FIRST READING Genesis 1:1–2:4a
1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16And God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds — livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 21Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 4aThese are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
PSALM Psalm 8
1O Lord our Lord, how exalted is your Name in all the world! 2Out of the mouths of infants and children your majesty is praised above the heavens. 3You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, to quell the enemy and the avenger. 4When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, 5What is man that you should be mindful of him? the son of man that you should seek him out? 6You have made him but little lower than the angels; you adorn him with glory and honor; 7You give him mastery over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet: 8All sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, 9The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea. 10O Lord our Lord, how exalted is your name in all the world!
SECOND READING Acts 2:14a, 22-36
14aPeter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: 22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know — 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 35until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
GOSPEL Matthew 28:16-20
16The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION BRINGS HAPPINESS
In the name of the Father and of the Son † and of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Trinity, one God in three persons. Amen
It’s interesting that today, as we commemorate the Triune God, that the Lectionary assigns the Bible reading that includes Jesus’ Great Commission – Our Lord’s mandate to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). One part is clear however; you simply cannot accomplish Jesus’ directive to proselytize, without believing in the Triune God, proclaiming the Holy Trinity in whose name we baptize. And to believe in the Trinity, is to be an evangelist. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. But this isn’t how most understand this passage; that in this call to go, we’re being called to be an evangelist. Let’s face it, doing evangelism doesn’t come easy for most of us.
Most laity would forward that that’s the pastor’s job, with a little help, of course, from the evangelism committee. Most of us would say we don’t have those gifts. Part of the problem is that it’s a matter of our lack of confidence, a feeling that we don’t know enough or don’t feel comfortable approaching strangers. Another problem is that much of the purpose-driven talk we hear in churches these days, is about the “mandatory” character of the mission of the Great Commission. If doing evangelism is mandatory, and we’re not doing a very good job about it, what does that say about our relationship with God?
What does that say about being a Christian and doing evangelism? Witnessing to others doesn’t sound like much fun, it sounds more like a burden. So, is that what Jesus intends? It seems a little strange, insofar as according to Matthew, these were Jesus’ last words to His disciples before leaving them at the Ascension to return to the Father, that He would lay that kind of burden on His followers.
Our gospel lesson’s account of Jesus’ commissioning the disciples is unique to Matthew, and so we need be get clear on the point Matthew seems to have been trying to make. The general consensus among biblical scholars, is that a core commitment of Matthew is to believe that the earthly Jesus and the exalted Christ are one. This seems implied in our gospel lesson for today, as Matthew only reports in verse 18 that Jesus “came up” (proselthown) — language which is just as conducive to a heavenly appearance as it is to an earthly, bodily appearance. Why is this important?
This point seems to be Matthew’s way of drawing us into the story. Because if there is a thin line between Jesus’ post-resurrection earthly appearances and His heavenly communications since that time, then time itself is blurred. This entails that Jesus appeared to the disciples in a manner not much different from the way in which He comes to us today. And as a result of His fusing the time of Jesus and the time of the church, Matthew is effectively communicating to us, that the Apostles represent all future generations of believers. They represent you and me!
And what does Jesus say to us, to all disciple of the post resurrection appearance? Because all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him, we are to “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 …” (Matthew 28:18b-19). What this means is, this is more than His final earthly command, it also means we too have been commissioned, specifically sent to do the work of evangelism. And there’s more; there are some additional nuances to Matthews’ version of this commission that put some new, happy light on how we’re to accomplish our mission.
New Testament scholars like to point out that because Matthew is the most Jewish of all the gospel writers, he tends to focus more on obedience. This is evident in his version of the Great Commission, as it isn’t so much preaching or the conjuring of the Spirit that’s to be done in evangelism (Luke 24:46-48; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:22-23), rather we, as evangelists, are to teach all nations, “to obey everything … [Christ] commanded …” (Matthew 28:20). So, does this mean that evangelism is commanded?
It’s significant to notice that before Jesus tells His disciples, and us, that we’re to teach potential converts to obey what He commanded, Jesus refers to Baptism in the name of the Triune God. Again, we’re reminded that evangelism and the Triune God are inseparably linked. Let’s also not forget that if evangelism includes obedience to what Christ commanded, the first point Matthew wants readers to know about Jesus’ way of living, was to tell the story of how Jesus began His ministry after His baptism by John, by dealing with temptation (Matthew 4:1-11).
The main point of that temptation was to provide Jesus with an opportunity to testify that we are to “Worship the Lord … God and serve only him” (Matthew 4:10; 6:33 cf). The point Matthew is communicating, is that at the heart of the obedient lifestyle to which evangelism aims, is to focus on God alone. Which bring us back to the main point of the sermon. Evangelism comes easy, and is a lot more fun, when we’re focused on God. And to be focused on God, we need to contemplate the mystery of the Triune God we confess and believe.
Now to be fair and honest, this side of heaven, no one can fully understand or explain, for that matter, the unique nature of God; one God in three persons. This is why the Athanasian Creed, the statements we will be responsively reading here in a few minutes, is so important. However, although we cannot fully understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we still need to struggle with the doctrine. And with that said, we might best begin our struggle with the question; what do we mean when we say that God is Triune?
The term Triune means that God is a relational or communal God. He has been, and always will be, in a relationship with Himself. The Father relates to the Son and to the Spirit, and the Spirit relates to the Son. Think about it. From before time to eternity, God has been in relationship. He is no solitary God. This is why the prolog to St. John’s gospel is so important to our understanding of the Trinity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (1:1-4) The Triune God we serve is from the beginning, in relationship. And this is important in our understanding of our Old Testament reading for this morning.
