I love to watch movies. I also love to watch the Academy Awards. The last Academy Awards had a terrible booboo when the presenters announced the wrong best picture. We know what happened during Miss Universe 2016 when Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner. Winners of major awards like the Oscars are very careful when they deliver their victory speech especially during the part wherein they thank those people who have helped them. They certainly don’t want to OMIT anybody. Sometimes they make a list of names so they won´t forget.
It´s the same thing when you get invited to a party, it´s frustrating when you arrive at the door, you can´t get in because your name was omitted from the list. Or when you are supposed to be honoured during a ceremony but for whatever reason, somebody omitted your name.
In our lives as Christians, there is a sin of commission and there is a sin of omission. If we do bad things to other people, we COMMIT a sin. It´s a sin of commission. Now, if we failed to do good things to others, it is also a sin. It´s a sin of omission. God does not want us to do bad things but He also expects us to do good things.
I want you to pay attention to these words: commission and omission. The title of our message this morning is “THE GREAT OMISSION” and our Scripture is Matthew 28:16-20.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave His disciples the Great Commission. A “commission” is a command from somebody in authority, it´s a directive. It´s not the Great Suggestion. Pretty much like traffic lights. They say in the Philippines traffic light is only a suggestion. Jesus gave commands directly to His disciples and indirectly to us. Jesus gave the church a marching order.
Let us read from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28 verses 16 to 20:
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, His last words to His disciples were not “go to a mega church that provides good food” or “go and sing worship songs that make you feel good” or “go and have some fund raising so you can buy a comfortable church building.” Jesus did not say those things. Jesus did not say “go and convert people to Christianity” or “go and make people born again and forget about them.”
No. Jesus was very specific. He said “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” In the King James version, the command says “go and teach all nations” and the Greek word used for “teach” is matheteuo which is translated in English as “make disciples.” So the NIV version basically tells us the English meaning of the original Greek word.
The disciples took His command seriously and followed it. They went into the world and shared the gospel and gave up their lives and thousands upon thousands were saved by the grace of God.
These disciples delivered the message about Jesus which was so powerful and they have lived their lives as effective witnesses. They were so effective that their enemies accused them…
If they did not follow the Great Commission, we would not even hear about Jesus Christ today. The early church took the Great Commission seriously. That was then. What about now?
What has happened to churches in our time today.
When something is omitted, it is “left out, undone, neglected.” In most churches today, instead of making disciples in all nations, instead of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, churches today can not even take the gospel outside its church building. WCCC has some mission projects but it´s not enough. Personally, I am also guilty of this.
It is also very clear from the Scripture we read earlier that the call to make disciples and share the Gospel is NOT a gift but a command. This is one of the common myths that we would to debunk today. There is another myth that we will debunk later.
It is unbiblical therefore to think that we should not share the Gospel because we lack the gift of evangelism. Many people think if they don’t have the gift, then it is not their job to share the gospel. You may not agree with me but in the Bible, evangelism is not a “gift.” Sharing the gospel of Christ is a command for all believers. A lot of people is confused with the “role” of evangelist which is mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 with the “gift” of evangelism. There is no gift of evangelism, but a call for everyone to evangelize. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:11 that the church is gifted with evangelists, and their job is to equip God’s people to do evangelism.
If we don´t evangelize, we commit the sin of omission and the repercussion is very damaging. I read an old English proverb attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
If we don´t evangelize, we commit the sin of omission and the repercussion is serious. I said earlier that “In many churches today, the “C” is missing in the Great Commission, making it the Great “Omission”. How about you?
This is our question for the day. This question is addressed to each one of us, individually and to our church as a whole. This is a question addressed to a lot of churches today. Are we more concerned on property and not on people? Are we more concerned on meetings more than missions? Are we more concerned on our comfort more than community? Are we more concerned on the color of man´s skin than the condition of his soul? We all want to see people coming to church, for as long as they are the right kind of people. This is a hard topic church. I don’t intend to hurt anybody´s feelings. I myself am guilty of this. Has the Great Commission become the Great Omission.
What do you think the “C” in Commission stands for?
This is where we draw our lesson points for today.
LESSON POINTS:
Remember who gave the command in the first place. Who gave the Great Commission. It´s Jesus Christ. The first C that we need to bring back to the Great Commission is Christ. We can have all the mission and evangelism projects in the world. We can make ourselves very busy, just like Martha – she was very busy in the kitchen. Just like some of us, we are so busy with ministry activities but remember what Jesus said “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” She chose to worship Jesus.
In Rick Warren´s book PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, he talked about five purposes that answers the question “What on earth am I here for?” And these purposes were presented in chronological order.
The very first purpose is WORSHIP, then FELLOWSHIP, then DISCIPLESHIP, then MINISTRY and the last one is MISSION. Our priority is our relationship with Jesus. It goes first before anything else. Jesus goes above everything else. It´s the first greatest commanded anyway. We shall “love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.” The fifth purpose in this book is MISSION. This means that we don´t just jump right away to the mission field if our relationship with Jesus Christ is not right. The challenge of churches nowadays, we´re usually stuck in the fourth purpose, that is MINISTRY.Jesus said in verse 18:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (v18)
Remember church that whenever we engage in fulfilling the Great Commission, the devil works double time to frustrate. If you think with our own abilities, we can fight the devil then you are being misled. We have to work on the power and authority of Jesus in us through the Holy Spirit. We must ensure that when we are engaging ourselves in this warfare against the devil, Jesus is taking the lead.
