We have, as a church, been spending this month on mission,
and we will end this month with that great missionary text,
Matthew 28, 16 to 20.
This passage of the Bible has moved generations of men,
women, and children to sacrifice their all,
their homes, their careers, their lives,
to take the gospel to the edge of the world and beyond.
And I pray that this passage will do that for us today.
I want to make three simple points from the passage.
The first point is the reason for global mission.
And I want to draw your attention to verse 18.
The reason for global mission.
Jesus came to them, that is the 11,
and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
It has been said that mission is beggars telling other beggars where to find food.
That is true.
The world is full of needy people, blind people,
destroying themselves.
They are like sheep without a shepherd.
And we ought to have compassion on them.
But the reason for mission given in this passage here
is not simply the needs of the world.
Nor is it simply a command of Jesus.
Since William Carey,
Christians have treated Matthew 28 as the 11th commandment.
Yes, it is true that Jesus gave a commandment to his 11.
But again, the reason for global mission given here by Jesus is very different.
Please have a look again at verse 28.
Jesus says,
All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.
The reason for the disciples of Jesus going into the world to proclaim the gospel
is that Jesus is Lord.
The Old Testament has promised that God will one day send his special king to establish his kingdom.
He is the son of David.
In Daniel 7, we see a picture painted of this coming king.
When he comes, all authority on heaven and on earth will be given to him.
And at the resurrection of Jesus, this has now happened.
The greatest missionary passage in the Bible is ultimately not about mission.
Or church.
Or money.
Ultimately, the greatest missionary passage in the Bible is about Jesus.
Jesus is the reason for global mission.
For he is worthy of all our glory and honour and power.
If global mission were about the needs of our neighbours,
we can always find a greater need than theirs.
The church in Cheswood is shrinking.
But the church in Africa is growing.
Logically, why would we give to Africa when we can give here?
When the need seems to be greater.
But, if our focus is on the honour of Jesus,
then we will not find one worthier of our glory, honour, or our money, or our lives.
I have told a story of Helen Roosevelt before,
but her testimony is so great and worthy that we should hear it again.
Roosevelt was a doctor working in the Congo in the 1950s.
She worked with orphans.
She started a camp for orphans with leprosy.
A godly, gracious, compassionate woman
with a quiet, gentle spirit.
A woman of God.
In the 1960s, there was political unrest.
A revolution.
Most Western missionaries left.
But Helen Roosevelt stayed, along with a few others.
She couldn't leave the people behind,
and trusting herself to God.
In that period, at least 27 missionaries were killed.
Helen Roosevelt herself was captured by the rebels.
She was beaten, kicked, and brutally raped.
Finally, she was rescued by mercenary soldiers
and returned to Britain for recovery.
She was asked a tough question by a TV interviewer.
And that was the question,
Was it worth it?
The suffering and all that you went through,
was it worth it?
And she replied,
The question is not whether it is worth it.
The question is,
Is God worthy?
And the answer is yes.
He is worthy.
A hundred percent worthy.
He is worthy of all that we can offer up and more.
After 14 months of treatment in England,
she returned to the Congo to help rebuild the nation.
What is worthy to give up your life for?
To sacrifice everything for?
The reason for mission.
Secondly, the content of global mission.
Verses 19 to 20.
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,
and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.
The content of mission.
Because Jesus is Lord,
what are his disciples to do?
They are,
verses 19 to 20,
they are to make disciples of the nations.
Global mission is discipleship.
Well, how do we make disciples?
Two things are highlighted.
Firstly,
baptism,
which is what we'll be doing later on.
But strictly speaking,
the baptism here is not the baptism
that we will be doing with water later on today.
What we will do later with the water
is a symbol of what Jesus is talking about here.
Here,
to baptize,
I believe,
means to bring into relationship
with someone
under the authority of.
And what,
this is why,
sorry,
this is why the nations are to be baptized into.
So the proposition is into.
To bring into a relationship.
Into what relationship?
Into who?
To have relationship.
The nations are to be brought into a relationship
with God who is Father,
Son,
and Spirit.
It is a reminder to us that
the God of the Bible
is not the force,
but personal.
He is Father.
God is also Son.
God is a reminder to us
that we cannot save ourselves from our sins.
We need someone else
to save us from our sins.
It's also a reminder
that God is Spirit.
That you cannot be in a relationship with this God
by trying harder
to be a better person.
You need to be born again.
Our friends today
will be baptized by water later.
The ceremony symbolizes
that they have entered
into a relationship
or under the authority
of this God.
Secondly,
discipleship involves
teaching
and by implication,
learning.
It is, first of all,
an intellectual exercise.
Discipleship involves
the changing of the mind.
In Matthew,
if you read through the Gospel,
you will see that Jesus
has spoken a great deal
about discipleship.
So, Sermon on the Mount.
Christian disciples
have a righteousness
greater than the hypocrites.
Christian disciples
do not do religion
for show.
We are faithful
in our marriage.
We are people
of our word.
We love
even our enemies.
Like Helen Roosevelt.
We are not preoccupied
by the worries
and anxieties
of this life.
Our greatest ambition
is Jesus
and his kingdom.
