Making Disciples in Real Life (Matthew 28:16-20)

Here’s my special vision message from August 27th, 2023. You can listen to the audio here.

Now maybe you heard those words we just read. And you have some idea of what they mean. “Go” and “make disciples.” But you think, “How in the world would I ever have time for that?” You’re taking 16 hours at Mizzou, and you’re working a part-time job. You work full-time at the hospital, and you pump for your newborn over your breaks. You’ve got chores to do around the house. You can’t seem to ever even get to the gym. You feel like you can’t keep up. You barely have time to breathe. And do important things like - you know - sleep. And you think, “Make disciples? Like when, Jesus?”

Or you might think this, “Even if I did have time, I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Talk to people about Jesus? What, and get laughed out of the room? I barely feel like a Christian myself on most days of the week. And I don’t know how I’d even start with answering their questions. I’m not a pastor. I don’t know how to do that. “Go” and “make disciples.” Would I like to? Yes? Am I able to? Probably not.

Well, here in Karis, we’ve been walking through the book of Matthew for some time. And we’ll be here, you could say, for awhile. But today, we’re going to jump to the end, to remind us of where this whole gospel book goes. And at the same time, remind us of our vision here as a church.

And as we do, I want to address those objections. Can we obey these words of Jesus - here, in our crazy, busy lives? What about in this wild, hostile world? Really? Not just in theory - but in real life? Let’s walk through this passage and talk about what Jesus is even asking us to do. And then spend some time looking at practical ways we can actually seek to live it out. Let’s jump in.

Matthew 28:16-20

Here’s the way we express our vision here in Karis Church:

By God’s grace and for His glory, we want to see the multiplication of disciples, leaders, Missional Communities, and churches in our city and to the ends of the earth.

Yes, we want to see churches planted. And we’ve gotten to see God do that through us - truly all over the world. We want to see our MCs, our small groups, multiplied all over our city. We want to see leaders raised up and sent to do both. But it all starts with the multiplication of disciples.

And we get that from these verses we just read. Let’s start with what Jesus tells His disciples to do. We’ll then get to how He tells them they’ll do it. First, what does Jesus tell His disciples to do? Verse 19: to “go” and “make disciples.” “Go” - out from right where they were. And on out into the world. He does say “disciples of all nations,” doesn’t He?

Go out and seek out followers, learners, of Jesus. That’s what the term “disciple” means. In those days, disciples would gather around and follow around a rabbi. They’d spend time with Him. They’d learn His ways. Jesus says, “Go out and seek out followers, learners of me. That can learn what it means to follow.”

And that’s what they did. And in the midst of a lot of persecution. The Lord used those original disciples to multiply into millions. Their mission became a movement that still is going forward today. And Christ’s calling here is now also meant for us.

What else does Jesus say to do? Go, make disciples, and what? “Baptize them,” right? “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” They’re to go out, and call people, into the way of Jesus, through this initial ceremony of commitment. To identify with Jesus in baptism. To demonstrate to themselves and those around them, and also to their God, their death to their old ways, and of their new life in Him. To proclaim that their sins had been washed away by Him. And that they would follow the Lord Jesus Christ all their days.

This is the biblical way we come to Jesus - that we express our faith in Him - by being immersed in water, what Jesus here calls baptism. And this sacrament of the church is now handed down to us. For us to call people toward. His waters.

What’s the other thing the Lord says here? In verse 20, He adds, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Once again, disciples are learners. They’re followers. They follow their leader. They soak up all that He says. And they they try to live just like Him. Jesus says, “Disciples, go teach these people what I’ve taught you. And tell them to put it into practice.”

Hear me: if you’ve been in Karis at all, we repeat over and over and over again that we can never ever prove ourselves to God. We’re saved by His grace, by Christ’s works alone. Full stop. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t obey. That’s what disciples do. They follow their teacher. But we don’t do what He asks to work ourselves into His good grace. His good and glorious grace move us to delight in what He asks. Yes, the teaching we’ve seen here in Matthew, including the Sermon on the Mount. But, as Jesus is the Word, behind all of Scripture we have - it includes all of those other words, too.

