The Holy Trinity – June 19th, 2011 – Year A

It seems fitting that we read the very end of Matthew’s gospel on a week that when goodbyes are thick in the air. And with these final words from Jesus to his disciples, we get more parting words. Jesus’ words here answer the disciples’ unspoken question, “What do we do now?” And some of us are asking the same question.

Our Easter season is over. We are into Pentecost. And we’ve been assured the Holy Spirit is with us. But the ground seems to be shifting beneath us in many ways. We are in transition. Not just according to the greater church calendar and season but in our own body here at Messiah. Last Sunday, we gathered to say goodbye to Karl and Peg. And today, their absence here is felt and grieved. We are in transition.

And I know several of you are in transition in your lives as well. Summer plans. Moving. Job changes. Surgeries. Grieving losses. And the ongoing changes as our bodies get older. Isn’t the saying that the only truly consistent thing in life is change?

I’m trying to accept that in my own life, too. I am shocked at how quickly the time has gone by and the depth to which I’ve grown since arriving in Montana. We are all in transition.

And I believe this actually allows us to hear Jesus’ final words to his disciples in a special way. Because we are like those disciples, coming together to worship the Risen Christ. We have our fair share of doubt, especially about the future and our life together here. The disciples were worried about what their community would look like given Jesus’ departure from their company. If nothing else, that certainly puts Karl and Peg’s departure into perspective.

But in truth, we are just like those disciples. A community wondering what the future holds. Wondering what type of identity we’ll have given this loss. And again, like those disciples, we are wondering, “What do we do now?” “Where do we go from here?” And this question is the very essence of being in transition. The core question at the heart of every change and time of growth in our lives.

Because if nothing else, we are looking for direction. Some purpose or motivation to propel us into whatever our future is here at Messiah. We are thirsty for Jesus’ words to us in this time.

Jesus says to us: “All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me. So I’m telling you to go and make disciples from all kinds of people and every walk of life. I’m telling you to baptize in the name of the one who created you, in my name, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. I’m telling you to teach people about my commandments and me. But most importantly, you need to remember that I am with you always, to the end of days.”

Can you find your hope in these words? Can you draw from it a sense of purpose, or conviction, or passion, or energy around Messiah’s future? Can you hear that Christ has been with you from the beginning, is with us now, and will be with you no matter what your future is?

What I hear in Jesus’ words is a focus on community. On people. On relationships. In these words, I imagine what Jesus might have imagined the church could look like. Not a faith broken down into denominational differences and theological confusion or rigid ideas about what a follower must look and act like. Do you hear any of that in these final words?

What I hear in these words is hope. A firm foundation of hope in a community that welcomes all, baptizes all, and teaches all. One that trusts God is with them through every imaginable change. And through every UN-imaginable change.

What I hear in these words is comfort for eleven disciples that were doubting. That had no clue how to begin a church, who to talk to about this Jesus, or even how to get along amongst themselves. And here we are, a small church in a big city, wondering how we are church, who we talk to about Jesus, and how to get along with one another. We’ve got the same issues 2,000 years later.

And yet we know how very present Christ was with those disciples. Those disciples who spread the news to people outside of Jerusalem and beyond Galilee. Those disciples who gathered more disciples who took the Word of God to the farthest corners of the earth. And are part of the reason we are in this place today. Christ was with them.

So we can trust and be assured and have faith that Christ is with us still. As we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we reflect on a trinity that is relational to its core. And as we are reminded from the creation story, we are made in that imagine. From a trinitarian God who exists in relationship, we are formed. The entire creation is formed. And it is formed upon relationship. We are relational beings. We do not exist on our own. We live off the land and one another and our rich relationship with our God.

So it makes sense that Jesus’ words to us would be about relationship. About this community and a wider community. About water and the Word. About sharing the good news of Christ.

Our wonderful mission statement here at Messiah is to share God’s love by caring for all. So when you find yourself wondering where do we go from here, answer yourself, we go from here by sharing God’s love by caring for all. And you remember that no matter the transition, Christ is with us always, to the end of the age.

Amen +

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Sermons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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