Matthew 28 - Part 3

 

Read Matthew 28

Command and Commission

COMMAND AND COMMISSION: A Marine's perspective on the Great Commission.  First preached and published in 1999.

To understand the great commission, we first must recognize that God has commanded his people throughout history.  Perhaps the most ubiquitous of these commandments are the ten found in Exodus 20.  A command is direction with authority and just part of being a Marine.  Absent authority, the Ten Commandments resemble Stephen Covey's 7 Habits--purely secular wisdom with presumed natural consequences for deviation.   While there are hundreds of commandments in the Bible; the most recognized from the New Testament are found in Matthew 22:36-40.

36            "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37        Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

38        This is the first and greatest commandment.

39        And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

40        All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

These commandments do not contradict what God promulgated centuries earlier.  On the contrary, they embody the earlier commandments.  Having served almost half of my active Marine Corps service as a commanding officer, I appreciate the freedom and empowerment of these commandments.  The most difficult leadership challenge is the Marine who does exactly what he is told.  This individual lives in fear and does not understand freedom and responsibility.  Some would paint a picture of life in the service, especially the Marine Corps, as a life of endless orders.  Orders are a part of military life, but not nearly so much as the freedom to execute a mission.  Those with initiative need only the occasional application of rudder to keep them on course.  Those that look for orders at every juncture seldom find satisfaction in life as a Marine.  Such is the case with the commandments found in Matthew.  Those that can make their decisions based upon loving God and loving one's fellow man can find contentment not available through simple obedience to the letter of the law.

My entire active service as a Marine was as a commissioned officer.  For some, the recognizable difference between officers and their men was simply rank and pay.  Closer examination reveals that the instrument of obligated service distinguishes the officer from the Marine from the beginning.  The Marine's oath requires him to support and defend the Constitution and to follow the orders of his seniors.  The officer enters into his service by commission.  The commission is more than an instrument of obligation, it is an act of committing.  Such is the case with the great commission.

Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)

18        Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19            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,

20        and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

 There is a significant leap from following a commandment to executing a commission.  Both require obedience and execution, but to understand the nature of our commission, we must examine it in detail.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  This is more than introductory prose.  It is an acknowledgement by Jesus of the source of his authority and his right to bestow the commission that follows.   Having been commissioned both as a reservist and as a regular commissioned officer, I have been empowered to execute my commission by both the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States.  The originating authority is important because what follows is not just a command, but the transfer of a portion of God's authority to those commissioned.

The second part of this presumably simple statement conveys the duration of the commission.  The words "has been given" are the perfect tense.  In another context this would appear to be a semantically sidetracked discussion.  Here it conveys that the commission is and will continue in effect.  Commissioned officers of the United States serve their commission at the convenience of the President or the Congress.  It may be terminated but it does not expire. The great commission remains in effect until death or the end of the age.

Therefore go could be relegated to a simple transition, but again it conveys much more.  Therefore establishes the relationship between the vested authority and the commission to follow.  Go is far from a simple word.  While publishers and editions vary, the Random House Dictionary listed 81 distinct definitions for the word go.  The 1st was to move or proceed and the 81st was to function properly.  Perhaps the word is best defined by its single antonym:  to stay or remain.  While the word in Greek (poreuthentes) may not have conveyed as many meanings as have evolved in our present-day language; this was and is meant to be a powerful word of execution and one that directs those commissioned to leave the comfort of their current environment. In fact the Greek term seems to convey a perfect tense as well—past, present, and future.