Jesus says, go out, baptize people, and teach them to do all that I’ve said. And church, that’s also the calling before us. To teach His ways. And call people to follow. To go, make disciples, to baptize and to teach - this is what Jesus asks them - and us. It’s our mission as a church. One of multiplication.

Second, though, how does He tell them they’ll do it? Well, the answer is found in the two verses, the brackets around those words we’ve just seen. And we learn this: Jesus promises his power and His presence.

Look at verse 18. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Then the Lord says, “therefore,” because of that, go and make disciples. Wow. Do you catch what that means? He’s the one that has full, absolute authority. Here on earth. Even in heaven. He’s the King of it all. All might. All control. And that’s meant to give His disciples hope. I don’t think I can put it better than William Hendriksen once did:

“Why does Jesus make known this claim? Answer: so that when he now commissions his apostles to proclaim the gospel throughout the world, they may know that moment by moment, day by day, they can lean on him… Not only this, but these apostles and those that follow afterward must demand that everyone, in every sphere of life, shall joyfully acknowledge Jesus as ‘Lord of lords and king of kings’” (Rev. 17:14).  (William Hendriksen)

Jesus says, go in my power. And that’s what He tells us - as we take up this mantle of multiplication. But Jesus also promises something else, right? His presence. What more comforting words do we see in the Bible than these? “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Right there, in verse 20.

Jesus, Emmanuel, which means “God with us” would be God with them. And yes, God with us, too. As we, as they did, go out and make disciples - and we do it amidst opposition - we have this assurance. We’re not alone. What a promise! No matter how it may feel. Now matter what they may say. He’s with us. He is!

So what’s what Jesus says they’ll do - go, make disciples, baptize and teach. And this is how He says it’ll come to pass. Through His power. Through His presence.

Now I don’t know if you noticed this, but if you looked around here at all, maybe as you walked in here today - there are a LOT of babies. Now one command we’ve been obeying - and doing quite well with, I’d say - is that one back in Genesis 1 to be “fruitful and multiply.” Now silliness aside, can you hear those words echoing here at the end of this gospel? Going out, as representatives of our God, into the world, multiplying more followers of Him? As Chris Watkin puts it, “Adam and Eve, made in God’s image, are to make more images. Jesus’s followers, having been made disciples, are to make more disciples.”

These words here, at the very end of Matthew, are the fulfillment of those way back in the beginning. And they point ahead to the very last pages of our Bibles, as well. To the new heavens and new earth, where disciples of all nations will gather, worshipping the Lamb. Why? Because His people, through His power, and in His presence, go and make disciples. We’re to bear spiritual children. To be fruitful and multiply for Him. That is meant to be our legacy.

His Great Commission

So this is what the church has forever called “The Great Commission.” To go make disciples in real life. Now if you’re one who’s spent anytime in the church, you’ve probably been taught this, quite unhelpful idea. There’s evangelism. And there’s discipleship. You convince someone to be a Christian. And then you try to help them grow up in the faith. Jesus doesn’t seem to make any such distinction. We go out and make disciples. We baptize and teach.

Discipleship runs from before people even believe, when we’re telling them about Christ - before they’re born again. And it goes until we die, when we wake up in His presence, and live with Him in a new world. Although it’ll change form, for sure - when sin and death are no more, you might even argue this goes on into eternity - as we learn and rejoice more and more in our King.

I love this explanation from author Jeff Vanderstelt - of who we’re meant to be ourselves - along with who we’re meant to seek out for Him.

“That is what discipleship is all about. It is the ongoing process of submitting all of life to Jesus, and seeing him saturate your entire life and world with his presence and power. It’s a process of daily growing in your awareness of your need for him in the everyday stuff of life. It is walking with Jesus, being filled with Jesus, and being led by Jesus in every place and in every way.” (Jeff Vanderstelt)

Now again, if you’ve grown up in Sunday school, you’ve probably bought into another idea. That you have clergy - pastors, leaders, and such. And you have laity - the membership, everyone else. The leaders make the disciples. They feed the sheep. And they seek out some more. That’s their job. My job. But this passage communicates no such thing.

