In the fall of 1971, I visited Leo Tolstoy's home in Moscow. There, tied in bundles and stacked against the wall, were his handwritten manuscripts for all of his great novels - War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and Resurrection. For an hour I leafed through the mountain of paper, observing the man's handwriting, his strikeovers, and even the doodles he made in the margins.

An elderly Russian woman, the curator of the museum, noticed my deep interest in Tolstoy and began to talk to me. "He was a friend of the people, Leo Tolstoy was," she said. "Would you like to see his desk where he wrote?"

She didn't have to ask me twice! And the next thing I knew she had me seated in Tolstoy's chair leaning over his desk and holding his writing pen in my hand! I tell you, it was an awesome moment for me!

Often during the rest of my college days, my mind would wander back to that study in Moscow. I'd see myself sitting at that same desk, holding that same pen as the bearded Tolstoy himself opened the door and strode in. "Stephen," he'd say, "I'm working on a new novel and I need your help! Let's get down to work!" And I'd sit up straight, look him in the eye, and say, "Yes, Leo, I'll work with you."

That'd be a great commission, wouldn't it?

Actually there have been many persons given exciting commissions in their lifetimes. There was Michelangelo's commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Sir Christopher Wren's commission to build St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Walter Reed's assignment to stop yellow fever at the "Big Ditch" in Panama, and Chamberlain's orders to stop the Confederates at Little Roundtop in Gettysburg.

But I tell you, in my life and yours, there is an even greater commission. It is found here in Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus Christ turns to his disciples and says, "Go! Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...." Think of it! Almighty God, not Tolstoy or the Pope or the Queen, but God himself, turns and looks you and me full in the face and commissions us to work with him on his latest creative project. I tell you, when the most important thing some of us have been asked to do all week is to wash the dishes or take out the trash, this comes as quite a jolt! I know of no other statement in the Bible that can give a man more of a sense of esteem, joy, and purpose than Christ's great commission to his disciples. It turns the farm, the assembly line, the office, the kitchen, the mill, the classroom, the truck, and the retail store into an artist's studio where we may fairly affirm, "I'm here on temporary assignment with God. My talent and time and money are needed. God has personally called me here to be his representative."

It's interesting that the great commission, written originally in the Greek, actually says, "As you go into all the world, make disciples." It has almost a casual or spontaneous air about it. And sure enough, search the scriptures as you might, you'll find the disciples nowhere starting "How to Witness" schools or planning a missions conference where they look at each other and say, "We've got to make some plans. Strategy! That's what we need! The missions committee meets this Wednesday night at eight!"

Mostly the disciples went about their great commission with spontaneous and breathless excitement. And considering the dimensions of the great commission, we can discover more of this breathless excitement in our own lives as well.

I. The Height

First of all, consider the height of our commission. In the text Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples." All authority. That doesn't leave much out, does it? "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." That is, Jesus. Not the committee or the mayor or pastor or elders or some court. It's all centered in one person - Jesus Christ. What does this authority say? He says, "Go and make disciples." He says it to a group of fisherman, merchants, and government officials. You see, this commission is so vast it'll take more than a bunch of individuals to get it done. It'll take a worldwide body of encouraging, working, loving, committed, cooperative people to accomplish this task. Never forget, the great commission was given to a group, not an individual. It was given to the church!

When Jesus set about his ministry of teaching and healing there were those who asked, "By what authority do you do this? Is it your own ego or Satan or some man who compels you to do these things?" And Jesus consistently pointed to God as the basis of his authority. It is the same today. You just get busy going and discipling and teaching, and real soon, somebody's going to want to know why.

Out on the college campus a few years back, a young man named Gary broke up with his girlfriend, his grades were poor, and a fraternity had not asked him to join. So Gary slit both wrists in a suicide attempt. He was found, hospitalized, and recovered. The dean of students, a very efficient administrator, got involved and found that I'd spent some time with Gary in Bible study trying to help get his life straightened out. So he called me in for a talk. What was I sharing with Gary? Who hired me to do it? What gave me the right to say what was truth? He even suggested that I stop visiting the campus and mind my own business. When I told him that was impossible, he threatened me with a lawsuit. Sad, but he never really understood it all. You see, he worked for a college president, but I worked for God under the correction and accountability of a group of mature elders.

