Date: June 4, 2023
Festival: Trinity Sunday (1st Sunday after Pentecost)
Text: Matthew 28:16-20
Preaching Occasion: Zion Lutheran Church, Mt. Pleasant, MI, and CTKLC
Appointed Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Acts 2:14a, 22-36; Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Hymn: LSB #498 Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
On the LCMS’ website for “Making Disciples for Life,” their mission is stated as “a partnership between individuals, congregations, districts, and the Synod to evangelize the lost, retain the faithful, strengthen congregations, and plant churches and schools,” which finds its origin in our Gospel reading this morning. We often call this section of the Gospel’s conclusion “the Great Commission,” which is really a misnomer because Jesus doesn’t simply authorise and command His disciples to a certain task and then watches indifferently from afar as they suffer the thorns and thistles of church work. Rather, Jesus assures them, He sends them, and He accompanies them on their mission. In the midst of doubt, He assures them of His authority, He then delegates and authorises them to make disciples for life through Baptism and catechesis, and then He promises He will be with them until the end of time—forever.
As this is the end of Matthew’s Gospel, it is best to briefly summarise what has happened. Jesus grew up and began His ministry in Galilee—the light shining on a people dwelling in darkness, just as Isaiah prophesied [Matt. 4:16; Is. 42:7; 49:9]. He is the one whom Isaiah prophesied would be born of a virgin [Matt. 1:18-25; Is. 7:14]. Fulfilling another Isaiah prophecy, He returned to Galilee after His Baptism with a message that echoed John the Baptiser’s, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near!” [Matt. 4:17, my translation; cf. 3:2]. At the end of His ministry, Jesus said He would return to Galilee with His disciples [26:32]. So, with His ministry now carried out on the cross and the promise of His resurrection now accomplished, Jesus finally returns to Galilee with His disciples in His resurrected body. It ends where it all began: in Galilee. Or rather, it is a new beginning—a new genesis—for the continuing ministry of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But some doubted. We don’t know what they doubted or why, or which of the Eleven were doubting. Our best clue to the what and the why is perhaps in what Jesus says. It’s unlikely at this point that any of them doubted this was Jesus Himself or that He is risen from the dead since these issues were already dealt with. It seems far more likely that they doubted what lay ahead of them. Just as Peter doubted when he took his eyes off Jesus as he stood with Him on the Sea of Galilee because he focused on the strong wind around him [14:30-31], perhaps some of the Eleven similarly doubted because they knew what was coming and were focusing on that. Therefore, uncertain of the future, they became dismayed. Every pastor experiences such doubts before he’s called and ordained, doubts that really never go away—doubts of being fit for the ministry and doubts of success in a world hostile to Christ.
Yet Jesus had taught them that they would be heralds of the Good News of God’s kingdom [9:36-11:1; 24:1-26:1]. Now that time has come. Jesus is about to entrust His Word to His chosen Apostles not only to baptise but also to teach that Jesus is the doorway—the only way—by which salvation is opened. It is true, as Jesus said, that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church’s ministry [16:17-19], but still, evil forces and ideas will be pouring out of those gates [16:22-23]. They will face opposition, persecution, and coldness of heart [24:12], which many of us here can personally empathise with. So, here they are on some mountain in Galilee, where it all began, all of them worshipping Jesus, but some have doubts of what the future holds, and Jesus comforts them with two words of promise as He sends them out.
His first Word of promise reminds them of who He is. Jesus’ words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” would’ve recalled the prophecy of Daniel 7[:13-14] to them, which tells of “one like a Son of Man” who comes before “the Ancient of Days” to whom “was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.” And it is this promised Son of Man with the kingdom of God on His shoulders who is now authorising them to make disciples for life from all nations through Baptism into the Holy Trinity and catechesis about who Jesus is. This is what they have doubts about—they have fears of what lies ahead of them. So then, Jesus gives them this second promise: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
They must’ve wondered what Jesus meant by this, because soon after these words Jesus ascended into Heaven. “How can He say He’ll be with us when He just left us?” they might’ve wondered. They would soon find out that He is with them through the means of what they were authorised to do: Baptism and the Word of Christ, in other words, Word and Sacrament. Their doubts would not last long as their vigor is personified in Peter as he preached at Pentecost, which we just heard a little snippet of this morning. Christ would be with them sacramentally, which is to say, mysteriously. Christ mysteriously present does not mean He is absent; rather, it means He is present in a hidden, unfathomable way—a paradox He mysteriously maintains.
Many of us have similar fears of what lies ahead for the Church. The “Making Disciples for Life” programme is really just a response to these fears, and that’s fine because it does have helpful resources for struggling congregations or those who are plateauing. Yet like the disciples we are so focused on our fears of the future that we forget Christ’s Word of promise, and we have statistics to justify our fears, don’t we? For decades there has been a mass exodus from the Church. People are leaving the pews in droves, and COVID-19 certainly didn’t help our numbers. Some members have become inactive; and for whatever reason, they’re not returning, no matter how many phone calls or visits we make.