One of the simplest and most powerful pieces of counsel delivered to Marine officers is to be careful what you tell a Marine to do, because he will do it.  There are of course exceptions that prove the rule, but the premise is repeatedly validated.  On one particularly cold morning in Korea, I went through the field mess line and noticed our battalion commander was trying to motivate the Marines by serving the morning meal with the mess cooks.  All Marines that serve food to other Marines are required to have a mess physical.  This is a one or two minute process where a corpsman looks for open cuts or sores and good hygiene habits while concurrently interviewing the Marine on any of his sanitary habits.  I took my tray of food and sat down with a group of Marines, including the gunnery sergeant in charge of the Marines on the serving line.  I sarcastically told the sergeant that there was a Marine on the line that did not have a mess physical.  Before I could qualify my remark made in jest, he was at the serving line double checking every Marine.  In any other locale, this would have been insignificant.  In the freezing cold of this Korean morning, it meant that the gunnery sergeant's morning meal would be ice cold upon his return to his seat.  Despite the counsel I had received and generally lived by for fifteen years, the lesson had finally hit home.  The current application of this anecdote is not to live by the maxim taught to Marine officers.  The lesson is the urgency with which the unstated task was executed by the gunnery sergeant.  If a senior Marine noncommissioned officer can drop whatever he is doing to execute only a hint of a task, how can believing Christians not do the same when commissioned by their savior to do what is surely of great importance. 

Make disciples of all nations is the first element of this important task.  A disciple in basic terms is a pupil or adherent of another.  Any professed follower of Jesus Christ during His life on earth was considered a disciple.  The commission did not task followers just to set a good example.  It task followers to recruit from all nations.  Recruiting is a tough business.    The typical individual that walks into a Marine recruiter's office eventually gets around to the question, "What can you give me?"   My typical reply was, "a pack, a rifle, and a hard time!  Do you want to join?"   Those that still had some interest and could qualify might also make it through boot camp.  The individual that was looking only for college money usually decided that there was probably an easier way to get it.  Contrary to the mystique associated with Marine Corps boot camp, the Corps does not make men.  Joining the Marine Corps is a lifestyle choice and not a remanufacturing program for young adults.   Likewise, recruiting disciples for Christ means asking people to give up their idols of this world for a God of forgiveness and often includes alienation from the world they are forsaking.

 Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the physical manifestation of what the new disciple has accepted internally.  There is significant discourse on the subject of baptizing, some of which only serves to widen the gulf among denominations.  Regardless of the method, timing, or relationship to salvation; this is an essential element of the commission.  The subtle wisdom of the great commission is that it requires only this one act that approaches ceremony.  All other growth is demonstrated through acts of faith and obedience.

 Teaching them to obey all that I have commanded rounds out the three basic pillars of this commission.  What is not said here is perhaps as important as what is.  Missing from this task is the qualifier that such teaching must follow four, six, or eight years of study.  The apostles learned from a primary source reference.  Today we learn from those accounts but are task to teach those whom decide to follow the teachings of Christ.  The qualifier is not there because it is not needed.  Each follower exercising this commission does so in accordance with his talents.  The newest second lieutenant is expected to teach his followers--even though many of them have served in the Corps for years.  Lieutenants do not start off by teaching their Marines the strategy of the National Command Authority.  They start by teaching squad and platoon tactics, physical fitness, and other subjects within their expertise.  As they grow in their Marine Corps experience so does their ability and desire to teach more complex subjects.  Such is the case with the great commission.  Disciples teach, learn, and teach again.

If you have read any of Stephen Covey’s books, you might note that he finds teaching to be our own best teacher.  If we want to learn something, teach it.  Your learning curve will be much steeper.

 The subject of this teaching is to obey what Christ has commanded.  The commandments have not been abandoned in the execution of this commission.  Instead, the commission is an instrument of their fulfillment.  There may appear to be a contradiction in this part of the commission.  Obedience at first glance appears to be a throwback to compliance with the law from which Christ's sacrifice freed believers.  It is not.  From the day a Marine recruit sets foot in boot camp, he is taught instant, willing obedience to orders.  The instant obedience requirement roots itself in the demands of combat.  An order to shoot, move, or cease fire that is accompanied with hesitation frequently reaps friendly casualties.   The link between the insistence upon this standard and combat necessity is implicit and obvious.  The willing obedience part of this equation is the seed of leadership and professionalism.  A recruit learns obedience to his drill instructor within minutes of his arrival at boot camp.  Somewhere between the midpoint of his basic training and graduation, he learns willing obedience.  His will has been fully subordinated to that of his seniors, his unit, and his Corps.  This does not mean that he ceases to think for himself.  The contrary prevails:  the greater the submission, the greater the freedom.  This is the case with Christian obedience.  The sooner the believer submits to Christ's will, the sooner he realizes freedom.

