Matthew 28:16-20
June 19, 2011
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Before I first came to this church in 1975, I never thought that I would ever live anyplace else except Boston. I was brought up believing that when you live in the “hub of the nation,” there isn’t much to see anywhere else. As you know, it is today’s “Title-town” with the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup! But you trusting in God called me out from the East Coast and into San Francisco not just once but two times. Joy and I have relocated across the US three times. I have been on the move for the past 36 years.
Before you called me the second time, I had been working in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania at the American Baptist Mission Center for 20 years. During that rather long tenure, I traveled quite a bit. You can ask Joy how many times I abandoned her with two little kids at home. She won’t let me forget that.
Late last year, something pretty remarkable happened to me on a flight coming home to San Francisco from Valley Forge. I was sitting in my preferred seat, 8D, an aisle seat on United. I knew that this flight was somewhat momentous but when it actually happened, I was nevertheless thrilled and excited. The flight attendant came up to me and asked if I was the frequent flyer passenger who will surpass 1 million miles on this flight. I said I was! You may have seen Up in the Air with George Clooney who traveled so much that he didn’t have much of a life. But he achieved travel elite status! I hope that my business travel has not sacrificed the importance of family in my life. I hope I am not a George Clooney. But I do have this card that says I am a “One Million Mile Flyer!” I am always going someplace.
Last Words
Our Gospel takes place at the very end of the Gospel of Matthew. The risen Christ walks with his disciples, talking with them. And what does Christ say to his disciples?
His last conversation with them is: “Go.” “Go into all the world, make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them everything I have commanded you, and I am with you always until the end of the world.”
This has been called the Great Commission. Jesus is sending his followers out into the world. “Go!” he commands them. And he promises them, as they go, that he is “with you” until the end of time. As we go, in his name, Jesus goes with us.
Most of the time, I think the section of the Great Commission we like the most is that “he will be with us.” It’s a great comfort to you and me and the church that Christ will be with us always, to the end of the ages. But Christ doesn’t only promise us his presence, he commands us to “Go!”
Jesus is always on the move. Soon he will ascend to his Father. In the Gospels, Jesus is a constantly-in-motion traveler. If they had such a thing in biblical times, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus had a One Million Mile Flyer card.
All of the Gospels present Jesus on a continual road trip—God in motion, urgently making a way to us. In Mark’s Gospel, the Greek word, “eu-thyrs” means “immediately” occurs 42 times. No sooner does Jesus do something than “immediately” he hits the road to elsewhere. Some of Jesus’ best words were spoken on the run.
One can almost see the disciples tagging along behind Jesus, breathlessly trying to keep up, minding the gap with him. Jesus is on the move and we can’t follow him without moving too.
On the Move
As Asian people, we have seen many representations of Buddha. Buddha is serenely seated upon a lotus blossom, eyes closed, faint smile on his face, hands resting placidly upon his folded knees. The Buddha is the picture of serenity and peaceful contemplation. Presumably, those who see the divine emanating from the Buddha feel a great sense of serenity and calm that, in the Buddha, is presumed to be at the heart of the universe.
Yet, we do not depict Jesus that way. Jesus is full of action, energy, always on the move, moving into, rather than out of the world, moving closer, ever closer to his fate in Jerusalem. Unlike the Buddha, Jesus seems to court trouble, cause conflict, rather than to bring serenity and placidness.
Remember the story that we read here on Easter? The women came out of the tomb while it was still dark. A messenger in white greeted them. What does the angel say to them? “You are looking for Jesus who was crucified? He is not here. He is risen!”
Then the angel said, “He has gone on to Galilee before you. Go!”
How typical of Christ! Christ is raised. But he does not stay at the cemetery. He is on the move. We don’t have a Jesus still hanging on the cross. It’s an empty cross because Jesus is on the move, on the run, gone on to Galilee before us. And unless we go to Galilee, we won’t meet him.
The risen Christ first commands us to “Go!” and then he promises us that he will stick with us, even if we go to the ends of the earth. The risen Christ is going, and he commands us to go with him. And here’s my point: we can’t be with Jesus if we don’t go with Jesus. Faith discipleship is no settled matter; we have got to move if we are to keep up with a living God.
ABC Family
Next weekend, American Baptists will gather in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Most of the people in our denomination are over 50 years of age. For some reason we stopped bringing younger people to church. We contend ourselves with the people we already had, rather than go where Jesus goes. There was a day when we moved with the population. As the population moved towards the western frontier, we started churches where the people were. Now that we have reached the frontier of the Pacific Ocean over 130 years ago, do we have anyplace else to go?
I wonder if the new frontier of today’s church is a new generation of young adults who have not been reached for Christ and his church? Be well assured that the risen Christ is busy and on the move with this generation of young adults, as busy as he has always been. That’s not the question. The question before us is, in light of this morning’s Gospel, will we be busy on the move with him? Will we go where he goes?
