Readings: Psalm 8, Genesis 1:1-2:4a, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Matthew 28:16-20
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, June 4, 2023
The Gospel of Matthew is an amazing piece of work. The best thing I can think of comparing it to is a movie. It starts of like a movie, giving us a list of opening credits that invite us to consider that the central figure of the story that is about to take place is somebody of great historical significance.
Then it moves to the mystery of Christ’s birth, to the preaching of John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus by John in the Rivers of Jordan. Matthew then takes through a whole series of scenes. Sometimes it’s action, sometimes it’s a story that’s told, sometimes a sermon. It all reaches a climax in the crucifixion of Jesus and then the frantic muddled excitement of the empty tomb.
Our reading for this morning was from the very last verses of Matthew’s epic. “The Commissioning of the Disciples.” Staying with the film analogy, it’s the perfect ending that cries out for a sequel. Matthew seems to say, as his movie draws to an end… ‘and all this was just the start.’
Matthew never got to make the sequel. That was left to Luke (who gives us the Book of Acts) and comes to us through the letters that circulated among the early church that we know as the Epistles.
Part of the genius of the Gospel of Matthew is its ability to give us a story that functions on so many different levels. The last few verses are no exception.
Today is Trinity Sunday and it is in these closing words of Matthew that we are invited to “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Those words, across the centuries, have inspired numerous mission enterprises. These are words that teach us about the authority of Jesus. They are followed by words of great comfort and the promise “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Taking these verses together, we are given an insight into Matthew’s vision of what the church should be. It is that picture of the functions and duties of the Church that I want to think about on this Trinity Sunday. It does us good to pause and ask, “Well, what are we supposed to be about as the people of God? What’s the Church for? Why do we need it?”
First and foremost, Church is a place to meet Jesus.
(Mat 28:16) “… the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.” God has designated for us a place and time where we can be together in God’s presence and meet with Jesus. At Bridgehampton Presbyterian that time is at ten thirty on a Sunday morning, unless it is summer time when we move to 9:30. That is not to say that are not other times and places when we will experience the presence of God in our lives, but Sunday Worship is a special time, one sacred hour in the week in which we can give ourselves to meeting with God in each other’s presence.
Sometimes people give their reasons for attending a church as “I like the music” or “I enjoy the liturgy” or “I enjoy the sermons” or even “I like the pastor.” This verse reminds us that church is not primarily about discovering an experience that tickles our senses.
Church is designated as a meeting place with Jesus Christ. He alone, the salvation He offers to us, the grace and love that flow from the heart of God to our life… that’s the reason for coming to church. If we take away our focus away from Jesus, and place it elsewhere, be it on the music, the liturgy, the preacher or the message, then we are indulging in a very subtle form of idolatry.
Idolatry is allowing something other than God to become the focus. There is nothing wrong with great music, great preachers or great liturgy. But we should never allow them to become our reason for church attendance. Church is a place to meet with Jesus.
A church I once served used to sing a chorus... “Open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch Him, to say that I love Him.” Which moves us on to consider...
Secondly, Church is a place of Worship.
(Mat 28:17) “And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him”
It is a plain command of Scripture that we are to worship only the Lord Our God. On Trinity Sunday we remind ourselves that we worship God, through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In this designated time and place our worship takes several different forms. We offer our lives to God and pray “Our Father.” We thank God for the grace and love that is revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We seek to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve God.
Yet most of all worship is an act of enjoying the presence of the One God. As the catechism puts it, “The Chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy Him forever!”
When we take the worship experience out of our life, life loses one of its most precious dimensions. We are called to approach worship like the Psalmist who said, “I was glad when they said let us go to the house of the Lord!”
If only we realized the awesome possibilities of what can take place as we worship, then we would never miss an opportunity to be with our sisters and brothers in Christ before the throne of God. Profound changes can come upon people in the presence of God! Worship is meant to be a happening, something that renews us and fires us up to go out and tell the Good News that God is on the move.
Can Worship be like that? Well… maybe we’re not so sure. In fact, there’s probably a whole lot of things that we are not sure about when it comes to God, to the Bible, to our relationship with the Church… to spiritual things in general. Maybe you have your doubts. That’s O.K. Why?
