5/18/08                                                                           MATTHEW 28:16-20

“OUR GREAT MISSION”

Rev. James Singleton

Our scripture passage today is the climactic ending of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew spends 28 chapters telling us about the birth, life, teachings, miracles, tragedies and triumphs of Jesus. He tells us about the twelve disciples that Jesus called to learn from him and carry out his mission after he was gone.

 Twelve was a special number for Jesus. He wanted his disciples to be the new Israel, representing the twelve tribes of the Israel of the Old Testament. Twelve was the ideal number representing the perfect Kingdom of God. 

But here at the end of the Gospel, when the risen Lord Jesus is giving his final instructions on what he wants his disciples to do on his behalf, Matthew draws our attention to the fact that he is not talking to “The Twelve,” he is talking to “the eleven.” “Now, the eleven disciples went to Galilee…” The number eleven stands out like a sore thumb. We can’t read the phrase “eleven disciples” without feeling the imperfection, the betrayal, the loss that that number implies.

Eleven reminds us that one of the disciples is missing. Judas betrayed and could not live with his betrayal. But it is not only Judas’ death and absence that makes the number eleven imperfect, but we are reminded that even the eleven that remained comprised those who denied knowing Jesus, failed in their faith, and even now some of them doubt whether or not they believe in the resurrection!

Matthew is comparing the Church to the eleven disciples and I find tremendous relief in the fact that Jesus did not say, “These eleven are not good enough so I’m going to start over until I get the perfect Church.”  

The Church is not perfect. We are not ideal believers but are a mixture of people who struggle between faith and doubt. Sometimes we do what Jesus wants us to do and sometimes we disappoint him. The Church is a collection of fallen, tempted, limited, imperfect human beings. But here we are and that is good enough for Jesus.

It is to imperfect followers that Jesus gives his commission on what he wants accomplished on this earth. The authority to go into the world in his name and do his work does not come from our perfection—it comes from Jesus’ authority. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  

So what does Jesus want us, the imperfect members of The First Christian Church of Wadsworth, Ohio, to do? He wants us to—Go! “Go therefore and make disciples…” That is our mission.
 
Notice, first, that disciples do not come ready-made or self-made. Christians are not born, they are made. It is a process by which we become followers of Christ. And where is this place that disciples are made—in the imperfect church! We are the disciple factory!

Notice also the word “Go” is an action verb. He did not say, “Stay” or “Do nothing” or “Remain the same.” He said, “Go.” Get into action and do what needs to be done in order to transform people into my followers.

This is the motivating reason behind everything that we do here at First Christian Church.

·        We are called to make disciples and that is why we have Sunday school classes for every age group and a dozen for adults.
 

·        It is why we baptize the young and the old.

·        It is why we have stewardship campaigns so that we can finance an outreach budget that will reach into practically all nations.

·         It is why we set aside the entire month of February and designate it as Month of Compassion so that we can send forth Christ’s compassion into any nation in the world where people are in desperate need, like they are in Myanmar and China.

·        It is why we send people on mission trips to places that are broken because Jesus wants us to bring healing to broken people.

Our Long Range Planning Committee recently came up with three recommendations that spring directly out of this great commission. 

 First, they recommended the creation of a Worship Committee to make certain that our worship services continue to be fresh and dynamic because we cannot attract people to follow Jesus if our worship services ever become uninspiring.

The second recommendation was to create a Spiritual Gift Team to help new disciples discover their God given gifts and to employ those gifts in ministry. Disciples must use what God gives.

The third recommendation of the Long Range Planning Committee was to support the proposed renovation of the sanctuary. I firmly believe that this, too, has its grounding in the great commission to go and make disciples.  

I’m sure that God does not care what our sanctuary looks like. But what God does care about is whether our sanctuary is functional. Does it serve well those who are seeking to follow, or does it get in the way and detract from worship? We all love this church, but that does not mean our church cannot improve. A church that believes it does not need to improve is a church without vision. The cornerstone of this church says, “The Vision Continues.”

