If God Is Sending, Go
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
How many times have you read those words? How many times have you heard a sermon reference that passage? How many mission conferences have you attended that use The Great Commission as its central theme?
Familiarity with the Word of God is a beautiful gift of grace, but too much familiarity can be dangerous. Familiarity tends to blind our eyes and dull our senses. What once stimulated excitement or caused conviction might now barely get our attention.
I’m afraid that this could happen with the words of The Great Commission, specifically as we consider missions and evangelism within the context of our local neighborhood. So today, let’s ask the Lord to spark a fresh excitement for this passage.
Here’s what I think we need to see every time we read these words: you and I worship and serve a sending God.
In his redemptive plan, no one who receives his grace is intended just to be a recipient of that grace. Everyone who is a recipient of that grace is also sent to be an instrument of that grace in the lives of others.
What is God doing right here, right now? He’s sending. He’s sending his people—and he’ll never stop sending his people—until that work of redemption is complete.
So, what does that mean for your life, right here, right now? The only way to appropriately respond to a sending God is to be a going person.
“Go therefore…”
You and I serve a sending God, and we are called to be going people. That means we’re called to be mobile, on the move, carrying this message of grace.
For some, this means going to different cities, regions, or countries halfway around the world. But for most of us, that means going next door. Going down to the end of the street. Going to the shop around the corner. Going to the community event on the weekend. Going to where the people in your neighborhood gather, because God is a sending God.
And he is sending you, with the only message that makes sense, to share the Good News of the only Person who offers true life, love, and hope.
Where is God sending you, right here, right now? What are the opportunities he is giving you, in your neighborhood, to incarnate the love of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That gospel love is the most powerful force in the universe. If God were not a God of love, the whole story of the world would be different. Today, you can be part of his agenda of life-changing, earth-shattering love. But you need to go.
And you don’t need to go very far. Literally, next door.
There are people around you every day crying out for gospel love. They probably don’t know it yet, but they’re looking for what you have been sent to give them. And they will respond to that love.
As you are generous, hospitable, intentional, and kind, they will wonder, “Why is this person loving me the way they are?” And then you can share the beautiful story of Jesus.
But you need to go.
Where is God sending you in your neighborhood today? What opportunities are right in front of your face, right next door?
May we read the words of The Great Commission and be stimulated and convicted once more to “Go therefore!”
A Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, if my familiarity with your Great Commission has blinded my eyes or dulled my senses to your call in my life to “go,” please forgive me. Lord, you are a sending God, and I want to be sent by you. Would you open my eyes to the places you want to specifically send me, and would I be intentionally expectant for you to lead me where you would have me go. Any place, any time, for your glory and my good as you use me to share the good news of the gospel. In your holy name, amen.
God bless,
Paul David Tripp
Discussion Prompt for Children
What do you think it means to be sent by God and what might that look like in our normal, everyday lives?
Reflection Questions
1. How has your potential familiarity with the Great Commission dulled your senses to the vibrancy of its call in your life? In what ways have your eyes become blind to the spiritual needs within your community or neighborhood? How might God want to open your eyes and alert your senses to others’ need for the gospel in your natural circles of influence?
2. Why is the Great Commission a specific call for your life and not just for the lives of those in full time vocational ministry? Have you ever thought about how you are specifically called to be an instrument of God’s grace in the lives of others around you? Regardless of how you might have answered, take some time right now to brainstorm and write down who God might be calling you to share the gospel with, and how he might want you to do that (time, place, etc.). Now ask God to create opportunities for you to communicate the good news with the people who God brought to mind.
3. Pause and think about where you are right now in your week. Where do you think God is excited to send you, right here, right now? What are the opportunities he is giving you, in your neighborhood and other natural circles of influence, to incarnate the love of the Lord Jesus? Pray and ask God for his strength in your life to use you in whatever way he wants. As he is a sending God, pray that you would be a going person.