40 Days of Prayer: Reaching Out

40 Days of Prayer: Reaching Out
Matthew 28: 16 – 20.


I. Introduction.

Max Lucado tells a story from his high school years in his book, In the Eye of the Storm. Every year the Lucado family took a fishing trip when Max and his brother were out of school for Spring Break. One year, his mother and brother could not go on the annual fishing trip, so Max’ father told him he could invite a friend.

It was an exciting trip for Max and his friend Mark. They were going to fish all week long, and they were going to enjoy the great outdoors in a camper. Just the guys.

The three guys arrived at the campsite on the first night, set up the camper and went to bed. They were dreaming about perfect weather and the pile of fish they would catch the next morning.

While they were sleeping, a cold front blew in. The wind was blowing so hard, it was difficult to open the door of the camper. The wind was causing “white caps” on the lake, so they were not going to fish on the first day. Instead, they spent the day playing Monopoly and reading Reader’s Digest.

While they were sleeping on the second night, it started to rain and the temperature dropped. The door of the camper was frozen shut. One more day of Monopoly and Reader’s Digest.

On the second day inside the camper, the three guys were no longer happy campers. They started to feel grumpy. Then they directed their grumpiness toward each other. Being cooped up in a small space accentuates all the character flaws of the people around you.

During the next night, it began to sleet. The fishing and camping trip was officially over. They packed up and headed home the next morning.

Here is the way Max Lucado describes his experience:

I learned a hard lesson that week. Not about fishing, but about people.
When those who are called to fish don’t fish…they fight.
When energy intended to be used outside is used inside, the result is explosive. Instead of casting nets, we cast stones. Instead of extending helping hands, we point accusing fingers. Instead of being fishers of the lost, we become critics of the saved. Rather than helping the hurting, we hurt the helpers.
The result? Church Scrooges. “Bah Humbug” spirituality. Beady eyes searching for warts on others while ignoring the warts on the nose below. Crooked fingers that bypass strengths and point out weaknesses.
Split churches. Poor testimonies. Broken hearts. Legalistic wars.
And, sadly, the poor go unfed, the confused go uncounseled, and the lost go unreached.
When those who are called to fish don’t fish…they fight.[1]


According to the Gospel of Matthew, the first words Jesus spoke to his disciples were, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for people (Matthew 4: 19).”

I think there were two reasons why Jesus said these words. First, they fit very well in the context of what the first disciples were actually doing at the time. They were fishing. They were fishing, because this was their job—as professional fishermen. Second, Jesus’ words at the very beginning of his relationship with his disciples were “truth in advertising.” This was the reason why Jesus called his disciples.

Jesus did not call disciples so that they could become the smartest men in Israel. Jesus did not call disciples so that they could gain supernatural insight into God’s purpose for Israel and his chosen people. Jesus did not call disciples so that they could have an extra special relationship with God and Jesus that would make the rest of the world jealous. No. Jesus called his disciples to a specific task.

I don’t think we could build a very good case that the disciples eventually became the smartest men in Israel. However, we can definitely state that they gained a special understanding of God’s work through the people of Israel, AND they became benefactors of a special relationship with Jesus.

There was a purpose for their relationship with Jesus. There was a purpose for their new understanding of God’s work. The purpose was fishing. The purpose was to share their relationship and understanding with other people. They were evangelizing the world. They were reaching out to other people.

Jesus began his earthly ministry with the words, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers for people.” Matthew 28 tells us what Jesus said to his disciples at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry…


Read Matthew 28: 16 – 20.
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""(NIV)


I discovered years ago that some of you write dates in your Bibles to remember when I preach on certain Scriptures. I preached on this Scripture on May 14, 2006. It was Mothers’ Day and the day you voted to call me as your pastor.

This was the first Scripture you ever heard me preach, because I believed it was important enough to start with. I also believe it is important enough to keep reminding our church. These words describe our unchanging mission as a church. We don’t need a Long Range Planning Committee to formulate a new mission for us. This is our mission in 2011, just as it was our mission in 2006, and just as it was our mission in 1883. The mission does not change.

In the Greek text of Jesus’ words to his disciples, there is only one verb. Jesus instructs his disciples to “make disciples.” This might be a little surprising, because the way it is translated into English makes the word “go” look like the primary commandment.

“Go” is actually one of three participles that define three different ways we are supposed to carry out Jesus’ instructions. Understood in this way, Jesus is telling us to “make disciples” by “going,” “baptizing” and “teaching.”

It seems to me that Jesus’ mission for his disciples has never changed. He began by calling them to a specific purpose—fishing for people. When he ascended into Heaven, he left them with instructions to “make disciples of all nations.” Ultimately, these are two ways of describing the same task. “Fishing for people” and “making disciples of all nations” basically describe our purpose as reaching out to others with the Gospel…This is evangelism.

Remember what Max Lucado said…When those who are called to fish don’t fish…they fight. Jesus called his disciples to fish. When you and I—as Jesus’ disciples in the twenty-first century—stop doing what Jesus called us to do, we will begin to fight.


II. Making Disciples.

These are the words Jesus spoke before he ascended into Heaven. Notice who was gathered with Jesus on the mountaintop to hear these words. Verse 16 tells us there were eleven disciples gathered there.

Wait a minute. Weren’t there twelve disciples? If Jesus had twelve disciples, but only eleven gathered on the mountaintop to hear his final instructions…Does that mean someone didn’t show up? No. Judas was dead at this point. So, after Judas died, there were only eleven disciples remaining. Eleven included everyone who had committed their lives to being a follower of Jesus.

So, we can interpret Jesus’ words as his final instructions to everyone. This will help us to understand what Jesus meant when he said “make disciples.” If all the disciples received the instructions to “make disciples,” then Jesus is basically telling them to grow by adding more people like them.

