June 7th, 2020 Sermon Pastor Rose Matthew 28:16-20 We consider the word of God from Matthew 28, this is Jesus and his disciples after his resurrection. Read Text. This is God’s Word. Is the world a safe place, or not? The year 2020 seems intent on convincing you: the world is not a safe place. We haven’t even been able to worship for months, instead left learning and wondering about a virus pandemic and stay at home orders. Then as soon as stay at home was lifted a curfew had to be enacted at the unjust death of George Floyd and the volatile reaction. The world doesn’t seem to be a safe place. Was it any different for Jesus and his followers? Jesus saw many people with illnesses, demon possession. He saw it up close, and for everyone healed there was always more sick and possessed. He endured a riot not of burning and looting, but a crowd screaming for his death. He was unjustly killed not by a knee on the neck, but by nails and a cross. The world was not a safe place then either. Yet despite all that; when Jesus spoke to his disciples in the words we just heard, he assured them that the world was a safe place for any who trust in him. He had proved it by rising from the dead and by showing them that he was alive. Because he is alive today, the world is a safe place for you like it was for them. His words give confidence to you as it did for them, because wherever you find yourself, you have the living Jesus who promises to be with you. The eleven disciples were on a hill with Jesus. They worshipped, but had some uncertainty. You worship Jesus right now; but probably with some uncertainty about life. When they were worshipping and hesitating, Jesus said to them, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.” What authority is Jesus talking about? Where did it come from? Who has given it to Jesus? Authority means freedom without constraint. Someone in authority doesn’t have others telling them they can’t do what they want. They have the ability and the freedom to make their will into reality. You could think of authority as author-ship, the word author is built into authority. An author gets to write his story the way he wants it. Jesus is the author of the story of all human existence. He has authority to write into the story what he wants, and to allow into the story whatever he determines is useful. Jesus has authority to indicate to you why life is worth enduring despite all the suffering that comes with. He has authority to shape how you respond to things like a pandemic and stay at home and racial injustice and rioting. He hasn’t spelled out the exact response, but he does have things to say about all of the many situations you find yourself in. Now, it’s one thing for Jesus to say he has that kind of authority, but why should you believe it? Where does he get that kind of authority? Who gives it to him? First reason to believe that Jesus has all authority: he claimed and the Bible claims repeatedly that he is God. For example, John 1 says that everything that was made, was made by Jesus. He was there
participating as a person of the Triune God in the creation of everything. And ever since it was all made, Jesus as a member of the Trinity has continued to author the story of human history. He has authority as God. He also has authority as a man. Jesus is the author who wrote himself into the story. As God Jesus saw the story of human kind turn tragic. This story was meant to be the story of friendship and joy and positive action. But the story got hijacked by man’s determination at the suggestion of Satan to try to write God out of the story. To say, “We can be the authors of our stories apart from God’s involvement.” As a result of that rebellion, the story has been catastrophic in many ways and at many times. Viruses. Innocent deaths like George Floyd that should not have happened. Frustration. Job loss. Loneliness, depression, desperation. Pain and suffering. The story has turned tragic. And we are all in danger of the story of the human being turning into an eternal hell apart from the God who we were made for. That’s how dangerous and desperate it is. Even though we try to write our own solutions into the story, we don’t have that kind of authority. Only Jesus has the authority to write himself in to rescue the human story. He has not abandoned the human story; he has stuck with us; and became human himself. He had the authority to re-author the story of your life. The rewriting required him to endure nothing less than the full consequence of your rebellion. When he died, he let go of his authority for a time, he allowed himself to be distanced from God as he died. Then in rising from the dead, he authored a victory which can be shared and communicated. That’s why you should trust his authority. He’s not like so many authority figures, interested in power and control. He’s interested in you co-authoring a story of victory over all kinds of challenges, even death. If he’s authorized to do that, he’s authorized to tell you how to respond to the other problems you face. You can trust what he says. So, based on that authority, what does Jesus tell us to do? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus wants you to be a disciple who makes disciples. So, what is a disciple? A disciple is a follower, a student, an apprentice. Someone who spends time with the teacher so that they can learn to do what the teacher does. To be a disciple of Jesus is to spend time with Jesus so that he can teach you to live the way he would like you to. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, make Christians, make believers. He says, make disciples. Disciple is the overwhelming description of the kind of person Jesus came and died and rose to make. Before his followers were ever called Christians, they were called disciples. I say this so that none of us thinks, “Well, some Christians are disciples, some aren’t.” This is the whole package. You are not a Christian without also being a disciple. And he wants disciples of all nations: that means every race, black and white. It means the high risk and the low risk, the face mask wearer and the non- face mask wearer. The people who you share opinions with and the ones that you don’t. He wants all nations to be made his disciples. So how do you become a disciple, and how do you make a disciple?
