Go and Tell

I would like to ask you to open your Bible up to Matthew chapter 28 and I wanna read where we were last week… Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 5… 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. (Now here is the invitation) Come and see the place where he lay.

Mary and Mary have just received one of the greatest invitations of their life… to see and witness, in fact that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, for he has risen! And it’s another sermon for another time, but one thing I wanted us to know is this, ”The most fulfilling journeys begins with a simple invitation to come and see.” Invitations are generally moments where others are requesting for us to go somewhere or for us to do something, but often these invitation doesn’t call for us to experience it alone.

When it comes to receiving an invitation, many times, we’re being recognized and chosen by someone who sees value in us, and whenever we see value in one another it creates a sense of connection and belonging. By Accepting an invitation, it can lead to new opportunities, crazy experiences, and new relationships that can enrich our lives. But let me ask, “Have you ever experienced the joy of sharing your journey with someone else?” Whether it’s a spouse, or a parent, or a really good friend, we find all throughout Scripture that God invites his people into this great story, but he never calls us to be in it alone.

Let’s dive right back into the story and see how this invitation turns from the invite into doing life with others, and spreading the gospel message. Let’s continue our Scripture in verse 7… 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” What’s interesting about this story is that God invites these women into the conversation of the good news that Jesus has risen and he tasks them and offers them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus lives.

They are literally bringing good news to the disciples of Jesus. Have you ever brought good news to someone? I remember when Alicia, a little after a year into our marriage, called me into our bathroom and showed me that little stick with two lines… She brought me the good news that we were going to have a baby. There’s a Scripture in Romans chapter 10: verse 15 that says, “And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Mary and Mary through this invitation to come and see, now have a choice to make, whether or not they will indeed go and tell, and bring this good news to others. Everyday you and I are invited into this relationship with God, and everyday we choose whether or not we will go and tell others about Jesus.

But the pinnacle moment for these women, and for us this morning is this… Have we been faithful to the invitation that Jesus calls us into to come? You see, faithfulness isn’t just about being loyal to our commitments. Faithfulness isn’t just about keeping the promises we make. it’s also about staying true to our values and beliefs even in difficult times, even when others might not believe the message we’re bringing.

Mary and Mary had a huge task to bring the news that the messiah, the one everyone watch die on the cross is not dead, but alive. There was a chance of unbelief from those hearing their message. But in spite of that, they were faithful… To be faithful, there must be courage, and perseverance, and a strong sense of purpose. But when faithfulness comes to relationships, there is one more key that is required when it comes to growing intimacy between a group of people from different kinds of lives and backgrounds, and it’s curiosity.

I learned a new phrase recently that I thought would be beneficial to our call to have beautiful feet, as we’re being sent to go and tell this good news, that Jesus lives and share it with others… and it’s this… Be curious, not judgmental. You see, Curiosity opens avenues of understanding and guides our hearts to appreciate those we partner with on this journey of faith. Curiosity helps us understand one another and to be patient with their thoughts, feelings, and experiences just as we want others to understand ours.

Curiosity, helps us to deepen our connection and grow with one another in the relationship of discipleship. And the reason it does that is because curiosity keep our conversation open and fresh when we talk with others. I like to think of it like this… When we are curious about something, we’re interested in it… and when we’re interested in something we tend to lean into a little more than anything else.

BUt when we are judgmental about something… We tend to lean back, and shut ourselves off from others and then assume that we already know everything there is to know about them. When we judge, we limit our ability to understand the perspectives and experiences of others, which can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts in our relationships. Think of it like this… Every time I think of being judgmental I think of my momma.

My mother would not, for the life of her, eat Chinese food. Wouldn’t touch it.. and because she wouldn’t touch it, I wouldn’t touch it. We actually believed, the our local Chinese restaurant would go out to catch stray cats and dogs to use for their food. Now, of course we do know there are cultures out there that think cats and dogs are a delecacy, but I’m thankful were not one of them….

But Then one day, in college, my college girlfriend wanted Chinese and I found myself with her eating General Toa’s chicken and I loved it. It began a beatnik relationship between me and Chinese food, and eventually I began to try other things. Wontons, egg rolls, sweet and sour sauce… But my mom would not go out with us.. it actually took years until recently, she finally went to the Chinese place in Clarksburg with a friend…

and tried it… and guess what…my mom now loves Chinese food. You see churhc…. When we judge, without having conversaiotn, we limit our ability to understand the perspectives and experiences of others. But here’s the good news: Curiosity opens the door for conversation, and when we are having manful conversation, conversation opens the door for transformation. Isn’t that true… Because I was curious to try something, I found I was transformed into living something I thought I wouldn't like.

