Sermon: Commissioned Christians

Rev. Dale G. Bauer

Date:January 13, 2008
Text: Matthew 3:13-17

I know that officers in the military are commissioned. I’ve heard the term “commissioned officer” all of my life, although I’m not sure exactly what it meant. I guess I’ve always assumed that it was some kind of warrant or order from Congress to hold a certain rank with specific authority. I also have heard “commissioned” used in connection with ships, as they are commissioned or decommissioned, which I have always thought had something to do whether they were a ship of the line, the force, or not.

A commission, I have learned, is:

... a formal, written document granting authority

I could say that I was commissioned, then, on May 12, 1974. You see, I have this document that says I am commissioned by the church to do ministry of Word and Sacrament. I’m so proud of this that I had it framed and it hangs in my office.

But my commission is nothing next to that of Jesus, and I doubt that he had a document. His commission, instead, happened at the river Jordan. He showed up at the Jordan where John the Baptist was baptizing, getting people ready for Jesus. John didn’t quite understand what was going on, but when Jesus asked him to baptize him, he did. His commission was to heal the consequence of sin, to renew our relationship to God. It was sealed by the words, This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

Jesus did what he had to do, which included his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. And then as a final will and testament, he gave us our commission. Just before he ascended into heaven, he said those famous words:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And we are called to live out that commission. Going. Making disciples. Baptizing. It is part of what we are to do if we call ourselves followers of Christ. Our commission, the document, is our baptismal certificate.

As some of you know, I ran into series from Willow Creek Church, outside of Chicago, that helps us to be faithful to our commission. It suggests that we can use different styles of sharing Christ Jesus with others. They are:

Confrontational
Intellectual
Testimonial
Interpersonal
Invitation
Serving
The idea is a great one. We can carry out the great commission in ways that are comfortable. Let’s look at these more closely.

Confrontational. This is a bold, direct approach. You find it in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. Peter preaches a short, simple sermon, outlining the mighty acts of God in Christ Jesus. He then calls them to repent (verse 38) and “save themselves from this crooked generation.” Now that’s a confrontation, but notice that some 3,000 folks were converted, and given their commission in baptism. It is Billy Graham in our own generation who used this approach. Starting with the human condition, he called for repentance and then asked for a conversion.

Intellectual. This would be a Lutheran approach. I think, therefore I am a Christian. Having all the facts, you convince yourself then others of the logic of Christ. From Martin Luther to Soren Kierkegaard to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great minds of the Protestant faith come from our tradition.

More than that, it is Paul, the great missionary of our faith, who uses logic to share the truth of the Gospel. Read, for example, his understanding of Law and Gospel in Romans, where he argues for the validity of the Law and the superiority of the Gospel.

In our own day, it is Nicky Gumbel, the force behind the Alpha Course—that basic introduction to Christian faith—who uses this approach to Christian faith. In a pamphlet he wrote, called Why Jesus?, he says:

We can test the claims of Christianity because it is a historical faith. It is based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our faith is based on firm historical evidence.

Testimonial. This is first-person storytelling, something we can all do. It is what happens when we hear a faith journey at Cross of Hope. We hear another person’s encounter with the living Christ and their journey of faith. As you know, I often use stories from life, especially my younger life, to share my experience of God.

That hymn that is beloved of all Christians around the world, “Amazing Grace,” is a testimony by John Newton. Newton was the captain of an eighteenth slaver, a ship that hijacked Africans and shipped them to the New World to become slaves. During the Atlantic crossing, hundreds would die during the voyage. Newton lived in deepening darkness until by God’s grace he saw light and began to live in it. Amazing grace ... that saved a wretch like me. The verses of the hymn are testimony of deliverance.

Interpersonal. This is a relational, a friendship-based approach. We’ve all got friends and out these relationships we can invite people into a relationship with Christ and into a relationship with his body, the church. Sometimes people ask the “big” questions and that becomes an opportunity. Sometimes friends face difficult situations and those become opportunities to share the love of God in Christ Jesus.

This was an approach often used by Jesus. He’d establish a relationship first. He’d take the person as a person first and seriously. Then he’d have dinner with them, like Zacchaeus, the despised little tax collector in the tree. He was transformed.

Invitational. Eight out of ten people who join a church have been invited by a friend or family member. There are folks here today because someone invited them to or told them about Cross of Hope. It is how the Preschool grows. It certainly isn’t because of advertising, because we do so little of it. Someone told me once that they learned about the preschool over the back fence—the concrete wall, actually—from neighbors. It is easy to talk about the preschool through firsthand experience or reputation.

Do you know someone you could invite to church from the neighborhood? Or work? And prepare in advance what it is about the church that’s worth their effort to come. Look at the “Ministries at Cross of Hope” and see just what it is that this part of the body of Christ offers.

Serving. I’ve talked with people who became part of this fellowship because of the example of a member. Maybe it was someone serving at the Rescue Mission or leadership in Sunday Church School or our midweek youth ministry, TNT. But you know the people I am talking about: people who love the Lord, serve the Lord, and in that service witness to the power of Christ to transform us.

This is one of the most effective and yet “quiet” ways we can live out our commission. By being mentors of transformed lives.

I have no doubt that everyone here has the gifts and commission to invite others into the kingdom. What’s yours? And how can put it into practice?

Amen.