Trinity
Matthew 28: 16-20

May 18, 2008


When I was considering going into the ministry a clergy friend and mentor said to me, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “When God calls it’s always collect!” It’s true we are not called, any of us, to be couch potatoes; God has a job for us. The closing words of the Iona daily liturgy contain the words,

This is the day that God has made,
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
We will not offer to God,
Offerings that cost us nothing...

The texts for today contain that original “call”. They are what we refer to as “The Great Commission”. Jesus’ final words to the apostles are to Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. It is the call to convert and baptise in Jesus’ name. And, for centuries we have been faithfully doing that. We have been busily “converting the heathen” – as we used to proudly say. Some denominations are still following that practice. As for myself, I have grown increasingly concerned about some of these mission ventures. We in the Canadian United and Anglican Churches are now reaping the effects of our well-intentioned efforts to enculturate First Nations children in our residential schools. We are now pleading for forgiveness. And it’s costing us financially as well as spiritually.

I came upon a statement from a former leader of the Iona Community, Norman Shanks, with which I agreed. Norman said:

"On the whole I am not enthusiastic or even hopeful about what appear to be the priorities and prevailing views about mission in today’s churches.

"The concern with church numbers is understandable, especially in a culture accustomed to measuring success and appraising value in quantifiable terms and when so many congregations are struggling both to meet their financial commitments to their local and national denominational headquarters and to maintain their buildings, the cherished heritage of a proud past but no longer suitable to contemporary needs. But the result is a preoccupation with church growth, as if the Church and the kingdom were one and the same; and too often mission is a not very well concealed recruitment drive or, worse still, the promotion of a package.

"God works through the Church, to be sure, and the calling of the church to fulfill its vocation as an embodiment or foretaste of the kingdom is well established and hard to live up to. The congregation thus has an essential role in the missionary process as channel or agent of the good news but it is not the be-all and end-all as long as the primary emphasis is on building not the Church but the kingdom, seeking to make God real to people where they are.

"God’s purpose and promise are not limited to the Church, for God’s sphere of activity is the world, of which the Church is but a part. Mission belongs to God, not to the Church; and the missionary task is thus to discern and point to the signs of the kingdom breaking through wherever this is happening, as it does both within and outside the Church, with church growth a possible and desirable by-product. Mission is about conversation rather than conversion; about engagement, interaction and dialogue rather than verbal persuasion, for the language of action and the witness of integrity and consistency carries more authenticity and credibility than slick words delivered hit-and-run style.

"Mission must be focused on the world but centered on God, Jesus Christ, the Gospel and the kingdom, not on the Church; it must reach out unconditionally to proclaim the love of God without seeking to prescribe or even measure the response." *

Sometimes we are so accustomed to reading and hearing Biblical texts that we think we know what it says. But, once in awhile (whether it’s reading a different version or upon meditating on a text) new light shines on it and words catch our eye that we missed previously. Reading the gospel for today from both the NRSV and The Message was one of those times for me. Upon reading The Message I heard this common text anew. Eugene Peterson (the author of The Message) interprets this:

The moment they saw him they worshipped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. (The Message, Matt, .28:17).

When I read this I had to go back to the NRSV to see what it says. You heard it read, but I wonder if you noticed what it says. The NRSV reads:

When they saw him, they worshiped him; followed by the words, but some doubted.

I was under the impression that after `doubting Thomas’ concerns were cleared up the apostles were of one mind about the nature and authority of Jesus. Apparently doubts remained. We are not told anything about what they might have been. Petersen suggests a reason for their doubting. He suggests, (They) held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

We can only guess about the apostles’ reluctance. Certainly we know that once committed to Jesus they were risking their very lives.

But what about us, how do you feel about “risking totally”? It’s a scary question, isn’t it? What does that mean? What will be required of us? As we have discovered, following the call of Jesus to global mission is challenging: who do we focus our efforts on? Where do we serve? What should our mission goals be? Even here at home, every day we get calls to support myriad charities. Which ones should we support from our limited charitable dollars?

