A Mission for Ordinary Times

May 18, 2008 - John Wesley United Methodist Church, Falmouth, Massachusetts

Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Introduction:

Trinity Sunday, just after Pentecost Sunday, marks the end of the special" season when the church recalls the earthly life and work Of Jesus, from Advent and Christmas to Lent and Easter, and finally to the Ascension and Pentecost and the birthday of the church.

Trinity also marks the beginning of "ordinary time" when the Book of Acts begins the story of how the Holy Spirit is poured out on ALL believers (not just prophets and priests) and the work or mission of the church is carried forward— in a sense we continue to write the Book of Acts.

As the "TEXT for today's Trinity sermon I want to use our own church's mission statement. The mission statement for John Wesley United Methodist Church is: ("on the bulletin every Sunday; do you know it?")

To know God, and to become disciples of Jesus Christ, and to go into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I. To know God

Hebrews 11:6 Them that come to God must believe that He IS, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (also) The place to begin to know God is with a healthy, God-given respect for the wonder
and greatness we can never fully comprehend: (we are altogether too casual and glib about the most important thing in all our lives!) In every place where God is truly revealed there is that sense of awe:

Psalm 8 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

On this Trinity Sunday I cannot "desribe God." The greatest theologian, whoever he or she might be, who says "THIS is God!" is like the little boy painting at his easel in kindergarten class, with his dad's old shirt for a smock.

"What are you painting?"
"I'm painting a picture of God!"
"But no one knows what God is like!!"
"Well, they will when I get done with this painting!"

But this great, holy, Creator God beyond all our comprehension has revealed Himself as loving. The promise in the Bible id "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." (James) But this drawing near is not a casual arrangement.

To "know" God is the work of a lifetime, or more properly, the privilege of eternal life. The universe as we can see it is almost beyond description. It reflects the majesty of our God. It is right and proper that we come to Him with reverence. He has promised to meet us. To seek to know God is to draw near to the majesty that is God...

Transition: But God has not only spoken by "general revelation." He has spoken by His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible from cover to cover speaks of a seeking God, and one who calls to us: "Where are you?" The WORD God has spoken is Jesus. Which brings us to the second statement in our mission for ordinary times:

II. To become disciples of Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 4:32
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

We may never fully understand the Mystery that is God, but God has made us in His image, and then sent his Son to show us how to live. It was a great Methodist missionary of a generation ago, Dr. E. Stanley Jones, who said, profoundly: "We have a Christ-like God!"

So Jesus came, and showed us how to live, and taught us how to live, and brought to Word to life before our eyes. Then Jesus took our sins and our failures on himself and died on the cross of Calvary. More than an example, Jesus became our Entry into eternal life. (John 3:16)

Romans 10:9,10 reads: "If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and if we believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we shall be saved!" How we get to that confession, and how that faith to truly believe in Jesus comes to us is something of a mystery. But no one who comes to Jesus sincerely is ever turned away!

It is important that we have this personal relationship with Jesus! We are HIS disciples! We want to be like HIM! And the "bottom line" in my understanding is this: what sort of spirit is manifested? The chorus we sing says, "They'll know we are Christians by our love!" And that's where this life verse, Ephesians 4:32 becomes important, at least to me: BE YE KIND!

Trinity Sunday!

The majesty and mystery and LOVE of the FATHER!

The grace and forgiveness and kindness and LOVE of the SON!

But there is more: It is not enough for us as Christians simply to "be good" or to be "saved," as important as that may be. The third part of our text/mission today is:

III. To go into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit

John 15:8 Here is the way the Father is glorified:
If You bear MUCH fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Jesus loves us very much—it is great to have fellowship with Him and with one another! But the Gospel text this Trinity Sunday was what we call the Great Commission of Jesus, and it is about GOING INTO THE WORLD WITH THE GOOD NEWS WE ARE FINDING OUT ABOUT GOD! It is about going to the world with this TRINITARIAN message, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

We are not all we can be if we are simply content to be "saved." Did you know that each one of us has some way we can join with the Father and the Son and by the Holy Spirit make a difference where we are?

John 15:7 is a favorite verse for people who study prayer and praying; it is a great promise: "If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you may ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." But we don't always connect that verse with its context! We begin thinking selfishly! Whatever I want I'll ask for!

But the very next verse, verse 8, says: "THIS is the way the Father is glorified, IF YOU BEAR MUCH FRUIT,; THAT WILL PROVE YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES!

It is the HOLY SPIRIT, who was the Gift at the first Pentecost, who gives us what we need to carry on the work of Jesus. The Book of Acts began with the coming of the Spirit to the church. Its chapters tell the story of ORDINARY, VERY ORDINARY PEOPLE who dared to ask for God to live in them and have all of them, and simply did what the Spirit led them to do.

There are 28 chapters of Acts in our Bible. But the Book of Acts has never been finished. Each generation has an opportunity to write another chapter! Sometimes I even think some of that chapter might be written in John Wesley United Methodist Church right here in Falmouth!

Jesus said, in Luke 11:13 that we can have the Holy Spirit just for the asking. I'm not saying this lightly or casually, but these are Christ's words from Luke's Gospel:

If YOU, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE, will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Do we dare ask again:

Let us pray . . .