The second point which is the second “C” is commitment.
I put this second point to make emphasis. I know that if we truly have Jesus in our hearts, there should be “commitment” to His words. We must be committed to His commands.
Commitment. Commitment. Commitment. I know is a very abused and overused word. Jesus said in verse 19:
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 (v19)
The mandate of the Great Commission is to “go!” This is a word of action. We cannot go if we are just standing still or sitting still. We cannot say we´re committed to follow Christ if we are just sitting comfortably in where we are. Jesus said “go!”
When Jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” – This statement is not a defensive statement. During Biblical times, the gates of the city is very critical. When the city is attacked, it´s the gate that can spell the difference. If the enemy can overcome the city gates, then they can lose the battle. What Jesus meant that the church that He will build, the gates of Hell shall not prevail.. it means that the Church should take an offensive stance… attacking the city of the enemy and overcome the gates of Hell. It means action. It means commitment on the part of each believer. First, we have to be committed to live a life worthy of Christ´s calling and second, we have to be committed to follow His commands. If we are not committed, then the Great Commission becomes the Great Omission.
Most of us evangelizes others through our lifestyle and there is nothing wrong with that. We always hear that the first Bible that other people will read is our lives. But we should not stop there. We must have genuine concern in teaching others to obey God´s words.
Jesus said…
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (v20)
This is the second myth that we would like to debunk today. We think that we follow the Great Commission by just living our lives. Sharing the Gospel involves not only our lifestyles but it also our lips. We are commanded to “teach.” This is where most Christians fail. Why? Because they do not have the confidence. Why? Because most Christians are not equipped. So we go back to proper training. We are told to share our faith. We are to tell the lost world what Jesus did for us when He saved us and what He can do for them, if they will trust Jesus.
It is not enough for us to show it. We must also SAY it. Can you repeat this statement? It´s not enough to SHOW it, we must also SAY it. We must have genuine concern in teaching others to obey God´s word.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
The read the following story in the internet. I apologize if I wasn´t able to take note or make proper reference to the original author.
It is about a small rescue station run by volunteers to assist the US Coast Guard. They put their station near a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often happen. They had a small and primitive building, they only had one boat and there was only a few of them. But the members of this rescue station were committed. They kept constant watch over the sea. Whenever a ship went down, they would bravely go out day or night to save the lost. Because of so many lives saved by this rescue station, they became famous.
Not long after, many people came and wanted to be associated with this rescue station. They have given their time, their talent and their money to support its important work. New and modern boats were bought. New crews and volunteers were recruited. Lots of training sessions were conducted. As volunteers join the station, lots of ideas poured in. Some of them became unhappy with their old building, so they wanted a better place and a new building was constructed. They wanted a bigger place to welcome survivors of shipwrecks. They also bought new beds, new furnitures and new equipments.
Now the rescue stations became a popular gathering place of its members. They met regularly. They loved each other. They enjoyed the company of every one. They get to know each other more. They hugged each other. They shared their lives with each other. As time goes on, the members are now getting less and less interested in what´s going on at the sea beside them. Fewer members are now interested in going to the sea for life-saving missions. What they did was to hire lifeboat crews to do the job for them.
One day, a large ship was wrecked off the coast. The hired crews brought into the station boatloads of dirty, wet, sick and half-drowned people. People from different walks of life. Some of them were from first class cabins, some were from the lower decks. People with different colors. Some are black. Some had yellow skin. Some speak English. Some could hardly speak at all. The beautiful building became a place of chaos. Their new carpets got dirty. Their furniture were damaged. The committee decided to build showers outside the building so that the victims can clean up themselves before getting inside the building.
In their next general meeting, there was a heated debate. Some members wanted to stop the stations life-saving activities as these activities have become a hindrance to their normal fellowship. Few members insisted that their primary purpose was to save lives. Unfortunately, they were voted down and they were told to leave.
So the small group of members of the old station started a new station. Years passed, the new station experienced the same problem. It evolved into a place of meeting, of fellowship and never-ending training sessions. The cycle continues. A few people started another station, with the goal of saving lives, then after a while, they grow big but only in numbers only. If you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of stations with ample parking and nice facilities. Shipwrecks still happen a lot of times in the area. Unfortunately, a lot of people drown and they are not being saved.
This story is a parable. It´s the parable of the rescue station. But we can also call it the parable of the modern church. I am not saying we are like this church. But if we don´t do anything, we can be like them. If we omit C in our commission, if Christ is no longer the reason for our mission, if we are not committed to saving lives and if we are not genuinely concern for their eternal destiny, our great Commission becomes a Great Omission.
This happens not only in the church in general but also to each one of us. We can become so comfortable of being a Christian that we forget the Great Commission. Why do you think God did not just take us up to heaven the moment we received Christ in our lives?
There are people around us in shipwrecks. They are drowning. They are losing hope. Some of them are not even aware of their situation. God has given us the command to help them. Not only that, He promised that He will always be with us to the end of the age. He also sent the Holy Spirit to empower us, to give us confidence, because He knows we cannot do it ourselves. Jesus said “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.”
Let us pray.
Prayer:
Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:
Father God, I confess all my sins to you today. Please forgive me. Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Him in my life as my Saviour and as my Lord. May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen.
The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Richmond during its service on Sunday, May 7, 2017
I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors.
I also apologise if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any, as it is purely unintentional.
If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:
www.wordchristiancommunity.com
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