The baton starts with these twelve - here minus one - and it gets handed off and handed off - until it eventually comes to each of us. It’s meant to be carried in all of our callings, and in whatever challenges we face.

You, a third grade teacher, who’s scheduled for a surgery at the end of this month - this commission is for you. You, the accounting major, whose parents are back home filing for divorce - this commission is for you. You, the brand-new parent, fighting to get even an hour to sleep, this calling is yours, too. You, a sixteen year old, trying to navigate the locker room or the high school hallway without getting lost or beat up - these words are for you. Married couple. This is your calling together. To make disciples. Empty nesters. This is your job. Single person, Jesus gives this command to you.

I just have to say something about that, given what I said about Genesis 1 before. Again, that command to be fruitful and multiply gets ratcheted up here in Matthew. I love the way Rachel Gilson explains it in her quite amazing book, Born Again This Way, speaking of that command way back in the garden:

“This is not a machine-gun method, aggressively sending our genetic material into the world for the sake of the species. The family, centered on sex-differentiated marriage, is intended to be a bond of love, commitment, and durability, which supports the growth of children.

Cut to the sound of a scratched record. This pretty image doesn't match our world, does it? So many of us have an experience of family that is far from this cohesive unity. And many of us, even if we've grown up in families like this, may end up single through circumstance or choice as adults. Are we then cut out of the only human refuge of joy?

Not at all - because in the New Testament, the Genesis 1 command to "be fruitful and multiply: gets transposed - not obliterated - by Jesus's call to "Go and make disciples.”Motherhood and fatherhood are imbued with new power and dignity because now they can be spiritual. It is not coincidental that becoming a Christian is called being born again. This spiritual parenthood has distinct advantages. Its offspring cannot be taken away forever by death. It can produce much bigger families, since it is not limited by biology or resources. And like any great biological parent, spiritual parents leave a legacy of love.” (Rachel Gilson)

These words are for all of us. Not when things get easier. Not when our schedule clears up. In all our callings. Throughout all of our challenges. In fact, in those challenges, the gospel message even carries more weight - as we continue to call Him King and find our identity in Him - in our pain. This is our calling, His command - to go and make disciples. In real life.

And, as we do, to remember that the real work is prayer. Family, the pressure’s off! Right? That’s because we go in His power. We go in His presence. For that reason, prayer’s not something we just tack on. Or something we can easily do without. No, as Oswald Chambers once said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.” It’s what we do, if - and only if - we realize that we’re not enough. That we desperately need Him. We pray.

We could read these words and think, “Jesus taught them what to do. They went and did what He said. Now they hand the torch to us. Our job is simply to git-r-done.” But that misses the point completely. It’ll crush us. Listen to Vanderstelt again:

“Our job is not to be Jesus. Our job is to believe Jesus, depend on Jesus, and submit to Jesus working in and through us to accomplish his work. We are not meant to carry the weight of the world or the mission of Jesus on our shoulders. Jesus came to seek and save. He doesn’t expect us to become the saviors.” (Jeff Vanderstelt)

Jesus isn’t giving us one of those memes - that says “you’ve got this.” No, we’ve not got this at all. But He does. With His Spirit, by His strength, we can go make disciples. We can. Yes, we’re to obey. But just as critical, we must pray. Jesus is ruling over the earth. He is with us - today by His Spirit. And He wants to spread His kingdom through us. But we can only do it through prayer.

This week, I shared some Japanese food with an old friend. He’s, like me, been to Japan a number of times. He loves it. And we were sharing some noodles and catching up. Jesus has gotten a hold of Him. He’s clearly doing a work in his life.

