St. Paul Lutheran Church
Sermon by Pastor Balogh

MAY 18, 2008 - listen to this sermon in mp3!

Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the
mountain where Jesus told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped
him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been give to me.  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, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of
the age."

 I want to let everyone know that this passage and what it says is the
discussion that is now taking place in our WEL Synod.  At our last Synod
Convention a special commission presented an exegetical study of this
passage because it was felt that perhaps some of the modern translations
have given a bad impression of what Jesus said here.  Worse yet, it was
felt that our WEL Synod had developed a "mission/vision" statement on
this passage that again perhaps gave the impression that we are not
standing clearly on what God's Word says.  The whole issue of this
passage revolves around the discussion "is 'make disciples' the proper
way to translate the Greek term used here?
 In a nutshell the arguments for and against this translation say the
following.  The "fors" simply say, "It is a legitimate translation and
can be used properly.  The "Agins" say, "It is a poor translation because
it seems to intimate that we make the disciples when in actuality it is
God who makes disciples through his disciples teaching his gospel
message.  The translation should be "teach" as in the old KJV.
 So we pastors are involved in an in depth study of this passage and
related items.  The paper or essay that was written is some   pages in
length and is quite detailed.  It is a good thing that we put our time
and effort into making sure that God's Word is clearly understood and
clearly taught.
 For me, I can see both sides.  I do believe it is legitimate to
translate the way it now is and I do believe the concerns of the other
side are well placed and important.  What I most understand is this: "It
is not the translation that is so important but rather how some might
apply the translation, how some might skew that translation with a
practice or application that does not fit with God's Word in the original
language.  There is the heart of it.  To make sure that what God says and
what God wants is what we are doing at all times in our lives of
Christian service.
 Let's then look at this passage for ourselves this day and learn what it
is our Savior desires of us.  Our theme will be: SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH
THE WORLD.  1st. The main command.  2nd. The supporting details.  3rd.
Jesus will bless the gospel.
 To begin let's make sure that we completely understand the circumstances
in which this wonderful statement of Jesus was made.  It is the day of
Ascension, 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus has met with
his disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where as we heard, the vast
majority of the disciples simply bowed down in worship to Jesus.  In
other words, the full impact of what Jesus had accomplished in his
resurrection lead the majority of the disciples to clearly grasp that
Jesus was and is the Son of God, yes, the promised Savior of the world.
That's what brings about their worship.  For the few who did not yet
fully understand, there was some doubt.  Perhaps it was doubt concerning
the resurrection because the doubters had not seen Jesus up to this
point.  Perhaps it was doubt as to what it all meant, after all, for
centuries Jewish people had been taught that the Messiah was to be an
earthly ruler and king and Jesus takes absolutely no steps in that
direction, that would cast doubt.  Whatever their hang-up it is not
something that Jesus addresses on this day directly.  That's because
Jesus knew that what they would see and experience on this day would
quell all doubt as to who and what he truly was.
 One other quick thing.  Although the text says it was the eleven
disciples who went to this mountain, we grasp and understand that the
group would have been much larger than that.  On the day of Pentecost
there was a group of 120 believers gathered with the disciples.  It is
very possible and probable that the group gathered on this mountain
included many of the other disciples of Jesus who were regularly with
Jesus and his apostles.  To grasp that even further, think of how the
disciples chose a replacement for Judas after the ascension.  The
requirement was: "one of the men who have been with us the whole time the
Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning with John's baptism to the
time when Jesus was taken up from us."  That passage says there were
others at the ascension, not just the eleven.
 To this group of disciples Jesus gives the one assignment that impacts
the whole world.  There is no time frame put on this command so it is
clear that what is said here is to apply to all believers for all of
time.  What does Jesus say?
 He says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to me.
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, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age."
 What is the first thing we should notice?  That it is Jesus giving this
command, Jesus who because of his resurrection victory has had all
authority handing over to him.  On the basis of this authority and with
this authority we are to carry out what Jesus says.  He is the Lord and
is to be heard.
What is it that Jesus wants done?  The main verb of this entire sentence
is "make disciples."  But we do have to be careful.  We are not to force
people or brow beat people into following Jesus, that is, into believing,
confessing and living according to the message and work of Jesus.  We are
to urge and encourage discipleship.  We are to share with people what
