church

INI
Trinity Sunday
June 7, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT
Matthew 28:16-20

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. This morning we consider our Lord's Great Commission, Matthew
chapter 28, vv. 16-20, as follows:

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus
had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some
doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. This is the
Word of God.

In the Name of Our Triune God, Who has commissioned us ambassadors of
His grace, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

In the year 1798, as he was nearing the end of his second term in office,
President George Washington wrote his famous "Farewell Address" to the
American people. It's an address from which our current government could
learn a thing or two. Among other things, our first president urges judges to
uphold a strict construction of the US Constitution. He says that government
borrowing should be kept to an absolute minimum. And perhaps most shocking
of all, Washington states frankly that it is impossible to promote morality in
America without organized religion: "Reason and experience" he says, "both
forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious
principle."

For many, many years, Washington's Farewell Address was read aloud on his
birthday in both houses of congress. Then, in 1983, the practice was quietly
discontinued. Newspaper headlines read, “Nobody Listens to Washington’s
Farewell Address." One congressional aide said, "In reality, both chambers are
empty whenever it is read. So it's time it went into the dustbin."

Our subject for today is a farewell address of a different kind. Not a president's
to his citizens, but King's to the members of His kingdom. It's called “The
Great Commission.” It’s the farewell address that our Lord Jesus Christ
delivered to His disciples shortly before His ascension into heaven. Sadly this
too is an address that few people bother to read anymore - including the
subjects of the King themselves. But you and I can’t ignore the Great
Commission. For it contains a command so urgent that we must shape20our
entire lives according to it. On the other hand it comes with a promise so sweet
and compelling that we need have no fear at all of undertaking it. Our theme
today:

THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT
I. It has great authority behind it.
II. It has a great task ahead of it.
III. It has a great promise attached to it.

You know what a c ommission is. A graduate of West Point receives a
commission to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army. An ambassador may receive
a commission from the President to carry a peace proposal to some war-torn
nation. A commission is an assignment, a definition of the task that that person
will carry out as a representative of the one who sent him.

When the forty days that Jesus spent on earth following His resurrection was
nearly over, our Lord met with His disciples to deliver His commission to them.
This was to be their assignment – their marching orders, if you will. It detailed
the calling that would occupy their lives from that time onward until the end of
their days. By extension, it’s a commission that applies to every disciple of Jesus
of every age, including you and me. And THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY
GREAT. It’s great, first of all, because it has great authority behind it.

The commission was delivered on a mountaintop in Galilee, exactly where, we
don’t know. But the appointment had been made long before. Even prior to His
death, Jesus had told them, “After I have been raised, I will go before you into
Galilee.” –Mt 26:32. After the resurrection the angel repeated it to the women
at the tomb: “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead,
and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold,
I have told you." –Mt 28:7.

Have you noticed, by the way, how many important events in the Bible happen
on mountaintops? The giving of the Ten Commandments, the Transfiguration,
the Great Commission, the Ascension. Do you remember what happened when
Satan took Jesus to a mountaintop during His temptation in the wilderness? He
showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil
said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been
delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will
worship before me, all will be Yours.” –Lk 4:6-7. He was offering Jesus a
shortcut to all power and authority. Jesus could avoid all the suffering and go
straight to the glory, if He would only bow down to the devil. It was all a lie, of
course. That authority never belonged to Satan in the first place. Jesus rejected
this temptation just like He overcame them all – with the Word of God. He
replied: It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you
shall serve.

But how gloriously ironic! For now, three years later, it is the risen Lord Jesus
standing triumphant on the mountaintop. Now it is Jesus, in His full majesty as
God, who justly claims all authority, and who justly claims and receives the
worship of His followers. This is an important occasion, for those disciples and
for disciples of every age. For THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT.

One thing is obvious: if you have a commission to fulfill, the authority of that
commission is going to depend on the authority of the one who sent you. Isn't it
true? No one reads a letter from Publisher's Clearing House, but everyone reads
a letter from the IRS. Likewise, no one’s going to listen to you if the person who
sent you is nobody important – why should they? But my Christian friends, how
often don’t we carry out our personal outreach as if nobody important had sent
us? We’re timid and afraid when we have a chance to talk about our faith.
Sometimes we’re embarrassed when we share the Gospel with someone, as if
they’re doing us a favor by listening to what we have to say! But you don’t’
represent a nobody. You represent the biggest Somebody there is – Jesus Christ!
As an ambassador of Jesus, you’re bringing a message from a King. And more
than that – from the King of kings. No commission could have greater authority
than yours! Jesus says, He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects
Me, and…Him who sent Me.” –Jn 10:1 6.

So don’t be timid, be bold! Jesus said, All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Here’s one reason why THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY
GREAT. Since His exaltation, and His ascension to the right hand of God the
Father, ALL authority belongs to Christ. Not just authority over spiritual things,
but authority over earthly things, as well. The fact is, Christ controls everything
in this world! He has authority over everything in our lives, and in everybody
else’s life, too, for that matter. What a comfort that is when you think about it.
For you know ahead of time that nothing can happen in your life that does not
fall under the authority of Jesus, of your Lord who loves you and gave Himself
for you. Paul asks the supremely rhetorical question: If God is for us, who can
be against us? –Rom 8:31. Who can stop us carrying out our Great
Commission? Nobody. Not with this kind of authority backing us up! With
Christ’s authority behind us, a task that would otherwise be utterly impossible,
now becomes not just possible, but a sure thing!

So let’s talk about the task. THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT, in the
second place, because it has a great task ahead of it. Jesus said, "Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
hav e commanded you.”

