The Wizard of Oz?

"For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted an grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:14-19).

In the last three verses of Matthew 28, Jesus delivers His Great Commission, not only to the eleven disciples, but to the rest of the world, THEN and NOW! When I read these verses, I am drawn to the word "Go" in verse 19. When I think about this word within the context of these verses, it reminds me of a scene in a fantasy you all know called, "The Wizard of Oz". Now, continue to read because I mean no disrespect, for sure.

I see the "gang of four", the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and of course, poor little Dorothy standing before the "Most Powerful Oz" and his offer to help them comes with a price. He wants the broomstick of the "Wicked Witch of the West" and he has commanded them to retrieve it for him. In this scene, his last line is "NOW GO"! And it is not a wimpy "go" but rather it is a command that was shouted from behind his curtain. Any of you remember the scene? When he commands them to go, the Cowardly Lion is so, so frightened, that he turns and runs away as quickly as he can.

Perhaps kind of silly to try to relate a word in scripture to a movie as fanatical as "The Wizard of Oz". But when I read this passage of scripture, I can feel that deep level of intensity in our Lord's voice as he commands the world to tell His story. Eventually the gang manages to get the broom and return it to the Wizard in payment for his assistance in their plights. And immediately, the Wizard, upon being discovered as a phony, gives them what they think they want for life, but he cannot help poor little Dorothy get back home because he does not possess the power.

Now, what on earth does this story have to do with the passage of scripture I wrote at the beginning? Well, the Wizard was of some assistance to most of them but he was no match for the needs of the only human in this story's group. Try as he might, he was not able to bring a satisfying ending to Dorothy's story. But when Jesus said "GO" in Matt. 28:19, His command was not from the folly of a phony professor but rather from the God of the universe and it came with THAT level of power and authority. And so we GO! In Ephesians, Paul explains to those who were listening and those who would read and believe that:

(1) We are part of His family.
(2) We are strengthened by the power of His Spirit.
(3) Christ lives in our hearts in order to cause us to be "rooted and grounded in love".
(4) So that we would understand how wide, how long, how high and how deep is the love of Christ for us.
(5) And this love definitely came with a price! Jesus died to give us this love.

So, the next time you read the verses from the "Great Commission" of our God, you can look back on this silly little illustration that demonstrates the difference between the power of a man and the Love of our God. And when you "Go and make disciples" remember that you are not a phony but you represent the only One who can take us home!

Dave