Worship Results In Mission (Matthew 28:18-20)

[Read Matthew 28:18-20]

We’ve spent the last couple months talking about worship. It’s been my hope that we would begin to see everything we do as worship. Our work as worship. Using our spiritual gifts as worship. Serving in the church as worship. Everything. That’s what we want to be the center of everything we do in this congregation. We want to be a congregation that is Worshiping the Triune God in community, as a community, for the community. 

In order to help us understand the concept of worship more fully, I’ve been using this definition: Worship is our response of adoration, submission, trust, and joy to who God is and what He has done. That means we are worshiping when we stop and adore God for who he is. That means we are worshiping when we deny ourselves and submit to His will. That means we are worshiping when we trust God in the midst of difficult situations. It means we are worshiping when we are enjoying our walk with the Lord. 

This morning, our passage gives us another opportunity to respond to our God in worship. Our passage begins with Jesus telling the disciples, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18, NIV). Take a moment to grasp what Jesus just said—ALL authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. That’s the whole enchilada. That covers everything there is. That means Jesus has been given authority over everything—EVERYTHING. Jesus has authority over the nations. He has authority over our lives. He has authority over every aspect of our lives. All authority has been given to him. 

This should move our hearts to worship. When we understand that He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, we should respond in adoration. We should be in awe of Him and his power and might and his authority. We should respond by submitting to him because He has all authority. We should respond by trusting Him because he is ruling and reigning over all things. We should also respond by finding joy in this. The God we worship is ruling and reigning over all things and has authority over all things—and he has called us his children. This is what worship looks like. 

Yet, as we worship the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth, he gives us a command. He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18–19, NIV). Since Jesus is Lord over all the nations—or as I say in the greeting, ruler of the kings of this earth—we are called to make disciples of those nations. We are called to proclaim that Christ is King and exhort everyone to bend their knee to his reign as King—to look to him in faith and follow Him—to worship Him. 

This command to disciple the nations has some concentric circles to it. In the book of Acts, as Jesus is reiterating this command to his disciples, he says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NIV). To rephrase this into our current context: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be Christ’s witnesses in Beaver Dam, and in all Dodge County and Wisconsin, and to the ends of the earth.

When we begin to make disciples of the nations, we begin by making those disciples right here in our community. Yes, it’s extremely important for us to equip and support people who go to other nations to proclaim the gospel. However, it’s also extremely important for us to see the tremendous needs right here in Beaver Dam. We are surrounded by people who need to hear the gospel. Did you know that over 60% of the population in Beaver Dam are not involved in a local church? Sixty Percent! That’s a lot of people that need to hear the gospel and need to be discipled. There’s a massive need in this community and God has placed us here to be salt and light—to be leaven that begins to spread throughout the entire city. Then, it will continue to spread even further throughout Dodge County, Wisconsin, and the ends of the earth. 

Jesus is giving his disciples an expansive vision of the church—much bigger than they had even imagined. Can you imagine what was going through their minds when they heard Jesus say this? He was saying this to twelve very unqualified people. I bet some of them shook their head in disbelief thinking, “We could never do that!” Yet, here we are two thousand years later and Christianity has spread throughout the vast majority of the earth…but there’s still work to be done. It is no good for us to sit back and disbelievingly say, “We could never do that!” because Christ has commanded us to do it AND because we have watched it successfully spread. We have less excuse for thinking that we cannot do this because we have watched the gospel spread throughout the earth in power. We simply need to step out in faith and do it. We need to Worship—adoring, submitting, trusting, and enjoying God. We need to begin Worshiping the Triune God FOR the community. 

In our day and age, the idea of community is much broader than it was one-hundred years ago. A hundred years ago your traveling distances were limited and you hardly met someone from another country. Yet, today, we live in a globalized culture. In many ways, the world is our community. We live in a world where Don Slager can fly to Liberia multiple times a year in order to do his translation work. We live in a world where the nations are coming to us. Think about that for a moment. The nations are coming to us. Just down the street from us is Wayland Academy. There are students from TWENTY different countries in that school. We don’t have to spend a ton of money to fly to another country in order to minister to the nations anymore, we can simply walk a few blocks down the street. The nations are here, what are we doing about it? 

