Monday Reverb – 05June2023

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WELCOME and THANKS

 

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday was Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost … the first Sunday of “Ordinary Time”.

The theme for this week is beginning and ending with the Trinity.

The related passages are Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8:1-9; Matthew 28:16-20 and 2 Corinthians 13:11-14  . 

More about those later ….

Tonight’s study is in two parts …

  • In Part ONE, we seek to hear from our Home Office.
  • In Part TWO, we seek to hear from the Holy Spirit.

 

Part ONE

G.C.I CALLING

Listening to what our Home Office is saying 

SPEAKING OF LIFE

  • Title:  Trinity Sunday
  • Presenter:  Greg Williams, GCI President
  • Featured Passage:  2 Corinthians 1:11-14  

From the transcript …

Today marks the midpoint in our annual Christian worship calendar, all of which points to Jesus.  The first half of the calendar is made of several seasons of celebration starting with Advent and ending on Pentecost.  The second half of the worship calendar falls under one continuous theme called Ordinary Time. Essentially, the first half of the calendar focuses on the significance of the life and ministry of Jesus and the revelation it gives us.  And the second half focuses on living out the implications of what was revealed in the first half.  A deep understanding of who Jesus is – his nature, his salvific acts, his manner of interaction with others … this all informs and empowers us to better participate with him in the world today.

Appropriately, the first Sunday that serves as the transition between the first and second half of the liturgical calendar is given a special name — Trinity Sunday.  As a recap,

we begin the year celebrating the coming of Jesus with Advent and Christmas.

Then we celebrate the Father’s love for the world revealed in Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection during the Easter season.

Finally, we conclude the first half of the year by celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost.

It’s a good lead to Trinity Sunday, where we are reminded that the God we worship is not the Father, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit in isolation from each other.  Rather, the God we worship is the triune God who exists in the perfect communion of all three, Father, Son, and Spirit.  So, on this special day, we do more than celebrate a doctrine.  We celebrate the beauty and mystery of the God we come to know in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

There will be much to unpack in the second half of the Christian calendar.  But for now, we can conclude the first half of the calendar with the same words Paul used to conclude his second letter to the Corinthians.

Finally, brothers, rejoice.  Aim for restoration,  comfort one another,  agree with one another,  live in peace;  and the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.   
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 (ESV)

This, my friends, is a good way to conclude the first half of the Christian calendar – rejoicing and aiming to live out the grace, love, and fellowship of the triune God revealed and given to us in Jesus Christ.

Happy Trinity Sunday . . . and may the next few months of Ordinary Time be extraordinary!

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

 

SERMON REVIEW

 

In the Name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)

Today is Trinity Sunday and for our text we have the classic conclusion to Matthew’s Gospel where we are given the Great Commission by Jesus. So, we may want to ask ourselves today, what does the doctrine of the Trinity have to do with mission? To be sure, it’s not really the doctrine of the Trinity that we are concerned with. It is the very being of God who has revealed himself as Father, Son, Spirit, that is of upmost importance, not only for our understanding of mission, but to everything else in our lives. The text for today may be a great opportunity to explore the significance that comes with worshiping a God who has revealed himself to be triune.

Our entire text makes up the conclusion to Matthew’s Gospel.  Let’s begin with verse 16.

 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. (Matthew 28:16 ESV)

Before we get started, it may be good to note that each writer of the Gospels chose a different way to end their account.

  1. Mark chose to focus on the empty tomb along with the fearful first witnesses.
  2. Luke concludes with the account of Jesus’ ascension, serving as a transition to his part-two book of Acts.
  3. John chooses to focus primarily on Jesus’ appearances to his disciples. And
  4. Matthew chooses to conclude his account with Jesus commissioning his disciples to make disciples. Matthew’s ending does draw on many of the themes and claims he has been using in his book, so it is a fitting end to all that has gone before.

But his ending also signals a new beginning, namely by noting the disciples return to Galilee, the very place that Jesus’ ministry began.

Jesus’ ministry is not coming to an end … Rather, he will set out again from Galilee, by sending his disciples into all nations.