If you go to Matthew 16,
24 to 26,
this is what Jesus says.
If I can tap that,
16.
Jesus said to his disciples,
discipleship,
if anyone would come
after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me.
For whoever wants
to save his life
will lose it.
But whoever loses
his life for me
will find it.
What good will it be
for a man
if he gains
the whole world
yet forfeits his soul?
Or what can a man
give in exchange
for his soul?
Discipleship
involves
Jesus.
This is a disciple
of Jesus.
Jesus is everything
to this disciple.
Global mission
is discipleship.
You cannot disciple
the nations
unless, of course,
you yourself
are a disciple
of Jesus.
You cannot call
other people
to give up
everything for Jesus
if you yourself
are not doing it.
The reason for mission,
the content of mission,
and lastly,
the promise of mission.
Verse 20.
Jesus says,
go into the world
to make disciples
and surely
I am with you
always
to the very end
of the age.
The promise
is the presence
of Jesus.
We need to remember
that global mission
is Jesus' mission.
It has always been
and it will always be.
Jesus continues
to be at work
in the world today,
saving it.
The reason for mission,
the content for mission,
and the promise
of mission.
When I started,
I invited you
to consider,
to think about
what would be
the content
of your final letter
or your final tweet.
I wonder
what you wrote
or if you didn't write
what you had in mind.
I think that
what you write
tells a lot
about what's
important to you,
who you are
as a person,
and what you want
the people
after you
to remember you by.
I want to tell you
about Karen Watson.
She was an
international board
missionary.
On 15th of March,
2004,
she was killed
in Iraq.
Karen was 38.
She had been
a Christian
for only
eight years.
She loved
the word of God
and the work of God
with a great passion.
This is what
she wrote
as her last letter.
Dear Pastor,
you should only
be opening
this letter
in the event
of my death.
When God calls,
there are no regrets.
I try to share
my heart with you
as much as possible.
My heart
for donations.
I wasn't
called to a place.
I was called
to Him.
To obey
was my objective.
To suffer
was expected.
His glory
my reward.
The missionary
heart
cares more
than some
think is wise,
risks more
than some
think is safe,
dreams more
than some
think is practical,
expects more
than some
think is possible.
I was
called
not to comfort
or to success,
but to obedience.
There is no joy
outside of knowing
Jesus
and serving
Him.
I love you
and my church
family.
In His care,
salaam,
Karen.
What you wrote,
what you intend
to write
in your last letter
says a lot
about you.
What is important
to you?
What you would hold
of the greatest value?
I wonder
what you wrote.
C.T.
Stutt wrote,
Nail the colors
to the mask.
That is the right
thing to do
and therefore
that is what
we must do
and do it now.
The evangelization
of all
that are
un-evangelized.
Christ
wants not
nibblers
of the possible,
but grabbers
of the impossible.
Is there
a war
in our path?
By our
God
we will
leap over it.
Are there
lions
and scorpions
in our way?
We will
trample them
under our feet.
Does a mountain
bar our
progress?
saying,
Be thou
cast
into the sea.
We will
march on,
soldiers
of Jesus.
Never
surrender.
Nail the
colors
to the
mask.
We have
been talking
about
global
mission.
Sorry,
this isn't
translated.
It's easy
to talk.
If you
are a
follower
of Jesus,
then you
have been
called
to be
part of
this
mission.
And
rather than
just
talk,
I want
to invite
you,
if you
are a
follower
of Jesus,
to nail
your
color to
the
mask.
So again,
this is
very
confronting.
But if
you're not
prepared to
do it
here today,
then perhaps
you're not
prepared to
do it at
all.
I'm going
to invite
you to
nail
the
color
of,
sorry,
your
color
to the
mask,
not in
the
safety
of your
privacy,
but to
do it
in
public.
What I
want to
do is
Jesus
has issued
you a
call to
follow him,
to deny
yourself,
to give
your life.
To be
part of
this
global
mission.
If you
are prepared
to follow
him,
I want
to invite
you to
nail
your
color
to
the
mask.
That is
to stand
with me,
to ask
God to
take you
and to
use you
to send
you wherever
he may.
Right?
If you
prepare to
do that,
I want
to invite
you to
stand now
and as
you stand,
I'm going
to invite
you to
pray with
me a
prayer.
So if
you are a
follower of
Jesus and
you're ready
to take
on the
world,
with me.
I'm going
to invite
you to
say this
prayer in
your heart.
If you
prepare to
do this,
the prayer
should be
projected.
Don't pray
it lightly
because God
might answer
you.
All right?
Let us
pray.
Dear Lord
Jesus,
I give
myself to
you,
whatever the
cost may
be.
Take every
aspect of
my life
and use
me for
your kingdom
to glorify
your name.
I desire
to become
a person
who understands
and lives
and reverent
free all
of you.
I'll do
anything that
you want me
to do,
go anywhere
that you want
me to go,
and say
anything you
want me to
say.
I trust
you,
Lord,
to do that
which I
cannot do
for myself.
Teach me,
guide me,
and empower
me to
feed your
name.
For the
sake of
your name,
I pray.
Amen.