Disciples were followers of Jesus. They were the people who had left everything behind to answer Jesus’ call. Jesus called them to be with him on the journey. He called them to model their lives after his life. He invited them to share a special relationship with Jesus as their Master and Lord. Therefore, the call to “make disciples” is the call to reach out to others. They were not supposed to keep Jesus all to themselves. They were to invite other people to join them in the same kind of relationship.

Of course, I am very aware that these words were originally spoken to the first eleven disciples. Someone could make an argument that perhaps we are not included in Jesus’ instructions. However, that seems illogical when we read the way Jesus closed his statements in verse 20. Jesus said, “And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This tells me that Jesus’ instructions did not die when the last of the eleven disciples died. Jesus’ instructions were valid and unchanging as long as there is time. Jesus’ words were the mission of the original eleven disciples…the mission of the early church in the Book of Acts…the mission of the nine people who founded this church in 1883…the mission of our church in 2011.

Jesus told us to be “fishers for people.” Jesus told us to “make disciples of all nations.” We are not doing our job if we are not fishing, making disciples, reaching out.


III. Going.

Since Jesus told us to make disciples by “going,” it seems obvious to me that we are not supposed to wait for people to come to us. I think we can use fishing illustrations to understand what Jesus had in mind.

Where do fish live? Fish live in the water. There are fish in ponds, stock tanks, lakes, rivers and the ocean. In most cases, fish don’t live in the church or in your house. Fishermen know this. They know that in order to catch fish, they have to go where the fish are. This means they have to get really close to the water. Fishermen stand on the side of the stock tank, sit in a boat in the middle of the lake, or even wade out into the river. They can’t stay at home and catch fish.

In the same way, we can’t sit inside the sanctuary of our church and wait for fish to come to us. We have to reach out. This is why you often hear me say, “Invite your friends, your family and your neighbors.”

Some of you can’t invite your friends to church, because all your friends are already here. If all your friends are here, then you need to find some new friends. You need to make friends with some people who are not Christians…people who have dropped out of church…people who are running away from God.

Jesus does not want us to spend all our time around Christians. He wants us to be fishermen who go where the fish are. We cannot fish inside the church.


IV. Baptizing.

Another way we are supposed to “make disciples” is by “baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism is the first step of obedience. Baptism does not wash away our sins or provide us with salvation. Baptism is our response of obedience. On one hand, we are following the example of Jesus who was baptized. On the other hand, we are demonstrating the change that has taken place in our lives. We were dead in our sins. The old person / way of life is buried with Jesus and resurrected as a new person.

An important part of “making disciples” is leading people to give their lives to Jesus the way we have given our lives to Jesus. There was a time when each of us was not a Christian. Then, there was a time when we placed our faith in Jesus as the only One who could forgive us our sins and give us eternal salvation. That was the moment when we became a Christian…a follower of Jesus.

This is the only way the New Testament describes a growing church. The Bible does not tell us to grow our church by having babies or by transferring fish from one aquarium to another aquarium. The Bible tells us to grow our church by catching new fish.

Some of us are under a false impression about the ways our church is supposed to grow. We think the church will grow if we have the right pastor, the right children’s minister, the right youth minister, etc… We think the church will grow if we have nice buildings, a better location, better technology, etc… We think the church will grow if we sing the right kind of music or offer more attractive Bible studies.

None of this is biblical. The Bible tells us the church should grow by reaching people who are far from God.


V. Teaching.

The final way we are to “make disciples” is by “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” I think there are a couple of ways to think about “teaching.” The most obvious way is to think of this as the work of discipleship and formation that take place in our Sunday School and Bible studies. A less obvious way is to think of evangelism as a process of teaching and leading people.

Most of us have been trained to think of evangelism in terms of a one time, radical conversion. A person hears the Gospel for the first time—we are all sinners separated from God and deserving of an eternity in Hell; we could not solve our sin problem, so God sent his Only Begotten Son to earth; Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life and was crucified on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins; Jesus rose again as a promise that we too can have eternal life. Then, that person immediately has faith in Jesus and asks Jesus to be their Lord.

Evangelism doesn’t always work that way. In fact, I would suggest that in most cases evangelism is a process that takes place over time. For example, we need to find a way to help people move through stages of belief before they are radically converted. We need to help atheists become agnostics. (An atheist says there is no God. An agnostic says they don’t know if there is a God.) We need to help agnostics become seekers. (A seeker is someone who is willing to listen to the claims of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.) We need to help seekers become new Christians. Then, we need to help new Christians become growing Christians and growing Christians to become mature Christians.


VI. Conclusion.

The only way to accomplish this is to go fishing. When people who are called to fish don’t fish…they fight.

Whenever the pastor challenges the church to reach out to new people, there will always be someone who says, “We don’t need to reach new people. We need to take care of the people who are already members of our church. We need to be there for the people who built this church.”

One answer to this attitude is to go back and look at the reasons why this church was built. I believe this church was built in obedience to Jesus’ command to “fish for people” and to “make disciples.” The people who built this church did not build it to take care of themselves. They built it to reach out to others who needed to know Jesus.

Another answer to that attitude is to look at our current demographics as a church. Over the past ten years, we have performed over 200 funerals in this church. We average 20 funerals per year. If we continue to lose 20 people per year for the next 10 years, we will lose another 200 people.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 28 are the unchanging mission for our church. BUT, they are also the unchanging mission for us as individuals. This mission will only be accomplished when we all take serious the call to make disciples.

Think of a person far from God…
Pray for that person…
Go to that person…
Speak the Gospel…
Invite them to LFBC…
We could fill this sanctuary…


[1] Max Lucado. In the Eye of the Storm: A Day in the Life of Jesus. (Dallas: Word Publishing Company, 1991): p. 57.