Sunday's Message - Witness to the World

Although it’s not hard to believe that we’ve been called by Christ, actually living that call may be a whole lot more challenging. And so, during the Sundays between the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Lent, we’ll consider seven ways we can live as followers of Jesus. The topics are listed below. 

• January 16 – Decide to Follow (Mark 1:14-20)
• January 23 – Grow in the Word (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
• January 30 – Pray in Faith (Matthew 6:5-15)
• February 6 – Claim the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26)
• February 13 – Fellowship with Believers (Colossians 3:12-17)
• February 20 – Witness to the World (Matthew 28:16-20)
• February 27 – Minister to Others (1 John 3:15-24)

During this sixth message, we used Matthew 28:16-20 to discuss how we might bear witness to the world.

You can stream all our services live by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube channel. If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on the Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community blog (https://thenettransform.blogspot.com/). 

Matthew 28:16-20 [My Own Translation]

And the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain that Jesus directed them. And when they saw him, they knelt before him, but they doubted. And after Jesus came to them, he said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Now when you go, disciple all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and by teaching them to obey everything that I commanded you. And see, I myself am with you all days until the completion of the age.”

Witness to the World

Well, we’re almost at the end of our sermon series, “Living the Call: Seven Ways to Live as Followers of Jesus Christ.” You see, when the month of February ends, we’ll be bringing the curtain down on what we’ve been talking about since the middle of January. And over the last five weeks, we’ve considered a bunch of different stuff. I mean, we’ve looked at how we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, can decide to follow him and how we can grow in the Word. And we’ve also talked about how we can pray in faith and claim the Holy Spirit. And during our service last week, we considered how we can better fellowship with other believers, something that’s a whole lot easier to do when we remember that God chose to love us and to make us special and that he also chose to unite us and to make us the Body of Christ. Now, in a nutshell, that’s what we’ve been talking about. And this morning, we’re going to focus on something else we can do as followers of Jesus, and now I’m talking about bearing witness to the world. 

And I’ll tell you, last Sunday afternoon, beginning at around 6:30, we got a great example of what this is really all about. Of course, that was when Super Bowl kicked off. But since we’re dealing with bearing witness, right now I’m really not talking about the game. Instead, I’m talking the commercials. For example, take this one which just so happens to be my personal favorite. 

I love it. Of course, there were others that I also enjoyed, you know like the one of Jerod Mayo tackling Pete Davidson or Caesar talking about how he loves salads or Eugene Levy becoming a thrill driver in a yellow Nissan. But you know, beyond being funny, I think they all did a good job of promoting their product. I mean, whether it was Amazon’s Alexa or Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Avocados from Mexico or cars from Japan, I think these ads really got our attention, at least they got mine. And you know, they were memorable enough that they’ll probably stay with me, at least for another week or so. In other words, in my opinion, they were really effective in bearing their own witness to the world. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about this morning. And even though our witness isn’t for something you can put on a sandwich or park in a garage (as a matter of fact, what we’re sharing is infinitely better), it’s still important for us to be as effective as we’re able to be, something that I think we all want to do but often we’re not all that sure about how. And so, during this message, we’re going to consider how we might become more effectively in bearing our Christian witness to the world. And to do that, we’re going to look at what Jesus said to his disciples in the passage we just read, and remember, these are the very last words he spoke in the Gospel of Matthew. You see, we’re going to take what he said to them and apply it to ourselves, something that I believe can make us better Christian witnesses. And like I said, it’s all in the verses we just read.

For example, first, as Jesus was talking with his disciples for the last time, I think he made an assumption, an assumption about where they were going to bear their witness. And I’ll tell you, I think that assumption also applies to us. I mean, just think about what he said. After talking about his authority, something we’re going to look at a little bit later, he said, “Now when you go,” [Matthew 28:19a, MOT] You see, according to the Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written, I think that’s what he said, and I’ll tell you, that’s the first of three reasons I’m using my own translation instead of the Contemporary English Version, which simply uses the word “go.” But right there’s the problem. When you look at this verb in the Greek, it’s not an imperative; therefore, Jesus wasn’t telling his disciples to go, as if they had a choice. In other words, he wasn’t giving a command; rather, he was making an assumption. You see, he was assuming that these guys were going to go, you know, that they weren’t going to stay up there on the mountain top indefinitely. Eventually, they were going to head back to their everyday lives down on the plain below. And that’s why he said “when you go,” because that’s exactly what he expected them to do. Now in my opinion, this is something important to remember. And as to these guys with whom he was talking, you know, the one’s who would be going, well, that’s the second reason I’m using my own translation. You see, a little earlier in the passage, again according to the Contemporary English Version, it says “they saw him and worshiped him, but some of them doubted.” [Matthew 28:17, CEV] Now that’s how it was translated, which sounds all well and good, you know, that most of them had faith and only a few had doubts. The problem is that the word “some” isn’t in the Greek. Instead, it literally reads, “And when they saw him, they knelt before him, but they doubted.” [Matthew 28:17, MOT] In other words, up there on the mountain, they all worshiped Jesus. And they all showed faith. But at the same time, they all had some doubts. 

