Sharing Jesus With Others
Pastor Marty Monday, March 12, 2012 at 6:21PM Since last fall we have been working through the four purposes that we believe God has for our church. All of these work together to bring glory to God and, up to now we have looked at the first three:
- Connecting to God through Jesus and to his people through authentic relationships.
- Growing spiritually through intentionally becoming like Jesus.
- Serving selflessly other believers through the material and spiritual gifts that God has given us.
Today we are going to start looking at the fourth purpose and that is Sharing Jesus passionately with those who do not know him. We don't want to just tell people about Jesus. We want to do it with a passion that can only come from someone who is drawing life from Jesus. I am going to use the passage in Matthew 28:16-20 to make some points about sharing Jesus with those who do not know him.
This passage is often called the great commission. In it Jesus gives an explicit directive to his disciples. They are to share the great news about the life, teaching, and work of Jesus to the nations. Jesus promised them that he would be with them, by his Spirit, even until the end of the age. Now this is an important part of the commission because it tells us that we are in a particular age that will have an end. Elsewhere in scripture it is referred to as the age of God's grace. Some have called it the age of the church. Regardless of what terminology you choose, it is a time when God's judgment should have been poured out on the earth 2,000 years ago. Judgment was averted by Jesus. Jesus stepped in and took the judgment of the world upon himself. This opened the door of grace for those who would put their faith in Jesus and accept him as the Lord and Means of dealing with their own sin. God has given man added time in order to repent. Sadly many do not take advantage of this window of opportunity.
The Call to Share is Given to those Connected to Jesus.
In verse 16 we see that Jesus had set up this meeting and that he was calling his eleven disciples (Judas the betrayer had killed himself) to give them this directive of Sharing what they had received. For over three years they had followed him and during that time they had become closer and closer to Jesus. These bonding times had culminated in an event they would never forget: the execution of their leader, teacher, friend, savior.
This connection is more than just a natural one. Judas did all these things with the eleven. However he is not here in this moment. It is after the ranks have been weeded out by the cross that Jesus then gives his commission. Never lose sight of the fact that we must have a living connection with Jesus if we are going to try and help others to become disciples. This connection is a spiritual connection that you cannot receive by right of genealogy, religious upbringing, or certain works. It is a spiritual connection that Jesus recognized in Matthew 16:17 when he said to Peter, "Blessed are you Simon, Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven." Peter didn't believe that Jesus was the messiah just because Jesus told him so. He believed because the Spirit of God had helped him to see it. This is true for us and it will be true for those we seek to share the gospel. They can only receive it if they receive it spiritually. No amount of "sinner's prayers" and "going to church" will make a connection. Only a heart of faith responding to the touch of the Holy Spirit.
The Call to Share is Compelled by the Holy Spirit.
Now verse 19 has a section where it says to baptize the disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Typically this is only referenced when people argue about how to baptize someone. But this is more than a phrase to say when baptizing someone. It really is pointing out the being and authority behind this task that is being given. It is the heart of the Tri-une God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit that sends us to make disciples. It is the very heart of God himself that says this is what I want you to do. Though Jesus has gone into heaven the Holy Spirit still remains moving the hearts of those who will hear him to make disciples.
Sharing is not just an act of our flesh where we do it once a week and check it off the list. In John 7:37-39, Jesus told those who were thirsty to come to him and he would give them a drink. This little drink would become a river inside of them that would flow out. He then explains that this river is the Life giving Holy Spirit of God. Now it is not a stream but a river. If you have ever walked out into the current of a river you have felt that "point of no return" where you don't have control, the river does. It is the same with sharing Jesus. This must be an activity that is born of and compelled by the Holy Spirit. If we think we can accomplish this task from the shore we are mistaken. We will only succeed in guilting people and fearing them into sharing Christ. And, this will only give birth to guilty and fearful disciples.