"Go," Jesus said. And his marching orders still stand. "Go! Disciple! Teach!" No human being has the authority to countermand the order.

I love the story of the raw army recruit standing at attention on the drill field. The drill instructor yells, "Forward, march!" And the entire ranks begin to move, all except this one raw recruit. He's still standing there at attention. So the drill instructor strolls over to him and yells in his right ear, "Is this thing working?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The recruit yells.

Then the drill instructor walks around to the other ear and yells, "Is this thing working?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The soldier says.

"Then why didn't you march when I gave the order?"

"Sir, I didn't hear you call my name."

Some of us are like that soldier standing around waiting for God to call our names. But the great commission is a blanket order. It has everyone's name on it. And you can be sure that the man in charge says, "Go! Disciple! Teach!"

II. Width

That was something of the height of our commission. Now this: something of the width of our commission. The text describes the proportions as including "all nations."

Funny how we like to narrow our ministry to Presbyterians or upper middle class or the educated or youth or the elderly. "I minister to whites only." Or, "I have a black ministry." "My ministry is in prisons...."

Jonah had to get all of this straight in his own commission. God said to him, "Go to Nineveh!" But Jonah hated Gentiles. He only wanted a ministry to his own Hebrew people. It took a storm, a fish, a hot sun, and God's rebuke to straighten him out.

Hunters are aware that there are different seasons and strict bag limits for various game. Let's see, there are dove season, deer season, turkey, quail, and bear season. And it's frustrating to see game that you can't hunt. Imagine the joy when the state declares "open season" on all game. And that's exactly what this great commission declares. "Go and make disciples of all nations" makes every person fair game for evangelism, discipleship, and the church covenant.

Let me encourage you to take what I call a "John 3:16 walk" this week. Take an hour and go for a stroll being careful to notice every person you see. The newsboy is someone God created and loves. Does he know it? Can you find a way to share with him? The same with that Pakistani student, the lawyer, the janitor, that clerk, and the policeman. As John Wesley said, "The world is my parish!" Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:16, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view...." Instead, everyone we see is a potential brother or sister in Jesus.

Dr. Mordecai Johnson, the African-American educator, once told of a colleague of his. He tried to interest his friend in Christ, but he was always met with polite refusals. Finally Johnson got the man to talk. It seems that when he was growing up in a small southern town, an evangelist visited for a week of meetings in a tent. The little boy had gone, drawn by the excitement of it all, and sat in the back of the tent reserved for Negroes. At the end of the week it was announced that Sunday morning would climax the week when all those who were ready to receive Christ would be baptized in the river. Those wanting baptism were to appear on the bank dressed in white. So the little boy had hurried home to tell his mother what he wanted. His poor, old mother had to take a sheet off one of the beds to make him a little robe. Proudly, yet somewhat frightened, the child made his way to the river on Sunday morning. Oh, it was quite a meeting with singing masses of folk. Scripture reading, testifying, and preaching. One by one, many were baptized into Jesus Christ, the king of lovers. When finally the service was over and the crowd dispersed a little black boy stood alone on the riverbank in a little white robe that was all dry. He was waiting for someone to notice him, to talk to him, to baptize him.

He's still standing there, that little child. His face is many colors. He lives on every continent. His eyes still plead. "Come, love me, and share with me. Teach me faith in Jesus. Baptize me. Disciple me. Fulfill the commission of Christ!"

III. Depth

Passing on, let's consider not only the height and width of our Christ commission, but also its depth. The text says we are to baptize people, make them disciples, and teach them to observe all that Christ commanded us.

Notice he didn't call on us to make converts or church members, but baptized, obedient disciples!

