Sermon: June 4, 2023

“To The Very End”

I read about the man who visited a church to worship. During the message the Pastor said something the man liked, and he said, “Amen,” to which most in the congregation looked around to see who said it. Later in the message the Pastor said something else the man liked, and he shouted, “Hallelujah!” One of the ushers came to where he was sitting and said, “Sir, we don’t do that in this church.” And the man said, “But I have religion.” To which the usher responded, “Well, you didn’t get it here!”

Today, on the Church calendar, is what is known as “Trinity Sunday.” I could stand here in front of you this morning spewing off facts about the Trinity that you probably wouldn’t remember this afternoon but have decided not to.

The Trinity is one of the hardest Christian concepts to understand. You can read through the entire Bible and never find the word, Trinity. The first that the early church started using the word “Trinity” was at Antioch in the late 2nd century.

The first time you might read something pointing to the Trinity would be in Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.’” Note the use of the plural us and our, indicating more than one. And then we have a powerful and clear picture of the Trinity in the story of Jesus’ Baptism by John the Baptist. We have the physical Jesus—the voice of God—and the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove.

When we are baptized and confess our identity as believers, we do so in the name of all three persons of the Trinity.

But I would rather spend my time with our text from Matthew in which Jesus uses the Trinity to complete His instructions.

Matthew 28:16-20

With this text, you may be thinking, “Pastor Rick sure isn’t preaching to us in chronological order.” And you’d be right! But there again, the Bible, or the Cannons, also weren’t presented in chronological order.

A couple of weeks ago we were talking about the Ascension of Jesus and the importance of that event. I shared that we wouldn’t receive the promised Holy Spirit if Jesus didn’t ascend back to the Father. And last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost and the coming of that Holy Spirit. Today, Jesus is alive again, almost like a soap opera character that the writers kill off but bring back in another roll. And Jesus is giving them His final instructions in what has become what we refer to as “The Great Commission.”

I read about an out-of-shape, overweight man who decided to take up tennis. He took lessons from a pro. He read several self-help books which advised him to “think positively” and “develop a winning attitude.”

A friend asked him how his tennis was going. With a positive, winning attitude in his voice, the man replied, “When my opponent hits the ball to me, my brain immediately barks out a command to my body: ‘Race up to the net,’ Then it says, ‘Slam a blistering shot to the far corner of the court. Then immediately jump back into position and return the next volley to the other far corner of the court.’ And then my body says, ‘Who, me?’”

I’d be willing to bet, if we could go back in time, that the first words out of the mouths of the Disciples after Jesus spoke the words from our text were the same: “Who, me?”

Look again at the 17th verse of our text: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” Some doubted? Don’t know how many “some” are. But some doubted. And we wonder why the church today is in such a mess!

The very same instructions that Jesus gave to the Disciples are still being given to us. We are called to go—whether it’s next door or to another country—and make disciples. This isn’t an option but a command to all who call Jesus Lord. We may not all be evangelists in the professional sense, but we have all received gifts that we can use to fulfill this “Great Commission.” As we obey Him, we have comfort in the knowledge that Jesus is always with us.

A few years ago, I heard about a church located in a rundown area of a large city that had gotten down to about 40 active members and those 40 were struggling to keep the doors open. They held meetings in the afternoon during the week since everyone was retired and had the time.

As they were leaving one of their afternoon meetings one of the ladies noticed a hooker leaning up against her car, and she was singing. The lady didn’t know exactly what to do and finally she said to this lady of the evening—or in this case—the afternoon: “You have a nice voice; you should sing in our choir.” She went on to say, “We have choir practice tomorrow at 2:00 and if you would like I’ll meet you here and you can practice with us.”

Just a note: when you invite someone to church instead of just the invitation offer to pick them up or at least agree to meet them, so they don’t have to come alone.
Well, that next Sunday, the little church of 40 had a hooker singing in their choir. By the end of the year, they had 3 hookers singing in their choir. And today, that little church of 40 struggling to stay alive is now a church of 800 (Lord, send us the people nobody else wants). And it all started with an invitation!

Jesus gave His marching orders to His disciples, and these are your marching orders for this week. I want you to spend some time thinking about your family or friends who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ—or look around and see those whom have fallen away from the flock for various reasons. Pray for them—write their names down somewhere that will remind you to pray for them every day. And invite them to church—pick them up on your way or meet them when you get here—either way, invite them to church and invite them to become disciples of Jesus Christ. Imagine what you can get started with a simple invitation; in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; remembering that Jesus is with us to the very end of the age!

Thanks be to God!