And my friend was talking to me about worshipping some in the temples there in Japan. And he was deeply grieved by that fact. His conscience was really, really rocked. Could God forgive Him for those things? And how could he ever make atonement for that? And I got to remind him of the gospel. And how Jesus had made atonement for us. And he shared his deep love for his best friend in Japan - and others he had met - and his deep distress with how resistant they were to the gospel. Could they ever be reached?

And he shared this wild story. He was in the temple there in Japan. While he identified as a Christian, he was really wrestling with the way believers were acting here in the states. And he was in this phase where he was seeking truth in other faiths. He was praying in that temple, and there he asked the founder of Buddhism there in Japan, Kobo Daishi, to help him understand. And then he turned, and he was knocked on his butt in no way like before.

Now, at first, he wondered if he had offended that monk or if maybe it was a demon, toppling him in that shrine. But I told him it was more likely that the Lord was at work. Knocking him down. Waking him up.

Interestingly, this was on a bike trip. He was taking a pilgrimage all over Japan,  and nothing seemed to go right. His bike kept breaking down. The rains kept pouring down. The trip was a nightmare. And he ended up with this permanent shoulder injury - from pushing the bike up all those hills.

My friend was lamenting again, his fear that his friends would never be reached, and I basically said to him: that God who can knock you on your butt - and mess up that trek you were there trying to make - he can handle it. He can raise the dead; that has to be our hope. And that’s what we have to remember, too. Our only hope in living out this mission - that Jesus gives us here - is that He’ll be at work. That He’s at our side. And if we believe that, we’ll pray.

Karis, we’re to make disciples in real life. And remember that the real work is prayer. Yes, the calling is to go to the world. But it starts right here in CoMo where we live. Just like it was Jerusalem back in the day. So let’s get at it, shall we, church?

A Missional Approach

But you might say it still seems overwhelming. And you’re not quite sure even where to start. What I want to do now is think about an approach, about a way we can get our heads - and our hearts - around what here is Jesus’s call. Discipleship takes a lifetime. But it always has its start. If we want people to trust Christ, to be baptized - and spend their lives learning from Him - we have to do something. We have to start somewhere.

What I’m going to show you isn’t a program. It’s not a to-do list, that’s for sure.  Not so much steps as things to keep in mind. They don’t go necessarily in a linear kind of order. There is, I think, more of a logical flow to these. How can we begin having conversations? How can we even take some baby steps? To reach our neighbors and friends, to make disciples. Take a look with me at the screen.

First, go. We go out, into the places He’s positioned us, in our city - our work or classroom, the coffee shop or gym, asking Him to work.

Second, look. We look as we go, praying for the eyes of Jesus. Looking at a harvest - and into the margins He takes us - with hope.

Third, ask. We ask God for opportunities, and we start asking people questions. We try to get to know them. To hear their stories. Asking them even what they believe.

Fourth, listen. We take a genuine interest in their answers. Seek to learn themes from their stories. And where they place their hope. We ask God to help us learn and love.

Fifth, share. We pray God will open up doors for us to speak. And when we get opportunities - and we will, we share what Christ has done in our lives, as well as what He’s doing in our world.

Sixth, serve. We don’t just love in word, but in deed. We try to meet needs - spiritual ones, yes. But physical ones, too. As we try to share Jesus, we’re praying we get to show Him, too.

Seventh, answer. As we build these relationships, we’ll no doubt get questions ourselves. And we pray we’ll be ready to answer. Sharing what the gospel really means. And addressing objections that people have with our faith.  

Eighth, inquire. As we talk with others about Jesus, we can respectfully ask our questions, too. What are their reasons for what they believe? How did they come to those conclusions? And we want to get past talking about the head and get to the heart. What are they relying on as their hope? Where have they placed their trust? We pray God will open up doors.     

Ninth, welcome. Trusting in Christ, asking Him to work, we invite people into our lives and homes. We show them hospitality. And we introduce them into biblical community. Where they can witness the love that Christ brings. And where others can speak into their lives. We welcome them as Christ has welcomed us.