Jesus gives 2 ways: By baptizing and by teaching. To be a disciple, first God must be involved. One way the Triune God makes disciples is by using people to baptize people. In that person to person interaction, water is applied and the name of the Triune God is invoked, and in that human act, God acts. He immerses the baptized in his name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All that God is and has done for people is given to a person in their baptism. They become immersed in an identity characterized more than anything else by the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you have been baptized, the name of God the Father is promised you. Jesus has made all the Father has to offer to be yours. You have a protector, an educator, a leader. One who leads you forward into more competency and usefulness to him. You have one who provides for you; one who lets you know the right foundation to stand on, the right boundaries to beware of transgressing; you have a discipline source and a rewarder. You have one who both judges and forgives. If you’re baptized, you are connected to the Son, Jesus. You have a brother to walk beside you, to advocate for you, to rescue you and empower you and equip you to serve the Father like he does. You’re connected to the one who speaks order out of nothingness, who gives life to the dead by the power of a word, the one who rescues by being crucified, who conquers by rising from death. The one who dwells in the perfect house and has promised to come and take you there. The one who is the fulfilment of all that is good, and the overcomer of all that is evil. If you’ve been baptized, you have the name of God the Holy Spirit as your own. God’s very spirit inhabits your spirit. He puts to death the desires of your enemy in you, and brings to life new desires and motivations inside of you so that you are a new person because of him. You’re unified to the animator of all that is good; the enemy of deceit and arrogance, who will put your personal evil to death in you; and resurrect a new being inside you; the personal deliverer of love and truth and lasting justice. All that is yours because you are baptized. It comes to you freely as a gift. Baptism is God doing a powerful act for you, not you doing something for him. Your baptism is meant to be a powerful event, but also a resulting life of trinitarian power constantly surrounding you like water when you jump in a pool. Not only are you baptized, many of you; but if you know anyone who isn’t baptized, God allows you to get involved in bringing this powerful immersion of his name to that person. You can share with them what baptism is, how thankful you are to have received it. You can invite the unbaptized to be baptized. Even if you don’t do the baptizing yourself; if you introduce someone else to a Pastor and to a church like ours so they can be baptized, you have played an important role in making a disciple by baptizing them. Then along with baptism, how else are disciples made? By teaching them everything I have commanded you. Jesus said “everything I have commanded.” How much does that leave out? Is there any area of life in which Jesus is not the most knowledgeable and wise? In which
he does not have authority to direct us how to live and what to think and believe? Jesus has all authority. What he teaches matters. There is no life situation in which Jesus’ words don’t apply. Most of the time, it won’t be completely obvious how his teachings apply. With things like George Floyd or coronavirus, it will take time reading his Words and talking to others about it. He wants you to work to apply his teachings to life. Both those issues are so complex, they defy simple answers. But I think we can at least say this: Jesus taught you to love one another. That means love people when you talk, when you type, when you tap your phone to send a message. Love God when you make conclusions about how to respond to the virus of the death of an innocent man. This is hard when you are not living as a disciple of Jesus. But since you are a disciple, it becomes a lot easier. We all have room for growth. But challenges in life are opportunities to be disciples who make disciples. You make disciples by teaching, and you can’t teach what you don’t know. You need a habit of reading God’s Word. Jesus is an authority worth learning from regularly. And as you learn, you’re prepared to teach as well. You can bring up Jesus’ words in conversation with others yourself. You can invite people to worship and times of Bible study that we do at Grace. You have what it takes to teach children, friends, acquaintances what Jesus has taught. All of this is fed by and feeds into the presence of Jesus with you as you live as a disciple who makes disciples. He said, “Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus is with us. He is with you. He’s with you as you respond to dealing with a deadly virus. He’s with you as you try to help a friend who’s suffering the loss of income. He’s with you as you have conversations about a very complex issue, the tragic death of George Floyd and the volatile reaction it has gotten. Jesus offers himself and his presence to any who are despondent, addicted, suicidal. He wants to be with you when your arrogance and pride need to receive a corrective humbling experience. He is with you to bring you appropriately low, but then to raise you back up. You never need to be alone, even though there are times that you will feel very alone. That’s the confidence that his early followers had. Those apprentices, those students, those disciples. They faced imprisonments and beatings; lions and death. But they had the confidence that wherever they found themselves, Jesus was with them, the name of the Father and the Spirit was immersing them; and they were perfectly safe, even in great danger. The same confidence is yours as you face challenges, the living Jesus is with you, the name of the Father and the presence of the Spirit are yours. You’ve been baptized and the name of God surrounds you like the air you breath. You are safe wherever you find yourself, even in great danger. Now go and make disciples of Jesus, baptize and teach, and enjoy his presence with you as you do it.