Category: Mission (Page 26 of 26)

A dozen or so men and women have gathered on a hillside, under the sun. Over the last few weeks they have witnessed a series of events unparalleled in human history. These are the most committed followers of Jesus of Nazareth and they’ve come to this lonely spot to hear him teach.

This would be beyond belief if they weren’t experiencing it themselves, as Jesus was dead on a cross only a few days before. But they’ve seen him alive and spoken to him and touched him. One stuck his hand into the wound on his side. Jesus has eaten with them and reassured them. It’s been a joyous, miraculous celebration of Jesus. However, Jesus says he won’t stay forever and this feels like it may be one of the last times with these, his most faithful disciples. So, what does Jesus tell these faithful followers? What instructions does he leave them with? How does he encourage them to carry on? His directions are quite simple, really. But like all that Jesus taught, in his simplicity lies a depth of profound meaning.

Jesus tells his disciples to GO. He tells them to make more disciples, disciples from all nations (see Matthew 28). He lets them know that his vision is not just local, but it encompasses Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Picture it. A handful of his followers, mostly uneducated, certainly not powerful or wealthy or well connected. Sitting on a hill at the edge of the empire in a subjugated country. Jesus tells them to go and make disciples of all the nations. What do they do? They GO…

Ponder this thought from Theodore Roosevelt as you consider the challenges before you today…

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic” delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on April 23, 1910.

What were the last instructions Jesus chose to give to his disciples? What was so important that Jesus wanted to emphasize it at the very end of his time on earth? What would you have chosen to say?

Jesus said to “Go and make disciples of all nations…” If this message was so important that Jesus would choose to make it his last words to his friends and followers, then how important should it be to us today?

I’m thinking…very important…or profoundly important…or change your plans important…or give a week or a month or a year or several years of your life important…or give your money important…however you think about it, it’s life-changing important.