It’s important to recognize that the primary command in the Great Commission is not “Go,” but “Make Disciples.” That’s what we are called to do. We are not called to simply make converts—although that’s important. We are called to make disciples. Disciples are people who are following Jesus and growing in their faith—becoming more like Him. We need to walk with people to help them in that walk. We need to teach them how to worship. We need to teach them how to adore God. We need to teach them how to submit to God. We need to teach them how to trust God. We need to teach them how to enjoy God. That’s what it means to be a disciple.

That’s what Jesus is getting at in the rest of this passage. He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given 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.” (Matthew 28:18–20, NIV). We are to make disciples, and in order to do that, we need to be going, baptizing, and teaching. That’s how we make disciples. We need to be going out into our communities and into the world. We need to see people coming to faith and trusting in Jesus Christ. We need to be teaching them to obey everything He has commanded. In short—we need to teach them how to Worship. 

The key to this passage—an important key to understanding the purpose of this congregation—is that we are to be worshipers who are teaching others to worship. We are to be worshipers teaching others to worship. That’s our goal and our mission.

In the first place, we need to be a people who are truly worshiping the Triune God. We cannot fake it, trying to trick other people. We need to be truly worshiping—truly adoring, trusting, submitting, and enjoying God. We need to be worshiping in such a way that other people begin to take notice. We need to be worshiping so that people see our words and deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. That’s the first step—it’s always the first step. John Piper says,  “[Worship] has always been the fire that fuels our passion to reach peoples who do not worship the true God through Jesus Christ.” So, let us be a worshiping people—worshiping in community, as a community. 

Then, and only then, can we begin to worship FOR the community. Once we are truly worshiping, we can speak to them from our own experience. We can honestly speak to the from our heart about the times in our lives when we’ve adored God, or the times when we’ve beautifully submitted to God, or trusted God in the midst of difficulty, or found tremendous joy in God. Once we are truly worshiping, they will begin to see the beauty of worshiping the Triune God. They will begin to taste and see that the Lord is good. Once we are worshiping, our words and deeds will begin to overflow into this community. We will naturally find ourselves connecting with people and teaching them how to worship.

Not only will we do this naturally but we will begin to be more intentional. When we are truly worshiping it will break our heart to see other people not worshiping the Triune God. It will force us out of our comfort zone and into the lives of other people because we want them to experience the joy and trust of worshiping God. So, we will claim various aspects of our lives as our “mission field” and we’ll begin to intentionally interact with people so that they can see the beauty of worshiping God. We’ll intentionally take opportunities to teach them how to worship. We’ll keep doing this because we KNOW the beauty of worship and we want others to experience it. What area of your life should you claim as your “mission field” and begin to intentionally engage with the gospel?

You see, when we worship FOR the community, we are not creating programs. We are simply living the life God has called us to live. We don’t need to get fancy with it. We simply need to begin worshiping God where we are right now, with the life God has given us right now, and looking for opportunities to teach those around us to worship. That’s what it looks like to worship FOR the community. It’s an everyday sort of worship. 

This gets me excited—fired up—as I begin to think about reaching the community of Beaver Dam with the gospel. Yet, I also realize it can begin to overwhelm people. We don’t know where to start. The task seems too big for us to accomplish. We don’t feel like we are strong enough or knowledgeable enough or organized enough to begin. So, it’s overwhelming. 

That’s probably what was going through the disciples’ minds as well. That’s why Jesus looked at them and said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, NIV). I’m sure the disciples were overwhelmed. So, Jesus looks them in the eye and says, “I’m here for you and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be walking with you, right by your side, right up until the very last day. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged. Step out in faith and boldness and disciple the nations. I’m with you.” 

He tells us the same thing this morning. As we look at the daunting task of reaching the community of Beaver Dam with the gospel. As we look at the daunting task of bringing the gospel in our neighborhoods, workplaces, grocery stores, gas stations, wherever God lays on your heart. As you pulse begins to quicken and your palms begin to get sweaty, Jesus looks you in the eye and says, “I’m right here with you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be walking by your side as you enter your workplace with the gospel. I’ll give you the words to speak as you talk to that person on the street. I’ll give you courage to proclaim my name in the face of persecution. I’m here to empower you to make disciples of the nations—to make disciples of Beaver Dam. I’m not going anywhere.”

As we step out as worshipers teaching others to worship, we step out with Jesus Christ right by our side. We can accomplish nothing apart from Him. But, with Him by our side, we can disciple the nations. So, let us leave here in faith—worshiping the Triune God FOR the community.