Sermon: Holy Trinity, Year A
Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
This passage is often referred to as the great commission. It is the key Bible passage the church cites in relation to our work in the world, and what we are meant to be getting on with as God’s people.
Notice it’s not the great mission, but the great commission. There is an important difference.
Although we use the word “mission” a lot in the church, especially in association with this passage, this task that Jesus has given to the church is actually, strictly speaking, a commission rather than a mission because it is not something we have taken on ourselves or something we do by our own authority or our own power. It is not, strictly speaking, “our mission” at all, but God’s.
Here in this passage, Jesus commits to us this special work he has for us to do – he gives it to us as our task, but still owns it and takes responsibility for it himself. He is still present and involved and still the owner of it. If you read closely, you will see how he emphasises this here in this passage, book-ending the tasks he gives us with two statements about what he himself does.
- All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me
- Go therefore and baptise and teach …
- … and remember I am with you always until the end of the age.
Our task as the church, given to us by Jesus, is not one which we undertake ourselves. In fact, we could never do this ourselves. Jesus starts here by pointing out that actually it is he who has authority over everything already – we don’t have to provide the power or the motivation or the impetus. We don’t have to make things happen. Jesus is the one with the authority and power.
This stands in sharp contrast to the thinking we fall into here in the church that all this huge workload of making disciples now falls entirely to us, and that we carry this enormous heavy burden and load.
People feel burned out and weighed down by it, trying to attract people and then feeling disappointed and guilty if there is no response. When I was a vicar in New Zealand, I saw pastors and laypeople in these tiny little mission congregations that they were trying to grow, burning themselves out with worry and anxiety about this. Maybe sometimes we have felt the same … we must grow … we must get new people in …
This is not how it is meant to be. Christ is the one who, through his Spirit working in us, changes and calls people to faith. Not us, not our power or authority, but Christ’s.
We don’t have to feel that it is our responsibility to make things happen all the time, running around in circles – planning events and activities. Fulfilling Christ’s great commission is less an exercise in hard work than it is an exercise in trust. Rely on Jesus’ power and the authority of his name – this is the powerhouse of all that we do. The word “therefore” in verse 19 shows that Jesus’ authority is the basis of what we are called to do.
And what we are called to do is clear in this passage – baptise and teach.
In our context, this means following up after the baptisms we conduct – supporting parents in their role using strategies like milestones, which we have already put in place to some extent but which still requires more work; teaching the kids we have here at church; and, above all, teaching our own children in the home. Our call is to do this to the best of our ability then allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest – and receive and accept the growth that comes as a result.
At the end of this great commission that Jesus gives to the church, the other bookend is the restatement that Jesus has not nicked off and left us “holding the baptised”. He is with us always – involved and present, not leaving us to handle this great job by ourselves. He is with us always – to support, to empower, giving his weight and authority, giving his Holy Spirit to all that we do. We too often forget to ask for and seek his help and we forget to call on his power in our work.
And so may you hear these well worn words from Matthew 28 today not as hard work, but as good news – the power of Jesus is the power that grows and supports our congregation. And he promises that if we rely on this, that great mission will be fulfilled. And so it will.