The reading
Matthew 28: 6- 20 (end)
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to
which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some
doubted. And Jesus came and said to
them, "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, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age
The message
(this is sort of a rough draft of what I talked about at
service, at the last minute I skipped the manuscript and changed a lot).
I start with a story, not verified and probably not exactly
accurate, but one that should be: Riverside Church, in uptown Manhattan (about
120th and riverside) was
built by John D. Rockefeller in the 1920s.
He built it for about $30 million
and specifically for Harry Emerson Fosdick to preach in it. It opened on Easter
in 1930. On Easter day, Dr. Fosdick got up in the pulpit and read one of the
Gospels that said: "He is Risen!" and then sat down. John Rockefeller,
who was in the front row immediately stood up and asked, "Is that
all?" Fosdick replied, "What more is there to say?" An event as hyped up as a brand new church
built by one of history’s richest families for a world famous pastor, renowned
for his sermons and deep theological (if unorthodox) thought . What a great way to show the impact of
Easter, “Christ is Risen” is all we have to say, is the most vital thing we can
say, matters more than all our carefully crafted stories, illustrations and ideas. That is what we believe, that is what makes
us Christian, that is how we know God’s promises are true and Jesus teachings
are true, absolute, a source of comfort and worth following .
My sermon this week was simply going to be “go quickly and
tell the others” but I couldn’t stand the idea of not talking about what we
tell and how. We tell that Christ is Risen and we tell by Baptism and teaching
what Jesus taught. Today is our last Sunday with the Gospel of Matthew. We are ending a journey that took us from
Christmas to Easter. Matthew is
concerned with showing Jesus fulfills prophesies (there are about15 references
to Old Testament prophesies about the messiah that Matthew goes out of the way
to show Jesus meets). Matthew is also
concerned with righteousness or faithful living. This comes up again and again throughout
Jesus teachings, encounters with the religious authorities, those in need and
the public.
What do we tell? Today, Matthew ends with the 11 remaining
disciples (Judas, the follower who betrayed Jesus, turning him over to the
authorities, who put him on a trial that led to his death, returns the money
and hangs himself). The remaining 11 go
to the mountain (a place of historic revelation where people go to experience
God’s news). There, on the mountain
Jesus tells them several things. First,
there is worship, then Jesus tells them “all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me” Once that is said,
Jesus gives them the church’s share of that authority. Today, we know this as the great commission
Make disciples of all nations, start by Baptizing in the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit and teachings them everything I have commanded
you”. This work will not be done
alone, Jesus informs them that “I am with you always”.
The Gospel of Matthew (or any biblical book) can be divided
in all sorts of different ways. One way
to understand Matthew is a collection of major teachings of Jesus and the
Passion, the story of Jesus last days, death and resurrection. Jesus teachings can be separated into 5
themes. First, there is the Sermon on the Mount, a
message on the kingdom of God and righteous living that has resonated with
Christians and others since Jesus first shares this vision near the sea of
Galilee almost 2000 years ago. Then there is the teaching on missionary work
and the sending out of the disciples to do that work (sharing the Good news of
God’s love is not just something talked about, it is something done with
faith). There is teaching on the kingdom of Heaven (God’s presence into our world,
the subject that Jesus talks about the most).
After this there is a section on the power, work and life of the church.
Finally we have teachings on the end times, God’s last judgment of humanity, the eternal
separation between heaven and hell.
To read, experience, hear or be in a community shaped by
Matthew means a few things? Active faith,
the end of divisions between people and nations, our sure and certain hope in
the resurrection,
We all have our own ways to tell the others. This is not a guide to invite people to
church, to grow (something I still struggle to think is a crisis here for the
future), I can’t remember where I saw this but someone posted or told me “the
work of the church is not to grow, it is to save people from hell, from
isolation, from life without God, from suffering and those are not the same
thing” Invite people into joy, comfort,
it can be here, it can be someplace else. This is the place we come to hear Christ is
Risen, outside these walls is where we go to tell the others.
We need to do this work together, we need to be corrected
sometimes. Next week, we see Peter’s doubt, Jesus tells them “all nations”
and Peter hears, figures out that “all” means something else, “all
nations that become Jewish, that get ciurcumsized and follow the law” He learns that all nations means all nations
overwhelmed by an encounter with God through a vision and witnessing the Holy
Spirit descend on Gentiles.
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