The Call to Discipleship

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Call to Discipleship

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who in his book The Cost of Discipleship, once made a distinction between Cheap Grace and Costly Grace. Cheap Grace, he argues, is a Grace that is not worth much; and doesn’t take much of devotion or time. It is a thrown together type of grace. It doesn’t take much for it to be manifested. It is the easy way out of most of our situations. On the contrary, costly Grace is the true desire of God. He furthermore argues that costly Grace is mirrored to the suffering of Christ. That the grace that Christ gives us by dying on the cross what’s an exemplification of Costly Grace. He furthermore suggests to us that in order for us to be true disciples love Christ we have to follow him by exuding costly Grace. Grace must cost us something, and that cost can’t be cheap. Due to the rising cost of inflation on Costly Grace, there is likewise a rise in finding alternative methods to afford our discipleship.

The truth of the matter is that many of us try to use a coupon on our discipleship. We don’t want to pay full price by being the prophet God has called us to be. We don’t want to speak truth to power or to go into the world and be the example that God has called us to be. We want a cost-effective Grace. We think we are A Step Above cheap Grace but we’re not necessarily proponents of costly Grace. I stopped by to tell you that discipleship isn’t cheap. You don’t have to believe me, however let us look at this text and see that Jesus expect a costly Grace to be attached to our discipleship. We see an example of this in our text. Today’s text is situated immediately following the resurrection of Jesus. People are still mourning his loss and are wiping away the tears from their eyes. People have lost their sense of hope, as the one who would be their leader and king has gone on to glory. There are 11 Disciples, who were of his closest friends and were trained by him. Those disciples would know the answer to the age-old question of “What Would Jesus Do?” They witnessed the different miracles and encounters. They saw him as a Prophet and they saw him as Priest. They were witnesses to the fullness of Jesus’s ministry, however, up until this point they were not carrying out the examples of this ministry.

But now, they were at the end of their educational journey. They were done with seminary and their internships, and no longer had to deal with Pharisaical Councils Committees or Sadducaic Professors. There were no more approval essays to write. They didn’t have to write any more papers, read books or present on various topics. They were this weird stage of life known as “Claity”. This is where someone is not quite a lay person but is also not officially a member of the clergy. They were claity. They could preach but not consecrate elements. They could offer the prayers of the people but couldn’t baptize. They could teach adult forums but can’t wear a stole. The Disciples, are prepared to be the World Changers that Jesus intended them to be. But the only problem in the text is that they were forced to realize that they were ready as a result of trauma. Jesus was dead. I mean Dead, Dead. Which would cause me to consider that the disciples are in a place of pain and uncertainty. It is ironic that the disciples could be in the very mindset that Jesus found himself in when he cried out “Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani” which means “My God, My God, why has though forsaken me?” And if we are all honest, no matter who you are, where you sit in the sanctuary or how many times a day you pray towards the east; we all will find ourselves crying out just like this in our lives. The question is: what do you do after you cry out?

The disciples had been mourning for an entire weekend and were unaware of any change of status in regard to Jesus’s story. They were not privy to the information about this story that we were. They didn’t know that something that was Dead on Friday could rise again on Sunday morning. Without that information, the disciples still decided to go to the mountain on which Jesus told them to go to. I know this may have seemed miniscule to you, but I am grateful for their obedience. They decided to be obedient to a figure whom they witnessed die because they had faith in him. They didn’t need to have Jesus there but because he gave them the instruction, they chose to be obedient. This blesses me because, without any evidence of life, they were willing, in the words of the Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, to go on a word. They had nothing but the word that he had given them, and the issue with some of us is that we forget that Jesus will keep His word. I know the circumstances will seem shaky and you will begin to fear but always remember that even if Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus Never Fails!

They arrive at the mountain, and to their surprise, Jesus is there. Some are shouting like a typical Easter Sunday morning “Jesus was alive! Christ has arisen!” and some are truly confused.   Jesus was standing before them, and they didn’t have enough time to process it. They had lost a good friend and leader; and as he returns to their midst, he begins to give them a call to discipleship. Jesus doesn’t begin offering them pastoral care, Jesus gives them the Great Commission. This teaches me a valuable lesson about the Call to Discipleship and furthermore, discipleship itself doesn’t always come at times that are convenient and comfortable. Sometimes you will find yourself serving as a disciple during and/or right after the worst seasons of your life. Amidst the pain and suffering that you are enduring; and although sometimes the bottom of your life may feel like it is dropping out; Christ is still calling you to be the disciple that you were called to be.

Jesus comes out of the Tomb, realizes that the disciples came to where he told him to meet him and the first thing that Jesus tells him to do is go. He tells them to go and make disciples of all Nations. Literally suggesting, that where you are going is foreign territory. You are not going to be in the same place that you have always been, but rather will make disciples in a place that is new to you. Our obligation is to minister and make disciples out of people who are the left out. But I’ve come to realize that the real issue here is that we don’t understand the fullness of what the word discipleship means. Discipleship, from the root word Disciple, is a follower of someone that has willingly made the decision to spread their teachings with others. Jesus gained his 12 disciples by simply living around them. He practiced his teachings and his everyday life and therefore drew his disciples in. Which could suggest that when Jesus told them to go and make disciples, he was calling for them to go into foreign spaces and live the gospel in front of people. But don’t just live the gospel, live it so well that other people want to live it with you.

He then went on to say that they should baptize those disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You may have seen a baptism and even been baptized but some of us limit baptism to acts of a Celestial Swimming Trip at church. Whether it is full-immersion or not, the purpose of baptism is to put in an environment of purity long enough that something in the environment changes you to be a change wherever you go; in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptized children grow into their call of discipleship by affirming their baptism in their encounters with other children and adults. When taken seriously by the baptized parents, we see the proof of the Isaiah 11:6 text “a child shall lead them”. Baptized adults transform workplaces, families, and communities. When we baptize someone in the name of the father, son and holy spirit to cleanse them from the impurity, cause them to be Justified and allow them to be pristine.

But not only does Jesus tell them to Make Disciples and Baptize, but he likewise tells them that they need to teach others the very lessons in which he has taught them. Which tells us that though Jesus was not our professor in seminary, there are some lessons that Jesus used others to teach to ensure we got the message. There were so many lessons that people have taught you and if you are like me, sometimes I am overwhelmed with all of the things that I've learned. But I’ve realized that some people are like me and if you are, I’ve got good news for you. Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging but informs us that no matter where you find yourself, Jesus will be with you.

·         When you’re nervous about making the right decision

·         When you’re overwhelmed and anxiety arise

·         When Sunday seems to come back too quickly

·         When trauma arises in your life

·         When everything is going wrong in life

·         When everything is going right in life

·         When you’re confronted with the things they didn’t prepare you for

It may be in the valley, where countless dangers hide;
It may be in the sunshine that I, in peace, abide;
But this one thing I know—if it be dark or fair,
If Jesus is with me, I’ll go anywhere!

If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!
’Tis Heaven to me, where’er I may be, if He is there!
I count it a privilege here, His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!