Richard Davenport
June 4, 2023 – Trinity Sunday
Matthew 28:16-20
We arrive here in Matthew 28 at the end of the Gospel, the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Last week we had the Pentecost reading, the formal beginning of the church. Jesus is directing their attention to that moment here. He is giving them the last instructions before sending them on their way to wait for the Holy Spirit and the next major step in God’s plan to bring the Gospel to the world.
There’s a lot of uncertainty here for the disciples. Jesus is leaving and they aren’t sure what’s coming next. Jesus is alive again, so, obviously things are already going better than they had expected a few weeks ago. Jesus probably has everything under control, but still, some doubt. What is this new part of their lives going to look like? They’ve had Jesus around all this time, but now he’s leaving. Things will be different now. How are they to go about doing all of this? It’s a pretty simple command that Jesus gives. Make disciples by teaching and baptizing. But there isn’t a lot of direction in how to go about doing that. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit gives them what they need to start that process.
Still, after you get past the trepidation and the uncertainty, there’s probably a lot of excitement there too. The disciples have already gotten to see a lot of mind blowing things over the last 3 years. All of that culminated with the resurrection of their Lord after his gruesome death. Hopefully by this point they’ve realized that they can’t assume anything with Jesus. Many things they thought were impossible are no issue for him, so what is he going to do next? Well, it could be just about anything. The sky’s the limit it seems. Which, in the case of Jesus’ ascension is kind of true. The disciples watch him go, but they watch knowing that the next part of the plan is already in motion. They may not know exactly what it will look like, but it will be ok. God has proven everything is going according to plan.
What is your place in that plan? The disciples here are given a command. The great commission is basically the command that governs the life of the church. The disciples are tasked with making more disciples, for teaching and baptizing. Not just a few people here and there, but all nations. A rather monumental task, certainly more than the eleven disciples here, later twelve, will be able to handle.
Thankfully, they don’t have to do it all. They’ll have help. I don’t mean the Holy Spirit, though he’ll certainly be involved. I mean they’ll be making disciples and those disciples can make more disciples and so on. It starts to remind me of the time before I went off to seminary and I was still trying to sort out what to do with myself. This guy, I don’t really remember where he came from, was part of a program where you get other people to buy everyday name brand products through a website you make online. You get a percentage of every sale. What’s more, if you recruit other people into the program, you get a percentage of what they sell too. The more recruits you get, the more you make with all of them selling stuff. Eventually, if you work hard enough, you can basically retire from all of that recruiting because you’re getting plenty of money coming in from all of the recruits you already have.
I didn’t go for it. It was a pretty standard pyramid scheme, with all of the problems that go along with that, and it just wasn’t going to be something I was going to do well at. Still, Jesus’ command ends up looking pretty similar. “You guys go teach and baptize people so they’ll be disciples. Those guys will go teach and baptize to make more disciples. Those new guys will make more disciples, on and on until the whole world has heard the gospel.”
Here they are, the first wave, the top of the pyramid. Well, Jesus is really at the top of the pyramid, but just under him are the disciples here, going out into the world to share the gospel and bring the world to Christ. There’s lots of work to do, but it will all be worth it. At some point, you’ll be able to sit back and watch all of your new recruits out there doing the work too. That’s what you’re looking forward to, the day when you can relax and let the ones below you on the pyramid earn their keep and pass a little on to you as well. Not that you’re making money off of them or anything like that, but you get to take at least a little credit for the good stuff they do. After all, if you hadn’t been involved, if you hadn’t worked to bring them in, they wouldn’t be saved at all, they wouldn’t be a part of the church and receiving Christ’s forgiveness. So, obviously, now everything they do must owe itself, at least a little bit, to you.
It's that chance to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s nice to be recognized for all of your hard work. It’s nice to see things growing and moving along because of all of the effort you’ve put in. Of course, not everyone’s specifically bringing people to faith, but there are lots of other ways to support the work of discipleship. Helping out at church functions, contributing to the church and other Christian charities, encouraging those who are working and praying for those in need, I mean, it all helps. It’s all part of the discipleship package. If you’ve supported someone, if you’ve made the place a little better, then you deserve some credit. Eventually you aren’t working for the church, the church is working for you. It’s paying off in a good reputation, in being well liked and respected, in the general acknowledgement that you’re a good person who pays his Christian dues.
What’s the point in doing all of this hard work if you don’t get some kind of payout? Even if a good reputation and all of that aren’t super important to you, there’s still got to be that point when you can look around at all you’ve accomplished and say, “I’m done! It’s time to retire from all of this. I did what needed doing. Sure, there’s more to do, but that’s for the next batch. After all, I brought them in. I supported them. I put in all of the time and effort around here to make things go. I did all of this work. I did what was asked of me. Now I’m handing the project on to others. There’s no way I should be expected to do this job forever. There has to be an end at some point.”
We’re all called to make disciples. We’re all called to use our gifts and talents to teach and bring others to baptism. That’s all understandable enough. But, surely there has to be an end to it at some point. Surely, at some point, God has to acknowledge that it’s enough. Maybe the mission has to go on, but do I really have to keep being a part of it? There has to be a number there somewhere. Once you’ve brought this many people into the church, once you’ve given this many dollars, once you’ve this many church functions outside of worship, once you’ve been a Christian this many years, then surely God will tell you it’s ok to step back and not worry about it anymore. You’ve hit the mark. You’re done.
Jesus calls us to be his disciples, just like he called the Twelve back at the beginning of his ministry. They were called to follow him, just as we are. Jesus calls us to follow him, a shepherd calling his sheep because he knows where there is safety and good pasture. He knows everything we need and where to find it. That never ceases to be true. We continue to need his Word, more precious than food. We need him to provide us all that we need to make it through the day, everything to sustain us and help us grow. We don’t like being dependent on others. We don’t like following others. We would much rather be free of all needs and dependencies, but it is all built into who we are. Contrary to the wisdom of the world, following God and serving others is where we find peace and joy. This is why we are disciples, we are called to follow. Each day, every day, even into eternity we will still be following Christ, wherever he leads us.
That also means our work isn’t done, because his work isn’t done. He has died and risen again, but we continue to need him and all that he does for us, just like everyone else in the world does. Jesus never retires. He never says he’s done enough. He never thinks there’s a day when you won’t need his forgiveness, his grace, his love. Even in eternity, you’ll still need all of the things that only come from him. Following him is the only way to life, and he keeps working to provide that for you.
God gives you this task to share the gospel and bring others into the fold. He does it for them, that they may become disciples and find salvation. But he also does it for you. Following him, following his example, is how we learn who we are created to be, how we learn to follow him to find life.
Trinity Sunday is where we recall how our God differs from all of the other gods in the world. Aside from the fact that our God exists and the others don’t, our God is triune, three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together in perfect harmony, perfect unity. We are called to make disciples, to share with them the wondrous works of our God, the God who created us out of love and continues to love us in spite of our selfishness. We gather here to give thanks to our God for leading us through yet another day. He praise him for all that he has done for his people, planning for their salvation before he brought the first of us into being. We give thanks that he sent his Son to be like us, to seek out all of us lost sheep and bring us into the fold. We praise him for his desire to lead us into eternal life and for all of the tireless work he does on our behalf, caring for all of our needs and how he promises to keep doing that, each and every day for eternity.