It’s the same with our faith. I was curious about Jesus… well, honestly, I was curious about a girl and by following her to church, I found my curiosity for her, led me into a conversation with Jesus. I was curious. And through my curiosity, I began to ask more and more questions, and the more I asked questions, the more I began reading the Bible. Those questions were then discussed with those around me.

This is true when budding relationship with others who are curious as well. I learned that when we’re willing to be curious in the lives of others, and we approach others with a curious heart, a heart that is beating affectionally and passionately with Jesus. It creates space and opportunity for us to share good news with others. I’ve leaned that… Curiosity creates a space for their stories to be heard by me and for my story to be shared with them.

This weekend on Friday our son went to prom with his girlfriend and her family took our family out to eat with them to an amazing diner. When we arrived, we walked passed bar area and went to our table and sitting there was an elderly man, I would say in his 80’s eating alone. In our conversation at our table, it every quickly turned from, I just ordered my food, did you see that amazing dessert cooler when you walked in..

I mean.. every dessert you could think of and cheap too… So, I got up went back up front to take a picture to bring it back to our table, but on the wya back, that older man turned towards me, and I said hi, and he, with this smile said hi.. and it seems as if he wanted to say more, but in my excitement to bring back the good news of all the amazing desserts they had, I kind of just smiled and walked passed him.

Until, the Spirit said, Matthew, dont you believe in no indivisible people. I said yes. Dont you believe that everyone has a story to tell, I said yes. Go and sit two seats down from that man at the bar… And so, I did. I got up and excused myself from our table. Went to bar, sat on the stool two seats down. Ans right in front of me was another cooler that I had missed filled with cheesecakes and other desserts…

But more importantly, was the older man sitting two seats down. Then I knew why the Lord sent me there… to be curious. I said, sir… there seems to be a lot of desserts here… I saw you ate the carrot cake, do you have any recomadations.. And comes to find out, he was a regular. He ate there everyday for dinner and everyday had a dessert. He told me all about all the different kinds of desserts, and what he liked.

I found myself then moving one chair closer to him. And we were laughing and talking. Now, I know those I was with could have been bitter because they were paying for my families meal. But they are good christian folks and they knew me… “I talk to everyone.” That man name is bob, and I told bob that I appreciate his kindness to share his experience with me, I asked if I could pay for his dessert for tomorrows meal, and I don’t think he believed me at first, but he finally nodded yes, he picked out what he wanted and the waitress gave me the bill.

I paid that bill of 4.99 with a 20 dollar bill…. And I looked over and saw the work schedule. I said, “I see you have the work schedule there… who will be serving bob tomorrow? who’s working the bar counter?”… and the lady said I am… I handed her the change of 15 dollars and said, here’s your tip for tomorrow for serving my friend bob. Alicia has come to understand, money doesn’t mean a whole to me when I know God is moving my heart into conversation with people.

She’s learned that when the Spirit Moves me, I go. You see, yes I am talking about curiosity that leads us into conversation, but being Jesus to others also means there needs to be generosity as well. But I tell you that story because in that moment, because I was curious, I was able to hear his story and it created an atmosphere for him to hear mine. Sharing stories has been a part of relationship building since the beginning of time.

Early man shared stories on cave walls. Most of the Old Testament was a story told by the older generation to the younger. Everyday we tell stories… We tells stories by how we dress. We tell stories by what we do for a living, and how we live, and who we live with. Every moment of our lives is a story. Just by my family being here this morning, We are increasing our story.

We don’t know what God wants at this moment, but we do know this.. God has a plan, and we plan to be in it. But for our family, our number one place to communicate our daily stories, is around our dinner table. Like last night.. because of your generosity, we had all the snacks we could ever dream of… and we ordered pizza and our family sat around the island in the kitchen, eating snacks, drinking soda’s and sharing stories.

Jesus did the same thing around a table as well. He shared stories.. I guarantee that when Jesus sat around the table with sinners and saints, he shared stories. Stories of life, and hardships. Stories of love and the good times. I bet you Jesus laughed out loud and as we know, Jesus wept as well. And no matter how bad things got for Jesus, it never stopped him from living out his story and sharing his story, all for the glory of His abba Father.

