Go! 

July 28, 2024 

Did anybody watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics? Some of you. They were amazing, and it was inspirational to see the world come together!  It was a great start! 

Today we’re talking about the Christian church, just starting out after Jesus went to heaven. It got off to a great start but got a little too comfortable and got stuck. 

In Matthew 28, Jesus has been raised from the dead and appeared to his disciples. Jesus is about to say a final goodbye to his 11 disciples and go to heaven. When the disciploes see Jesus, they worship him. This is only the second time they worship him. The first time was when he walked on water. Now they worship him, but it the verse says some doubted. They maybe felt awkward. If they are Jewish, worshipping a person isn’t something you’re supposed to do. 

Then Jesus speaks and says something so important: “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me!” Who does he say has all authority? Jesus! Remember this is before the Bible was wall written and assembled. They had the Old Testament. But it took decades until all the books of New Testament were written. Jesus is saying he has all authority, not the Bible. Jesus says, listen to me now.  

You know, the Bible is inspired by God, amazing and inspirationa. But some things in the Old Testament are just not right. None of us follow and do everything the Old Testament says. You can take the Bible and justify things you shouldn’t, you can find a loophole, and that’s a problem.  

But the life of Jesus is different. The things he taught, the way he interacted with people, there are no loopholes. You can see he’s from God and that all authority has been given to him. That’s why he had so many battles with some of the religious leaders. They would be looking in the Bible, finding loopholes so they could do whatever they wanted to do, and benefit themselves. 

Jesus taught his followers: love others the way I’ve loved you. Jesus cared about the least people: the lepers, the children, sinners, the disabled. He gave his life for all of us. So, if you’re a Christian, you can’t have an “I’m better than so and so” attitude, because everyone is somebody Jesus died for! Jesus came for all the world, so nobody is outside the invitation to relationship with God 

Just before Jesus goes up to heaven, he tells his followers that he is the authority they should listen to. Then he says, “GO!” Everybody say, “Go”. Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” That means go to all tribes, all ethnicities, everybody, everywhere! How do you make disciples? The way Jesus did, by example, by influencing people, living so people are curious, they want to be around you, and they want to be like you. They decide they want to try following Jesus. 

Jesus adds, “Teach them to obey all I have commanded you.” Teach forgiveness and love. If someone makes you their enemy, don’t respond like their enemy. You put others first. Jesus knows he is asking a lot of his disciples. He is saying love everyone and go out to all the world! Jesus adds, I’ll be with you always, to the end of the age.” I know it’s hard. But I’ll be with you. Then Jesus leaves, he goes up to heaven.  

Did the disciples go to all nations? No! In their defense, they worked miracles, healed people, got arrested for it, and escaped prison! They did hard things. But they did not go out to all nations. It was so comfortable to stay where they were and live the life they were accustomed to. They could take trips to the temple. They could keep following the torah, the first five books of the Bible, and the 613 rules of their faith. They thought of themselves as Jewish and God’s chosen people Israel, plus following Jesus. But Jesus told them, following me means something more, I came for the whole world! You’ve got to go to the world! 

Sometimes we can forget Jesus’ claim as our king, the one with all authority. We can mix and match Jesus with a whole lot of other information in the Bible. And we lose the power and the storyline of Jesus. 

So, Jesus said “Go to all nations,” but Jesus’ disciples did not go. They stayed in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Of course, God doesn’t leave the church stuck. He works on two leaders. He strikes down Paul, who turns his life around from persecuting Christians, to becoming the missionary to the Gentiles, the non-Jews!  

God also works on Peter. In Acts ch. 10, he gives him a vision, that he doesn’t need to limit his eating to certain foods that are ritually clean in Judaism, because all animals are clean to God. Then the Holy Spirit tells Peter, some men have come to your home. They want to take you to Cornelius, a centurion, who wants you to tell him more about God. 

Since God wants him to go to Cornelius house, Peter goes. But he’s not comfortable going there. Going to the house of non-Jews is NOT something Peter does. When he gets to Cornelius house, Peter probably holds his nose and walks in. Peter even makes sure Cornelius knows he’s not happy. Peter says, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown that I should not call any man impure or unclean.” Peter kind of just did call Cornelius impure and unclean! Makes you wonder about Peter! Because if you’re a Christian, you can’t have an “I’m better than so and so” attitude, since everyone is somebody Jesus died for!   

Cornelius is very happy that Peter has come, and he says, please tell me and all my family and friends about God. Peter tells them the good news, and they receive it eagerly. Then it’s like Peter’s heart grows 3 sizes that day! He is so moved when Cornelius and his crew are filled with the Holy Spirit, that he baptizes everybody right there! 

Now when Peter gets back to Jerusalem, he tells the apostles, who are the leaders of the church, and they are angry! They say, How dare you go into a Gentile house and eat with them! How could you?! Peter talks to them and they say, well, ok, we understand now that even Gentiles can repent. But it will take several years for the church to really accept Gentiles, and say no circumcision is required in order to become a Christian.  

The apostles finally have a council in Jerusalem where they admit, we have trouble keeping all the 613 religious rules and everything. There’s no way Gentiles can follow all that! So, we should not make it hard on them. The church really grew at that point, when they welcomed everyone! 

My challenge for you this week is to reach out in love to someone who you don’t get along with so great.  

It’s a challenge to love people! But Jesus came for everybody and wants us to love everyone! He wants us to treat others, not as evil people or as people who aren’t as good as us. He wants us to love them, because they are someone Jesus died for. If you love everyone, you might just help someone find their way to Jesus! If we listen to Jesus, our hearts may grow three sizes in one day! And fear not, we can do this, because Jesus is with you and me to the end of the age. Amen.