The best thing that ever happened to me took place about this time 38 years ago. What was that? My girlfriend broke up with me. She broke my heart. Why was that the best thing that ever happened to me? For the first time in my life I took a good hard look at my life and started asking the question: Why do I exist? And that question rocked me to the core of my being because I had no answer. I had spent the first few years of my adult life doing the things I thought would make me happy: living for the weekend so I could party with my friends. But after the break-up, I looked at my life and realized I’d been wasting my life. I really didn’t know why I was here. I was depressed, anxious and felt empty and lost. How could this be the best thing that ever happened to me?

It opened my heart to hear the Gospel and God’s purpose for my life. So when I put my trust in Jesus in February 1981, I discovered why I am here. Jesus rescued me so I could know the God who created me. And Jesus changed me. I now knew that Jesus had pursued me with His love and brought me into God’s family. I was lost, but now I was found. I was blind, but now I could see. I had been guilty, but now I was free. And now my purpose was clear. Just as Jesus came to seek and save the lost and call them to follow Him, His purpose became my purpose. I just knew instinctively that our role as Christ followers was to help others know and follow Jesus. But it didn’t take me long to notice that this wasn’t the prevailing purpose in the lives of most Christ followers. And I wondered why that was. Why were there so many Christians who were content to just show up for a service once a week? Why were not more people engaged in the adventure of making disciples?

Then it became clear to me. The church where I was attending wasn’t focused on fulfilling the Great Commission. They didn’t have a clear purpose, nor did they have a clear method of making disciples. And it wasn’t until I completed Seminary and began serving as a Youth Pastor that I began to grasp the significance of this vacuum in the North American Church. Even today, 51% of church goers say they are unfamiliar with the term: “The Great Commission.” And only 17% say they are familiar with the passage where the Great Commission is taught.

But over the years, I have found one constant to be true: Whenever God’s people are committed to making disciples there is life, joy, and a presence of Jesus and His love that is unquestionable. And so this morning as we continue to unpack our definition of a disciple, we’ve come to the final characteristic of a disciple maker, and that is this: A disciple is someone who is living on missionwith Jesus. When Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 His call to follow leads to this: That following Jesus is more than learning to live and love like Jesus, its more than becoming more and more like Jesus, its about living on mission with Jesus.It’s about becoming people who make disciples like Jesus made disciples. So that’s what we are going to look at today: how Jesus lived on mission, and more specifically: What was Jesus’ method of making disciples? What was Jesus’ approach to transforming ordinary men into fishers of men?

So to begin with we need to look at Jesus’ marching orders for the church in Matthew 28, “The Great Commission.” Here Jesus spells out the purpose of God’s people. Your purpose, my purpose! In this mandate, Jesus gives one command: make disciples of all nations. And in the context of this command, Jesus spells out His method. Let’s read this together:“Therefore goand 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.” Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus method for making disciples is found in the three verbs accompanying this command: “going, baptizing, and teaching” The first verb “going” should be translated this way: “as you are going.”So it speaks to fulfilling the mandate to make disciples as we go about our everyday life. This is what Jesus did. Wherever Jesus found himself in the course of his daily life, he initiated relationships with lost people. The second verb speaks of including these new Christ followers in the family of God: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus did. Jesus involved Himself in his relationships so that people could come to know who He really is and put their faith in him. For when someone trusts in Jesus, that’s when they are included in God’s family. The third verb “teaching” was about teaching his followers to obey what He commanded them, so they could embrace the new kingdom life He was showing them. This is what Jesus did. Jesus invested in his followers by loving them and teaching them everything the Father commanded him to teach. Jesus was the ultimate disciple maker. This was His purpose. And this was His method. So let look at His method a little closer. The first thing Jesus did was this:

