SPEAKER_00: Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
SPEAKER_00: I speak to you in the name of the one true living God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Sometime in the earlier part of the eighteenth century, a once known Anglican clergyman and author of many satirical works, Jonathan Swift, published a work of satire, which has come to be known by an abbreviated title, Polite Conversation.
SPEAKER_00: For sake of time, I won't read you the full title, as it requires some patience.
SPEAKER_00: But in this work, Swift took aim at various figures of speech, colloquialisms, slang terms that were being used in the day, various idioms, that he believed all were working in concert together to corrupt the English language, and especially within higher society circles that he was a part of.
SPEAKER_00: One of the features that he particularly disliked and that he drew attention to, hoping to expose it, was a form of banter.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, he also disliked that word, seeing it as an innovation.
SPEAKER_00: A banter in which idioms were incessantly being hurled back and forth in conversation like a tennis ball.
SPEAKER_00: He chalked all this up to be very rather vain, vapid, and lacking in substance, superficial.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give you some examples that find their way into his work.
SPEAKER_00: His grandmother and mine had four elbows, which was used to mean that we are very good friends.
SPEAKER_00: Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, but lead at night, which refers to its effects on the stomach, of course.
SPEAKER_00: Here's one that I'll have to ask my British colleagues about that I haven't done yet.
SPEAKER_00: London is gone out of town, which is to mean something has grown tremendously.
SPEAKER_00: And I like this one personally.
SPEAKER_00: The parson always christens his own child first, which is to say that love begins at home.
SPEAKER_00: Now I don't get the sense that Swift was actually opposed to the use of such figures of speech entirely, but that he was trying to make the point that they should be used rather sparingly, more like salt, to season a conversation as opposed to becoming the substance of the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: As we know, figures of speech clearly have a unique place and role in our language and speaking, because they are hooky, they're memorable, they are powerful and thus meaningful to us in ways that ordinary speech or literal speech sometimes isn't.
SPEAKER_00: Even Jesus, of course, of course, Jesus knew this, and he even used many figures of speech.
SPEAKER_00: Let the dead bury their own dead.
SPEAKER_00: Or it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Or why are you so concerned about the speck in your neighbor's eye when there's a log in your own?
SPEAKER_00: All that to say, there also comes a point in time when the figures of speech need to take a back seat, if you will.
SPEAKER_00: And people, us included, need to be addressed and engaged with more direct, plain, simple, literal speech.
SPEAKER_00: And that is precisely what I think we find in Jesus' words that he offers to his remaining eleven disciples here on this mountain on this occasion, in one of his final meetings with them before he ascended into heaven.
SPEAKER_00: The parables that Jesus told, they've been told.
SPEAKER_00: The hyperboles that he stressed, it's better for you to gouge your eye out or cut your arm off, he's mentioned.
SPEAKER_00: The metaphors that he has used to magnify himself and his office, I am the good shepherd, I am the light of the world, and others, have been taught.
SPEAKER_00: But now, here, Jesus, alive from the dead, says to them in the most straightforward way possible, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
SPEAKER_00: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you, and don't ever forget, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
SPEAKER_00: In these words, we don't so much have to try and figure out what he means as we might in a parable, but rather we mainly, I think, have to figure out within ourselves: are we prepared and calibrated and ready to receive him at his word or at his words, in their literal sense.
SPEAKER_00: In this resurrection appearance to his disciples, through both his presence without words, and his words, which follow, Jesus offers his disciples, I believe, two significant revelations.
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, first he is showing and telling them something of his divine identity.
SPEAKER_00: And secondly, he then turns and shares with them something about the ministry that he has in mind for them, that he is calling them to.
SPEAKER_00: And we commonly refer to this as the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give treatment to both, but more to the first, given our Trinity Sunday theme, to bring into view for us the divine identity of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So, first, before we even come to the words, you'll notice that we find the disciples worshiping Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They're worshiping him.
SPEAKER_00: And this is not the first time.
SPEAKER_00: You may remember that on a previous occasion in Matthew's gospel, about 12 chapters back, 12, 12, 14 chapters back, in Matthew chapter 14, the disciples find themselves in a boat in the midst of the Sea of Galilee, in the middle of the night, and the wind and the waves are roaring.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus comes walking to them on the water, which is enough to get anyone's attention.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the occasion where Peter, his disciple, in a strike of inspiration with a strike of inspiration and encouragement, steps out of the boat to go and meet Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And you recall, he walked on the water as well for a few steps at least, successfully.
