During this Eastertide, while liturgically awaiting Jesus’ Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it is appropriate to give attention to the Great Commission. Prior to his Ascension, Jesus clearly spelled out the mission for his followers. Most believers are familiar with what we refer to as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, where it says:
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
But did you know there are actually five versions of the Great Commission? In all four Gospels and in the Book of Acts, Jesus gives some variation of this sending out of the disciples. You can look up the other four and read them in Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-49, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8. It’s repeated to emphasize that as disciples of Jesus, we are a sent people. It is not to be missed or dismissed.
Now, to be clear, this sending out on mission was to be built on the foundation of personal and relational renewal. In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” In other words, don’t try to do the mission without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This is personal renewal. And then, just prior to his death and resurrection, Jesus couldn’t have been clearer about the need for relational renewal for the sake of mission: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) So, with a real love for God and a real love for one another, we are commanded to really love non-believers and do whatever it takes to reach them and bring them into God’s Kingdom, so they can be Jesus’ disciples too. This is missional renewal.
The question then is how do we do that as Anglicans in our time?
It seems to me that Jesus’ words in the commissioning in John 20:21 are still very applicable for us today. He said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” As he was sent, so we are sent. As he did mission, so we should do mission.
Three Ways We Can Be on Mission as Jesus Was on Mission
1. Leave Our Comfort Zones.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1-2,14a) To accept the Father’s mission and be sent to save us, Jesus had to leave heaven and come to our dark world. Can you imagine what it was like for Jesus to willingly leave all the beauty and wonder and, no doubt, comfort of that eternal existence? As he was sent, so we are sent. For us to accept Jesus’ mission, we also must be willing to leave our comfort zones.
One of those comfort zones might be the four walls of our churches! Jesus didn’t stay in heaven and hope that we somehow find our way to the Father. He left heaven and came to where we are in order to reveal the way! (John 14:6) Too often, our strategy for mission is to stay in the comfort of our worship services, Bible studies, and Christian bubbles in the hope that sinners will somehow find their way in. Sure, we are seeing some movement of existing Christians finding their way into Anglican Churches, looking for a deeper, richer way to follow Jesus. This is to be celebrated. However, if these are just Christians moving around to another denomination, it is not the actual fulfillment of the Great Commission. Truly lost people, who are stumbling in the darkness, need the light of Christ brought to them to show them the way to him.
2. Love Sinners.
Why did Jesus come on his mission to save us in the first place?
Love. John 3:16 is pretty clear, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” He loved sinners enough to come to us, and then he practiced that love by actually associating with sinners. My favorite example is in Mark 2, after Jesus chooses the tax collector, Levi, to be his disciple:
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.’” (vs 15-17 NLT)
It’s easy for us to slip into being more like the Pharisees and to see sinners as scum rather than seeing them as Jesus did. He looked at sinners with love and entered into life with them to bring them salvation, not condemnation. He didn’t become like them, but he loved them where they were in order to bring them to repentance and salvation. We must do the same if we are to be sent as he was sent.
3. Balance Demonstration, Proclamation, and Transformation.
Jesus’ mission included all three of these. There was supernatural demonstration of the reality of God’s Kingdom attached to proclamation of the good news of God’s Kingdom, followed by transformation of life, as he discipled those who followed him. As he was sent, so the disciples were sent, and as you read the Book of Acts, they seemed to have that same balance in their own mission. In Act 2, you see the gift of other languages (demonstration), Peter’s bold address (proclamation), and about 3,000 people saved and the church formed (transformation). It continues in Acts 3 with the healing of the crippled beggar, and so on.
As he was sent, so we are sent. As we go out, it seems to me that we also, in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, should demonstrate the reality of God’s Kingdom to sinners. This could be anything from acts of love and service to supernatural miracles, but demonstration alone is not enough. There must also be a proclamation, using words to explain how to enter God’s Kingdom through repentance and belief in Jesus. Finally, there must be transformation offered through assimilation into the church and growth through our church discipleship pathways. This is the fullness of the Church’s mission—demonstration, proclamation, and transformation—held together as one. And as we give ourselves to this work, we may trust that the same Lord who sends us will also go before us, bringing renewal not only to those we serve, but to us as well.
One great resource to help you grow in this area is our video based study called Rediscovering Evangelism. It’s free, and this season is a great time to go through it either individually or as a small group. It can be found here: https://americananglican.org/american-anglican-media. And, as always, please take advantage of all our resources to help you and your church fulfill Jesus’s Great Commission in our day through the resources at Anglican Revitalization Ministries. For more information or to schedule a call today, visit www.churchrevive.org.
In your community, you can be on mission just as Jesus was on mission, and we can help!