we find life too precious to be spent in perpetual feasting and visiting and calling and the like, as if there were no death or judgment or life to come.

By all means, let us be courteous, but let us not make the courtesies of life an idol before which everything else must bow down.

Church, if we're honest with ourselves, we've made mission bow down to our comfort and complacency.

Again, the issue with mission is not in the culture, it's right here.

Our dependence upon God isn't only seen through prayer.

Sometimes it's seen through entering into a circumstance with nothing but your faith.

Where if God doesn't provide, you have no chance of ever making it.

Verse 5.

Whatever house you enter first, say, Peace be to this house.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.

But if not, it will return to you, and remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.

Do not go from house to house.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in it, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.

I think there's three things in this section of the passage that we can observe this morning in regard to mission, specifically about the necessity of gospel proclamation and demonstration.

We talked about this last week, right?

What do we do?

We go to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus.

So the priority of mission, the priority of mission is in the proclamation of the gospel by the inbreaking of the kingdom of God in the person and work of Jesus.

Jesus, who is the king of peace.

Because through his death and resurrection, he becomes the peace that we need between us and God the Father.

And so mission is driven.

It's driven by proclaiming this gloriously good news.

As Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth, he said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

The priority of mission is proclamation.

The proclamation of the gospel of Jesus, the kingdom of God.

So when we engage with people around us, and when we engage in peep with people that are in our lives, we we must share the good news of peace with them, proclaiming to them the absence of peace that is apart from Jesus, and the presence of peace only discovered and known in him.

And if they are a son of peace, he says, meaning this if they are one who the Spirit of the Lord went before you to prepare their heart for harvest, the peace of Jesus you proclaim to them will rest upon them because they're going to receive it in joy.

Remember, he's the Lord of the harvest.

This is his.

That there are many within our own city who are his.

And what are they doing?

They're waiting for us to go and proclaim the announcement of peace to them.

You see, this was the assurance that Paul was receiving from the Lord himself after he had suffered under opposition and revilement from fierce wolves within Corinth.

The Lord spoke to Paul himself in a vision in Acts 18.

He says, This do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.

So Paul suffers all of this rejection.

He suffers all of this revilement and opposition.

And the Lord visits him and he gives him boldness to go back into the city to proclaim the gospel.

And what's his two reasons that Paul should get up with a chest full of courage and enter into this city again?

I'm with you.

And there's many in this city who are my people.

Paul, you got to get up and go.

You've got to get up and go and proclaim the message of Jesus, my son.

They're waiting for you.

What's that say?

There's a harvest out here.

There's a harvest out here.

The second observation that we make is the contentment and joy of fellowship.

Jesus tells those who He's sending to stay, to fellowship with and enjoy the presence of all who receive their message.

Be content with the home and the meal that they provide.

Receive it as a gift and be grateful for the provision.

Don't be so concerned about the next destination that you miss the present moment.

You see, remember, we have to try to remind ourselves that in the kingdom of God, people are priority.

We're not so much about, we're not against it.

Our mode, like our preferred mode, is not just standing on a street corner with a megaphone preaching.

I'm thankful for those dudes.

I'm not mad at them.

I'm sure there's many who's come to faith through their preaching.

And dear Lord, I ain't doing that, right?

So kudos.

But here's what we see with inside the scripture.

Evangelism without relationship, it seems absence of substance.

We're supposed to be in relationship with the people that we're ministering to.

We're supposed to fellowship with them.

They're supposed to be a part of our lives.

Right?

It is giving them a taste of this community that God reconciles us to through his son.

Remember, what's a healthy disciple?

It's someone who is reconciled to God through Jesus, reconciled to his people, the church, and reconciled to his mission to go and make disciples.

As we're sharing the gospel, as we're proclaiming to them the peace of Christ.

Where is this presence of substance where we have a relationship with these people?

They don't feel like a project, they feel like a person who you value and love and care for.

Because we're going to see this is how we demonstrate the kingdom here in just a moment.

What benefit is a message of good news if there are no good people to share it with?

