Matthew 28. 16-20. Disciples Make Disciples

The story for the eleven begins when Jesus first appeared in Galilee proclaiming, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."  They began to be a community of disciples when Jesus found Simon and Andrew, James and John and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  From then they say the Kingdom of God at work, they saw the demons driven out, they saw the sick healed, they saw the crowds gather and heard the teaching "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God...."  So it had gone on for months, two or three years. And then Jesus had been arrested, crucified, buried. Now the tomb was empty, Jesus was alive... seeing is believing... but seeing wasn't believing. On this mountain they worshipped, but some "held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally" (The Message translation).

We come to Jesus with a story to tell.  What is your story?  How has Jesus spoken to you and called you? What have you seen of his kingdom's power?  Maybe not a lot!  Maybe not as much as you would like?  What do you know of God's kingdom in his world?  Again, maybe not as much as you would like...  Let's not let that bother us.... Jesus has an agenda for our lives. He is looking toward the future not the past.  He calls us to participate in his mission, to participate in his life and to grow in his Kingdom.  Go and make disciples...


Disciples make disciples
Matthew calls the eleven who climbed the mountain with Jesus "Disciples"... and they are to "Go and make disciples of all nations."  Disciples make disciples make disciples make disciples.  Who makes disciples? Disciples? What do disciples make? Disciples.  The great commission is not to evangelism.  It is to discipling. It is to the worldwide making of disciples who make disciples. Jesus puts discipleship - disciple-making - at the core of what it means to be a Christian today.

The heart of discipleship: 
The task of the church is making disciples.  Making other people like us.  Not just perpetuating the institution: but perpetuating Jesus and the Kingdom.  Because it was Jesus and his Kingdom that were at the core of Peter and Andrew's, James and John's experience of being disciples....  Unless Jesus is at the centre, we are stuck. We are wasting our time.

The start of discipleship:

Go and make disciples, Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us a clear, decisive jumping-off point for discipleship. He tells us we are to take new disciples - not people who feel they are spiritually mature and thus ready for baptism or that "God is speaking to them about baptism" but people who are simply ready to commit to following Jesus - and lead them through this public, visible act of identifying them with Jesus in his death and resurrection, and of identifying them with the community of his people in the Church.  (As an aside, that raises significant questions about our Baptist practise of baptism "when you feel God is leading you to"  -- and of Church membership!)  The journey toward commitment to Jesus may well be a slow one. C S Lewis said it's like crossing the border, maybe from England to Scotland: if you were awake when you crossed the border you may know exactly when you crossed. if you were asleep you may not know. But you know that you have crossed it!  We may not always know quite when we crossed that line to become a disciple of Jesus.. We may not quite know when we made a start but we realise we have made a start. Discipleship involves a clear break with the past, a clear commitment to Jesus and his people.

The art of discipleship;
But that start is only the start.  Jesus says, "Baptise them and teach them to do everything I have told you." (Matt 28:20)  Teaching them to observe all.  Discipleship is not (repeat, not) about learning facts.  It is about learning to do what Jesus commanded.  It is about observing the commandments.  It is in other words, totally practical!  It's about living a life that says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."  It's about turning the other cheek, feeding the hungry. It's about praying with faith, healing the sick, driving out the demons. It's about humility, compassion, faith, authority.

We have a story to tell. And the story is not all good!
If disciples make disciples, then how can I possibly make disciples?  Dare I reproduce in someone else the kind of discipleship I am living? Am I able to say to what Paul did: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. "(1Co 11:1). The word imitator is a "mime-artist", a mimic.  It is used six times in the New Testament.  Paul says, "Mime what I am miming. Copy my exact actions in regard to the way you follow Jesus."

We have stories of confusion, let-down, failure. We have moments when we should have worshipped but we doubted.  When our culture, our tradition, our mindset, held us back. I guess to worship Jesus was a big step outside the Jewish comfort-zone for some of the disciples. And they would go on failing.  Despite these direct words of Jesus, Peter, James and John and Andrew took a long time to go to the nations...

Now, if making disciples is all about teaching people the Bible, then some of us are stuck because we don't know our Bibles that well, we aren't great with reading, with talking to others. But, if making disciples is all about how we live the Christian life, then all of us are stuck. Some of us just see the failures, stories of misunderstanding and unbelief.

But Jesus is not stuck because you are. 
He is not fazed by the mess you have made or the mess you are in.  He is looking toward the future not the past.  He is more interested in where you are going than in where you have been.  He is able to wrap all that up and use it, take care of it.... He is looking toward the future with you

He says, "All authority is given to me.  Therefore go ..."   Not because of where you have been but because of where Jesus has been; not because of who you are but because of who Jesus is....    He is in the position to say to us today "Go, make disciples..."  Because of who he is and because of where he has been he is in this unique, powerful springboard situation, where he is able to say, "All authority is given to me..."

Because of who he is and where he has been, he has the authority to commission and send us.  He has the right to send us and it is right that we say, "Yes" and go where he is leading us.

Because of who he is and where he has been, he has the understanding and authority to disciple us: his teaching is worth listening to; his example is worth following.

Because of who he is and where he has been, he has the authority to transform us, the power to make us different. And he says "I am with you, always..." 

And that makes a difference to us.  ...We have a story to tell.  It's an unfinished story of learning, seeing God at work, growing, failing and starting over.  It's an unfinished story of grace at work.

All of us have the potential to be involved in disciple-making.  We're on equal ground.  .... So climb the mountain with him....and hear his call today...."All authority is given to me. Go, make disciples of all nations... and look, I am with you..."


© Gilmour Lilly May 2012