SPEAKER_00: But then he began to doubt, and in his doubt he sunk.
SPEAKER_00: And in sinking, Jesus came to him and drew him up out of the water and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
SPEAKER_00: And he replaced him back into the boat, and there on the boat all of the disciples together, all twelve of them at that time, were found to fall down and worship him, just as they are here.
SPEAKER_00: And they confessed, Truly, you are the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: And on both occasions, in the boat and on this mountain, Jesus receives their worship.
SPEAKER_00: He not only lets it happen, he receives it, because he is worthy of it.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that Jesus was quick to correct his disciples when they said or did something out of line, like preventing children from coming to him, or when Peter again, on another occasion, tried to interfere with his mission of going to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus used those harsh words, Get behind me, Satan.
SPEAKER_00: Your mind is not on the things of God, but on the things of man.
SPEAKER_00: And here you would think if they were out of line in worshiping him, this would certainly be an instance in which he would want to correct them.
SPEAKER_00: But he doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't because it's right, good, and true.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't because of who he is, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Which sort of raises the question of why do they worship him?
SPEAKER_00: Is it because of all the great things he did, all of the miracles he performed and the wise teachings he offered?
SPEAKER_00: Is it because of greatness in action, word, and deed that they worship?
SPEAKER_00: I would guard against that conclusion, because even Jesus said to his disciples, You're going to go out and do greater things than I have done, which takes some time to pack unpack.
SPEAKER_00: But we wouldn't want to attach our worship onto anyone for great things that we deem them capable of.
SPEAKER_00: That would open the door to be worshiping all manner of people in our minds.
SPEAKER_00: But no, rather, their worship is not based on the things he did, but it's rather based on who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And it's because of who he is that he was able to do the things he did.
SPEAKER_00: And so we find, we all we almost get to accompany the disciples alongside them as we observe their understanding and their notion of God and who God is, expanding.
SPEAKER_00: These are first century Jews, solidified in the commandments.
SPEAKER_00: They know well there is one God.
SPEAKER_00: In the first commandment, the Lord revealed, I the Lord your God am one, and you shall have no other gods before me.
SPEAKER_00: And he even gave them his name on another occasion to Moses.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: It means I am that I am.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, here the disciples are confronted in the flesh, face to face, with this Jesus, whom they are worshiping as God, and whom He who and He allows it.
SPEAKER_00: He allows it.
SPEAKER_00: And this Jesus in the flesh has also been known on other occasions to also himself pray to God, in very personal terms, his Father.
SPEAKER_00: And moreover, he taught his disciples to pray to God, their Father.
SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, he took upon himself the title of Son.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see how two reference points for God are beginning to come into view, the Father and the Son, and yet one God.
SPEAKER_00: To bolster or buttress this, when Jesus does open his mouth, after they've worshipped him, he says to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I've heard those words so many times they're a bit too familiar.
SPEAKER_00: But just pause and let those words sink in.
SPEAKER_00: Who talks like that?
SPEAKER_00: All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: God talks that way.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus talks that way because of who he is.
SPEAKER_00: It might be helpful just as an apologetic encouragement when you encounter friends, loved ones, strangers, perhaps, that when when you hear someone say, Well, you know, Jesus never claimed to be God himself, which is a common uh criticism of our faith, you just begin here.
SPEAKER_00: Begin in verses like these.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what did he mean when he said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth?
SPEAKER_00: And what does it mean that the disciples fell down and worshipped him?
SPEAKER_00: Why'd they do that?
SPEAKER_00: Who is he?
SPEAKER_00: Before I go on, let me let me pick up on this brief mention that Matthew inserts.
SPEAKER_00: It's very curious.
SPEAKER_00: I find it actually very interesting.
SPEAKER_00: He's casting the disciples in a very human way.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say that, look, and they all worshiped and believed perfectly and purely.
SPEAKER_00: No, he says in verse 17, but some doubted.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the eleven on that mountain on this day doubted.
SPEAKER_00: The word doubt here means to be of two minds.
