Here is the most recent talk I gave for the athletes. Last week was our last meeting of the semester. I wanted to focus on kingdom vision and eternal perspective. Hope you enjoy!
All semester we have been talking about the question Jesus asks in Mark 8:29: “Who do you say that I am?” I hope that most of you have come up with an answer to that question. If not that’s ok, I encourage you to keep wrestling with and thinking through it. For those of you that have answered that question I want pose another question to you: now what? What are you going to do with that answer? If you believe Jesus:
• Came to earth as a baby
• Lived a perfect life without even one sin
• Died a gruesome death on the cross for our sin
• Rose from the dead cancelling out our debt making us completely blameless and righteous in the Father’s sight
The question I have for you is now what?
This talk tonight is the “so what” of everything we’ve talked about all semester. If we answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” by saying “I believe you are God. I believe that you did all that the Bible says. I put my faith in you, surrendering control of my life to your purpose and plan.” If you can say all of that Jesus has a command for you. And that’s where we’re going to pick up our text tonight. Turn with me to Matthew 28:18-20. This is right after Jesus was crucified and then rose from the dead.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus is talking to his disciples and he tells them to go and make disciples of all nations BECAUSE “I am with you always.” I read this text so often and pass right over it. “Okay I get it… people need to hear about Jesus and I should be the one telling them.” Blah, blah, blah.
I understand how calloused we can become to hearing that. I know that there are a million things in your life that you have to worry about: school, your sport, family, finances, friendships, dating relationships, your future, the list goes on. It’s a lot and I get that. I understand the demands you guys face and I understand how tempting it is to pass off the end of Matthew 28 as a suggestion. But that fact is Jesus’ words are not a suggestion. They’re a command. Jesus doesn’t say, “Go and make disciples if you feel like it. Or if it’s comfortable and convenient.” He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” With no qualifying statements afterward. So tonight I want to show you a few illustrations to hopefully reopen our eyes to this passage because trust me I’ve read this a million times and I’m the biggest culprit of skimming right over it. Hopefully, the Lord renews our passion for sharing the good news of Jesus with the people in our lives.
Let’s pretend that one grain of sand represents your lifetime, the 70-100 years you get to live on this earth. Take this handful of sand. Experts estimate that there are 12,000 grains of sand in that one handful.
Now imagine a beach volleyball court. It is estimated that there are 512 billion grains of sand on that court. What about on every beach in the entire world? The University of Hawaii did a study and estimated that there are 7,500,000,000,000,000,000 grains of sand. However, as mere mortals it is impossible to know the actual number.
[At this point I did an illustration with the students. Since I can’t really do it properly on a blog, I’ll just explain it to you. I borrowed this from Matt Thiesen, a Cru staff member who works in our regional headquarters. After you read this you might consider attempting what I did and reflecting on what I wrote. This exercise is much more effective when you experience it firsthand.]
I used trash bags to cover any place light might come into the room: windows, exit signs, door cracks, etc. I turned off all the lights and it was completely pitch black. You literally could not see anything; not even your hand in front of your face. I allowed students to take in how dark it was in the room then I asked them to imagine I kept them there overnight. I asked them to think about how they would feel. They wouldn’t be allowed to talk to anyone or use any source of light. Then I asked them to imagine I kept them there through Christmas. In that darkness. No light. Next I told them that we were going to do a little exercise. The guys would get up and move to the left side of the room and the girls would get up and move to the right side of the room. When they got there I would teach them how to do a line dance, all in the darkness. Before they could move I stopped them. I explained that we couldn’t do that because they would get hurt and I would be in trouble with every single one of their coaches. We wouldn’t do that exercise but I explained to them this reality: people are walking in darkness who don’t know Jesus; who don’t know the Light. They stumble around, putting their hope in things that don’t satisfy them until they end up hurting themselves: spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Then I asked them to imagine I kept them there until they graduated. Anywhere from 6 months to 4 years. Finally I asked them to imagine I kept them in that dark room for their entire life with no light; no interaction with anyone. Just darkness. I’m sure by that point a person would lose their mind. But here’s the sad reality: people they know [people you know] are in darkness like this. They don’t know the light. They don’t know Jesus.
Remember the grains of sand we talked about? How each grain represented one life? People who don’t know Jesus aren’t in darkness for one lifetime (70-100 years). They’re not in darkness for 12,000 (a handful) lifetimes. They’re not in darkness for 512 trillion (a beach volleyball court) lifetimes. They will be in darkness with real pain and real suffering for as many lifetimes as there is sand on every beach in the entire world. They will be in darkness for an infinite amount of lifetimes. We can’t even assign a number to it. We can’t even comprehend it. I know this is a really hard truth to think about especially with people you love. I hate thinking about friend of mine who I love dearly being in darkness like this, but the truth is because they doesn’t know Jesus this is the reality they faces. But there is good news.