Many congregations are worse off than others—many permanently close every year. Many others on the brink of closing their doors are just fighting to survive. Even our own church body is described as “dying” because the majority of our members consist of the elderly who are literally dying, and the people who are coming into the Church are not enough to balance off their numbers. At the same time, we want more young people in the Church but scare them away by blaming them for all the world’s problems, and with dirty looks of judgement at the young parents whose infant cries during the service. Amongst these fears and our struggle to fight the ever-decreasing percentages we see from various presentations, we begin to view people as numbers on a spreadsheet rather than human creatures created in God’s image. Thus, we develop a works-righteousness of “If we can just do this, we will survive,” as if our hands are the cornerstone of the Church instead of the Risen and Ascended Christ who is with us to the end of the age. We’re suppose to fear, love, and trust in God above all things, not statistics!
Our task today is no different or more difficult than it was on that day on the mountain in Galilee, which means Christ’s words of promise are also the same for us today. Pastors are still being called and ordained to share in the apostolic ministry of Word and Sacrament. The harvest is plentiful and the labourers are few [Matt. 9:35-38], but that has always been the case. And all of you as disciples of Christ also participate as heralds of the Good News of God’s kingdom as you yourselves grow and help others to grow in the faith Jesus has given us. We really do take for granted Jesus’ words, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” It’s easy to forget that our ascended Lord is with us through the very means He has given us to make disciples for life: Word and Sacrament, especially Baptism.
Whether as an adult, a teenager, or a baby, you were brought to the font and baptised in the Triune name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The best way to understand the significance of this is through the analogy of adoption, which St. Paul calls “the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” [Rom. 8:15]. Who can call God “Abba” except those whom He has adopted as His children? Some of you here have adopted children, or know of someone who’s adopted, or maybe you’ve been adopted yourself. When a child is adopted, the surname of the father is placed upon them. It is more than a legality proven by a sheet of paper; that child truly becomes a member of that family. No one is pretending either. It is fact proven more than with the sheet of paper; it is especially proven through the love of the father who says, “Yes, you are mine.” And that child calls him, “Daddy.”
This is what occurs in Baptism, which we just witnessed today—a holy adoption of God the Father through His Son and the Holy Spirit. Amidst our fears, again from Isaiah, God says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are Mine” [Is. 43:1]. Redeemed by His Son and adopted through His Holy Spirit, God the Father has placed His trinitarian name upon you and has welcome you into the family of God for all eternity. Though a baptismal certificate serves as the historical confirmation that you’ve been baptised, it does not make it effective; your Baptism into God’s family was effected through the love of God in the power of His Word in, with, and under the water.
The family of God truly is growing. It may not be as much as we want it to according to whatever romantic fantasy we’ve made up in our heads, but all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. He knows what He’s doing. Things might look grim in America, but in Africa and in other places the family of God is growing exponentially, especially Lutheranism. But even if things do look grim here, Christ’s promise to the disciples is the same today as it was then: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Low percentages do not have power over this Word of Christ.
As a baptised child of God, Jesus is with you when you pray and sing hymns in the home—indeed, wherever you are. Even if only two people were to come to church, Jesus would be there. “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them” [Matt. 18:20]. Having been baptised into His name, why wouldn’t He be with you? When you are out there in the wilderness of the world, you need only open the Word of God or pray or sing a hymn and Jesus is with you. Remember last week’s Gospel lesson, “If anyone thirsts, let hime come top Me and drink” [John 7:37]. Faith in Jesus is drinking of Jesus. Like the woman of Samaria discovered [John 4:1-26], Jesus is the well from which you can always drink through faith in His Word. Wherever His Word is read and preached or sung, there is Jesus among you.
Making disciples for life really is as simple as Baptism and catechesis—teaching. You often witness it here whenever someone is baptised. The advantage of our campus ministry is that we not only witness but also participate in this whenever an international student is baptised or catechised, both of which we recently participated in at the end of April when one of three students from India was baptised and the other two confirmed. All nations! We also participate in this through the continuing catechesis of our preschoolers, youth, college students, and even adults. This is what Christ has given His pastors to do, just like His Apostles; and each of you participate in this as well as you grow in faith and whenever you bring a friend or your grandchildren to church or Bible study.
Maybe we want every church to be like Acts 2 where 3,000 people were baptised, which is also perhaps why we cling to revival movements instead of Christ, but they never last longer than a gust of wind. Moments like Acts 2 are the exception, not the norm. The norm is walking in our daily baptism through repentance, making disciples for life as we bring our babies and friends to the font, and daily drinking from the Word of Christ for our strength and sustenance in the wilderness of life. It might seem mundane, for Baptism and reading His Word are not shiny things, but it is through Baptism and catechesis that Christ does His extraordinary work of making disciples for life.
We might fear the future, but fear does not nullify the presence and promise of Christ, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” [2 Tim. 1:7]—the power and love of Christ crucified, risen, and ascended that enables us to exercise control when we do face fear because of the certainty that is grounded in Christ alone, the certainty that Hell shall not prevail because Christ destroyed its power when He rose from the dead.
So, as baptised children of God, we can cry out, “Abba!” in the midst of these fears, and the Father hears us and answers. With the psalmist, we can pray the following psalm and therefore be certain that God is with us in a world of fear:
“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
“He will not let [my] foot be moved;
He who keeps [me] will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
“The LORD is [my] keeper;
the LORD is [my] shade on [my] right hand.
The sun shall not strike [me] by day,
nor the moon by night.
“The LORD will keep [me] from all evil;
He will keep [my] life.
The LORD will keep [my] going out and [my] coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.” [Psalm 121]
Amen.
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