Sermon on Matthew 28:16-20

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

In the Gospel of Matthew, this is the first time the disciples are all together after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

They reunite with Jesus on a mountaintop—a traditional place to encounter God, whether Moses receiving the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai or Elijah on a mountain hearing God in a still, small voice, instead of in wind, or earthquake, or fire.

And so, they worship Jesus there on the mountain.

Still, some doubted—or it can also be read without the “some”: “When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.”[1] Worship and doubt can happen at the same time.

It’s understandable that they would have their doubts. Jesus was dead, and now he’s standing there in front of them. That would be unsettling, at best. What are they supposed to do with this shocking new piece of information?

Jesus tells them to, “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.”

I have some doubts of my own about how these verses have been interpreted over the years, and I hope you do, too.

The Great Commission, as this verse has come to be known, led the tiny movement of Jesus followers to be brave and share their stories of Jesus with those around them, despite active persecution from the Roman Empire.

But then Christianity was adopted by Constantine and became a religion not persecuted by an empire but enforced by one.

Jesus’ exhortation to make disciples of all nations hasbeen used since then to justify Christian supremacy, manifest destiny, colonialism, violence, and even genocide.

If we understand these verses as a divine mandate for us to “convert” and baptize everyone in the world, then other religions, cultures, and understandings are a roadblock to this mission from above.

“Convert or else” has often been the church’s strategy, especially when Christianity has become intertwined with government.

Funny thing: coercing one’s neighbors is not the same thing as loving them.

So, how can we look at the Great Commission differently?

If we look just at verse 19, it sounds like a to-do list: “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.”

But if we look at what comes before and after, we see that it’s more of a mission statement, way to orient the disciples when their relationship with Jesus has changed: Jesus has risen from the dead, and he won’t be with his disciples physically in the way he had been. His students needed to move forward without his constant guidance.

So, first he reassures his doubting disciples that he is trustworthy.When Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” it could sound arrogant or even threatening, but if we remember that he is their teacher, it sounds more like, “Remember, you can trust me. You’re ready to do what I’m about to tell you to do. I wouldn’t ask you to do anything you weren’t prepared for.”

And after he gives them instructions, he reminds them that he is still with them and always will be: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” He reminds them that not only are they ready for this, they are not alone.

And that’s how the Gospel of Matthew ends.

It ends with Jesus reminding the disciples that he is trustworthy, that they are ready to continue Jesus’ work in the world, and that they are not alone.

And when we look at the Great Commission in verse 19 itself, remember that Jesus was talking to fearful, doubting disciples whose world had just been turned upside down.

This is the mission statement he gives them: “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.”

Basically, he’s instructing them to invite more people into the way of life he’s been teaching his disciples for the past three years. Discipleship, baptism, and teaching the way of life of Jesus is all about relationship. It’s about being in relationship with God, with each other, and with the world around them in a way that is loving and abundant.

That’s a far cry from “convert or else.”

When it comes down to it, our God is not about a to-do list. God is about relationship.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, when we meditate on the mystery of the Trinity: that God is one and God is three. It’s something that people have spent their whole lives writing volumes about, and it’s something that we humans will never fully understand.

When it comes to spiritual mysteries, I think we often get closer to the truth when we get out of the academic or intellectual realm and into the artistic realm.

We could spend the rest of the day trying to unpack the intricacies of the Trinity, but I think our time is better spent exploring a piece of art.

There’s an icon from 15th-century Russia by Andrei Rublev—you may already be familiar with it. It’s an icon both of the Trinity and of the three angels that Abraham and Sarah showed hospitality to in the book of Genesis, which we read about in our first reading.

The three angels/Persons of the Trinity are seated around a table, and you can imagine a lively conversation between them, the way their heads are tilted toward each other. Your eyes bounce around the table, not resting on any one figure for too long. Something akin to King Arthur’s legendary round table, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of hierarchy between the three—their heads are fairly level.

I was introduced to this icon in the book The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr. He talks about the Trinity as being a divine dance and uses this icon to illustrate that relationship. It’s an ever-moving, creative relationship within our amazing Triune God.

The really cool thing about this icon is that, though you can’t see it, there is a little bit of glue at the bottom of the table. Apparently there used to be a little mirror attached there, which means that whoever was looking at the icon was written into it. When we look at this icon, we become part of this relationship, this divine dance.

Our mysterious One and Three God is about relationship: relationship within Godself and relationship with us and relationship with the whole world.