The United Church has learned that our assistance must be in the form of partnerships with global groups in need. We recognize that our mission is not so much to convert as to communicate with those we are desiring to help. Here is an example of one helpful project:

Ian Fraser, a Church of Scotland minister tells a story from his experiences in Thailand: A cluster of four villages in Bungsipsee in Chaiyapoon Province in North-East Thailand invited a student team to live with them and work with them for some weeks in the development of their common life. I was invited to join in an enterprise in the early 1970’s which attracted students from all the universities of Thailand. It was sponsored by Roman Catholics but Buddhists in the team outnumbered Christians five to one. Tiny girls who had never handled a mattock or any other agricultural implement in their lives soon learned the swing which puts the work on the iron head rather than on the human arms, and grew adept at working in cement and concrete to make water tanks.

It was an exercise in mutual respect and understanding between people of different faiths. In the morning the Thai flag was raised and people gathered together for a short period of Buddhist prayer and meditation. Each evening, after an evaluation session, the Christians were accustomed to hold an act of worship. After some time Buddhist students said, “Many of us believe in God too; may we join in?” They were made welcome. Soon Buddhists were reading old and New Testament lessons, singing hymns, offering prayers, as part of a total trusting company.

It was an exercise in human development. The villagers had their lives enlarged while students learned to respect the wisdom and values of rural people. They went back much more fully developed human beings.

It was an exercise in wholeness. Village sanitation and personal health care, shared manual work, awareness of rural needs, growth in joint action, worship and prayer, Christian/Buddhist understanding, theological reflection – all these strands – were tied into one bundle of life.

Last week I spoke about my experiences with the World Council of Churches (WCC). While the diverse members of our committee were able to dialogue about that challenging of topic HIV/AIDS, there was one thing that could not be changed and that was the issue of Communion. There is still no agreement within the member churches of the WCC - all of whom are Protestant - about who can receive the Eucharist. Unlike the United Church of Canada and several other mainline protestant churches many of the member churches serve communion only to baptised members. It was, and is, a painful reality of the World Council of Churches. This, however, may be more a problem of clergy than lay people. George More, another Christian worker in India shared his experience of what was to him, “shared communion”:

I learned by many experiences in India how God was present in all religions. I was on a bus on a hot-weather journey from Ajmer to Jaipur – about 80 miles. Dozing in the heat I slowly realised the bus had stopped outside a wall in open desert country. It was a temple. The bus conductor alone alighted and I thought, `maybe he is visiting a friend.’ Sure enough, he was back in a few minutes and drove on without a word. Suddenly I realised I was in a communion service. The people in front of me, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, had their hands held out and the conductor was giving them a pinch of coconut and sugar – the Prasad. Fortunately, I had time to see what was happening and have my hands out also, when my turn came – the only foreigner, and perhaps the only Christian. No words were spoken, no religion mentioned. We al knew that this bus conductor had ushered us into God's presence, that God had accepted us – each one – and enabled us to accept each other, as we were. No orthodox religion can enter this realm. For instance the Christian religion has plenty to say about things offered to idols. Was he ordained? There we go again!*

As Christians one of the liturgical acts which unites us is the sacrament of communion. For most of us, receiving the bread and wine and Jesus’ undeniably welcoming table is a powerful moment. It is powerful to receive and it is powerful to give. We are blessed, I feel, that in many of our United Churches Lay people as well as clergy serve communion. Sometimes children serve and that very special. We are as the scriptures inform us, “One in Christ”.

God called the disciples to make disciples of others (NRSV) or, in Peterson’s words, to train everyone you meet far and near in this way of life. (The Message). Whichever way you see it, on this day especially, and every day, we are each called to our own special ministry. Let us go forth boldly and in community! Amen.

*This is the Day: Readings and meditations from the Iona Community, Neil Paynter (ed), 2002

Preached by Erin Shoemaker
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan