Looking back over the years most of my closer friends have had the same qualities. They are people of faith, I can talk and pray with them, they listen and not judge, and they provide encouragement when I needed it.
But my closest friends understood when I needed space to process things. They gave me space and time to think things through and did not take it as we are not friends any more. They understood my need to “turtle” and be inside my shell every now and then.
In my heart I am introverted, which just means I need space to recharge my batteries by being alone by myself. Unlike extroverts who need to be around people to be recharged.
For example, if I am thinking through a big issue I will go to my shed to be alone or I will go for a walk up our local rock that over looks our town. The space provides no distractions and I can just hear from God.
My best friends over the years have always understood this. They know I spend a lot of time talking and listening to people in my job as a Pastor or Chaplain and I need time alone or time alone with God to reset and recharge.
So what do I value most in a friend? Someone who understands my rhythm of time with people and time alone. Time when I need to turtle!
The title of this message is the ALL Consuming Call of Jesus. I want to look at Jesus’ last words before He returned to heaven. This is known as the Great Commission. As we work through the passage from Matthew 28, I want to take special notice of the word ALL.
1. ALL authority belonged to Jesus
Matthew 28:18 – Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus has all authority on heaven and earth. That is a big statement. It means no-one has more authority than Jesus. But as we look at the Scriptures we see this is true and undeniable.
In Matthew chapters 8&9 we see that Jesus had authority on earth. He had authority over sickness and disease, demonic forces and demons, the forces of nature, life and death.
Not only did Jesus say He had all authority, but He clearly demonstrated in the way He lived and ministered to the people He came in contact with. No demon, sickness, storm or death could disobey His command and authority.
2. Jesus said to go to ALL the world and make disciples
Matthew 28:19a – Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…
In the last point we see Jesus has all authority. With this authority and His final words to His followers He said, “Go into all the world and make disciples”. It is a compelling command. It is an all-consuming call that can’t be ignored.
All of us here all called to the mission field too. Though not all of us are called to go abroad. We have a mission right outside this church. One church I went to once had the sign over the exit, “Mission starts here”. People would often reach up and touch as they left church.
People here is our region need to hear about God’s love for them, how Jesus came to show us what God is like, that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin and He rose again to life. And by putting our faith and trust in Him we have abundant life now, and live for eternity with Him when we die.
3. Jesus told us to teach them to obey ALL His teachings
Matthew 28:20a – Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
I have been a Christian for 35 of my 57 years on earth. The first 15 years of being a Christian I was really good at going into the world and preaching the good news. I was able to talk to people, share my faith, give them tracts and people would come to Christ. So, I was being obedient to the first part of the Great Commission.
However, I found that while people were getting saved, I would lose track of people and not know if they were growing or not. One day I felt God speak to me and say, “I told you to make disciples, not just Christian converts”.
This got me thinking what sort of things did Jesus teach? If we look at the sermon of the mount in Matthew 5-7, we see that Jesus talked about being salt and light, loving one another, giving to the needy, loving our enemies, not talking revenge, praying and fasting, money and possessions, the golden rule, being true disciples and producing good fruit.
Matthew 7:24 says, “Anyone who listens to My teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock”. We need to help people build their house on the solid rock of Jesus’ teachings.
4. Jesus promises to be ALL-ways with us
Matthew 28:20b – And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Jesus promises to be with us always. He says, “Be sure of this!” So, He really wants is to get it.
Jesus’ presence is with you by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He is with you when you are alone. He is always with us when we meet together. He is our God and we are His people.
Knowing that Jesus is always with me by the presence of His Indwelling Spirit gives me courage and strength. Courage when I am afraid to share my faith or step out and pray for someone. And strength to know His power is with me to enable to share my faith, disciple others and allow God power to flow through me.
The key thought here is Jesus promises to never leave us until He calls us home individually or He comes back for us all. He does not expect us to fulfil the Great Commission alone.
Closing summary
Today we have looked at the passage known as the Great Commission of Jesus. His last words on earth to His followers before returning to heaven. In the message we saw.
Jesus has ALL Authority in heaven and on earth
Jesus told us to go into ALL the world and make disciples
Jesus told us to teach them to obey ALL His teachings
Jesus promises to be ALL-ways with us
In these passages Jesus bookend His commands. He says all authority is with Him and He promises to be all-ways with us. In the middle He says to go and make disciples and teach them to obey all His teachings.
Over the years people have said the following statement to me a number of times, “You are a Christian, you should help me”.
As Christians we should help others. The Bible tells us this is part of the Christian life. It helps us to shine our lights and bring glory to God (Matthew 5:16).
However, there are times when we should not help. I have had people make this statement to me when they are doing nothing to help themselves.
An example is one fit and healthy person never worked, was often on drugs or alcohol and never tried to get help for that. They went from one charity or Christian person after another to get help.
Many people tried to help with the alcohol and drugs issue, but they did not see it as a problem. They just wanted money, fuel or food to get by until there government payments came. Then they would buy drugs or alcohol with it.
Why am I posting on this example? Because as Christians we are called to help. But it is important to not just help everyone as we may be enabling their habits or their laziness.
The key is to prayerfully listen to God when someone comes asking for help. I often pray, “Is this someone I should help Lord” and then I listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Most of the time the Holy Spirit says yes, but there are times when He says not today. I do not always understand why, but I have learned to trust His judgment as He knows everything.
Another example was a man came to my church door when I was a Pastor. He said he was broke and traveling through town. He was honest about his previous issues with alcohol. He just needed some money to get by.
As we talked I felt the Holy Spirit say take him to the shop and buy a basket of food for two days. So we went and got bread, milk, cereal, pasta and a treat to bless him. He was very thankful.
A few days later the man came back and thanked me. He looked a lot better in himself and said he was going to continue his journey. He even thanked me that I did not give him money or a voucher as he would have been tempted to buy alcohol.
I explained that God prompted me to go to the shop with him and buy food, not just give him money. He simply said, “God knows best” and went on his way.
So again, when someone says, “You are a Christian, you should help”. Remember we are called to help, but always pray and ask God if He wants us to help on this occasion.
When I reflect on what legacy I want to leave behind a memory verse comes to mind – 1 Corinthians 13:13. It says…
“Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.”
This short verse contains three great truths that will last forever.
1. Faith – I hope people will remember me as a person who had faith in Jesus and tried wholeheartedly to follow Him.
2. Hope – I hope that my eternal hope in Christ is remembered. I pray people have seen this hope and are inspired by it when I am gone.
3. Love – I hope my love is evident to all that really know me. I want people to remember a love for my family and love for Jesus.
Legacy is a strange thing to think about to be honest. In this moment we think we have plenty of life left. But the reality is God could call us home any time.
When my time is finally over, I pray those around me would have seen my faith in Jesus, my eternal hope I have, and my love for my family and for Jesus.
This is an interesting question again. How do I feel about cold weather?
I have to admit this has changed as I have gotten older. When I was younger I loved warmer weather, but there is something about ageing and hot weather. It seems to take it out of you more.
Mind you we do have fairly hot summers where I live. In February we had three days above 45 degrees Celsius. That is nearly 115 Fahrenheit! In winter our coldest nights are about -2 Celsius, 28 Fahrenheit.
I just find that where I live I can do most things when it is cold. You just have to put on multiple layers of clothes. But when it is hot, we go in to survival mode and do everything early in the day.
So how do I feel about cold weather? In my context I prefer it to the heat of summer.
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