And you know, when you combine that with the assumption that Jesus made, well, that really speaks to me, particularly when it comes to bearing witness. I mean, although I consider myself to be faithful, I’ve got to tell you, my faith is not perfect, and there are times when I have some questions and doubt. Of course, there’s some comfort knowing the Apostle Paul felt the same thing about himself. Just listen to what he wrote the Romans: 

But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. In fact, I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do what I know is right. I do the things I hate . . . I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot . . . What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? [Romans 7:14b-15,18,24, CEV]

Man, I don’t know about y’all, but I can really identify with what Paul said. And you know, that’s the reason, I’d love to stay on a mountaintop with Jesus. And I’d love to sort of hide out in the church. And I’d love to never face anything that would cause me to question and to doubt. That’s what I would love. But I’ll tell you, Jesus knew that wasn’t possible. And deep down, so do I, and so do you. Whether we like it or not, life is lived in the world we’ve got, not the one we want. And so, living as a follower of Jesus really is about when we go, when we leave there this morning and when we reenter our daily living as an imperfect people in an imperfect world, it’s right there where we can bear witness to Jesus Christ and to do it even thought we all have both faith and doubt. And I’ll tell you, we know this because Jesus made the assumption about where we’ll be bearing witness. And that’s the first thing he did.

And second, in this last conversation, he also gave a command, a command about how they should go about doing it. And I think he gives the same command to us. Remember, he said, “Now when you go, disciple all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and by teaching them to obey everything that I commanded you.” [Matthew 28:19-20a, MOT] According to the Greek, that’s what Jesus said. Now do y’all remember how I told you that there were three reasons I didn’t use the Contemporary English Version this morning? Well, this is reason number three. You see, in almost every translation, it talks about “making disciples,” but I’m really not sure that’s what Jesus meant. I mean, the actual word is the verbal form of the noun “disciple,” a word that’s not used very often in the Bible, one that has more to do with being than making. And frankly, I’m not sure that any of us have that kind of power anyway, you know, to make someone become a disciple. In my opinion, that involves God’s call and a personal decision, right? You see, to actually make a disciple would seem to be above my pay scale. But having said that, I do believe I’m able to disciple them, in other words, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ with them and for them. I mean, even though I’m far from perfect, this is something I can do.

And I’ll tell you something else, if I have any questions about how do it, you know, about how to disciple not just the people I like or with whom I agree, but all nations, I think Jesus gives us some pretty clear instructions. You see, we can disciple all nations by doing two things. One, we can do it through baptism, that sign of entry into the church, and two, we can do it by teaching, you know, letting folks know through both our words and our actions, that being a disciple of Jesus involves obeying two very clear and straightforward commands: 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments. [Matthew 22:38b-40, CEV]

In other words, we disciple all nations when we invite them in and to do what’s necessary to help them feel at home, even though that may mean stepping away from some of that stuff that we’ve done a long time, you know, things that make us feel comfortable and secure. That’s one. And two, we can also show them through our lessons and our lives what it means to love God and to love our neighbors. You see, this we know, because Jesus gave the command about how to bear witness. And that’s the second thing he did.

And finally, along with assuming and commanding, Jesus also offered a promise, a promise about how he would be with them as they obeyed his command. And brothers and sister, this promise is just as real for us as it was for them. I mean, after he talked about going and discipling, Jesus said, “And see, I myself am with you all days until the completion of the age.”  [Matthew 28:20b, MOT] In other words, when those disciples left the mountaintop and returned to their lives, they wouldn’t be going alone. And as they discipled others by inviting them in and helping them understand, they wouldn’t be doing that alone either. You see, Jesus would be there with them. Of course, this is really isn’t a surprise. I mean, according to Matthew, when he was born, his birth fulfilled a very specific prophecy only the Evangelist Matthew mentioned: So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.” [Matthew 1:22-23, CEV] You see, Jesus is still Immanuel. He always presence with us, and through that presence we can experience the reality of God.

And even though that can offer all kinds of comfort when we feel isolated and alone, I’m telling you, it can offer a whole lot more than just that. I mean, do you remember what the resurrected Jesus told those disciples who’d gathered up there on that mountain in Galilee, and I’m talking about before he said anything else?  “And after Jesus came to them, he said to them, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.’” [Matthew 28:18, MOT] In other words, the one who was rejected by his own people is the one who represents God’s cosmic rule. And the one who mocked as “King of the Jews” before the crucifixion has assumed his throne and begun his reign. And the one who was nailed to a cross and sealed in a grave is now and will always be the Lord of heaven and earth. You see, this is the one who is always with us; therefore, we can step forward with confidence and hope. I’m telling you, this we can do, because Jesus offered the promise about how he would always be with us. And that’s the last thing in did in this passage.

Now, like I said a little while ago, I really enjoyed a lot of the commercials they showed during the Super Bowl. But having said that, I’m really not sure any of them will actually change my behavior. I mean, I already have one Alexa and doubt that I’ll get another. And as a white, middle-class, southerner, I will continue to honor my cultural heritage and to eat mayonnaise, but it’ll probably have “Great Value” on the label and not Hellsmann’s. And I’ve never liked avocados and I really enjoy driving my little Honda, and I really don’t expect either to change anytime soon. No, for as good as those commercials were in bearing witness to their products, I’m really not all that different from I was before. 

But that doesn’t have to be the case with us, not as we bear our Christian witness to the world. You see, thanks to the assumption that Jesus made, we know exactly where we’ll be doing this. And thanks to the command that he gave, we know exactly what we’ll be doing. And thanks to the promise that he offered, we know exactly who’ll be with us every step of the way. These things we know. And even though we may little in common with either Scarlett Johansson or Colin Jost, as followers of Christ, together we can effectively bear witness to the world.