No commander sends his Marines on a difficult mission without some concept of support.  This may be in the form of intelligence, fire support, logistics, or other demands of the mission.  In some cases, the commander deems it necessary to accompany one of his subordinate units.  Marine commanders are frequently criticized by other services for placing themselves too close to the front line and the hazards of the men in the fight.   Marines seldom justify this approach to their business outside of the Corps.  Likewise, the Apostles could have been provided a variety of support from their savior.  Jesus chose to accompany them through his intercession with God and by sending the Holy Spirit:  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. 

The Christian understands that he exists in contrast to his society.  He is tasked by the great commission to make disciples from that society, but just as Paul did not convince everyone he encountered; neither will today's commissioned.    The commissioned must not become discouraged.  An old Marine Corps documentary titled To the Shores of Guadalcanal best conveys the culture of the Marine and the disciple executing his commission.  The documentary was of actual footage of the fighting ashore once the Navy was ordered out of the theater.  The footage was narrated by survivors of these first Pacific battles by U.S. Marines in World War II.  The narrator said, "Seven times we attacked the hill.  Seven times the Japanese kicked us off.  We came back eight."

We should fulfill our commission with the same faithfulness and tenacity. We should be just as tenacious with our commission.

Semper Fidelis and Amen.

Therefore, go. This commission is serious business.

Read Matthew 28:16-20

I have not played golf in a decade or so but when I was playing every now and then, I’ve never made a putt that came up short.  Some that I hit too hard lucked into going in, but I never made one that didn’t make it to the hole.  I’ve missed them long and I’ve missed them short but only the long misses ever had a chance.

I never made a shot in basketball that I didn’t take.  That’s not quite true.  In basketball, if somehow the other team makes a basket in your goal, the player closest to their own goal gets the credit. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s good to have a friend who is also the team scorekeeper and gets to decide who was closest.

 

It was hard to play with the level of consistency that I had in high school:  Five points and five fouls per game, and you can’t get your point total up if you get to five fouls before you get to five points.

Some people don’t understand that there is more to basketball than blocking and tackling, but generally, you never make a shot that you don’t take.

Despite the Keto craze right now, I never gained a pound from something that I didn’t eat.  There is some food at fellowship meals that seems to put the pounds on me even when I never put it on my plate, but it really doesn’t work out that way.

Perhaps we will return to these simple concepts later, for now, I want us to consider a commission.  A commission is essentially an order with a grant of authority for the purpose of carrying out that order.  You can find a variety of definitions, but they generally include what you are charged to do and the power or authority to do just that.

For example, I think that it is ridiculous that there is only a two-lane road between Burns Flat and Foss.  That should be four lanes.  It should be on an insurance commercial—everybody knows that.  C’mon, we have a sign on the interstate that says, SPACEPORT OKLAHOMA.  We need a four-lane road.

So, I commission you to make that stretch of road into a four-lane highway.  Chances are you won’t get far with this project.  It’s not that you couldn’t do the work.  You might move ground and run asphalt with the best of them, but I do not have the authority to direct changes to that state highway and I don’t have the authority to tell you to make those changes.

I really can’t commission you to give me a four-lane road.  Looks like we will just have to deal with the traffic congestion associated in living in the state’s spaceport.

A commission must have authority.  I served as a commissioned officer of the United States for 20 years.  I had the authority of our federal government to execute my assigned missions. 

Our presbytery often appoints commissions for specific tasks, ordaining and installing ministers of word and sacrament frequent the list of commissions.  When the work is done, the commission is dissolved.

As a reserve officer, my commission expired on a certain date.  When I became a regular officer, that date was changed to indefinite.  Essentially, I was commissioned until my country said, it’s time for you to do something else.

If you have ever had something notarized, you might note that the notary generally indicates when his or her commission expires on whatever document you have notarized.  There is usually a time element in a commission.

Our commission, sometimes referred to as the Great Commission, begins with these words:  Therefore, go. 

