Laying the Foundation
We are living in a time of unrest, and we are not sure when things will get better. If we are not careful, we can get caught up in the current of it all, it can take over our lives and fill us with uncertainty, fear, and/or doubt of the good and beauty we can find in God's great creation.
The disciples are coming out of a similar situation. In Jerusalem during passover, the high festival of the year, there has been chaos that is stirring among the people of the city. Jesus has come into town and the powers in charge are extremely upset that he has come into town. This is where they hold sway, where they are in command and where nothing happens without their knowledge. The power that they hold, social, political, religious power is now held in tension with the coming of Jesus into town.
The energy in Jerusalem is thick. Something’s about to happen here. The people expect a king to deliver them from the occupation, from the rule of empire in their lives, they think that Jesus will be that messiah for them - one who will come in the way of a king, conquering for them their kingdom, where then they will have power.
Alas, this is not the way of Christ, who proclaimed that while the people looked for a ruler who will change things for them, who will meet all their needs, who will destroy their enemies, that he comes in a way that is unexpected for them. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Peace, to the people who await the political messiah, would be peaceful living, where they aren’t disturbed in their comfortable way of life. A new way of life is what Jesus is preaching to those who have ears for listening. There will be a new way of life. There will be a new family, where we are all adopted as daughters and sons of God, as co-heirs with Christ.
It was not that Jesus had a giant following, who were ready to take up arms to fight for the cause of Christ. Those who had gathered around Jesus as the Gospel develops, have slowly, one by one, turned away from following the itinerant preacher. Even his closest disciples fall away in his last moments on the cross. What put terror and fear into the hearts of those that held power in Jerusalem was that Jesus Christ challenged the way things were, the way that was comfortable for those in power.
so they killed him on the cross. They used a weapon of the state to put to death someone who challenged the way that things are. Yet death did not have the final word! Christ conquered death and now sits at the right hand of the father, exalted. reigning. holding victory over death, that we too may have life. It is not the strength and might of the empire, of the powers that hold control over their land that had the final word, but it. was. the kingdom. of. God.
The Reading
The reading for today brings us together with the disciples, once again gathered after Christ has risen from the dead. Jesus has directed the disciples to return to Galilee, the place where Jesus began his ministry. It is interesting to note that Jesus began his ministry down near the sea, and now, as Jesus meets in person with his disciples for one of the last times, they meet on the mountaintop.
The group of disciples arrive and see Jesus before them. What is their first reaction? To worship him. All glory and honor be to God! Here before us stands the king of kings, the risen Christ! We are told that they all worshipped; however, what we are also told is that some doubted. Despite having seen again in the flesh the risen Christ, doubt still exists, but that does not challenge, disrupt, or disqualify them from what Jesus commissions his disciples to go and do next.
What glad news! That even when we have doubts, it does not disqualify or set us aside for what God has in store for us! God is faithful to us to ends that we cannot imagine!
The Gospel lesson for today is all about the Kingdom of God, believers as citizens of that Kingdom of God, and what God has not commanded us to do next, but what Jesus has commissioned us to do.
We read all the time about the different commandments of God. The Ten Commandments, the commandment of God to Noah to build an ark. The commandment not to eat of the tree in the garden, and so on. What are these all about? In a sense, you're told what to do, and it's up to you to do it. Don't eat from that tree. Go and build an ark. It's a direction given that you're expected to follow, no matter how challenging it is.
But! Jesus is not giving out a commandment. Jesus is different, isn't that just the best. Commissioning is not simply a command that we're expected to follow through on no matter what. To be commissioned is to be sent and equipt for the upcoming task. It's not something that you go about alone, but something you carry out with those around you.
"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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Authority. That's what the struggle around Jesus' life seems to have been about for those in power. They were scared of losing theirs, and so used violence to work to keep that authority. Jesus shows that there is a different way. Self-giving love. Self-giving love is the way of the Kingdom of God. Not only has Jesus been given authority on earth, but also in heaven! The authority of Jesus reaches further than the empire and those in power could ever dream of.
Go therefore. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. This is no local event. This is an earth changing event that Christ has set into motion. The call to disciples is one that is deeper and stronger than any other call upon our lives. To live in obedience to Christ, relying on the grace of God to transform us further and further every moment of every day, into a reflection of Christ to the world. That's not a light call.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Alongside the call to make disciples is the commissioning to baptize and teach the disciples in all nations to follow the commandments of Christ. I like how John Wesley put it, "To spread scriptural holiness across the land." We, as disciples of Christ, are called to be transformed, to be made to look more and more like the one on whom our eyes are transfixed. The call for baptism and teaching reinforces that it is a deep commitment, but also that our lives will be visibly changed. To share in the death and resurrection of Christ through our baptism is a great first step toward following Jesus with our whole lives.
I don't know about you, but this seems somewhat challenging. What a monumental task that Jesus kinda just lays out there for us. And right before he decides to leave! Is there something else that we need to know Jesus? Anything? Help? Please?
I think Jesus expected this actually. The final thing that Jesus says to his disciples, to close out the Gospel of Matthew, is this:
"And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." This is it! The greatest hope that we could ever hope to have! Emmanuel! God is with us! Amen! We don't have to struggle to achieve any of this on our own, but it is out of the GRACE of God that we are enabled to carry out this commission. God has not left us without what we need to make disciples and baptize and teach all of the nations! It is by the grace of God working in us, working through us, and working even before we go places, that helps us carry out the commission that Jesus has just given the disciples.
Exhortation
Where does that find us now? We're at home! How are we expected to carry out this grand commission of God from our houses? We can't even leave, so what are we exactly expected to do? Here it is. God has placed you in a situation where there are yearning souls all around you. We don't have to look more than a few doors down, maybe even next door, to find someone who has had God working in their hearts, transforming them, warming their hearts for the fire of God that is to come upon them. Our homes and neighborhoods are two of the most important mission fields that we may ever encounter.
I frequently hear that the United States is one of the largest mission fields in the world right now. When you hear that, what does it make you think of? What can change our nation? Our nation in the midst of change? Call for change and demand for action comes across our ears on the daily during this season of our lives.
Where is our place in this change? Where is the body of Christ needed the most? Loving our neighbors. And when I say neighbor, I really do mean the people who live next to you. The love of Christ, self-giving love, offered to our neighbors is what needs to take place. How should we love our neighbor? self-giving love. How should we make disciples? Perhaps by inviting new people into our lives, into a relationship with Christ, asking them what the Holy Spirit is telling them. It will be different. It will be uncomfortable. But it will be holy.
We should be the people who offer peace and hope. In a world that seems like it is not offering much safety and stability, we need to be people who live differently. People who are living in obedience to Christ, the one who provides us the most hopeful message of them all. God is with us. Emmanuel. Death no longer holds sway over us. There is victory over sin, death, fear, despair. And all of this is found in Jesus Christ himself. We should be living as people who are peacemakers, sharing the good news that we are all set free from the bonds of living in expectation that the political powers will set us free and honor our brothers and sisters, but that the Kingdom of God will prevail, giving life and filling us with love to follow out our commissioning. Let us make disciples. Let us Love our neighbors. Let us give peace, hope, and love. Let us share with the world Emmanuel. Amen.