"Mission Impossible" (Matthew 28:16-20}

Growing up as a kid in during the late 1960s and early 1970s, one of my favorite television shows was Mission Impossible.  The show was based on the exploits of a secret government agent force often asked to go out on missions that would seem impossible to any normal person.  Each week one agent would receive the mission by means of a tape recorder.  The message always started out the same way: “Your mission, should you choose to accept . . .”  What then followed was a description of what the government wanted the agents to do . . . then a statement of denial that the government knew anything about them or the mission . . . and, finally the tape going up in smoke as it was destroyed.

You remember that?  I loved the show with all of its action and impossible situations as the agents rushed to complete the mission.  It held my attention as I held my breath each week waiting to see if they would be successful or not.

This week we see a sort of version of that taking place in our scripture reading this morning.  The story takes place after Jesus’ resurrection.  The women have encountered Jesus at the tomb where he gives them a message for the disciples.  They are to tell the disciples to go to Galilee to a certain mountain.  Jesus will meet them there.

Doing as instructed, the disciples go to the mountain.  There they encounter the risen Jesus.  Then Jesus challenges them: “Your mission, should you choose to accept . . . is to convert everyone to be my followers.”  Okay, I’m kidding.  What he really said was, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Either way it is said, what Jesus lays on the disciples—and us—is a pretty big task . . . an impossible mission when one considers the size of the world, the number of nations, the billions of people that populate it all, and the fact that human beings are not too thrilled to embrace change.  What Jesus is asking is a daunting task with very little promise of success.  It is an impossible mission.

The choice is theirs . . . the choice is ours.  Remember how the mission is prefaced, “Your mission, should you choose to accept . . .”  Unfortunately, we do not get to know at the moment of the story whether or not the disciples accept the mission.  We only find out later as the story evolves that they do . . . but, we do know that in this encounter with Jesus that some of the disciples had doubts.  They weren’t too sure that the person standing before them really was the risen Jesus.  And, then they are hit with the bombshell of going out to “make disciples of all nations”.  What will they choose?  It is up to them, and likewise, it is up to us today.  The mission has never changed.

That challenge from Jesus, known to many as the Great Commission, still stands today.  It has never change and it is a daunting task no matter when it is heard by those who call themselves the followers of Jesus.  Go and make disciples of all nations. It would be easier to herd cats than it would be to make disciples of all nations.  There are so many factors that play against the success of basically bringing about God’s Kingdom by bringing everyone to the table. 

First of all . . . there are so many people!  The last time I checked there were about 7.6 billion people inhabiting the world.  That is a lot of people!  How in the world are we ever going to sway all those people to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?  Plus, they are individuals . . . they are independent . . . they think differently, believe differently, act differently, and they are probably quite set in their ways.  Herding cats is looking a whole lot easier.  And, yet, the challenge has been issued.

Second, we are not the only show in town.  As I stated before, individuals are individuals who think and believe differently.  There is more than one belief system in play in the world . . . religion and politics are probably the two biggies.  The point is that there is a lot of competition out there in the world vying for the attention and devotion of those 7.6 billion people spread out across the planet.  Shoot, even as the followers of Jesus we can’t all agree.  Here in Joliet we have at least six or seven bodies of faith scrambling for participants on a given Sunday morning.

Are you beginning to see the impossibility of the challenge . . . the mission . . . set before the followers of Jesus?  It is no wonder that the disciples in our reading this morning were feeling a little apprehension.  As any of us seriously consider the words of Jesus this morning . . . well, it is more than a little overwhelming.  It is impossible!  Why would any of us agree to be a part of something that is built for failure?

Well, because of who the one is that is making the challenge.  In Jesus we see how he overcomes the impossible to make all things possible.  In his words we find hope.  In his actions we see potential.  In him he took on the world and he changed it.  Because of him we find the belief that we too can make a difference . . . that we too can change the world . . . that we too can bring about the Kingdom of God no matter how daunting the task may look.

It can be done.

But heed this warning . . . this is not a one act play.  No, this is the never-ending story.  Thus, we must begin in manageable steps. 

Have you ever seen one of those 72-ounce steak challenges?  That is where a person sits down to eat 72 ounces of steak—four and a half pounds of meat—in an hour or less.  If the person succeeds, the meal is free.  That is a whole lot of moo to eat in an hour!  But it can be done.  The successful ones take small bites . . . lots of small bites.  Those small bites add up quickly until eventually the steak is eaten.

To meet the challenge of Jesus the followers must take small steps.  They must begin where they are.  We are all smart enough to know that we can never change a community the size of Billings or even Joliet overnight.  There are way too many people.  What we can do is to begin to live our lives in such a way that we share Jesus with others . . . we begin to love within our own homes, our own families, our own churches, and community.  We reach out to others to not change them but to love them by listening and caring about them.  We start where we are.  Remember a journey begins with a single step.

As overwhelming as Jesus’ commission is, it is not an impossible mission.  It is not impossible when one begins simply by loving where one is . . . in accepting and receiving another for who he or she is . . . in listening to where that person comes from, the life he or she is experiencing with all the good and bad . . . in caring.  It is welcoming the stranger because he or she is our brother or sister . . . our sibling created in the image of God.  It is a willingness to walk with another . . . not judge or condemn but walk.  It is a willingness to see the world through the eyes of Jesus . . . to recognize injustice, to seek acceptance, to live in peace, and to welcome all into the family of God no matter how different they might be.  It is a simple step that begins right where we are.

The issues of the world that go against the will of God will not be solved overnight.  They can only begin to disappear when we are willing to start where we are . . . when we are willing to love as Jesus loved.  It begins one person at a time . . . and, yes, the world is filled with billions of people.  The task seems impossible and daunting. A mission impossible.

In the show, Mission Impossible, the agents were left on their own.  There was no support.  That is not the case with Jesus.  We are not alone in accomplishing the mission set before us.  No, we have Jesus.  Jesus is with us through thick and thin, win or lose . . . always with us.  Instead of stating that the tape will self-destruct once the challenge has been issued, Jesus tells the disciples and us: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We can’t lose . . . we are not alone in loving the world and expanding the family of God.  Jesus is with us.  So . . . your mission, if you should accept . . . the choice is yours.  Amen.