Sermon of Sunday 13 June 2010 What does God want of us?

Matthew 28.16-20

How are we doing in our search for a slogan, a motto, a strapline
to say what our church's mission is about?

Two suggestions:
‘from here till eternity’
‘overflowing with love’

Last week the Great Commandment
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and soul and mind and strength
and your neighbour as yourself.
This week ‘The Great Commission’
what Jesus laid before his disciples prior to ascending to heaven.

Some years ago Harry and I did a survey of nearly homes in the Trinity district.
While we had a polite or even cordial reception in the vast majority of cases
we met only one person who professed personal faith in the Lord Jesus.
That is the scale of the mission field.
People are nice, people are hard working, some have personal problems,
many feel satisfied, some especially the elderly are fearful
but so many are lost if they do not know Christ.
Even in our churches for how many of us is it well with our soul?
Do we all have peace with God through Christ whatever may happen?
(a question the Moderator Norman Hamilton challenged us with)

What can we learn from Matthew 28?
The time is the in between period after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
What is to happen next?
Matthew tells us something very interesting:
17 'When they saw him, they worshipped him but some doubted.'
Wouldn’t you think people would just worship the risen Lord Jesus?
Don’t we think we would have bowed down before him in love and wonder?
Or would we?
Remember that Thomas doubted.
It took him time to get used to this new reality.

Some of us find faith easy, others are not so sure
Maybe it comforts you that even people close to Jesus, the first disciples,
some of them doubted, they found it hard to get used to this new truth.
‘Doubt’ like ‘failure is one of those unmentionable words for Christians.
We can’t cope with it but we need to see that there are 2 kinds of doubt:
one is a hard scepticism which loves to question everything
and basically refuses to believe whatever reassurance is offered.
The other is a ‘soft’ doubt where someone wants to believe
but lacks assurance.
The word used here is the same word Matthew uses in 14.31
when Peter doubted that he could walk on water.
Doubt here is not about hard unbelief.
It refers to a hesitation natural to those faced by a unique and ‘impossible’ occurrence.

John Calvin suggests that ‘some hesitated at first
until Christ approached them nearer and more intimately’
I dare to imprOve on Calvin and suggest that they hesitated
until Christ affirmed that he had all authority
and told them what they were to do.
Isn’t that what we like to hear?
The voice that says ‘This is your captain speaking. Fasten your seat belts.’
We then know who’s in charge and what we are to do.

18'Then Jesus came to them and said ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'
19'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'

'Make disciples' is a key idea in Matthew 13:52 27:57
A disciple is not one who has already learned but who is always learning.
‘The schooldays of a Christian are never over.’
‘The disciples were to call not for a superficial response
but for total commitment to the new community
and to a life governed by 'everything I have commanded you.'’ (RT France)
Baptism is a sign and seal of being identified with all the cleansing work of God,
to guarantee that our sin is forgiven and we may receive the Holy Spirit.
But of course the reality and the richness lies not in the sign
but in what it points to.

To baptize into a name was to baptize into the possession of the person who owned the name.
At school at the age of 7 to 10 we used to mark ownership of a book
“This book belongs to JG Faris, 12 Windsor Avenue, Belfast BT9 6EE N Ireland UK, Europe, the World the Solar System The Universe”
We need to regard ourselves as people who belong to one who has the greatest name and identity
a life of fellowship, of consecration, of divine fulness and strength
sign of total, binding identification with total deliverance of triune God,
pledge of full sufficiency of God’s grace in fulness of Trinity
Father, creator provider whose family fellowship broken by sin
Son Saviour, willingly dying and willingly given up by Father
to wash away sin
The Holy Spirit given by Father and Son makes us holy, more like Jesus,
able to worship and be in communion with such a wonderful God

To be a disciple is to be totally delivered for total dedication
That can sound harsh and unachievable and would be if we approach in legalistic spirit,
what we must do to be right with God
but is to be understood in spirit not of legalism but of grace:
not: you must but you cannot and you’re lost
but: you are forgiven and released and you can and you shall!
our glad response to a loving saving and empowering God
It is call to take seriously the Sermon on the Mount
and to understand that we cannot keep it without God’s enabling.
Never put v 19 in front of v 18.

Closing word of comfort! I am with you always
'The promise of his presence as we do this
reminds us that evangelism is not something we do for Jesus
but something that he does through us.'
Selwyn Hughes

Thank you loving God for the richness and wonder of your being
Father Son and Holy Spirit loving saving strengthening
Thank you for the unimaginable privilege of being
your possession, your people
May our baptism be for each of us no empty social ceremony
but a badge and pledge of all that you are and have for us
and of all that we can and shall be as your disciples
Discipleship is not easy, you have not said that it would be
but we thank you that with the challenge of Christ
is also the promise of the presence of Christ
May we be especially aware of his presence be with us
as we live out the things which are closest to your heart
as we seek by your grace to be disciples and to make disciples.