Also note that these disciples were directed by Jesus to meet him on a mountain.  The mountain is not named but a good Jewish reader would not miss the implications of Jesus calling his disciples to meet him up on a mountain.  Mountains were a place of divine revelation (e.g., the Transfiguration in Matthew 17).  We should not miss the importance of first knowing who God is as he has revealed himself to us before we launch out on any kind of mission or ministry in his name.  Jesus is still directing his disciples today, you and me, to meet him on “the mountain.”  We must come to know who he is, and who we are as his followers.  And that is one great benefit of having the Great Commission text for the celebration of Trinity Sunday.  We must never separate the revelation of God as triune from our efforts and engagement of mission.  If we pursue missions apart from knowing who God is as revealed in Jesus Christ, our missional efforts will risk being reduced to some humanitarian project or social change program.  We also run the risk of doing mission on our own power, apart from the God who calls us to himself to be on mission with him. Mission must always move down from the mountain of God’s revelation.

If you were reading the entire book of Matthew, there is one detail included in the conclusion that is a bit unnerving.  Does it not leap off the page for us?  There are only eleven disciples.  Up to this point every part of Matthew’s story includes twelve disciples.  Matthew doesn’t give us any indication that this deficiency will be rectified before the disciples set out on their mission.  Matthew’s conclusion does not resolve the tension.  Imagine concluding the story of Snow White with only six dwarves.  Wouldn’t that need to be resolved before moving on?  Not only that but having only eleven disciples painfully reminds us of the troubling and heartbreaking story of betrayal and desertion that must still be fresh in the minds of the remaining eleven.  But now they are being called to go on mission.  Perhaps we can make a couple observations regarding mission given the unavoidable and awkward number eleven stubbornly sitting in the passage.

  1. First, Jesus does not send us on mission when everything is perfect.  We don’t have to have a certain number of people before we can respond to his call.  Life is never that tidy.  Let’s face it, we all have deficiencies in our lives that we may believe disqualify us from ministry and mission.  Surely, we need to get our act together, tie up some loose ends, and fill in some gaps before we can be considered qualified or legitimate as God’s representatives to the nations.  But Matthew chose to begin his conclusion with the uncomfortable detail of the disciples’ diminished roster.  Perhaps he wants us to see what he has learned.  Jesus does not call us to himself once we are qualified.  Remember, Jesus called Matthew while he was a tax collector.  If any disciple felt illegitimate, it would have been Matthew.  Jesus can handle all our deficiencies.  After all, as we will see, it is Jesus’ mission, and he goes with us.  He is not sending us out on our own or on our own merits and power.  We may need to see the number eleven, as uncomfortable as it may be, to remind us that Jesus’ mission does not rest on our shoulders.  We are always a person short.
  2. Second, Jesus takes our baggage.  The eleven disciples have barely processed their hurt and dismay that came from Judas’ betrayal.  Yet, Jesus is calling them to go on mission together.  They may not have a problem going on mission with Jesus, but their experience may make them a bit timid to trust their fellow brothers again.  Can we relate?  How often are we hesitant to engage in mission or ministry after we have been betrayed or hurt?  That’s to be expected.  But Jesus is our reconciliation, and he is the mediator of all our relationships, even the ones we cannot revisit or set right in this life.  These eleven disciples will have to trust Jesus with their baggage involving their brother Judas.  We will need to hand over our baggage as well.

Matthew has another deficiency he draws our attention to in the next verse:

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. (Matthew 28:17 ESV)

It seems Matthew recalls that doubts do not disqualify us from being on mission.  One man is missing, and some are doubting.  But Jesus still calls them up the mountain and commissions them as his representatives.  We should focus on the one thing they all have in common – they all saw Jesus and they responded in worship.  This seems to be the fuel of mission.  Seeing Jesus.  From there, worship and witness go together.  And this worship and witness is initiated by Jesus himself.  The disciples did not work up their worship by some self-generated effort.  They were simply responding to seeing Jesus.  It is in seeing Jesus and the revelation he gives us of the Father, that worship is called out of us.  Like seeing a beautiful mountain overlook that draws out our praises, Jesus is the catalyst for worship and witness.  When we see how beautiful he is, we will not be able to contain our worship of him, and we will want to share what we have seen with others.  So, Jesus has set the stage for commissioning the disciples by revealing himself to them on the mountain.  However, this does not mean all doubt is removed this side of heaven.  But Jesus is coming to us from the other side of heaven.  He has passed from death to resurrection life, and he has no doubt of who his Father is.  Our doubts do not cancel his faith in the Father.  It’s his mission, and it is his faithfulness that will see us through.