And that’s what the Great Commission is about, too. It’s not about splashing water on every person on this planet so that we can say they’ve been baptized.

It’s about building relationships with the people around us so that we love each other better and imitate the divine dance of God.

Our Triune God, who is trustworthy and who is with us always, set the dance in motion. Let’s have so much fun dancing that others want to join in.

Go, therefore, and dance.

[1] NRSVUE

First Lutheran Church

May 28, 2023 + The Day of Pentecost A

“Loneliness”

Pastor Greg Ronning

I’d like to begin this morning with a song.

“Lonely Eyes”

By Greg Ronning

Lonely eyes,

Even when you smile you've got those lonely eyes

Oh, deep inside no one understands

And sometimes late at night you cry

When all the world's a lullabye

All you hear is a lonely cry

Lonely eyes,

Frightened by the life of love that's passed you by

Life is a day dream world

Of paper clowns and painted smiles

And sometimes late at night you cry

Awakened from another lie

Another dream that can never fly

Lonely eyes,

Looking for a dream come true that will let you fly

Fly far away beyond the scars of the soul

And then at night you won't have to cry

You can spread your wings and touch the sky

And awake to find, It wasn't a lie

Lonely eyes,

It's time to wake up and finally realize

The wings are right by your side

They've been there all the time

Surrendered for you with a lonely cry

Alone in the night someone died

At the crossroads of your lonely life

And now at night you don't have to cry,

You can spread your wings and touch the sky,

And awake to find it wasn't a lie.

Loneliness is all around us, loneliness isn’t very far away, - loneliness is most likely even deep within each one of us.  There have been times when we wonder, “If I disappear would anyone notice?”  There are times when we lament, “Why must I carry all of life’s burdens by myself?”  There are times when we feel hopelessly isolated, invisible, and insignificant.  There are times when we cry out and no one seems to hear us.  There are times when we get desperately lost in the silence of our loneliness.

The Surgeon General of the United States begins his 2023 report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation;”“In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation.”

Harvard University’s study report, “Loneliness in America,”reports that Thirty Six percent of American Adults report “serious loneliness” “frequently” or almost “all of the time.”  And sixty three percent of young adults suffer high rates of both loneliness, and anxiety and depression.  They also noted that young adults rarely report having conversations with someone who they felt like - “genuinely cared.”

The Surgeon General continues, unpacking the serious repercussions of this epidemic, “Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death.”… “And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.”

I imagine we all know, and have seen, the effects of such severe loneliness.  We have experienced it, and we continue to experience it, in our own beings.  And we all lament the various ways our society seems to be unraveling before us without any meaningful ways to establish deep and profound connections with each other.  Stuck in the downward spirals of our loneliness we have stopped trusting in each other, we have ceased to be able to empathize with each other, we are quick to demonize each other with harshcaustic vitriol;- all to the point that our fear and our bitterness, the unwanted deadly fruit of our loneliness,has led us into our own individual and collective self-destruction.

The Surgeon General’s report warns us, if we fail to build more connected lives and a more connected society, “We will pay an ever-increasing price in the form of our individual and collective health and well-being. And we will continue to splinter and divide until we can no longer stand as a community or a country. Instead of coming together to take on the great challenges before us, we will further retreat to our corners—angry, sick, and alone.”

The Harvard project concludes, “We need to return to an idea that was central to our founding and is at the heart of many great religious traditions: We have commitments to ourselves, but we also have vital commitments to each other, including to those who are vulnerable.”

Or as Jesus put it when asked what the greatest commandment was, “The most important one” … “is this: …  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31)

Last Sunday we began worship commemorating - “The Ascension of Christ.” “Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” (Acts 1) After hearing these words from the Book Acts, as has become our custom over the past five or six years, we extinguished the flame of the Paschal Candle, symbolizing the departure of the Risen Christ from earth.  And we quietly sat there in that moment, our eyes following the whisps of smoke as they rose-up into the air.  And we remembered, and perhaps experienced, the loneliness of the disciples as they were suddenly left alone without Jesus on that day. 

They were alone for the next ten days, waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit, a promise that would once again connect and unite them in a new and powerful way.  Today marks the end of those ten days, the day of Pentecost.  And on that day, “When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.” And they became the church, united in grace and love and a new hope, they were “re-membered” into the “Body of Christ,” once again fully present in the world, here in this place, the places we call home.

