9th November 2025

Make Disciples of all the Nations. Jess Jephcott – 9th November 2025 

Good morning. At Martin’s invitation, I will be speaking to you today on a subject that has been much on my mind recently. 

A prayer:

Lord, thank You for the powerful reminder of the authority that Jesus has been given over all things in heaven and on earth. Help us to carry out your wishes, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and teaching us to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. Guide us as we carry out this mission, knowing that You are with us always, to the very end of the age. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

The idea for my message today came to me when I recently visited my previous church in England. It also fitted well with a recent incident here and with the current bible study series that we are running. 

It was Fordham All Saints’ harvest festival service and their minister included our first reading today, within his sermon, read to us by Liz, where Jesus was clearly instructing his disciples to only preach to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’, the Jews - and not to Gentiles, especially Samaritans. This struck me as being at odds with how we see Jesus’ message to us today.

But, of course, this was early in Matthew’s gospel, my favourite gospel, when Jesus was knocking his disciples into shape. We must conclude that this was a strategic move to prepare the way for the gospel to eventually reach all nations. The Jewish people were considered God's covenant people first and foremost. Additionally, at that time, the disciples would have needed more training and experience, and their own prejudices would have been needed to be overcome before they could minister to a group that was so disliked by many Jews. The Old Testament, in 2 Kings chapter 17, speaks of how Jews considered Samaritans, in particular, to be impure, because their ancestors had intermarried with foreign immigrants and honoured foreign gods, amongst other things. In Jesus's time, the term ‘gentiles’ referred to all people who were not Jewish. That’s you and me folks!

However, Jesus clearly did not follow these instructions himself. Do as I say, not as I do, springs to mind. His views on Gentiles were clearly nuanced. John’s gospel, chapter 4, tells a story of a Samaritan woman who came to draw water, and Jesus speaking to her, saying, “Will you give me a drink?”. Indeed, hadn’t he, in Matthew 8, interacted with a Roman soldier, who had asked for his servant to be healed - and through the soldier’s faith, the servant was healed? Then we have Matthew 21 with the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was demon possessed, and Jesus healed her. There are several other instances like this.

Our second reading, which comes at the very end of Matthew’s gospel, read to us by Sharon, gave us what has become to be known as ‘The Great Commission’, whereby Jesus, after his resurrection, came to the eleven disciples (Judas no longer being with them) and saying to them, and I repeat, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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.”

Thus, whilst initially focusing his ministry on the "lost sheep of Israel", he was later to show compassion to Gentiles, ultimately including them in his vision for a unified flock. While he instructed his disciples to avoid Gentiles during his earthly mission, he later commanded them, eventually, to make disciples of "all nations".He demonstrated openness to Gentiles in his actions, such as I mentioned previously. 

So, how did it all work out? 

Clearly, the fact that we are here today, in this chapel, some 2000 years later, suggests that it worked out well. Peter went on to ‘build’ the church, his work being continued by others to this day, and hopefully, will be in the future. The word ‘church’ is much debated today. Did Jesus mean church buildings, structures, cathedrals? Or did he mean a ‘community of believers,’ not a physical building at all? The Greek word used, when the gospel was written, ‘ekklesia’, actually translates as ‘assembly’ or ‘called-out ones’. Today, rightly or wrongly, don’t we tend to see a church as a building, and ourselves as the church family? Matthew 16 tells us that Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Now, I am no evangelist. In fact, I struggle with inflicting my beliefs on non-believers, unless I am invited so to do. As is so often said, avoid religion and politics in conversations - and all will be well. My faith is a private matter to me, and some of you may, perhaps, find this controversial. Conversely, some of you may feel the same way as me. To compound it all, I also feel that I have no Christian denomination either, having been raised with the teachings of the Church of England, but having since become totally disillusioned with it in recent years. Yet, at Martin’s invitation, despite this, here I am speaking to you today.

Our church, meeting in a Catholic chapel in Mirepoix, declares that we are non-denominational, meaning that we welcome all denominations, be they Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and all the other sects or denominations that have been dreamed up over the centuries, Mormons, Episcopalians, Quakers, Methodists, Baptists – the list is endless. Martin assures me that people with no denomination, like me, are also welcome. 

What would Jesus have made of this fragmenting of his church, this division, this sectarian concoction of doctrinal madness? 