Jesus initiated relationships Jesus was always on the go, always meeting new people, and making new friends. One of the best examples of this is found in Luke 19. Jesus enteredJericho and was passing through. But even in the midst of his mission, he took time to make new friends, and often with some of the least likely of people. And so we see as he was passing through:A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. If you are familiar with the status of tax-collectors in Jewish culture, then you would know that Zacchaeus, by virtue of siding with the Romans and lining his pockets off the taxes he collected – Zacchaeus was looked upon with great disdain as an immoral person and traitor to his people. He was considered an outcast. He was not welcome at worship. He would never be invited to a wedding, a party, or any kind of Jewish gathering. No one wanted anything to do with him. But along comes Jesus, and we read, He wanted to see who Jesus was,but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”Luke 19:1-5 So as Jesus is passing through, he looks up and sees a man in a tree. But He doesn’t see what every other Jew sees. He doesn’t see a disdained tax collector. He locks eyes with a man who is lost. He locks eyes with and man who has lost his community. He locks eyes with a man who’s gained the world, but has lost his soul. And Jesus knows it. So Jesus takes the initiative to invite himself to dinner. “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

How often do we do the opposite of what Jesus did here? How often to we just pass by people? How often do we judge people and quickly avoid them? The irony of this scene is that the very people we often avoid are the very people Jesus sought to make friends with. You see, by the world’s standards, Zacchaeus was pretty well off. He had position. He was the ruling Tax Collector of the city. And he was wealthy. He bought into what many buy into today: that being wealthy is the purpose of life. But it’s not. Wealth cannot and will not ever fill the emptiness inside of us. We were made for relationship. And that’s what Jesus offers here.

And when he does, he breaks through all kinds of barriers. He breaks through the racial barrierand treats Zacchaeus as an equal – as a good Jew who would willingly open up his home to him. He breaks through the social barrierand treats Zacchaeus like a friend who is willing to share his table with him. And he breaks through the moral barrier,by refusing to judge Zacchaeus and willingly associate himself with him. This is radical love.

But isn’t this how Jesus loves us? The Bible says,“We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” Isaiah 53:6 We at one time are all lost. Our sin causes us to turn away from God and live for ourselves. But Jesus comes to us just as we are. He breaks through our barriers. He initiates relationship. He makes us his friend.

Just imagine if we embrace Jesus’ way of making disciples? Its starts with seeing people the way they really are. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done. It doesn’t matter what they’ve surrounded themselves with. It doesn’t matter how different they are. Everyone needs friends. Everyone needs to be loved and accepted just as they are.As Robert Coleman once said: “Nothing disarms a person like love.” And Jesus’ love disarmed Zacchaeus: So he came down atonce and welcomed him gladly. Luke 19:6 Jesus took the first step of making a disciple. He took the initiative to make a sinner his friend. If we are going to be a disciple making people we need to do the same – to take the initiative – to make friends like Jesus. That’s the first step. Now the second:

Jesus involved himself in his relationships Look at that text with me:So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”Luke 19:6-7 Jewish Rabbi’s didn’t associate with sinners. Godly Jews wouldn’t defile themselves by getting involved with immoral deplorables. But Jesus did. The minute he left the road and entered Zacchaeus’ home, all the so-called “good people” were stunned by his behavior. You just don’t include people in your life like that! But Jesus did.

That’s why Jesus came. I love Eugene Peterson’s translation of John 1:14, speaking of Jesus becoming one of us. It reads, The Word became fleshand blood, and moved into the neighborhood. Jesus came to live among us, to rub shoulders with us, to get involved with us right where we live. It’s like that TV Show “Undercover Boss.” The CEO of the company dresses up like a regular Joe and takes on one of the more mundane jobs in the company. Then he works alongside his employees, gets to know them, and learns about their struggles; their hopes and dreams: maybe it was a single mom trying to raise her three beautiful children, or a young man working overtime so he can go to college, or a middle aged woman dealing with a handicapped son. The boss undercover boss listens to their stories, hear their dreams and gets involved in their struggles, and along the way discovers that each one is a talented and unique human being.

And that’s what we see here. Jesus gets involved in Zacchaeus’ life. He’s a guest in his home. He eats with him, listens to his story and learns about his life. What Jesus does here is show us how to love our neighbors. Do you remember when Jesus was asked, “Which is the Greatest Commandment?” Jesus replied by saying: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heartand with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 That’s what Jesus was doing here. Jesus was loving his neighbor. It’s just that this neighbor was not your typical neighbor. He was the neighbor everyone avoided. But he was a neighbor in need. After living so long under the condemnation and rejection of his people – Zacchaeus needed acceptance.