Therefore, is generally considered an adverb or a conjunction.  Don’t stress out, we will not be diagraming sentences later, but I want us to consider a little something about this word.  It usually connects thoughts.  We could substitute the phrases:

·       For that reason

·       Because of that

·       On that ground

We could use other words.  Some synonyms might be:

·       Consequently

·       Accordingly

·       Wherefore

·       Thereupon

·       And a favorite of mine, ergo

But we translate the words of Jesus and find Therefore to be most appropriate.  So what is being connected?  What is the antecedent?  As we get our marching orders, what does Jesus connect with them?

Authority.  Jesus noted, All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.  Jesus didn’t decide to take a time out and just brag a little.  This statement precipitates what follows.

Therefore, go…

God’s authority is connected to the word go.  It does not mean, when you are out and about anyway.  It doesn’t mean when you think about it.  It means go.

Let’s put it this way.  “Runners to your mark.  Get set.  Whenever.”  Not!  The word that belongs there is go.

Jesus grants us authority and says go.  In Acts, Jesus adds some geography.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

If all of those places seem far away, substitute this.  You will be his witnesses in Burns Flat or Dill City, the State of Oklahoma, the United States of America, and the ends of the earth.

If you don’t like political boundaries, just thing concentric circles.  Start in the middle and work outwards.

Coming back to Matthew’s gospel, we see that there are some specific tasks in our mission—part of our commission.  They are simple ones but necessary.

·       Make disciples everywhere

·       Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit

·       Teach them to obey what Jesus commanded—what he taught

The first two on the list don’t seem too hard.  When someone professes Jesus as Lord, discipleship is the next step.  I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.  There is a lot of learning involved here.  Discipleship involves learning.

Baptizing, well, we can pawn that off on the preacher.  It’s important and the believer will want to do this.  He or she will want to share publicly what’s gone on privately. 

Then we come to the last one.  We are to teach what Jesus taught, right?  That’s sort of like making disciples, isn’t it?

Not exactly.  We are to teach those who profess Jesus to obey that which he taught, which he commanded, which he directs.  Now that can be a might prickly because people in this century don’t like the obey word.  Folks today would prefer generally go along with or not offended by, but the word that has the most fidelity to the original text is obey.

We know and we must be conversant in the fact that Jesus told his followers that to put his words into practice is like the wise man who built his house upon a rock foundation.  Everything else is sinking, wash away, won’t hold up in a storm sand. 

To obey our Master is to put his words into practice, and oh by the way, we already know this part from our study of faith, obedience will not be a burden.

That does not mean that we force or coerce compliance.  We teach disciples to obey what our Lord taught us.  Part of teaching obedience is living obedience, with love one another at the top of the obedience list.

How long do we do this?  Let’s make this multiple choice.

A.    As long as it is called today.

B.    Until death

C.    Until the end of the age.

The answer is D, all of the above.  Essentially, our commission does not expire until we do or this age does.

This commission comes with a bonus.  Do you know what it is?  Did you pick it up?

Jesus is sending us into the world to share the good news, but instead of commissioning us and saying Good Luck, he says, I’m going with you.

Surely, I am with you until the end of the age.

That’s the nuts and bolts of our commission.  We are sent into the world with good news and the authority to deliver it.  So what now?

If you have been here for a few months or a few years, you may have noticed that most of my messages are about discipleship.  I am preaching to the saints—to the saved.  I do have some evangelical messages, but mostly I am talking to those who will do the evangelism.

And I have fallen short in equipping you.  In the past I might give you a challenge.  I might appeal to your nature that is becoming more and more like that of our Master, desiring none to perish.  I might have loaded you up with gospels and wristbands, but I didn’t give you everything that is available.

Part of that is just having blindspots.  We all have them.  When I have them, they might affect you.  They might impact your effectiveness in sharing the gospel. 

Remember that we are a church in the reformed tradition.  What’s that mean.  It means that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow but the church with Jesus as the head, changes means and methods, tactics and techniques, and feels free to go from the didactic to the dramatic.  We will find a way to get the good news to the people who need it.