Jesus is all about.  To plant the seed of God's grace and mercy, to
cultivate the harvest with patience and love, but most important, as we
share the gospel of Jesus we are to simply pray that the power and life
changing work of the Holy Spirit be done.  It is God the Holy Spirit who
calls, gathers, enlightens and keeps souls in the one true faith.  What
we must be careful to do is make sure we are helping people become
followers of Jesus and not followers of just what we think Jesus is
about.
 What do I mean by that?  Well, you can't urge people to discipleship by
teaching and preaching falsely.  You can't cut and slice God's Word any
way you want it, but must lay forth the true and marvel of God's Word
from beginning to end.  The Law is preached to condemn of sin.  The
gospel is preached to present salvation in Jesus by grace through faith.
That's why, even here, Jesus is pretty adamant about sticking with what
He says, all of what he says.  By teaching the message of Jesus, his
redemption by grace through faith, that's the heart of bringing people to
faith.  It should be clear to all that our message must be founded on
God's Word alone.
 What else does Jesus say?  From this point there are three secondary
verbs that serve to define what Jesus wants of us.  Those three verbs
are: go, baptize, and teach.  Please note that none of these verbs has
greater force than the others but rather all are equal in their meaning
and intent for the cultivation of disciples.
 The "go" is perhaps the easiest to understand.  You cannot cultivate
disciples unless you go!  You cannot sit at home, hide in your favorite
cave, or always make it a point to refuse to talk religion with anyone.
We are to go.  We are to seek people out, to reach out, to share, to
care, to talk with, and interact with those around us for the sake of the
message of Jesus.  Go requires that we interact with people.  There are
so many ways to go.  We can have church services like we do and invite
people to come.  We can share sermons either by passing out what is
printed or directing people to a website or other form of media.  We can
simply share the wonder of Jesus with those around us in conversation.
What is clear is that Jesus does not want us to keep the faith bottled
up, private and personal.  It is to be shared, actively and openly shared
with the world: "GO!"
 Then Jesus says, "Baptize."  Again an interesting word.  I want to
remind you that we are talking about "making disciples."  Here is a word
that tells you how you can make disciples, that is, how you can bring
people to faith in Jesus.  Baptism!  There are a few things that God says
clearly give the gift of faith and baptism is one of them.  Because of
the promises of Jesus we simply believe that applying water in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit grants the forgiveness of sins and
thus eternal life and salvation.  Jesus puts no limits on this.  This
promise is for all.  God's Holy Sprit can grant faith to all because,
well, He's God.
 What a wonderful thing to recognize that this Sunday we have a baptism
to do.  A infant will be brought forth and the water of life applied to
him.  What always strikes me is the truth that this child is saved in the
same way I am.  Not by works, not by what he has done or accomplished or
even will do and accomplish.  Salvation is not of works, not of our own
merit but rather the work and power of Jesus.  Jesus forgives our sins.
Jesus grants eternal life.  Jesus applies his blessing to us.  Jesus
sends His Holy Spirit.  Jesus dwells in our hearts.  Jesus creates a new
heart and mind in us.  All of this because of the promise and power of
Jesus.  There is no better testimony to the power and grace of God than
the simple fact of faith and salvation in baptism because Jesus says so.
No wonder Jesus wants us out there carrying out baptism to the world.
 Then there is the verb "teach."  The whole phrase says, "teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you."  Here is the interesting
kicker.  Throughout the Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) we are
encouraged to teach.  To teach repentance because of forgiveness.  To
teach forgiveness because of God's grace.  To teach faith in God and not
in works.  To teach the truth and power of God's Word which is the
teaching of Jesus.  We are to teach it all, to teach it as God gave it,
not take pieces and parts to suit our itchy ears.  We are to teach Christ
Jesus and him crucified, risen and ascended into heaven for the salvation
of souls.
 Isn't it interesting to note that both Baptism and the message of the
Word of God, the gospel (that is, teaching) are the two ways that Jesus
told us the Holy Spirit would work in our lives for the creation of
faith!  Teach Jesus.  Teach him as the Savior from Sin.  The world will
hate you for it, but so what, it is what Jesus wants of us.
 What all of this boils down to is pretty simple.  We are to share with
the world the gospel of Jesus.  Share the fact of his atoning sacrifice.
Share the joy of his resurrection and proclamation as the Son of God and
Savior.  Share the gift of heaven because Jesus has paid for your sins
and grants his heavenly kingdom.  We are to share this awesome truth of
Jesus.  And to help us do this all the more, Jesus reminds us that He
will be with us in this endeavor.  He will guide us and lead us.  He will
open our hearts to his promises.  He will fill us with the blessing of
the hope of eternal life.  That's what all of God's Word declares.  It
declares that God in love for sinful mankind has sent a Savior who is
Christ the Lord.
 How could any of us ever want to ignore this wonder of Jesus?  How could
any of us, touched by the saving gospel not be moved to share Jesus with
our lives, our words and our actions to the glory of our Savior!  Amen.