The Call & the Promise

Inextricably linked.

Happy 14th Sunday after Pentecost to you. Today, we wrap up Matthew’s long gospel. It’s been such a great journey. We’ll begin our final gospel in this cycle tomorrow (Luke). Invite a friend.

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I heard a solid sermon on this passage last Sunday. Here are my notes:

As we read yesterday, Jesus told the disciples to go to Galilee multiple times. Why? Jesus died and rose again in Jerusalem. Galilee was actually kind of far. It’s easy enough for Jesus to disapparate from one place to the other, I suppose. But the disciples would have had to trek there.

He told them to go to a mountain. We’ve covered before the significance of mountains in scripture and in the gospels in particular. We remember Jesus often climbed a mountain in prayer and solitude. We also remember the mount of transfiguration and the ascension. But in Matthew, Jesus delivered his most central teachings from a mountain (chapters 5-7), the heart of his discipleship.

So why did he call his disciples to trek to this mountain in Galilee? Perhaps it’s simply a reminder of the discipleship to which they are called. Regardless, they listened to what he said. They went to the mountain. The followed him by following his instruction.

After being reminded of the root of decisive faith (discipleship), they saw Jesus and worshipped him. Some doubted. (And no one told them they had to leave.) In their doubt, Matthew says that Jesus came near to them.

And then he spoke to them. You can read the whole of what he said in the actual passage below, but the progression seems to be like this:

Obedience→
Discipleship→
Worship→
Proximity to Jesus→
Jesus speaking→
“Go”→
“Make”→
“Baptize”→
“Teach [to obey]”→

So it ends where it begins, obedience to the call. It ended where it began (Follow me).

And then his final words in Matthew - I’ll always be with you.

The promise and the call are inextricably linked.

Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go 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 obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”

Psalm 121

I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
God won’t let your foot slip. Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job.
No! Israel’s protector never sleeps or rests!
The Lord is your protector; the Lord is your shade right beside you.
The sun won’t strike you during the day; neither will the moon at night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil; God will protect your very life.
The Lord will protect you on your journeys—whether going or coming—from now until forever from now.

Prayer

God,

Sometimes we just pray because we’re supposed to. I actually think those prayers matter. Something about practice and habit and all. Dagnabbit, I even often just “do it” to get it done in these daily written prayers I send out. Who is an all-star pray-er all the time? Not me.

But today, my prayer is fervent. This is not rote.

Lord, today, help your Church to hear your Word, who is Christ.

It’s been a week with so much…stuff. Words and thoughts and positioning and untruths and confusion and accusations. In the end, I believe that most of humanity is just sitting in the middle of it all, wanting nothing but love, joy, and peace. But the voices are LOUD.

So help us, God: help your Church to hear your Word.

…which to me, seems so vastly different from anything that is being said in the limelight. Maybe it’s just going to be this way from time-to-time. But it seems so reckless. So unnecessary. And honestly, I do fret for those closest to me. Actually, I’m not as fearful for the safety of their lives as I am their attraction to what is not righteous. I know that makes me “no better than the religious leaders.” So help me to love my enemy. Which is simply a more specific way to pray,

Jesus, help your Church to hear your Word, which is you.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.