[At this point I lit a small tea light candle]
The good news is that light pierces darkness. One candle can make all the difference. Look how this one tiny candle illuminates so much. I can see my hand. I can see some of your faces. And when that light spreads eventually the darkness will disappear.
[I lit ten more tea light candles. The room lit up and we could see everything clearly including the water bottle I knocked over when I was trying to find my way back to the podium I was at after I turned out the lights.]
You who love Jesus are like these candles. You are surrounded by darkness, but Christ has made you a light. This is why he commands you in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples. Because people who are in darkness long for the light and you have been sent, commissioned, to tell people about the good news of Jesus.
It is not an accident that you are an athlete at this school. It’s not a coincidence you’re sitting in this room today. There are 370 athletes and 45 coaches at this school. And there are 30ish of you sitting in this room tonight. This is your mission field. These are the people God has put in your life to love and to care for and to share the good news with. You didn’t just come to Missouri State to earn a degree or to play football or field hockey or to swim. God has purposed your time here, to make a difference in the lives of your teammates. When we surrender out lives to Jesus he doesn’t just zip us up to heaven. Why is that? If the goal is that we might know him, why won’t he take us to be with him as soon as we decide to ask him into our lives? Because others need the light. Because you are meant to share with others what Christ has done for you.
I used another illustration to put this into perspective. Fortunately I don’t have to describe this one because pastor Francis Chan has a YouTube video using this illustration. Please watch:
What I want you guys to hear tonight is what you do during this tiny red part determines what you’ll do for the rest of eternity. What we decide about Jesus here on earth determines the rest of our forever. We don’t get this chance over again. We get one shot to make a decision and then eternity. Now for a lot of you that’s great news. You’ve made your decision and you get to spend your eternity living in the light with Jesus. So: use this life to take as many people with you as you can. When I stand before Christ in heaven at the end of my life I want the people I love standing next me.
I also want your teammates, coaches, friends, and families to be standing there too. I want them to have what you have here on earth. I want them to have hope. I want them to be cared for and protected by a God who loves them. And ultimately I want their eternity to spent with Jesus. Revelation 21:4 describes it this way “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Can you imagine that? A place with no more pain. No more suffering. No more death. No more heartache, or disappointment, or bitterness, or evil, or fear.
Think about those people in your life that you love; the ones that don’t know Jesus, the ones that haven’t surrendered their lives to Christ. You have the opportunity to bring others out of darkness and into the light with you. But here’s the thing: you get one shot. If you’re lucky you’ll get 70-100 years on this earth and that’s it. What I want you to encourage you with tonight is don’t waste your time here. Not just at Missouri State… I mean don’t waste your life on earth clinging to things that don’t matter. I’m not saying all of you should become missionaries and move to South America. I’m not saying you should shove your religion down peoples’ throats or use a “turn or burn” type of message. I’m not saying that you guys don’t have real things to worry about in your life. All I’m saying is that Jesus has given you a precious gift and he’s given you the ability and position in peoples’ lives to tell them how Jesus has changed you.
Some of you may be saying, “Jesus’ command must have been for someone else because I’m not the best speaker. Or I don’t know very much about the Bible. Or I’d feel like a big hypocrite because I don’t have it together. Or you don’t know my friends, they don’t want to hear about all that stuff.” But those are lies from the enemy!
This is what Isaiah 61:1-3 says about you:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Paul was in the same boat. And remember he used to murder Christians! Even that didn’t stop him. Here is 1 Corinthians 2:1-5:
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
The Bible speaks of idolatry ALL THE TIME. People are trying everything they can to fulfill a need only Jesus can fill. They are desperate for a Savior whether they know it or not. Romans 1:23, 25:
“They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”
I’m not the most eloquent speaker. I don’t have all the right answers and I’m definitely not perfect but I’ve seen the Lord use me when I just get over myself and ask people simple questions. It doesn’t have to be a big debate or long talk. It can be as simple as one question that opens up the door to future spiritual conversations. It can be as simple as mentioning your relationship with God in everyday life. Your religion doesn’t have to be something you turn on and off with different people. You don’t have to wear your “Christian hat” when you walk into church and take it off when you leave. Be passionate about your relationship with Jesus and people will notice. Be willing to ask people about their lives.
• What was your spiritual background growing up?
• What do you think happens after death?
• How do you view God?
• Who do you think Jesus was?
• How does a person become a Christian?
• Can I pray for you?
Invite them to things. You never who would say yes to coming to this Bible study, Cru, or church with you just because you ask.
You get 80 years and that is a blink of an eye compared to the rest of your eternity. Spend your life doing something that matters. Because at the end of your life all your accomplishments and awards will amount to nothing. No one is going to remember your win/loss record or how many yards you rushed or goals you scored. All your money and possessions will eventually burn. The one thing that is really going to matter is the way you invested in the people in your life.
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