PBPC Update - Sunday Sermon, April 19

Dear PBPC Friends,

Grace and peace to you on this Sunday morning! Here is the link to today's sermon:
There is also a manuscript attached, if you prefer to read it.

You can also go to our YouTube channel to find all of the sermons from the last several weeks:
May the Spirit of the Lord fill you and bless throughout this day,

Pastor Chris



Sermon, Matt. 28:16-20, "Final Instructions"
April 19, 2020
Chris Coon, PBPC
As we continue in this Easter season, we continue to focus our thoughts on the powerful themes of resurrection and life. Of course, this is the direction that all of Scripture is pointing in and it is the goal towards which we are all moving – the hope and promise of restoration and renewal, the reality of abundant and eternal life with God through Christ.
When I was in college I spent a summer working as a groundskeeper at a summer camp. The summer began with several days of intensive training, in which a supervisor spent all day long teaching us all of the details of the job, from how to operate a garbage truck (I got to ride on the back – so fun!), to cleaning toilets, to interacting with politely with guests. Then, on the last morning, he gave his final speech in which he reminded us of the importance of our job, encouraged us to do our best, and sent us off to our different tasks. After that, most of the time we were on our own, but all of that training really paid off as went about our work and responded to the challenges of the job. To this day I still know how to tie a trash bag properly! Those final inspirational words would have been much less meaningful if it hadn't been for the training we had received. 
Today we look at the final passage of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, verses 16-20. Here is the scene: the eleven apostles (minus Judas) have obeyed the risen Jesus' instructions to meet him in Galilee. We don't necessarily have a full report of all that happened during this time, but Matthew chooses to end his account with Jesus' meeting and final words to his disciples on a hilltop in Galilee. 
Matthew 28:16-20
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'
Now in any biography, it is likely that the final words of a great figure are going to be very significant, and that is certainly the case here. Matthew intends that we will read these words as not only a summary of Jesus' life, but also as his final instructions for his followers. There's a lot packed into these few verses, so we will just briefly look at three significant points that Jesus makes that are important for us to understand. But first, I want us to remember that all of this is being said in light of the resurrection: Jesus has conquered death and risen from the dead, and his followers are being invited to live differently in this new reality.
So the first thing Jesus says to his disciples is this, "All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me." That is a lot of authority, because in the bibilical view, there really isn't anywhere else besides heaven and earth. Only God the Father has that kind of authority, and of course God is the one who has given it to Jesus, as His Son. So Jesus is the absolute ruler of the world and of the cosmos. 
This reminds me an old western movie in which the good guy is suddenly chosen to be the new sheriff of the town. A place that has been ruled by tyranny and chaos and oppression is now under the authority of someone who is selflessly committed to justice, goodness, and the protection of the weak. This is how it is for us: the good guy – who also happens to be our friend – is now the one in charge. And while there is still a lot of work to be done to clean up the town, we can rest assured how it is going to turn out. 
It is because of Jesus' authority (therefore) that he now gives his disciples their final instructions, their marching orders. These instructions have three parts. First of all, they are to go and make disciples of all nations. The revolutionary idea that the gospel is for everyone – for people of every country, every ethnicity or skin color, every culture, every background. God's chosen people are not those who are offered the gospel, but those who respond to it. The good news is that the kingdom of heaven is now available through Christ to all people. So we as believers in Jesus need to bring the gospel to them, whether they are right next door to us, or on the other side of the world.
This leads us to the second task, which is to baptize people. Now I don't think that this merely a technical order, that we should baptize people whether they want it or not. Baptism is a sign of consecration and commitment, a symbolic dying and rising with Christ. It is a public profession of commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This means that we are not only to share the gospel message, in both word and deed, but also to invite people to give their lives and allegiance to Jesus. 
This leads us to the third task, which I want to focus a little more attention on today. Because it is clear that Jesus doesn't just want us to make converts or believers, at least not in the modern sense. You see, nowadays you can believe something without it affecting your behavior in any way. I can believe in God, and yet I can behave in exactly the same way as someone who doesn't believe in God. But this is not faith, and this is not the type of follower that Jesus is looking for.
Jesus is looking for disciples. In the time of Jesus, there were many rabbis, or teachers, and they gathered around themselves a group of students, or disciples. These were committed to living life with their teacher and learning from the teacher all that they could. Even more, they sought to model their very lives after the pattern of their master. They can be described accurately as apprentices. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, they knew that this is what they were signing up for.
Jesus has never stopped calling disciples. Our task is not merely to make believers, but to make disciples, people who are committed to following Jesus as his apprentices, learning from Him how to live the abundant life with God. Thus the third task, teaching them to obey what Jesus commanded, is so important. But many of us have a very hard time even beginning to comprehend what this means. How do we make disciples?
I will venture to say that we have a hard time imagining what it means to make disciples, because we ourselves are not necessarily doing a good job of being disciples. Many of us know quite a bit, and are probably living pretty good lives, but are we actually and actively following Jesus? If not, how can we begin to do so?
The first step for us is to begin doing ourselves what Jesus commands us to teach others to do – to begin obeying everything that he commanded us. This might sound impossible, but it isn't; and we can understand why Matthew and the other gospel writers wrote down what Jesus taught – so that we can begin to put it into practice. We need to begin to take much more seriously what scripture teaches, especially what Jesus teaches us about how to live in God's kingdom. 
So my challenge for all of us today is this – let's begin by being disciples so that we can get to the point of making disciples. Let's learn what Jesus teaches us so that we can put it into practice in our lives. Let's make sure that we are giving God every opportunity to shape our hearts and minds by listening to the words of our Master and Teacher, Jesus. 
You can begin doing this right away – and I know that many of you already are doing this. Wherever you are at, I encourage you to engage, re-engage, or engage on a more consistent or deeper level with the teachings of Jesus. You can do this on your own, but I encourage you to do this with others. Find a Christian friend to study the gospels, find a more mature Christian whom you respect to "disciple" you for a season, or find a group to study Jesus' words together. I will be starting a discipleship Bible study this week for this very purpose, beginning with a 6-week study on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. I'd love for you to be a part of it. 
However you do it – there isn't one right way – the important thing is that you do it. Not only so that you be equipped to disciple others; but so that you can experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers us. Then we won't be offering to others something that we haven't experienced ourselves.
This leads us to Jesus' final, final words, "Remember that I am with you always, to the end of the age." This is the bookend to Matthew's entire gospel, which begins in chapter one with Jesus' conception and being given the title of Emmanuel, which means "God with us." The risen Christ is now vindicated as the Son of God, and He promises to be with his people, his followers, until the end of this age. Whatever we face, whatever challenge or crisis, Jesus is with us. We of course understand that He is present through the Holy Spirit, that we can say that God is present to us in Jesus just as Jesus is present to us through the Spirit at work in our lives. 
This promise of Christ's presence is an encouragement to us during this anxious season of life, when there is so much bad news and uncertainty, when we fear for own health as well as that of our loved ones, when we don't know if we'll necessarily have a job or income next week or next month. In all of this, Christ has promised to be with us, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. But the kingdom of God is not on hold during this time, and the good work that God wants to do in the world and in our lives and through us in the lives of others – none of this is on hold nor hiatus. God is not waiting for things to get back to normal – indeed our "normal" is most likely not God's normal. God works all things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, and it is often during times of upheaval and disruption that there is an opening and an openness for God to begin a new and fresh work in the hearts of people.
So perhaps there is an openness, and a desire, in your heart to become more of a disciple, an apprentice to Jesus, and to pursue and embrace the fullness of life that God has for you. 

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