And Matthew will make that abundantly clear in the next verse.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18 ESV)

Notice that Jesus takes the initiative and comes to his disciples.  He does not stand far off and tell them to come to him.  We should take note of how he deals with us when we go on mission to others.  Not only does Jesus come to the disciples, but he comes with something to say.  And what he says is exactly what the disciples need to hear in light of their noted deficiencies and doubt.  Jesus makes it clear who will be in charge of the mission they are to go on. He has been given all authority.  And Jesus was sure to say this first before he gave them the commission.  He knows that we will need to be reminded of whose mission it is and by whose authority it will be carried out before we receive our marching orders.

Also note that his authority is an authority given.  Just as he receives his authority from the Father, we receive our commission from the Son.  God is a God of grace.  He is a giver.  And we can trust that his gifts are good, for us and for others. Jesus’ authority is not like the tyrants in Matthew’s age or like the ones in ours.  Jesus uses the authority given him for our good, and not to dominate and coerce us into obedience.  The more we walk with the Lord, the more we come to celebrate and rejoice in the fact that it is Jesus who has all authority.  Thank you, God!  The world, and our own hearts, has proven time and time again that too much authority and power in our hands often ends with disastrous results.

Now Matthew records the mission Jesus gives his disciples, the eleven on the mountain, and all those that will follow, like you and 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

This passage begins with “Go therefore.”  The word “therefore” is a reference to what Jesus just said about being given all authority on heaven and earth.  It is on the basis of Jesus having all authority that we can go on mission.  Our deficiencies and doubts do not disqualify us or determine the outcome. Because of that truth, we can boldly proclaim the gospel to the nations, even when that proclamation gets resisted.  We are assured that Jesus gets the final say.

And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus sandwiches the commission between the truth of his authority and the promise that he will be with the disciples to the end.  We must not see mission as something we do apart from Jesus.  That will be claiming an illegitimate authority and attempting to achieve something for ourselves, apart from the will of the Father.

Before we close, we must make mention of the obvious reason this text has been chosen for Trinity Sunday.  The commission to make disciples of all nations has everything to do with being “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  This phrase implies belonging.  And this is a new belonging, not to the father of this world but to Jesus’ Father.  And this belonging is in the Spirit, not the spirit of this age, but of the Holy Spirit.  To become a disciple of Jesus is to belong to his Father in the Spirit.

Jesus is giving us a real part in sharing this extraordinarily good news of who God is and what he has done in Jesus Christ.  He didn’t have to commission us, but that would undermine what it means to be a disciple.  Disciples are those who are in union with Christ.  Disciples are those who share in all the Father, Son, Spirit share in their life together.  To be in union with Christ, sharing in his life with the Father in the Spirit, means we are not left out of the triune God’s mission in the world.    The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God is a sharing God.  And the Great Commission is the Lord giving us a share in the triune life of sharing.  And that is some good news to share.

 

SONG OF RESPONSE

  • BREATHE ON ME … Hillsong …

 

Part TWO

GOING DEEPER

Seeking to hear from the Holy Spirit

 

 

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness [a]was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  

3 Then God said (spoke word), “Let there be light”; and there was light.  

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. [b] So the evening and the morning were the first day.   

6 Then God said, “Let there be a [c]firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven.  So the evening and the morning were the second day.   

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.   

11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.   

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great [d]lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.  

20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living [e]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the [f]firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.   

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.   

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [g]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that [h]moves on the earth.”  

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is [i]life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.    

2  Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 

2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.   

4 This is the [j]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created ….   

Footnotes
  1. Psalm 8:1 Heb. Al Gittith
  2. Psalm 8:2 established
  3. Psalm 8:4 give attention to or care for
  4. Psalm 8:5 Heb. Elohim, God; LXX, Syr., Tg., Jewish tradition angels

 

THIRD READING

  • The Gospel reading from Matthew is also the conclusion of the book where Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  

Matthew 28:16-20 (NKJV)

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee (Matt.28:7; Mark 16:7; Luke 24:6), to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go [a] 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, 20 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.”  [b] Amen.     

Footnotes
  1. Matthew 28:19 M omits therefore
  2. Matthew 28:20 NU omits Amen.

 

FOURTH READING  

  • The epistolary text from 2 Corinthians is Paul’s farewell pronouncement in the Triune name of God.  

11 Finally, brethren, farewell.  Become complete.  Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.  12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.  13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the [d] communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.      

 

CLOSING SONG

 

  • HERE I AM, LORD … John Michael Talbot …

 

CLOSING PRAYER

 

 

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