But it cost Jesus something to do this. He knew that by going into Zacchaeus home that many Jews would judge him and reject him. After all when you get involved with a sinner like Zacchaeus, you set yourself up for criticism and even condemnation.

Here is the hard part of making disciples like Jesus. Getting involved in people’s lives is going to cost you something. It may cost you time. It may cost you effort. It may cost you money. It may even cost you your reputation. It may be messy. It won’t always be easy. It can even be risky.

You see, most of us have been taught to pursue a secure life, a comfortable life, a safe life. We’ve been taught to avoid risky people, toxic people… But even the most difficult people need love. I love what Bob Goff says, “Love difficult people, you are one.” And look what happens when you love one: But Zacchaeusstood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Luke 19:8What happened when Jesus got involved in Zacchaeus life? What happened when Jesus accepted this man who had known so much rejection? Zacchaeus repented. Meeting Jesus changed him. He opened his heart and opened his purse and gave back four times more than he had previously extorted. Jesus’ love did something to him. Jesus’ love transformed him from a greedy outcast to a generous Son. Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10

This is how Jesus makes disciples: He gets involved in Zacchaeus’ life an includes him in His. By doing this, He reveals himself to him. Remember the scene on the road just prior to this? The Bible tells us Zacchaeus was a short man, so he couldn’t see Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus, but he was so despised that no one gave him any room, so he had to climb up in a tree. But Jesus made room for him.

You want to make disciples like Jesus? Maybe all you need to do is make room in your life for just one person who is lost. Open your home, open your heart, open your life. That’s how Jesus made disciples. He made room in his life for a sinner, and that sinner found salvation. That’s the second step in Jesus’ method of making disciples, Jesus involved himself in the life of a sinner so he could come to know him. Now here is the third step:

Jesus investedin his relationships There’s no more written about Zacchaeus, but the rest of the Gospels show us how Jesus INVESTED himself in His disciples, how he poured himself out into his followers. One of the best examples of this comes from some of Jesus’ final words to his disciples: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:12-15

Two ways Jesus invested in his relationships: One, He shared His life with them. He loved them. And two, He shared His Father’s will with them. He gave them insider information. He shared with them the most intimate thoughts of the Father’s heart.

And that’s what effective disciplemakers do. Without a relationship of love, we are just passing on information. We need to share both our life and the truth.That’s why Jesus spent three and a half years with his disciples: So they could learn the Father’s will in the midst of a loving relationship. That’s why disciplemaking rarely takes place in a classroom, why lives are rarely changed through preaching and why even our Journey Groups could fail.

Because Jesus’ way of making disciples was life on life,speaking the truth in love… Jesus is our example. He didn’t just teach them the gospel. He shared it with his life. He loved them, so that His message and His life would be the message. And the Apostle Paul, he grasped this. And tells us in his own words what investing in adiscipling relationship looks like: “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”1 Thessalonians 2:8

It is this last truth that makes all the difference. You cannot be a disciple maker unless you long to be with those you are called to disciple. But when you come to the place where you can say, “I can’t get you off my heart” well that’s when you truly become a disciple maker like Jesus. For only Jesus can give you that desire.

You want to be a disciple maker like Jesus? Ask Jesus to give you a heart like His and to make you into a person who loves like him.

And so this is Jesus way of making disciples.

Initiating relationships in the course of our everyday lives.
Involving ourselves in those relationships to help people feel loved and accepted.
Investing ourselves in those relationships – sharing our lives and God’s Word with those we love

This is the way Jesus made disciples. And this is our purpose as His disciples: To be followers of Jesus, who are being changed by Jesus so we can live on mission with Jesus.

Will this be easy? No. But when we seek to make disciples Jesus’ way, the good news is that He promises to be WITH US every step of the way.

Let’s pray

Lord Make Us Your Disciples who Make Disciples Like YOU!

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