St. Matthew 28:16-20 The ministry of Jesus in St. Matthew’s gospel has Trinitarian references as end-caps. In chapter 3 is recorded Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan with the Father speaking and the Holy Spirit coming down on Him like a dove. Our lection for today ends the gospel with the emphasis on the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ work for the church in the name of the Father.
It is important and critical to the Christian faith to acknowledge that the Holy Trinity is One God in three persons. This is who God is--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The words that we often call “The Great Commission” hold for us a deeper truth that is often missed or glossed over, for it is the eleven disciples who receive this command to preach and baptize. The eleven become the apostles who are designated by Jesus to establish the apostolic and pastoral office. What springs forth from these words, then, is the pastoral office, baptism, preaching, and the consecrating and distributing of the Lord’s Supper. What springs forth from preaching and baptizing is the church. Out of the side of Christ flowed blood and water when His side was pierced. Out of Jesus comes the redemption of the world. Christ’s love, mercy, and atonement is preached and the sacraments are administered and Christians are made. There is an order of sorts in all of this. God creates; God redeems; God sanctifies. Jesus dies and people come to life. Death and darkness is dispelled and removed, while the light of Christ shines forth through the cross and people begin to see things as they really are. Your life, then, is not to be as it was yesterday, last week, last year, or 50 years ago. God the Father created you. Jesus redeemed you on the cross. The Holy Spirit came to you and made you holy. The Church’s life is seen in these words in the so called “Great Commission.” Jesus says “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” This is, both, an encouragement for the pastoral office and the church. Where there are pastors preaching Christ crucified, there is Jesus. Jesus is with the pastor and the church. This being the case, we need not worry about our lives or the church’s existence. Jesus says, “all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.” Jesus will sustain us. Jesus will bless us. Our problem is that we think we know how Jesus should bless us. Perhaps it can be said that St. Paul’s letters to the churches are a reflection and a reminder that Jesus is the one who sustains and blesses the church, while the church is the recipient of that blessing. It is when you as the church forget that Jesus is the one who governs and blesses that your sin goes into full force. It is when you start to look at the church as your own possession that you becomes lords instead of servants. It is when you start to govern as if the church is yours that pride takes over. Conflict ensues. Trouble rises. Hate proceeds. Anger follows. Talking badly about others breaks forth. Individualism rises above the unity of the church, and we are left with a group of Pharisees rather than the body of Christ resting in the blood of Jesus. This is sin that Jesus will punish if there is no repentance. You are in good company. St. Paul’s letters are filled with many admonitions to the churches to stop behaving with pride and selfish behavior. As Christians you are to move beyond the ways of the world. You are not to behave the same way that you did when you were young in the faith. Part of the Holy Spirit’s work through the word and sacraments is that you continue to grow in holiness as Christ continues to forgive you and live in you. You are to look at things differently than you did when you were drinking spiritual milk. The Holy Spirit coming to you through the blood of Jesus leads you into deeper contemplation of your sins, the Christian faith, the wounds of Jesus and the new life that you live having put on the white robe of Christ’s righteousness in baptism. Part of repentance is the sincere desire and intention of the person repenting to amend and stop the sinful ways. If you confess your sins to God the Father and yet do not intend to change your life, then you are not really repenting. Your words are empty because your heart is far from God. Part of living as a Christian is for you to be merciful, loving, and kind to others. Rather than chastise and judge one another, you are to bear with one another in love-- “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”(Galatians 6:2). The measure you use to judge others will be used by God against you. St. Paul understood all of this about the human, sinful condition. He writes to the church in Ephesus: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”(Ephesians 4:1-3). It is almost as if St. Paul’s thoughts were running in tow with Christ’s words in the gospel, for St. Paul follows by speaking of the church in this way: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all”(Ephesians 4:4-6). Part of the mystery of the church and Jesus is that the name of the Holy Trinity is placed upon the baptized. We become a part of this greater body that is not seen with the eyes. You are pulled out of the pit of hell which was to be your solitary confinement for eternity, and you are made one with Christ and all the others who have been grafted into His holy body. Your sins are forgiven. Your sinful pride and individualism that threatens to separate you from Jesus is forgiven, and Jesus keeps you close and protects you from the snares of Satan. All power and authority is given to Christ. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in majesty. It is Jesus who opens the gates of heaven to you, and He knows you by name. The heavenly Father looks at you and sees the blood of His beloved Son that covers you and makes you holy. The Holy Spirit abides with you to lead you away from hell. You, the church, are being shaped and shepherded for the next leg of the journey. The Holy Trinity is blessing you and caring for you all the way. Those who repent and rest in the blood of Christ have nothing to fear, for Jesus will do what is best for His church always, as she(the church) praises, blesses, honors, and glorifies Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Her God and Lord, forever and ever. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