Nietchze, the German philosopher, said, "God is dead and the stench of his corpse is all across Europe." He advocated humanism and proposed the development of a "superman" of Aryan heritage protected by selective breeding and superior education. The Nazi Party picked up his idea, and men like Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Mengle, Himmler, and Rommel set about building such a society in Germany's Third Reich. But it all ended with bullets and bombs, chaos and suffering such as the world has seldom seen.

The Christian faith has no less a plan. But it involves a higher order. Hitler would have renewed man by his own efforts. We seek to renew the human race by the effort of God.

For us, man-made-new begins with hearing of God's holiness and man's sin and our most certain judgment. It continues with the good news of God's love and provision in Christ and a clear call to repentance, faith, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and obedience. Those who respond are then led to the water to be baptized.

In one of the great cathedrals of Europe there is a baptistry that tells the story. The water flows through it reminding us that Jesus says he is the living water. To be baptized, a person walks down three steps, each one marked by a word: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Descending the steps the convert is plunged beneath the water to die to sin and then raised from the depths to newness of life in Christ. To leave the baptistry now he must climb three steps, each one marked by a word: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So it is that a new creature is born, a new breed of man, a citizen of a new kingdom, a breed apart. Dead to sin, he is alive to God and sent forth to grow and love and give light to a lost and dying world. He doesn't do it alone. He does it in little communities called the church in which people demonstrate, in their way of being together, God's eternal kingdom come upon them.

Politics can't make a man like this. Nor can education or medicine or finances. Only the love of God can work such a change in human souls. Such is the depth of our commission.

IV. Length

A final dimension of our challenge! It's length.

It took Michelangelo over ten years to paint the Sistine Chapel. So it's fair to ask how long it'll take us to fulfill the commission Jesus has given us. "What'll it take, Lord? Five minutes? A year? Two years? Five? Ten?"

And Christ says, "Go ... to all nations ... teach all I have commanded you ... to the close of the age." In other words, each of our commissions lasts until the job gets done, until life is over, "until the close of the age."

I can't imagine a football player coming off the field in the third quarter, walking up to his coach, and saying, "Coach, I've been thinking. I've played enough. Let some other guys finish the contest. I'm going over there for a box of popcorn and relax with my girlfriend." It'd never happen! Yet it does happen in the church. "For ten years I've labored for you, Jesus. Sunday school, group prayer, worship, small groups. I've done it all. So now I'm going to buy me a sailboat and head for the beach every weekend I can. Let somebody else do your work for a while."

And Jesus says, "Until the close of the age." You see, the Christian life is not a 100-yard dash. It's a lifelong marathon.

When Susan Harris was leaving this church to go to Papua-New Guinea as a missionary, one of the people in our Wednesday group prayer meeting hugged her neck and said, "Susan, you take the rope and go down into the darkness and I'll stay home and hold the other end of the rope." And how long do we hold it? Two months or two years or ten? As long as necessary! "... Until the close of the age."

V. Conclusion

So, here we sit - fishermen, government officials, leading women, teachers. Today, as of old, Christ comes and speaks his great commission. "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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." In the front of the Peachtree Church in Atlanta there is a stained glass window of the disciples gathered on the mountaintop around the ascending Christ. The Lord has just commissioned them. Filled with wonder, awe, and a deep sense of responsibility, the disciples' faces reflect the gravity of the moment. One may count them - Peter, John, James, Matthew, Thomas.... But there are only eleven in all. Judas is missing. Judas, the impatient one - the man who sought the kingdom but not by the gospel ... Judas ... the betrayer ... the one who ultimately hung himself.

It's easy to put this great commission aside for something else, isn't it? And I wonder. When our story is told some day, will we be in the picture?

Some of us will have to take hold of the rope and go down in the darkness to bring the light. Some of us will have to let go as our sons and daughters are called out from among us.

Others of us will have to help go by staying home to hold the rope in fund raising, prayer, administration, and so on.

But for all of us it's time to get going!