People often quote this verse as if the ‘going’ were the most important thing.
“Get going! Get out there and go! It doesn’t matter where you go, just GO!”
But that’s wrong. You can’t tell it from the English translation, but “go” in this
verse isn’t an imperative – a command – it’s a participle. It means “While you
are going…do these things.” Baptize. Teach. Spread the Gospel. You don’t
have to fly off to Africa or India to bring the Gospel to people. Do it "while you
are going" -- as you go about your daily tasks. You may not realize it, but you’re
God’s missionary to Tacoma. Or Puyallup. Or Lakewood or Seattle or Portland.
Wherever you live , wherever you work, wherever you travel. Jesus said, “You
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidd en. Nor do
they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives
light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. – Mt. 5:13-16.

And what is your commission as Christ’s ambassador? What is the message
you’re charged with delivering? It's not that complicated. Perhaps you
remember what Jesus said to the Gadarene man, out of whom He had cast a
legion of demons: “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God
has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole
city what great things Jesus had done for him. – Lk 8:38-40. There's your
mission: just tell people the truth! Tell them what a great sinner you are, they’ll
be able to relate to that. Then tell them what a great Savior you have! Tell them
the great things God has done for you in providing a Redeemer who went all the
way to the cross to deliver you from death and hell.

THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT. And on this Trinity Sunday, of
course, our text reminds us of one of the pillars of the Christian faith – the
doctrine of the Trinity. Do you know that the words “triune” and “Trinity”
don’t occur in the Bible? But Scripture everywhere teaches it. The Bible teaches
that the only true God who is and exists is the Triune God – three persons in
one God. And nowhere is that teaching more clearly set forth than right here in
Matthew 28, where Jesus says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.

A Lutheran missionary to Lapland was trying to teach the doctrine of the
Trinity to a farmer, but the old Laplander was skeptical. “It is impossible,” he
said, “for three separate persons to share the same essence.” So the missionary
took a pot half-filled with water and put a heaping handful of snow in it. Then
he snapped an icicle off the eve of the house and placed that on top of the
snow. “How many things are in the pot?” he asked. “Three,” said the farmer,
“water, snow and ice.” Then the pastor set the pot on the stove, and very
quickly the three melted together into one. “So you see,” said the missionary,
“these three separate things have but one essence. Thus it is with our Triune
God.”

Of course, every picture with which we attempt to depict the Trinity is bound
to fail in some respect. Because, finally, this doctrine simply is beyond the
understanding of our human reason. But we believe and teach it just the same,
because the Bible clearly teaches it. And when we carry out the means of grace,
we do so in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In that
name we preach, in that name we teach, in that name we begin every worship
service, and in that name we baptize and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Our
GREAT COMMISSION is to carry the name of the Triune God to every nation
and people. And did you notice? What proportion of God's Word are we to
teach them? Jesus said, "…teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you.” ALL things that Christ has commanded us in His Word. Not
just the major things, not just the "important" doctrines, while we gloss over
doctrines that are supposedly "less important," not just the parts of the Bible
we like, while throwing out the parts we don't like. We are to teach, preach,
guard and keep sacred ALL teachings revealed to us in Scripture by our Triune
God. For our Lord promises , If you abide in My Word, then you are My
disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. --Jn 8:32.

THIS COMMISSION IS TRULY GREAT. It’s great, finally, because it has a
great promise attached to it. Jesus had set His disciples a very ambitious task,
but he also provided the authority that would enable them to carry it out
effectively. Now He gives them a bonus - a promise that would provide them
(and us!) with a source of comfort and encouragement that will never desert us.
Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Interestingly, the Greek here says, literally, "Lo, I am with you all the days." I
like that translation better. After all, our Lord Jesus is omnipresent - present
everywhere. The Bible says that He has …ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things. --Eph 4:10. Your Savior is ever-present and
all-powerful, and He promises to be with you "all the days" - on every
individual day! And that's important. Because if you're like me, you can look
back on your life and remember some pretty awful days: the day a loved one
died. The day you lost your job. The day you were diagnosed with a deadly
illness. But let me ask you this: wasn't Jesus with you all those days? He was
there on every one, wasn't He? And as you go forward in your life, as you
continue to carry out this TRULY GREAT COMMISSION as the Lord's
ambassador, Jesus will be with you on all the days to come as well. To forgive
your sins, to strengthen you with His Holy Spirit, and to fit you for the
momentous tasks He may yet have for you to do! And one day, at the end of
the age, when hardships and sorrows and setbacks are behind you, He Himself
will welcome you into the eternal home He purchase d for you with His blood.
"In My Father's house are many mansions;" Jesus said, "if it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." --Joh 14:2.

Dr. David Livingstone was a pioneering missionary and explorer who spent
years at a time in the most remote areas of the African interior. He carried out
his commission despite great personal danger and hardship. He fell victim to a
number of serious illnesses, including the malaria that finally took his life. At
one point, recuperating at home from a grave illness, he astonished his friends
by announcing his intention to return to Africa. When they protested, this is
what he said: "Would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the
years of exile among people whose language I could not understand, and whose
attitude towards me was always uncertain and often hostile? It was this:20‘Lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!’ On these words I staked
everything, and they never failed me!" You and I have a commission, too. We
too are missionaries of the Triune God, Father: Son and Holy Ghost. Ours is
TRULY A GREAT COMMISSION, for it has great authority behind it, a great
task ahead of it, and a great promise attached to it. Let's carry out our
commission with faithfulness and joy, bearing in mind that same promise of our
Lord, Lo, I am with you ALL THE DAYS, even to the end of the age. My
Christian friends, those words will never fail us! AMEN.