You see, the very nature of the gospel is that there's this reconciling reality.

Reconciled even to one another.

The third observation is the demonstration of the gospel or the demonstration of the kingdom coming near to his people.

You see, the disciples were sent by Jesus to give the people who lived in the surrounding areas the message that the kingly, sovereign rule of God was near to them.

But they weren't just sent to proclaim the message, they were sent to demonstrate its reality and cause others to experience its benefit working in their own hearts and lives.

Now, for the disciples in this passage, I want to be like aware and draw our attention to there was something significant about this moment.

Jesus seemed to impart into them or resource them with this particular specific ability to go into the homes of those who received the message of the kingdom and to heal all who are in it.

I want to recognize and point, I believe that this is particular to this moment.

Now, for us, we don't have such a distinct gift.

I don't want to falsely assume that.

So do we have the same imparted gift as these 72?

I don't believe so.

Does that mean we shouldn't walk into people's homes and pray for their healing, pray for their deliverance, depend upon God to work a miracle in and through us?

I believe we absolutely should.

But let me say this: whether he works miracles through you or not, I believe that as disciples of Jesus, we're called to demonstrate the love of God in practical deeds of mercy, of grace, and compassion.

And this is essential for an effective gospel witness.

How do you, in the way that you love them, demonstrate to them that the kingdom of God is near?

So we're sent in the power of the Spirit for gospel proclamation and demonstration, both telling and showing others that the kingdom of God has come near.

Verse 10.

But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you.

Nevertheless, know this that the kingdom of God has come near.

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

The final part of this passage shows us that people who reject this gospel message, they do so at their own peril.

You see, shaking the dust off of your feet, it was a sign of rejection.

It was a sign of exclusion and even condemnation.

It meant that the people of that community were outside the people of God.

You see, what we have to realize about the love of God is the love of God is radically exclusive.

At the end of days, there will be a kingdom that walls surround it, and the people who are his reside in it with God present ever before them.

And all who else who are not his, they're not going to be in that city.

You see, heaven is an eternal restrain of evil, and it is an eternal capturing of righteousness.

God's love is radically exclusive, and it is steadfast for his people.

You see, their message, if these people rejected it, would be to publicly demonstrate that you're cut off from God then.

You're cut off from his people.

And notice what Jesus does.

Jesus still charges these disciples to declare this statement the kingdom of God has come near.

Look at these two stark contrasts.

One town, one house, they go, they proclaim peace.

There's a son of peace there, they receive it and they say, The kingdom of God is near, right?

The kingdom of God is near, and they heal the whole house.

And then they go to this other place and they proclaim peace is here, and they reject it, and they stand out in the street and they shake the dust off and they say you're cut off from God.

And remember, the kingdom of God is near.

Those are the same words with two very different messages.

One, it is a proclamation of hope and life and blessing, and the other, it's damnation and judgment and wrath.

But it's the same kingdom.

The kingdom of God has come near.

You see, the difference is that for those who reject the message of the gospel of Jesus, the nearness of the kingdom of God is not for peace, it is for peril.

And their life will not be marked by healing and restoration.

Their life will be marked by the unbearable wrath of God.

That's what Jesus says.

It's going to be better for Sodom than for them.

As disciples of Jesus, we're sent to go and make others' disciples through the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel.

Church, the harvest that is before us, it's the Lord's.

We need to pray that he would send laborers into this harvest.

We need to pray that he would give us the courage and boldness to go, that we would be dependent upon him for mission.

You see, he's gonna see to it that the mission will succeed no matter what obstacles, no matter what enemies we may face.

All we must do is simply and faithfully go.

So, church, outside these walls?

Or out there, right?

Outside these walls, there's a city full of people that are the Lord's.

Does that stir you?

Does that excite you?

Does that give you courage?

Does that bring you joy?

Outside of these walls, there is an entire city of around a hundred and fifty thousand people who are the Lord's.

All that is missing is you, laborers who will go and declare to them that the kingdom of God has come near.