Thirdly, Church is a place to come with our doubts
Verse 7 continues; “they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”
Think of that! This is the disciples we are talking about. These are the ones who saw all the miracles, heard all the teaching firsthand, witnessed the death and resurrection with their own eyes and were now standing, visibly, in the presence of their Lord and Savior. And how are they handling it? “Some were doubtful”
Never stop coming to church just because you don’t agree with everything or understand everything. Fact is we are never going to be without our doubts. You may get some preachers who come along and give the impression they know it all and have fathomed out exactly what God is about and what you need to believe and will not hesitate to let you know God’s thoughts on everything under the sun. They remind me of the advert that used to be on T.V, where the guy sits at the computer, and he gets up from his chair and claims that he’s reached the end of the internet!
If God is God, then no human mind can ever fathom the depths of God’s mystery. Sometimes we can’t even remember where we’ve left our car keys, which makes me realize, that we were never designed to know everything about God and makes me highly suspicious of those who make dogmatic claims to truth that seem denied to the rest of humanity. Church is a place to come with our doubts.
This idea of Trinity is one of those you can kind of explain, but not really. The early church Fathers were content to talk of the Trinity as a sacred mystery. As a something to be experienced.
The mystery is that sometimes, as we worship, whilst our knowledge remains the same, something Trinitarian happens. We leave this place knowing that our lives are in the hands of a God who created a wonderful world for us to live in, a God who in Jesus Christ has provided all we need to get us through and a God who in the power of the Holy Spirit is going to be there for us every step of the way.
A fourth thing.
Church is a place to listen for God’s Word.
Matthew 20;18 ; “Jesus came up and spoke to them”
Jesus speaks to us today in our worship services. How? Through each other. Through the words and music. Through the conversations and teaching. Through the prayers in which we share and the Creeds to which we give assent. Through the Bible readings and sermons. All of it, the place, the time, the actions, the environment, the words, and the silence… the whole experience can be a Word of God to us.
We come to church to meet with Jesus, to worship God, to find guidance for our doubts and to listen for God's word for our lives. And one Word that we will hear is that this is an experience that’s too good to keep to ourselves. God wants us to go out and spread the Word. He promises to go with us as we do so!
Church is a place of Commissioning
Matthew19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”
We are offered here a threefold commission.
• To make disciples
• To baptize
• To teach
For disciples to be made, the Word we have received has to be proclaimed. Proclamation takes place for us in the same way as it did for Jesus. Sometimes it is through deeds where very few words are spoken. Sometimes it is through spoken words that bring the realization of God’s presence to people’s lives. In the same way we are to reach out to others.
Our baptism is not only a sign that we belong to God, but also an indication that we belong to the church. We are a community of people united by the love of God. Others need to know they can be a part of it!
And when we are a part of it we realize we have a lot to learn. So, the church has not just a role in preaching and serving but also an educational task… teaching the ways of the Kingdom.
Finally, Church is a place of promise
Matthew 28:20 : “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. "
A beautiful promise of Jesus forms the very last words of Matthew’s gospel. Were Matthew's gospel really a movie this is the verse that would be written over the closing scene as they ride off into the sunset.
I close with that thought this morning. What a wonderful thing it is to know that whatever we are traveling through in our lives right now, Jesus wants to stick with us and carry us through.
Our world, our lives, everything around us, constant change. We don’t know what lies ahead. Good fortune or the winds of change blowing against us. We just don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But we can know that God promises to travel with us through whatever life may bring our way.
Jesus promises that if we entrust our lives into His hands, He’s going to stick by us, no matter what. If church means nothing more to us than it being a place where we discover God’s promise, then that alone should be sufficient to get us through the day.
Matthew concludes his gospel by giving us a vision for the church. He invites us to meet with Jesus, to come as we are, with all our doubts and fears, just come and worship. As we do so we hear God’s Word, a Word that both challenges and comforts.
The challenge is to go and let others know how great the love of God can be.
The comfort is that the love of God is greater than we dare imagine and can hold us through all our days! Recall again those words of Jesus... “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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