So it is that we too, after ten days, ten long and lonely days, await the coming of the Holy Spirit.  What will that look like this morning?  I suppose we might all be tempted to look back at the Paschal Candle, look back up into the heavens, expecting it to once again- burst into flame.

But that’s not how it works, that’s not going to happen.  If we look back and up for the Holy Spirit, we will be looking in the wrong place.  I actually have the best venue to see the coming of the Holy Spirit today.  You may not have noticed it, but the flames have already appeared, - they are alive and dancing right above each of your heads!

Today we are reminded that we are the church,that we are the “re-membered” Body of Christ, that “we” are God’s presence - fleshed out for each other and for the world around us!  And so it is, - we are not alone.  I am not alone! You are not alone!  And so, when “loneliness” creeps into our life, and it will try, “re-member” to lean into each other, to lean into “God’s loving embrace,” into the “caring hands” of Jesus.“We though many, are one in the Lord.”

And just as was the case on that first Day of Pentecost, let us now be led from this place out into the world around us, called and empower to make a difference in a lonely world!  Those first followers of Jesus changed the world! 

Let us do the same, let us take the time to ask our neighbors, “How are you doing?”  And then, take the time to really listen, to make eye contact, so that they might feel “genuinely” heard and received.  “Call a friend. Answer a phone call from an estranged friend. Make time to share a meal. Perform an act of service. Express yourself authentically.”Let us walk away from our personal devices, our streaming services, our addictions to social platforms, and choose to engage with each other, with those in need, - face to face.  “The keys to human connection are simple, but extraordinarily powerful.”

And let us boldly act on the command of Jesus,“to forgive as we have been forgiven,” to show the lonely and fearful world around us a new and better way to live.  Let us go out and help to open the doors in our society to meaningful connections, to the empathy of grace, to the hope of trust, to the sacrificial love of “the other,” to the “peace that surpasses all understanding,”to a faith that overcomes fear, - to the incredible power of living together in community.  Let the flames of the Spirit, the flames “arresting” above you right now; let them carry you out dancing into the world with the good news of the Gospel, the love of God in Christ Jesus, the love we share in our life together!

Loneliness is real, and it is among us as an epidemic.  Hear the Good News today. You are not alone, together in - with - and through Jesus - we are not alone.  Trust this truth and lean into it, lean into each other’s arms - for they are indeed the arms of God!  And be empowered by this life we share, bear witness to it in the world around us, let us rise-up to the challenges we face, “by taking a small step every day to strengthen relationships, and by supporting community efforts to rebuild social connections.”  (Surgeon General’s Report)

Don’t look up for God. Instead, Look all around you - and find Christ.  “See” and experience the Holy Spirit. Together in the love of God, in - with - and through Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit - we are not alone.  Amen.

Sermon on John 17:1-11

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Today is the Sunday when we remember Jesus’ ascension, and our focus seems to be oriented upward:

Our first reading from Acts tells the story of the ascension: Jesus is carried up into the clouds to the shock and dismay of his disciples.

And then our Gospel reading from John takes us back to the night before Jesus died. He looks up to heaven and prays for his disciples.

Both readings seem to be pointing up.

It gives us the classic impression that God is sitting up on a cloud somewhere in the sky looking down on us, maybe with a big white beard and an impressive throne.

That can make God seem distant, disconnected, and unconcerned.

The story of the ascension can make it seem like Jesus is abandoning the disciples, leaving them to fend for themselves in a world devoid of God’s presence, where a detached God looks down from above.

It must have felt so scary to have Jesus rise from the dead only to leave them again less than two months later.

The heavenly messengers who remained behind simply asked, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” As if they should know what to do next. As if their world hadn’t just crumbled…again.

What were they supposed to do now?

As usual, Jesus’ words were cryptic at best. They had tried to ask if Jesus was going to fulfill their understanding of the messiah: a warrior king like David who would kick out the occupying Roman Empire.But Jesus deflects the question and starts talking about a Holy Spirit and being Jesus’ witnesses and the ends of the earth. And then, before they have a chance to ask any clarifying questions, he floats away into the sky. What gives, Jesus?

Their rabbi and friend had left them again. They were on their own. What were they supposed to do on this planet that Jesus didn’t seem to want anything to do with anymore?

His disciples are left to pick up the pieces and figure out how to spend their remaining time on earth.

If our focus is upward, as our stories today seem to suggest, how are we supposed to approach our lives here on earth?