SPEAKER_00: It means to vacillate, to waver, to hesitate.
SPEAKER_00: Rightly so.
SPEAKER_00: This is a new concept.
SPEAKER_00: This is hard.
SPEAKER_00: But some were doubting, and there's so many things that could be said about doubt.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder how did Matthew know that some doubted?
SPEAKER_00: Was it clear that some fall down and worship Jesus physically and others remained standing?
SPEAKER_00: That would be pretty clear.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe all fell down and prostrated themselves before Jesus and rendered physical worship to him, but secretly and inwardly some doubted.
SPEAKER_00: Another attribute of Jesus, of course, on other occasions he had revealed that he could discern the thoughts, intentions, and movements of heart, of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe after the fact, sometime he said, You know, I I know you looked like you were worshiping me up there, but I know you were doubting me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how some, I don't know what it looked like, but we know that some did.
SPEAKER_00: Just a word of caution.
SPEAKER_00: Well, before I mention a word of caution, let me let me share with you something that theologian Alistair McGrath said about doubt.
SPEAKER_00: Doubt is like an attention-seeking child.
SPEAKER_00: The more attention you pay to it, the more attention it will demand.
SPEAKER_00: By worrying about your doubt, you will get locked into a vicious cycle of uncertainty.
SPEAKER_00: Now the word of caution.
SPEAKER_00: Doubt keeps us on the edge, not fully participating, not fully experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a good place to stay.
SPEAKER_00: And I promise you that if you wrestle with doubt, and we all do from time to time in various ways, I promise you that God does not want to leave you there.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want you to remain there.
SPEAKER_00: I've been thinking about children learning how to dive, coming up onto the edge of a pool for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: Diving's really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Just think back to your own life.
SPEAKER_00: And they crouch down and they think about leaning forwards into the water head first for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And I've never seen a kid do this smoothly initially.
SPEAKER_00: It's always a process.
SPEAKER_00: It could take days.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to come up behind them and just push them.
SPEAKER_00: Go.
SPEAKER_00: Do it.
SPEAKER_00: And I can do that, and and I think I have done that with my own, but I can't do that in terms of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are on the edge.
SPEAKER_00: You're just teetering.
SPEAKER_00: And you think, I want that.
SPEAKER_00: I I see, I understand what you're saying I ought to do, and what you're encouraging me to do, but I can't seem to do it.
SPEAKER_00: You have to, you have to tip over.
SPEAKER_00: And until you tip over and lean in, you will not know the fullness of God's grace, mercy, joy, blessings, etc.
SPEAKER_00: But here, let me follow this up with a word of comfort.
SPEAKER_00: Doubt does not prevent us from being sent in ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Notice.
SPEAKER_00: This is the second point.
SPEAKER_00: The ministry that the disciples are being sent into.
SPEAKER_00: All of them, all eleven disciples who show up on this mountain, no matter the degree of faith they have or belief, some were doubting.
SPEAKER_00: And yet all of them together are commissioned.
SPEAKER_00: All of them together are sent to go and make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it is in the process of our going, of our being sent, that Jesus along the way ends up revealing more and more of God to us.
SPEAKER_00: And I think if you read the book of Acts, you see this play out, where the disciples who are going in Christ's name out into the world, as they've been instructed, are once and again, again and again, confirmed in their faith.
SPEAKER_00: I just think of Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch, chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: You can read that for yourself.
SPEAKER_00: But they are all sent.
SPEAKER_00: And it is in being sent that they come to even a greater awareness of God.
SPEAKER_00: We are not dealing with just two, but three, as Jesus alludes to here, or explicitly says, baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: J.C.
SPEAKER_00: Ryle said that it was the whole Trinity which at the beginning of creation said, Let us make man in our image.
SPEAKER_00: And it was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the gospel said, Let us now save man.
SPEAKER_00: And once again, here at the end of the Gospel, it is the whole Trinity in explicit terms that says, Let us now send man on mission.
SPEAKER_00: It is in creation that we come to generally recognize God as Father.
SPEAKER_00: It is in our redemption that we come to see and believe in God the Son hanging on a cross for us.
SPEAKER_00: But it is in mission, in being sent that we come to know the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so on this Trinity Sunday, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all as you go.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.