Unlike the first century world where the good news was shared with a Jewish community that was heavily vested in atoning for its sins on an annual basis and a pagan world that made its own gods and the rules to go with them, we face a different challenge.

We go into a world that serves the twin gods of apathy and ambivalence. We bring a message of love not fear, but we must bring it with urgency.  Tomorrow is not promised.

Now, to those blindspots.  For the rest of this year, I will give you a weekly challenge.  That challenge will be to give out 3 cards a week to people who are in your path in the course of that week.  This is for everyone junior high to senior adult.  For the younger ones, I will give you one card a week.

The front of the card has our service times.  The back has a website full of videos about Christianity.  For the purpose of this evangelical effort, you may invite people to church.  Yes, I know that we are the church, but if it breaks the ice and helps you deliver the cards, then invite someone to church and give them a card.

Next Sunday, I will ask, “Who delivered all three cards?”

Don’t just give yours to your husband so he can give you his.  Give them out in purposeful fulfillment of the Great Commission.

The back of the card is not a substitute for personal and group Bible study.  It is an appetizer.  It lets people get some basic questions answered that might help them walk through the doors on Sunday.

Remember, our biggest challenge is apathy and ambivalence.  People should taste the goodness of God when they encounter us.  God’s light should shine through us.  We must not be afraid to step out of our comfort zone a little bit more.  Some of you have done this a few times.

Understand that there is a difference in being a disciple and fulfilling our commission.  The former helps us fulfill the latter, but just living the Christian life is not a fulfillment of the commission.  Our commission calls us to deliver good news.

Think about this.  I announce something from the pulpit for six months.  I put it in the bulletin for the same period of time.  It could be to be on a fellowship team or on a committee or to sing a special.  Those announcements are so powerful that I often get no response.

How could we not get volunteers?  I announced it from the pulpit!

But when someone comes and invites you personally, the response is so much better.  Do you think that God did not know that personal contact is so much more effective that a Facebook post?  Do you think that we are commissioned to deliver the good news for no particular reason?  God is purposeful in everything he does.  His purpose in this commission was for us to go across the street and into the world and talk with people about being made right with God through the blood of Jesus Christ.

We are starting with a small step and a small card.  Take wristbands and gospels as well if you want, but deliver three invitations and three cards this week.

Please do not do this because Tom said so.  I challenge each of you to reflect upon, pray about, and be fully convinced in your own mind that you are serious about fulfilling your commission from God.

I have preached the Parable of the Talents close to 50 times over the past dozen years, not always in this gathering.  On several of those occasions, I asked the question, What did I do with what God gave me?

I have often broken this into areas of time, talent, and treasure.  Those are the traditional subtitles.  But over the past half dozen years, I frequently went beyond the traditional three and include the gospel, asking, What did I do with the gospel entrusted to me?

This week, I charge you to give out three invitations to come and worship the Lord—you can say come to church—and accompany these invitations with 3 cards.

It’s simple.  It’s doable.  It should not take you too far out of your comfort zone.

I am going to ask next Sunday who did this.  This is not to coerce you or embarrass you but to remind you we are doing a little something extra in fulfilling our commission.  I believe that after your time of prayer and reflection, you too will choose to take the commission that the Lord has given you very seriously.

You might want to latch onto an accountability partner that will send you a text on Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday and Saturday seeing how you did. 

We are not only saved from our sin and from death, but we are also commissioned to rescue others.  The Holy Spirit is going with us. 

Know that I will run out of cards before we run out of people to talk with.  It’s a target rich environment.  People need to hear the gospel and people who have heard it and responded at some point need to come home.

I have never made a putt that came up short.  I have missed some long and missed some short but only the ones that I missed long had a chance to go in.

I’ve never made a basket without taking a shot.

I’ve never shared the gospel with anyone that I did not speak with.

We are called to live a life of love, be God’s light, and even be the God seasoning of the world as his disciples, but we are commissioned beyond just living this godly life.  We are commissioned to share the good news.

Will you take these first steps in fulfilling your commission?  It is a mission that we execute together with our Lord. I pray that we fulfill our part, not with fear but with faithfulness.

Amen!