It’s been 2,000 years, and Jesus has not yet “come in the way [they] saw him go into heaven,” as the heavenly messengers put it.

It’s tempting to keep our gaze upward—to focus on Jesus’ promised return and the hope of eternal life with God when we die.

But, have you ever tried to walk whilelooking up? Have you hiked and been so captivated by the treesstretching their branches to the clouds that you didn’t look where your feet were going?

It’s a good way to twist your ankle or end up flat on your face. (Not that I would know about that.)

When we focus too much on heaven, we lose our footing in the world we’re in.

On the other hand, I’ve also been guilty of looking at my feet too much. Last year at our women’s retreat at Luther Glen Farm, a few of us walked the labyrinth after dark. We were focused on our feet and the little pools of light our flashlights made. We didn’t see too much else until we reached the center of the labyrinth, turned our flashlights off, and looked up. We couldn’t see the magnificence of the stars until we stopped looking at our feet.

When we focus too much on being cautious in the here and now, sometimes we miss the glories God surrounds us with.

And sometimes, whether I’m looking up or down or straight ahead, when I approach the world with a critical eye, all I notice are the flaws, the annoyances, the irritating way the person at the table next to me is chewing, or the unbelievable thing that other person posted on the internet.

And then, I miss the sweetness of someone’s smile, the sound of a toddler’s laughter, the pretty leaf on the sidewalk.

It’s easy to get fixated on things like the future, our comfort and caution, or whatever we find wrong with the world and miss out on what’s going on right now, getting out of our comfort zones, or appreciating the world around us.

It’s interesting to notice that when Jesus prayed for his disciples the night before his death, he prayed for their eternal life, which he defines as knowing God and himself, he prayed for their protection, and he prayed for their unity.

Jesus doesn’t define eternal life as something that starts after we die, but instead says, “this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” That knowing is now—that relationship with God is now. It’s not keeping our gaze at the heavens but being in relationship with the God who created the universe and called it “good.” When we’re in relationship with someone, what’s important to them becomes important to us, if only on their behalf.

And the world is important to God—from calling creation “good” to becoming human in Jesus to repair the relationship between the world and God to sending the disciples out to the ends of the earth in our story from Acts today, our God is not disconnected or unconcerned with our world.

Our reward for following Jesus is not eternal life after we die, but relationship with God in this world now.

Jesus sends his disciples to tell his story to the whole world. And the heavenly messengers asked the bewildered disciples, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The disciples weren’t supposed to stand around waiting for Jesus to come back; they had work to do—a world to engage with!

So, despite the seeming upward focus of our stories today, we shouldn’t fix our gaze on the hereafter.

We also have work to do: nurturing this world our God made for us, caring for some animals or plants, sharing the ways we see God working in the world, loving our neighbors (human and otherwise), and making earth a little more as it is in heaven.

But that’s not to say we should never look up. One of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind.” If we remember that God’s love will win in the end, the hardships and heaviness of this world become a little more manageable.Picturing the abundance of the Reign of God gives us hope and helps us move in the right direction in the here and now.

And that helps us approach the world with compassion instead of criticism. It helps us love our neighbors, whether we like them or not.

When Jesus prayed for his disciples the night before he died, these are the things he asked for:eternal life, protection, and unity.

Again, he defines eternal life as a relationship with God and himself, which isn’t about waiting until we die. We can gaze at the world around us, which God loves.

And with God’s protection, we can boldly move our eyes off the pool of light by our feet and look up at the stars. We can begin our work in this world with the end in mind: that evil and death do not have the last word and that God’s love will never fail.

And by God’s grace, we can approach the world with love that flows from God. We Christians throughout the centuries have bickered with each other and divided, instead of being united as Jesus prayed for. But being dedicated to the love of this world while remembering that God’s love wins can help us love even our most difficult neighbor.

So, with our eyes fixed neither on the heavens above nor locked on our feet, but with love for God, the world, and our neighbor in our hearts, let us follow in Jesus’ example and pray. God be with you; [And also with you]

Gracious God,

You are not distant from us on a cloud far away but present everywhere in this world that you created and love. Help us love this world as you do. Help us work for its welfare and the welfare of each and every one of our neighbors, human and otherwise. Please give us the eternal life that is knowing you right now. Protect us so that we may live boldly on behalf of our neighbors. Help us approach the world with unity, compassion, and love.

In your name we pray, Amen.