How easy it would be to "computerize" the church and put everyone's name in our database. We then could create a numerical system that analyzes your ability or lack thereof in sharing Jesus. We can offer gifts to those who do the best and put their name in the bulletin. But these techniques can only manipulate the flesh. They have no spiritual power to motivate men by the right things. We could be more successful on the surface, but all we would create are empty cups. What I mean by empty cups is this. When you buy a cup, you may buy it because it is pretty and looks sturdy. But in the end it is meant to give drink to the user. No matter what, if there are 2 cups on a table and the beautiful one is empty and the ugly one is full of drink then I will use the one that has something in it. An empty container may look nice but it offers you nothing that is real. The living Water that Jesus gives is the Holy Spirit. He will be like a river in your heart that takes you from being an empty cup to being a cup that is overflowing with living water. The modern Zombie craze focuses on creatures that really aren't human. Their bodies are animated but the lights aren't on upstairs. They are an empty cup: Living dead. This is what we are spiritually without the Holy Spirit. We might look alive. We might even look nice like the cup I mentioned earlier, but in the end if the lights aren't on in our heart, if the cup is empty and the Holy Spirit has filled our heart with his life, then we will waste our time in trying to "do" the work of the Lord. He empowers those he calls. He never expected you to do it in your own strength.
In Acts 1:8, the last words of Jesus to his disciples, he connects being baptized with the Holy Spirit to being empowered to witness or share with the world the good news of Jesus. If you don't have that living river compelling you along in your sharing of Jesus then you need to pray today for the Holy Spirit to fill you with his life, his abundant life.
The call to Share is Given by the LORD of lords.
In verse 18, Jesus says that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him. Now I think we read that too quickly without letting it marinate us. If the President of the United States came on national TV and said, "All money in heaven and earth has been given to me. It is all now in my bank account." What would be your first thought? "Oh isn't that nice. He must be proud." No way! You would jump and think, "wait a minute. I have money. If he has it all then that mean I have none!" Next you would be online in a jiffy checking out your bank account balance. So when Jesus says that ALL authority in heaven and earth have been given to him that means there are some angels somewhere going, "What?" That means there are some Ceasars, Kings, Khans, etc... somewhere on earth going saying "What?" All authority that could belong to angels and men has been given to Jesus, period. That is the Father's decree and that is his judgment. No one deserves any authority but Jesus. We need to understand that the one who is sending us to share the good news with the lost has all authority and power.
The call to make disciples of every nation must not be intimidated by governments and philosophies that stand up against "Sharing Jesus." Yes, they have power on this earth but it is power that they are using in the face of Jesus. They will be held accountable to him. If they put Christians to death simply for having converted from Islam then so be it. Those governements that do such evil will give account to the Lord of lords. If they ridicule you in the press and pass laws to make sharing Jesus with others a crime then so be it. Those who do such ridiculous and evil things will give an account to Jesus one day because they are usurping his authority. Jesus has given us the authority to stand with boldness and share Christ, yet in humility.
The Lord of lords has commissioned us to make disciples of every nation. To do this Jesus told them to Go, Baptize, and Teach his commands. Until this Age of Grace is over we are not done with this task.
If you are struggling with sharing your faith in Jesus with others then go back to the beginning when you became a Christian. Look at your connection to Jesus. Was it more of a natural connection than a spiritual one? Were you only born into a Christian home and just stayed in Church because that is all you ever knew? Do you call yourself a Christian just because Grandma was one? Maybe it was spiritual but you have quit drinking from the living water of God's Spirit. Jesus has been faithful to make it available but we often let the cares of this life and its pleasures fill us with everything but God's Spirit. Take time right now to ask God to fill you with his Spirit. Take time each day to say, "God, I don't want to be an empty cup. Fill me with your truth and presence today." Be compelled by his life rushing through you.
Maybe you have been faithful to share the good news. Make sure each day that you are doing it by the compelling of the Spirit rather than out of the guilt and "cognitive dissonance" that comes from knowing you "should" be doing something. It cannot be "fixed" by the flesh. First turn to the Spirit through prayer and meditation in God's Word. Let him fill you first and minister to you first so that you can go forth as an overflowing cup.
Let's ask Jesus today to make us more thirsty for his Spirit, to embrace his direction and Truth. So that we might truly and passionately share Jesus with those who do not know him.