Keeping the Promise June 7th, 2020 Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20 The passage we read from the gospel of Matthew today is known as the “Great Commission.” For those who of us who know that, the title most likely frames our hearing of the passage. The Great Commission: so grand and empowering. The words resonate in our memories: 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! Behold I am with you, even to the end of the age. The disciples are being commission to make disciples of all the nations, all the world. Surely Matthew is anticipating the worldwide Church: a great sweep of conversions around the globe, Christ reigning over all. The traditional title of this passage tempts us to declare “mission accomplished!” This has been done. Christianity has reached every nation. And indeed the Church was a global force to be reckoned with for centuries. For some readers this passage may even evoke nostalgia for the era of Christendom. But, what about us? We, disciples of Christ, of little Wollaston Congregational Church. We who worship on Zoom. We who are unable to gather together in person, because of our concern for our most vulnerable members. Does this scripture have anything to say about us and our mission in these massively disruptive times? In these times of the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests breaking out all over the world. If we look closely at the scene without preconceived ideas, things may look a different – the Great Commission title less appropriate. The passage begins with the eleven disciples going out to Galilee to the mountain to meet Jesus. There are not very many and they do not seem to be empowered. Jesus was recently crucified in Jerusalem, he has reappeared to them and only them. “The powers that be” in Jerusalem consider that he has been put to death, the Jesus movement is over and done with. And the disciples themselves have retreated, perhaps in fear. They are back in little Galilee, far north of the city. Notice there are only eleven disciples. The one who outwardly betrayed and deceived Jesus has already gone. Jesus appears to them on this mount. When they see him, some of them worship him, but others doubt. Even in this small group of most loyal followers, some are not buying it. Some are not fully committed to this resurrection story. Jesus does not seem fazed by this though. He announces “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me …” and then he instructs them to go to all people, making disciples, teaching them to obey his commands, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Then he promises them “behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” The bedraggled group of eleven disciples have trudged back from Jerusalem to Galilee. They have arrived back where the story began, where they – fishermen – were called to follow. There is no Christendom, no worldwide church, no church at all. Just them. And this appearance of Jesus to commission and to reassure. Go, baptize, teach. The work may seem enormous, but he promises he is with them. Even though they may tremble and quake at the thought of it, his presence will give them the strength. Perhaps now the passage seems a little more applicable to our situation. We are reduced in number, trembling and quaking at the responsibilities we are given. We are hindered by the restrictions and fears of our time. But … the command to baptize. We can do that. In fact we really like to baptize. One of my greatest joys is to baptize someone into the membership of Christ’s family. And I know, from the way those services feel, that our congregation loves baptisms too. I hold the fuzzy little head of an infant gently in my hand, lifting the water from the font. Or I stand with my hand on an adult’s shoulder leading them to the waters of baptism. It is always beautiful. One great sadness of this time is that hands-on baptism is not possible. One very important feature of baptism services is that we are reminded of our own baptismal promises. As we promise to support the candidates for baptism, we also renew the promises we made or were made for us. When someone is going to be baptized in our church, I have them, or their parents, come and meet with me. Mostly candidates for baptism are excited about the sacrament. Parents may be preparing for a celebration, lining up God-parents, and a cute little outfit or gown for the child. We discuss the logistics of the event. Will the baby be OK with water splashed on their forehead? Will the adult be wearing glasses or makeup? It is my responsibility to remind them that while the sacrament is joyful, it also comes with some weighty promises. We generally read over them together. These are the UCC baptismal promises, those of other denominations such as the United Methodist Church are quite similar … “Do you renounce the powers of evil and desire the freedom of new life in Christ?” The answer is “I do” “Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?” Again, the answer is “I do” “Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best as you are able?” The answer to this one is “I promise with the help of God” These promises are entirely consistent with Jesus’ instructions in the commission we heard this morning. The new disciples are to be baptized and to be taught to obey everything he commanded them. In Matthew’s gospel this refers to the Sermon on the Mount- healing the sick, caring for the poor, loving enemies, lifting up the needs of those who have been forgotten. I haven’t done many baptisms, I must admit, but I am surprised that no one has ever questioned the promises. And to be honest, I’ve never dared to ask: are you not fazed by the promise to follow the way of Jesus by resisting oppression and evil, showing love and justice and witnessing to the work and word of Jesus Christ? Are you not concerned that this is going to be really difficult, even dangerous? I sometimes think that if I draw attention to this particular promise, the candidate or parent might decide not to go ahead with baptism after all. The given answer to this question is not a simple “I do.” It is the exception – the answer is “I promise with the help of God.” Who among us would be able to make this intimidating promise except with the help of God? We surely need the help of God and the promised presence of Jesus to keep this promise. When it comes to resisting oppression I’m late to the party, I know. I just learning about what it means to be an ally, that it is not always about taking a lead. Often it’s about standing at the back in witness, showing support and solidarity. One thing I witnessed this past week was the Black Live Matter vigil in Quincy. The organizer, Sue Doherty, is a founding member of Quincy Neighbors Mutual Aid Facebook group. The intention was to denounce police brutality and call for justice in the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Sue anticipated a relatively small gathering and called for participants to remain quiet and peaceful, lighting candles and sharing words of solidarity. Members of the Quincy Interfaith Network, of which I am a member, were invited to attend. Clergy from a number of faiths and denominations were glad to be there. Sue might have felt a little overwhelmed as protesters and demonstrators flooded into Quincy. There were estimated to be 5,000: many, many young people, adults and children. Almost everyone wore a mask. The speakers were powerful, and well distanced. The crowd was peaceful, although the chants were passionate. The righteous anger over the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and many others, was palpable. We said their names out loud and took a knee together. We prayed. The police presence was appropriate. They wore regular uniforms with reflective vests and rode bicycles alongside the marchers. I stood back and watched the young people take the lead. Sadly, I left before the climax, but I saw it later on video. The demonstrators approached a roadblock of police, slowly and deliberately, and knelt. The chant changed to “Cops, take a knee … cops take a knee …” it went on for a while. Then as the kneeling protesters stood, one by one the cops knelt. The crowd cheered, shouted out “thank you” to the cops, exchanged fist bumps. I can still feel the chills. This was resisting oppression and evil, showing love and justice, as best I’ve seen it for a long time. Resisting oppression can be hard. Sometimes it’s scary. Often it’s not comfortable. And sometimes it’s not difficult at all. It can be simply a matter of doing one small thing and then another small thing, until you have done many small things, such as -connecting with someone new … a former stranger, someone who does not look like you -reading a challenging book by an author you wouldn’t usually read … -having a conversation that you didn’t want to have, and listening with openness and curiosity -examining yourself for your own privilege and racism, -being willing to sit with discomfort for a while. And so … what of us, Wollaston Congregational Church in this time of COVID-19? Are we still like the little ragtag group of eleven, standing at the foot of the mountain, Jesus standing in front of us, commissioning us? Some of us may doubt, others may fall down and worship. Our task remains the same: to be disciples, make disciples to teaching them all he has taught us. To baptize and to be true to our baptismal promises. These are difficult promises, and may seem impossible in these incredibly disruptive times. And yet we still have Jesus, true to his promise to us, that he is with us even to the end of the age. May all God’s people say… Amen
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