How we live out life, tells a story. Mary and Mary was tasked with sharing the greatest story of all time, and they did. They ran with fear and Joy the scriptures say, the ran to the disciples to tell them, Jeuss has risen. But not everyone believed in that story did they? Do you remember the story of the Emmaus road. In Luke 24, we find two people walking away from Jerusalem, but I think even more hurtful is that they are willingly walking away from the relationship with others because they have lost their curiosity to keep asking questions.

I often wondered, how did these two people just wonder off without anyone coming after them? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but if you ever wanted proof that Jesus leaves the 99 to go after the one, we’ll here’s proof. Just in this story he’s leaving the 98 to go after 2. But in this story of these two people walking away discouraged. What did Jesus do? He shared his story with them.

Look with me in Luke Chapter 24, and find verse 26…… 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Jesus begins sharing the story of the Bible with them. Which is what? His story. From Genesis to revelation, It’s God’s story… and from the Old Testament to the new, there is one truth weaved into every moment and every page and in every life, it’s Jesus.

Everything points to Jesus…. Look with me at what happens, The hour is getting late and so these men ask Jesus to stay, and he does…. And guess where this story ends… around the table… look with me in verse 30….. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” It’s an amazing story… because Jesus shared his story with them. We all have a story to tell. The fact that I am here, with you… reminds me that you dont know my story and I dont know yours either. What if, we had the willingness and desire, to share our story with one another?

To go and tell each other about Jesus, and in the midst of our sharing, we shared this with those outside of this church our story. Our stories of addiction. Our story of short comings, or those moments when our internal fuse is short and we have and outburst of anger. What about those moments where we were disappointed with someone.. maybe even someone in our own church. Perhaps we too, like Jesus, can share stories around our dinner tables, inviting people or a meal, or when we speak to others at work, or at the park, or when we are at school.

Perhaps, ”Our story might be the very thing that someone needs to hear to take their next step toward the invitation of coming to Jesus?” Our story is full of struggles, and love, and letdowns, and joy, and hurt.. it’s this pool of experiences that can connect with others and help them see that they are not alone in their journey of faith. Think of what the psalmist writes: Psalm 107:2 says: "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe." Speaker and activist Christine Caine once said, "God never wastes a hurt, and your story may be the key to unlocking someone else's prison.” Just remember this..

if we believe that every soul matters, we should also believe that every story matters too… I just want remind us that your story might be the key to leading someone to Jesus. And let’s be honest, life is messy at times. But he question is.. just like Jesus on the Emmaus road, has curiosity leaned you forward into actually showing up in someones life? A well known movie directer once said, showing up is 80% of life.

I want to read this excerpt from a book called showing up… and I hope it helps you see why, if we’re willing to show up in peoples lives, God can use our story for HIs glory.. let me read this… {Read book} To care.. Honestly church…. If we really want to see a church grow and the seats filled… the greatest key… is to genuinely care for others. That’s it…

Sounds simple doesn’t… but yet, the question is this… Are we willing to be there for others? Are we willing to get messy with others. Are we willing to let those we think are different into the conversation? Are we willing to let go and let God take control… and are we willing to simply show up into the lives of others to share the gospel with them.. that Jesus cares.

Listen, church… there should be no invisible people in this town. There should be no person we deemed unworthy of the gospel. Paul himself reminded Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." To be Present? If we’re willing and we’re curious, God will use each of us. And let me just add, we don’t need any special gifts…

deep within every person here, is a story, we just need to be curious, which means to be present with others to tell it, that means sharing life together. Sharing the ups and the downs. Sharing our misunderstandings with them. Our lips should be dripping with grace for one another. In fact, as a Jesus believer filled with his holy presence, we too often underestimate the power of simply showing up in others lives.

All we need to do is what Jesus did many times —- just be there. The greatest story we carry with us is being present, as we bring Jesus’s presence, into the present lives of those who are around us. Did you know every one of us has the same story…. NO matter our age. No matter if our body isn’t what it used to be.. every person has something for the kingdom…

and it’s this… Our greatest ability is our availability. Just show up. But maybe you’re a little scared to show up in another persons life… conversations can be scary… Why don’t you go and be the Church this week? go and tell someone some good news of Jesus. If we go back to Romans chapter 10: verse 15 it says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But let us also remember that it says, 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

Well, you’re being sent now.. you’re being sent to be light in a dark world… hear the words of Jesus……. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

So here’s your instructions, just like Mary and Mary and many before you…. Be light, and go shine. *