Some of you have already heard the discussions that we are having of relocating the 9:10 Worship Service to the YMCA gym. It would mean changing all of our worship and Sunday school times again. In the end, our hope is that we would have more creative time for inspiring worship. Will you be willing to get busy again and be on the move with Jesus? Will you go where he goes?
Why do you think most churches in the US worship at 11:00 AM on Sundays? Of course, it’s biblical to worship on Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Yet why that particular time? I’m told that eleven o’clock in the morning was the hour between cow milking times in rural England. One could milk the cows in the morning and walk to church; then have time to walk back home after service, have lunch, and milk the cows in the afternoon.
There’s nothing sacred about worshipping at 11:00 or 9:10 or 10:20 or 11:30!
I wonder if another new frontier for our church today is the many new immigrants and workers who live in the shadows of our church building and have not been reached for Christ and his church? Be well assured that the risen Christ is busy and on the move with these new neighbors as busy as he has always been. Look at ourselves—we were once those new immigrants who came from a different shore! The question before us is, in light of this morning’s Gospel, will we be busy on the move with him? Will we go where he goes?
We have received reports that by Summer 2012, the new City College of San Francisco Chinatown Campus will open for students and classes. After countless years of having our church serve as one of the campuses for City College to have immigrants and day and night school students come into our church where we can share the Gospel with them, this will soon come to an end. Will we have the courage and skills to reach out to them with the Good News of Christ? They won’t likely be coming to us anymore. We will have to “Go!” out and be on the move to meet them where they are.
Two Churches
There’s a story of two little churches—First Baptist and Central Baptist. Each congregation is a small church with about fifty members. About a year ago, First Baptist had two visitors. One of the older members of the congregation brought her granddaughter and her little friend. The friend of the granddaughter was of another race than the majority of the members of the congregation. The little visitor must have been impressed. The next Sunday she came back, bringing her parents.
After the service, a couple of members took the older member, the grandmother, aside and told her that she should encourage her granddaughter’s friends to find a church “where they would be more welcomed.”
Central Baptist church, about the same year, was surprised one Sunday when a young couple visited—an unusual occurrence in this rural area. The couple was interracial. They were warmly welcomed. Two weeks later, they joined the little congregation, inviting two of their friends to visit with them.
This past year, Central Baptist increased its Sunday attendance by nearly 50 percent in one year. For the first time in more than a decade, they are attracting young families. They have grown more in the last year than in the past ten.
This past year, First Baptist was closed. Years of inactivity, congregational conflict, and poor evangelism led to the closure. At least that was the official explanation for their demise. I wonder if the reason First Baptist died was its refusal to go where Jesus goes.
San Juan
I am happy that the gospel choir, about 25 people will be traveling to San Juan for the American Baptist Biennial next weekend. While it certainly will be fun being in the tropics of the Caribbean, what I like about the idea of the choir going so far away is that it models for them and for all of us that we need to “Go!” In Puerto Rico, they will serve as our eyes and ears to learn about how other churches are proclaiming the Gospel Good News. They will experience the dynamism and fervor of faithfulness from the Puerto Rican Baptists who are growing in numbers. And when they return from singing and sharing their musical gifts in the name of Jesus with hundreds of people, they will indeed come back to lead our church to be on the move.
Jesus is on a journey and those of us who believe in Jesus are his fellow travelers. Any portrayal of Jesus to be static, fixed, and established would be unfair to the subject.
Because of the constantly moving nature of Jesus, because he commands us to be on the move as well, our Christian ministries and mission are never final, finished and static. God is alive, in motion toward us, in movement beyond us, not only 2000 years ago but now. Jesus is a journey.
All of us would rather focus on how Jesus will always be with us. That gives great comfort to all of us and the church. And I have often described our church as a “destination” church where people from out of town visit us. But God is calling us to not be a final destination but to be a transfer station, a launching pad, a train depot, a ship dock, an airplane runway.
Jesus said, “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” (Matt. 28:18-20).
Jesus is on the move and we can’t follow him without moving too. We can’t be with Jesus if we don’t go with Jesus.
I pray that I have been faithfully going where Jesus has called me to go. I plan to continue following and keeping up with Jesus Christ, as he is already busy with bringing peace, justice, and reconciliation in the world.
Tomorrow, I’ll fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico to add to my one million mile account.
Let us pray.
Dear Jesus, we couldn’t figure out how to come to you so you came to us. We couldn’t keep up with your constant movements in the world; but you kept returning to us. We couldn’t find you, searching for you in all the wrong places; you sought and found us.
Dear Jesus, help us to stay with you and keep up with you. Give us the determination to follow you, no matter where you go to bring peace and reconciliation in the world. Amen.