In our first lesson for today, the Bible teaches that you and I are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God said, “let us make man in our own image.” This too has implications for evangelism, for community life, and for doing justice in society. Carl Henry, the famous theologian and long-time editor of Christianity Today, had it right. He once wrote, “Trinitarian religion involves all men’s relations to God and to society; the social relationships within the Trinity call out against any antisocial interpretation of personal religion.” In other words, to live a life in solitude, without social relationships, is to be out of harmony with the social creature God made us to be by creating us in His image. Relating to other people comes naturally to folks created in the image of our social God.
Therefore, evangelism, the making of new friends in Christ, comes natural! It’s only tough when we forget that we are God’s creatures, forget that we have a God who is naturally social and who made us in His image. This means that by created nature, it’s kind of hard to be unconcerned about society and the things of this world when we know who we are. We were not created to be loners. We were formed from the dust and given the breath of life, to be in a relationship with God and to be people who are passionate about social relations as God originally created us. And there’s another aspect to the nature of the Triune God that’s relevant here. Yes, God is three, and is always socializing. But, we can’t forget that God is also one. His communal character is also concerned to bring about unity.
Evangelism isn’t just about cultivating social relationships, it also aims to facilitate unity, to bring all, everyone we have contact with, into unity in the body of Christ. Just as God’s nature brings unity, the aim of evangelism is to facilitate unity in Christ with all persons through our social engagements. This is built into our DNA. Therefore, when it comes to evangelism and seeking justice in society, it’s simply part of who we are! What this means is, we’re not only naturally equipped and gifted for evangelism and seeking just social relations; we’ve been wired by God to have fun with these commissions. This becomes even clearer when we combine the understanding that, for Matthew, the heart of the obedient lifestyle to which we’re called, is to focus on God alone, with the latest cutting-edge research on the brain. Up to this point we’ve been talking about our relationship and obedience to God in a philosophical and Theological way. However, we also have scientific evidence that God created us to be in communion and obedience to Him.
For some time, pollsters have noted that religiously inclined people seem to have higher levels of happiness than the population at large. The latest cutting-edge research on neurology tell us why this is the case. It seems that when we’re engaged in spiritual exercises like prayer and contemplation, the front part of our brains, specifically the frontal lobe (the part of the brain which is the seat of concentration) and the limbic system (the part of the brain where powerful feelings are created by pleasurable neurochemicals), become very active.
The neurochemicals released in prayer and meditation create pleasurable feelings of self-transcendence. Of course, this isn’t surprising, because when the front part of our brain is in overdrive, as it is in prayer and meditation, the back part of our brain, the Parietal lobe, which is the seat of your awareness of yourself and its circumstances, grows dim. This is to say that when we become single-mindedly focused on God like Jesus was, and live the obedient lifestyle to which we’ve been called, we then forget ourselves! And as a bonus, we also experience pleasurable, chemical reactions transmitted by the neurochemicals that are released in our brain. Simply put, when we’re in communion with God, it makes us feel good! And it gets even more interesting.
The part of our brain that’s in overdrive when we’re involved in spiritual activities contains within it the Prefrontal Cortex. The Prefrontal Cortex is a region of brain gray matter, that is the seat of human emotions. What we perceive as happiness is, to a great extent, related to our activating this outer layer of gray matter, which then becomes bathed in other neurochemicals, specifically dopamine and endorphins. In other words, when we’re focusing on activities bigger than we are and forget our particular circumstances, we get a natural high! Quite simply, anytime we’re actively focusing our life on something bigger than we are and focused on God, we’re happy.
For us, this means that modern neurobiology confirms the insights of Martin Luther when he said, “Prayer helps us very much and gives us a cheerful heart, not on account of any merit in the work, but because we have spoken with God and found everything to be in order.” So it’s a proven scientific fact, when we’re immersed in spiritual matters, like focusing on God in prayer, we are happy. This means that it’s part of our DNA to do evangelism, since we are socially oriented naturally just like the Triune God. And when we keep in mind how much fun and happiness scientists now tell us we can find in spiritual undertakings, and in getting focused on projects bigger than we are, then engaging in the Great Commission, doing evangelism, seems like a winner! Nobody therefore, has to tell us it’s our purpose and require us to do it. It’s part of who we are and it comes naturally, along with a lot of good feelings and happiness from a Christian life that is focused on God. Of course, there’s still that ingrained lethargy among some people about evangelism, a feeling that it’s just not their gift.
Neurobiologists would remind us that those feelings of insecurity emerge because we’re too focused on the personal agendas that activate the back of our brain, not focused enough on thinking about the big picture part of our brain that gets the dopamine flowing. We need to remember the facts: getting focused, especially on God and spiritual matters makes us happy. If we get focused on the Great Commission, rather than ourselves, it won’t be so bad. When we get focused on God, we’ll see that He’s our all-in-all, and all we’ll want to do is His work. When an obedient disciple loses themselves in the big picture, the dopamine, which stimulates feelings of pleasure and happiness, will start to flow. It’s a scientific fact; anytime we focus on obeying God and not ourselves, we enjoy it.
Comprehending how these brain dynamics work and appreciating how God and His love permeates all we do, will also help us understand the sort of teaching or modeling of righteous living we’re to do with those we evangelize. When they see our single-minded dedication to the things of God and our (Great) Commission, a little of Jesus’ single-minded devotion to God, a sense that grace surrounds us in all we do, will also become theirs.
And of course, when that happens and they begin to activate the part of the brain exercised in concentration on obedience to God and not themselves, the dopamine will flow. This life of obedience, including evangelism, with an awareness that God is with us in dominating all aspects of our life, will produce happiness. But don’t take my word for it, science has proven it. Being focused on God and being obedient to His command to go, make, Baptize and teach will bring you pleasure. In other words, worshiping, obeying and serving God can bring a lot of happiness!
Amen.