All of Jesus for All of Life
Sermon Recap
At the end of Matthew’s gospel, there is a dense flurry of activity. An earthquake, a shining angel at the empty tomb announcing Jesus is risen. The women who run to tell the disciples the news, only to meet Jesus on the way. And of course, the reunion of the resurrected Jesus with the 11 apostles, who last we saw them had abandoned Jesus in fear for their own lives.
To these 11 men, Jesus speaks the words we now call the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” In the end, we’re left with a sort of cliffhanger, wondering what these flawed and fearful men would do next.
These verses have often been used to inspire cross-cultural missionary work, provoking disciples of Jesus to go to far-away people and announce the good news of Jesus. Or, to focus the work of the church on “making disciples”. And many of us feel sometimes like we are not qualified to do that kind of work ourselves.
When we leave the whole conversation of Jesus together (Matthew 28:16-20), it still challenges us to walk this mission forward in our time. But it also gives comfort and hope and a beautiful vision of life with Jesus. You as you are, under the authority of Jesus as He is, expressing the Lordship of Jesus in all your going and doing, with Him – always.
“You as you are” – It’s so striking that Matthew notes that when the 11 met the resurrected Jesus, they worshiped – and some doubted. Jesus doesn’t rebuke their doubts, he treats it as if it is normal. Frederick Bruner points out that by describing the worshiping and doubting in the same sentence, Matthew shows us that disciples will live their lives between the poles of worship and doubt. All disciples will live their lives between worship and doubt.
“Jesus as He is” – Jesus announces, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” There may not be a more audacious claim in all of Scripture. Jesus speaks in a way that would remind Jewish people of the ancient prophecy of Daniel 7:14, and essentially says, “I’m him.” This message – that Jesus is Lord of all – is the message that we see the early church announcing throughout the book of Acts. Since Jesus is Lord of all, his disciples are called to move out into the whole earth to say so.
“In all our going and doing” – This moment changed the “goings” and “doings” of the apostles. Not much is known of the specifics of their later work and ministry, but we have a record of where most of them died – places both near (Rome, Jerusalem) and far (Ethiopia, India, Iran, more). They heard the command to go make disciples and they went. Many other disciples would follow their example.
However, it is important to note that in the 250 or so years from the end of the NT to when Constantine declared Christianity legal in 313, the church grew rapidly and broadly. Even in spite of local and at times empire-wide persecutions. This growth wasn’t driven by extraordinarily gifted individuals who went, who did the “go” thing. Rather, the gospel advanced through communities of ordinary people, loving, serving, worshiping - together.
“Go” can mean traveling to a far place, to a foreign people. It can also mean “go” as in “ready, set, go”, as in “get at it”. As in you as you are now, under the authority of Jesus as He is, inviting other people into a life of discipleship to Jesus. And if the going far is what God wants for you, He will make that clear.
We believe that the authority of Jesus compels us to announce the good news not just in the whole world, but in every area of life. Colossians 1:15-20 makes clear that the work of Jesus on the cross reconciled “all things” – every created thing – to Him. He is Lord of all of life.
So you will never step foot in a place that doesn’t belong to Jesus. You will never meet a single person who doesn’t exist for Jesus. And you will never do a single thing that falls outside the boundaries of what Jesus cares about.
So where in your life have you experienced the Lordship of Jesus? Maybe in ongoing healing from your past, maybe in the experience of forgiveness, maybe in submitting to Jesus’ teaching about sexual ethics or generosity or sacrificial love. Wherever it is, that is a place where you can join in the work of making disciples. Every life made different by Jesus becomes an invitation to others.
“With him – always”.
This, in the end, is what makes our lives different. Not moral superiority or philosophical soundness or anything besides this: life lived in conversation with the living Jesus.
You will never step into a single space that doesn't belong to him. You will never meet a single person who doesn't exist for him. And you will never take a single step without Him.
Entering Conversation
We recognize that every small group has its own conversational dynamics. Feel free to use either set of questions below – or use your own! – in order to structure your talking together. As you do, remember that our goal, always, is not to end up with merely better knowledge of the teaching, but to help each other respond to what was taught.
1. Reflect back on what you heard in this sermon, or on the thoughts that have come afterwards. What stood out to you, either because it was new/interesting, or because you felt like the Spirit directed your attention to it?
2. What might it look like to respond in some way to what you heard? (NB – this is where community can be helpful. Sometimes we don’t know what to do with what we heard, but others can help us identify ways of responding. Be free to help each other, graciously and gently, listening for what the Spirit may be prompting.)
3. As you close your time, pray together. Invite the Spirit to help you see where God has been at work in your life, and where you might have opportunities to share that with someone else.
-OR (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)-
1. What stories do you have about how you’ve encountered the Great Commission in the past? Or, what experiences do you have with church groups or programs that were called “discipleship” groups?
2. Keeping vs 17 in the conversation changes our ideas of who is qualified for this work of disciplemaking. Are there areas where doubt has caused you to hold back from talking with others about Jesus? What would change for you if you stopped treating your doubts as disqualifying?
3. What beliefs or feelings about yourself make you feel unready to invest in someone else's faith?
4. Is there a person in your life right now who you sense exists "for Jesus" — someone you interact with regularly but have never considered in light of their own relationship with God? What would it look like to begin paying attention to them differently?
5. “I am with you always,” Jesus said. On a practical level, how does — or how could — awareness of Jesus' presence change the way you interact with the people you encounter in a typical day?