You ever sit in a Sunday morning sermon and just get hit with a truth that blows your mind? This morning I had one of those moments. First things first, a quick shout out to Dustin Bartee for allowing God to speak through him. Well done sir, well done.
Now, a little bit of context for you….today was Missions Sunday at my church. The church I call home is not a small one. It is very easy to get busy doing your thing, your own ministry work, and really have no idea what all else is going one in a church this size. I am grateful for days like today that open the eyes of many to the mission work that we as a body are involved in.
I’m sure many of you have sat through Missions Sundays at your own churches. Sometimes you get what you expect on a Sunday like that. A plea for money and a review of The Great Commission. Matthew 28 is most likely the go to text for mission minded lessons, teachings, and sermons. It is a fabulous text. Jesus has risen from the grave! He sends word to his disciples to meet him in Galilee. (Side note: Who did Jesus send the most important message in all of history through? Women. He told women to go and speak the truth of his resurrection. That is a post for another time….) The disciples find him there and worship him. And some doubt. Then in verse 18 we get “The Great Commission.”
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is the story I know. The story I was taught growing up. This morning though, we didn’t get a lesson from Matthew 28. We got a lesson from John 20.
In John 20 we have a similar context. Jesus has risen. Mary Magdalene has encountered him and received a message for the disciples. And then in verse 19 we read this:
19 That Sunday evening[b] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The disciples are being sent out, just as in Matthew, but the verses in John end with forgiveness.
You might be thinking, well duh Sarah, forgiveness of our sins is part of the good news. OK, I know that. But here is the thought that came to me this morning:
When we encounter people that do not know Jesus or perhaps that do know Jesus but are not like us in some way that we believe is sinful (in appearance, or language, or sexual orientation, or politics) and we interact from a place of only “obey all the commands” it is likely, or perhaps probable that they will not grow closer to Christ for having interacted with us. If we do not share the good news that they, just like us, are sinners that are forgiven through the power of the cross, it is even possible that they will be pushed further away from Christ.
If all forgiveness is found through Christ, and our actions push people away from Him, we are forfeiting their forgiveness for our rightness.
THAT is not good news.
The disciples, and I believe all of us, are told to go and share the Good News of Jesus. In Luke 24, Jesus says this:
46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[f] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.
So go. Go, and with the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, go and forgive.
Scripture references taken from the New Living Translation as seen on Bible Gateway.
Patience & Grace 