I think I know. What do you think? Do you accept it as being what Jesus wanted for his church?

When Jesus left his disciples with the Great Commission, as it has been named, our second reading today, it is clear that they went out and did exactly what Jesus required of them. Many died in so doing. The Romans feared the Christians, as Christianity challenged their pagan culture. It challenged authority. Christianity was infectious. It wasn’t until the Emperor Constantine, probably encouraged by his mother Helena (later Saint Helena) who had become a Christian herself, that the Roman Empire became Christian, in the early 4th century. Rome was the obvious location choice, as Jerusalem was, by then, of no great Christian significance, or a safe place for Christians.

All was well for a few hundred years when, guess what, there was a big falling out, now known as the Great Schism in the year 1054. That gave us the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

Further division was to come, with the likes of Martin Luther, Henry the 8th, etc. etc. Division, division, division. Prejudice, separatism, segregation - hatred, in many cases.

So, what has man brought to us, in the name of God, over these two millennia? Many wars and evil acts, for sure. Let’s consider just a few things.

1. Denominations – NOT IN THE BIBLE. The structures of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, non-denominational, and charismatic churches do not appear in the Bible. Scripture speaks of one church—the people. The various divisions we see today have no biblical foundation whatsoever.

2. Church Titles – NOT IN THE BIBLE. Titles like cardinal and Pope are absent from the Bible. The Bible mentions teachers, deacons, elders, presbyters, bishops, with roles centred on service rather than hierarchy. There are no women priests in the bible. No hierarchy either.

3. Church Buildings – NOT IN THE BIBLE. Early Christians met in homes, not dedicated buildings. The tradition of church buildings emerged in the 4th century. There are no biblical directives to spend resources on constructing church buildings.

4. Religious Robes – NOT IN THE BIBLE. The Bible does not mandate specific religious attire. In fact, Jesus criticised religious leaders for their elaborate, and therefore expensive, clothing.

5. Confession to Clergy – NOT IN THE BIBLE. The concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. The New Testament instructs believers to confess sins to each other, not exclusively to clergy. 1 Peter 2: 5-9 describes believers as a ‘holy priesthood’ and a ‘royal priesthood.’ 

6. Baptising babies – NOT IN THE BIBLE. The New Testament describes baptism as an act following personal faith, repentance, and confession of sins - which infants cannot perform. Yet we baptise babies, and then confirm them as adults, when they are able to reason for themselves, quite contrary to the teaching in the Bible. How has that come to pass, I wonder?

I mention just six things here (there are many more), things that centre around traditions rather than what is in the bible. Jesus prioritised love for God, unity, and service, over man-made traditions.

I would argue that, when tradition overshadows the core message of the faith, we’ve got a serious problem. When it starts to divide us, to create hierarchies and to distance us from the essence of Christ’s teachings, we must re-assess. So, let us unite where we agree, instead of dividing where we don’t.

On the positive side, the Early Church Fathers who followed Peter and Paul, through the centuries up to the 4th century, gave us the Nicene Creed, a revised version of which we have repeated out loud this morning. 

Yes, we have built churches of stone, some of them incredibly lavish buildings, to the glory of God, where we can come together to worship as equals. Jesus would, no doubt, have wanted the money to be spent differently, of course, but there it is.

We have a wonderful legacy of prayers and hymns, a rich and enduring collection of sacred songs and prayers passed down through generations within the Christian faith. Hymns that praise and give thanks to God and our saviour Jesus. 

As directed, over these centuries, Christians everywhere have spread the word of God across the globe, which includes some very unlikely places indeed. 

To bring this message to a close, the Great Commission is widely understood as a command for all believers to engage in evangelism, discipleship, and baptism, globally, based on Jesus' authority and the Holy Spirit's empowerment. It is linked to God's promise to Abraham to bless all peoples. 

I hope that we can all put aside any animosity, intolerance, distrust, whatever, towards other denominations, even though we might perhaps not agree with some of what they do in God’s name. 

From John 13, Jesus said, “A new command I give to you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

To end, I offer a simple prayer:

Father God, please help us here in Mirepoix to continue with the core of our faith: loving You, loving each other, and to living according to Jesus' teachings. Amen.

---------------------------------------------

1st Reading - Matthew 10: 1 – 8

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

2nd Reading - Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”