The question we are faced with today is this: Does our sanctuary function not only for us, the current members, but for seekers who will visit this church in the future?

• Is our sanctuary well-designed if whoever sits in the wings cannot see the communion table, the children who sing, the Compassion skits, Youth Sunday, the Christmas pageant or anything else that takes place in the chancel area?

• Is our sanctuary effective if those who have come to watch their grandson’s baptism cannot see over the pulpit or lectern to witness that baptism?

• Is it practical if the choir must sing in two separate sections rather than together?

• Is it functional if the music that is produced up front gets diverted because it goes out the open sides, gets absorbed into the carpet and curtain so that it is diminished by the time it reaches the congregation?

• Is it serviceable if the contemporary service singers and leaders are crammed into the space between the pulpit wall and the lectern wall and trip over each other with every move?

• Is it effective if speakers and the communion table are cast in shadows and the sanctuary has a gloom because of poor lighting?

• Is it helpful if the communion table and the preacher are separated from the people by distance and walls?

On June the 8^th at 6:30 p.m. we will hold a congregational meeting to determine whether or not to go ahead with a proposed chancel renovation in order to make this sanctuary more functional and serviceable to us and to those in the future who come here seeking a church home.

The proposed renovation will open up opportunities for worship in the following ways:
 

·        Open up all sight lines in the main section and the wings

·        Bring the choir together

·        Create an acoustical chancel that projects sound toward the congregation

·        Increase our audio/visual capabilities

·        Open up space to better accommodate a contemporary style of worship

·        Illuminate the chancel and accentuate speakers, communion table and choir

·        Provide greater intimacy by bringing the chancel toward the congregation

·        Provide greater flexibility to the chancel for pageants, services and programs

·              Provide a focal point with a stain glass window in place of the curtain
 

We cannot continue to make disciples unless we continue to attract seekers in this 21^st century, and our sanctuary is our first impression.  

If someone gets the impression that we are a church stuck in the 1950s (the last time the chancel was renovated) because that is the way we look or they get frustrated because they cannot see, they will go elsewhere and not only will we miss out but I believe they will miss out because we have so much to offer them.

I suspect that when you first visited this church, if it looked the way it did in 1842 you probably would have thought to yourself, this church is stuck in the past, and you would have turned around and walked out and gone to a church that looked more alive. That’s why past congregations here chose to renovate in 1911, 1926, 1929, 1938, 1949, 1955, 1966, and 1989. It is now 2008.

Tom Bandy, a church growth expert, writes: “Friends, here is the secret to church growth: Get a mission! That’s it. Beyond that single thing, you can do whatever tactic works to help you achieve that mission. If traditional worship works, do it. If your location and property does it, maintain it. But if it doesn’t, change it…First the mission…always the mission…and your church will grow.”

The great commission is our great mission. All that we seek to do is because we are commissioned to go and make disciples. Disciples are made from people who enter our sanctuary, like what they see, hear and feel and decide to remain here and grow in their faith. 

That leads me to one last word that Jesus said: all. Jesus commissions us to go into all nations and make disciples. All, however, includes more than people over there. All also includes people right here.  

            Each of us is part of the great commission. We participate in it when we come together as the First Christian Church, but then we eventually go our separate ways. But we don’t leave the great commission behind when we leave this building. It goes with us.

You don’t need to be in full time ministry to minister. You don’t need to be a professional preacher to witness to God’s word to someone. You don’t need to be doing religious things to be doing sacred things. When someone sees that you have Jesus Christ bringing you hope and joy—they are going to want what you have!  

Most people who come to church for the first time come because of the influence of someone else. They come to church because either you invited them or you inspired them.

Each one of we imperfect disciples is the manifestation of Jesus on this earth. Jesus commissions us, the imperfect ELEVEN, to GO and do what needs to be done and change what needs to be changed in order to make disciples of ALL the people.  

Let this Great Commission continue to be our Great Mission in this world both as a church and as individuals.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    AMEN