We live very comfortable lives today. Comfortable and complex

– we read and eat by the constant and unflickering beam of an

electric light; we drive cars; we frequent drive-thru restaurants

and banks; we watch up-to-the-minute world events unfold in the

quiet and seclusion of our homes; we communicate by telephone,

fax, pager and email; we have coffee machines that turn on before

we wake and brew coffee for breakfast; we even have electric

tooth brushes that save us cleaning our teeth by hand!

But it wasn’t always like that. Just 40 years ago, according

to Australian author Kerry Cue, if you wanted toast for

breakfast, there were no pop-up toasters – you had to turn your

own toast under the grill. There was no ‘Chicken Tonight’ back in

those days – chicken was a rare treat served up at Christmas!

There was no stir fry – just plain old lamb chops, cooked to the

consistency of bark chips. There were no cheese singles – people

had to cut their own cheese! And there were no stay sharp knives

– they had stay blunts. And there were no microwave ovens – If

you wanted to cook something quickly, you ran outside, grabbed an

axe and chopped wood really fast.

There were no pizzas, no McDonalds, no drive-thru – if you

wanted take away, it was fish ‘n chips wrapped in newspaper and

you had to get out of the car, walk into the shop and wait. And

there were no serviettes! As for cars, there were no tape decks,

radios or heaters. You sat in the old FC Holden wearing hats,

gloves, scarves and coats. As for air conditioning – if you

wanted air conditioning you opened the windows. And get this –

you had to wind those windows down yourself!

Rapid change has become part of our lives. We’re conditioned

to it, we order our lives according to its demands, we grow

addicted to it; it can become an end in itself. But in the midst

of this whirlwind, this kaleidoscope of transience, there are

some things that do not change. The love of a mother for her

child, the progress of the seasons, our need for food and warmth,

the laws of gravity and electromagnetism. These are constants.

And the reality of God’s love never changes; nor does the

faithfulness of his word. And in Matthew 28:16-20, we find

another constant: the challenge of Jesus to mission, the

challenge to disciple the nations – the ‘Great Commission’:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the

you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

For hundreds of years the church was able to convince itself

that the Great Commission was meant only for the apostles and the

early church. The Protestant Reformation did little to address

this – indeed, it was Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the

Jesuits, who best fits the bill as the father of modern missions.

But in 1789 a turning point in the life of the church came

when a young pastor called William Carey stood at a Ministers’

Fraternal meeting of the Northampton Association in England, and

suggested they should consider "whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not binding on all

succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the

accompanying promise was of equal intent." Ryland, the

minister in charge, brushed Carey aside, saying, "Young man,

sit down, sit down. You’re an enthusiast. When God pleases to

convert the heathen, he’ll do it without consulting you or

me!"

But God used William Carey to establish the Baptist Missionary

Society in 1792, and sent him to India where he supervised the

translation of the Bible into six languages, established mission

schools, promoted agricultural improvements, and successfully

campaigned for an end to the practice of widow-burning. He never

left India. And still today we say, with Carey, that the command

given to the apostles to teach all nations is binding on all

succeeding Christians, to the end of the world. In the words of

Emil Brunner, "The church exists by mission as fire exists

by burning." World mission should be at the centre of the

church’s life – mission should be our catch-cry, our passion, our

heartbeat!

Matthew chooses to close his Gospel with this account of the

Great Commission by Jesus. The eleven disciples, probably

accompanied by many others, do as Jesus asked them, and go to a

designated place in Galilee to wait for their Lord. Someone sees

him in the distance, and a cry goes up, and they run to worship

him, some hesitating, not sure it’s really him. But it is! And

Jesus draws near and speaks these amazing words to them: "All

authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me"

(verse 18).

Matthew began his Gospel with Jesus acknowledged as King of

the Jews by the wise men from the East. Above his head, on the

cross, Pilate had a sign erected, "This is Jesus, the King

of the Jews." But now, in resurrection glory, in the power

of endless life, Jesus himself claims complete authority over the

entire universe.

We might expect Jesus to have paused here to explain how he

hoped to exercise this authority, but instead he indicated its

implications – what effect it should have on those who follow

him: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations .

. ."(verse 19a). The disciples are not commissioned

to go to the lost sheep of Israel as they had once been told (see

Matthew 10:5-6), but to all nations! God’s desire is to

see heaven filled with people from every village, tribe, and

nation, every community, every people group on earth! And we are

called to participate in this great task, the Great Commission.

Jesus continues: ". . . baptising them in the name

them to obey everything I have commanded you"

(verses 19b-20a). The new disciples are to be baptised, or

initiated, into the Christian community in the Threefold Name.

But baptism is only the beginning. The "newbie" has so

much to learn, and to experience. It’s not education for

education’s sake, but a way of life – living in a manner that

pleases God, every day, starting today.

Unlike the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Matthew ends his Gospel

not with an account of Jesus ascending through the clouds into

heaven, but with this equally breathtaking promise: "And

surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"
(verse 20b). When asked what had sustained him in all the dangers

of his missionary travels through Africa, David Livingstone

answered by quoting this verse. It’s the ultimate assurance for

the missionary, for the disciple, for the Christian. Every day,

to the end of the world, we have a Great Companion walking beside

us, the Lord of the universe, the presence of God with us,

Emmanuel. Go and make disciples of every nation! Five billion

people?? "How is that possible?" I hear you ask. It is

possible because Jesus is with us.

Early in 1996 the Apple Computer corporation posted the

biggest loss in its history. A few years ago, when Apple was

facing a similar downturn, the chairman, Steven Jobs, flew from

Silicon Valley to New York to try to convince Pepsico’s John

Sculley to move west and run his struggling company. Sitting

together in Sculley’s Manhatten penthouse office, the Pepsi

executive started to decline Jobs’ offer. Sculley asked for a

million-dollar salary, million-dollar bonuses and million-dollar

severance pay. In mental anguish, Jobs reluctantly agreed – if

Sculley would move to Apple’s California base. But Sculley would

only agree to work as a consultant from New York. At that, Jobs

issued a final challenge to Sculley: "Do you want to spend

the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to

change the world?" Sculley put his life in perspective and

went to Apple.

Many things in life change, but it’s good to know that some

things don’t change. The Great Commission has not changed in

almost 2000 years, and the promise of his presence with us does

not change. We have new life through our faith in Jesus Christ;

we possess power over sin, Satan and death. We have all the

resources of heaven at our disposal, and we have the awesome

challenge of world mission to grasp.

Let me ask you the question Steven Jobs asked John Sculley: do

you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or

do you want to change the world? Do you want to grind along in a

world of mediocrity and unachievable dreams, or will you join

hands with Jesus, and change the world through mission? He may

call you to pray; he may call you to give sacrificially; he may

call you to leave your comfort zone and go into the world. But

whatever Jesus calls you to, you can be sure he is Lord of the

universe, and that he will stay with you as long as you live.

Will you change the world with me?