Go. Look. Ask. Listen. Share. Serve. Answer. Inquire. Welcome. They may not always go in that order. Let’s welcome people in as soon as we can. And share the gospel as soon as God permits. But let’s seek to go and make disciples in real life. And pray that the Lord will work.

This Calling and My Desires

Now those are some thoughts about how we can do this. Let’s think now for a second about what it all says to us. Here’s a typical week for me, Pastor KPL. I’m checking PowerMizzou.com more times than I’d like to admit. Getting excited about the season just around the bend. I’m talking to Aaron about the team. Letting him know of news he might have missed.

I’m playing my guitar, trying to learn new skills. Watching videos about gear. Reading articles about music. Talking to Tyler and others about what I’ve learned. About what guitars he and others should check out for themselves.

I’m also reading books - pretty much all the time. I’m learning new ones that have just come out. Or old ones that I have to add to my list. I’m talking to friends about what I’m reading. About what they absolutely have to read for themselves.

That’s what happens in a typical week for me. And those are just three of the things I get pretty excited about. And all of that is happening around my calling as a pastor and husband and dad - and amidst all the challenges of this life. So what’s that saying? Yeah, I definitely do have the time. I think we all do.    

And here’s something that you also hopefully just grasped. You do have an idea of what to do. No, it’s definitely not easy. But it’s really not that complicated. Now I didn’t give you the definitive approach to making disciples. But it is an approach - that can be done in the midst of real life. That is, if we really want to.

The real issue is not can we do this. It’s do we want to do this. Right? Think with me about what I’ve described. Following my team. Learning about instruments. Thinking about books. Spending time and money on all of those three things. What’s happening? Discipleship. I’m being discipled - by those articles and videos and books. And I’m making disciples - as I talk about those things I love with those around me. I’m discipling. But I’m also being discipled.

Now you could list your own hobbies. You have your own passions. Maybe it’s gardening or fishing. Maybe cooking. Or running. Sewing. Carpentry. Whatever it is. None of those things are bad. They’re truly gifts of God. But the problem is that they can supplant the One we were made for, the One we’ve been redeemed by, and the mission He gives. And we end up being discipled and making disciples of things that may be good. But certainly not the best. And we no longer have a desire to spread His kingdom at all. It may not really be about our time - or truly our ability - but more about our desire.

What we need, family, are renewed hearts. Hearts that love our King. That long for His Kingdom. And those are gonna come as we listen to Him - in His word, among His people. And as we talk to Him - again, among His people, in His response to His word. So we’ve been talking about prayer. But it starts with praying for ourselves. Because we so often don’t want to do what He says at all.

The Gospel for the Non-Missional

Now as we continue to go through Matthew, this is the mission we’re going to see - until we finish up with these words we’ve walked through right here. But what’s right before these words? Before Jesus has been raised?

Oh yeah, the cross. Jesus gets nailed to those planks of wood. And He’s punished - in the place - of those who don’t live up to these words. Who like to make excuses. Who care only for themselves and protect themselves in fear. He died in our place. So that we could have eternal life. And that we’d be so moved - by this hope He gives - that we couldn’t help but get up off our faces, brush the dirt off ourselves, and speak of this love we’ve found. There’s hope for the non-missional. And a massive motivation toward multiplication for us. His glorious gospel of grace!

Making Disciples in Real Life

Beginning this fall, we’ll walk through each of those points - that I walked through earlier - as we come together in our Missional Communities. And we’ll pray that God will work around us. And use us to make disciples in real life. Fueled by prayer. That we’ll feel a joy erupting from our hearts. Something that just can’t be contained. Because don’t we have something that’s just so, so good? Something too good - not to be shared?

Here’s what I’m so weary of, friends. This game we can play in the church. Where we’ve largely don’t live this out. And we just sit here and wait for other Christians to walk in. I want to seek His kingdom first. I want to see glimpses of what we see in the book of Acts. I want to invest in a mission that brings true and lasting joy. Will you join me? Let’s pray.