Rev.
Debbie Cato
Matthew
28:16-20 and Acts 1:1-9
Manitou
Presbyterian Church Tacoma
May
31, 2026
Let us pray:
Good and gracious God. We thank you for bringing us together today.
We are aware of your presence and grateful for the fellowship that we
have with one another because of your love for us. Open our ears, hearts, and minds to hear your
Word for us today. Then give us the
courage to go out into the world & live out your word. In Jesus name, Amen.
Our Mission
Today’s
scripture passage comes from the end of the Gospel of Matthew. In fact, this passage is the very end of
Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew ends his
Gospel, his book, with Jesus’ last conversation with his disciples. Jesus talks with his disciples one last time
and He gives them these instructions. He
gives them a commission. “The Great Commission.”
A
commission is an authoritative order or a charge. Jesus’ final words to his disciples charge
them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything that He has commanded them.” Before Jesus ascends into heaven after his
resurrection, he gives his disciples their mission – go out to all nations and
preach the gospel. He “commissions” them
– he says, the ongoing work of you, my followers, is to go out – go out and
spread the Word; go out and share the good news; go out and make other
followers. Evangelize!
These eleven men who only three years earlier were called by Jesus to follow him, whose lives were radically changed when they said yes to Christ’s call, are commissioned to go out and spread the good news of the gospel to all the nations. It’s a huge responsibility. If the good news of Jesus Christ is going to spread it’s up to these eleven men.
Now remember who Jesus disciples were. There’s nothing special about these particular people – not really anyway. True, they followed Jesus around for three years. They traveled with him all over Galilee. They heard him teach, they watched him heal, they saw him love and accept other people; especially the most vulnerable. They learned from him firsthand; they were eyewitnesses. Yet even now, as they meet with Jesus for the last time, they doubt. They have questions. They aren’t absolutely, positively sure. We read that they worship him, but some doubted. Some doubted. And yet these are the very people – people with doubt - that Jesus entrusts to spread the good news to all the nations. If Jesus’ ministry is to continue; it’s all up to this group to keep it going; to share the message of the good news.
From the very beginning, discipleship has been a matter of “little faith” not great faith. Not absolute; not I have all the answers; not I understand it all.
But more like, I want to believe, I want to have faith, and so I’m going to cling to the things I do understand, the things I do believe, and worship the Lord even though I have questions, even though I’m not sure, even though I don’t completely understand.
That’s what faith is all about - Believing when we can’t prove it; believing when we aren’t sure; believing when we don’t have all the answers. Faith does not come on the basis of evidence. The foundation of faith is based on experiencing the presence of the risen Christ. Faith is a matter of worship, not of analysis. We cannot prove our faith. Faith does not exclude doubt. Faith exists alongside doubt. Faith and doubt are not mutually exclusive.
So, even though these eleven disciples had doubt, even though they weren’t completely sure of it all, Jesus still commissions them with THE most important mission ever. Even though they have doubt, Jesus trusts them to go out to all the nations, to teach, and to baptize. Jesus trusts them to go out and spread the good news of the gospel; to disciple the nations. Jesus charges them to continue his ministry. It’s up to the disciples now.
After the resurrection, Jesus declares that discipleship is no longer restricted to the inner group of people who followed him during his earthly ministry. Now the invitation to discipleship is open to all people of all nations. And Jesus charges his disciples to make sure the invitation is extended. And if we call ourselves disciples of Christ, then Jesus’ charge to his eleven disciples applies to us too. We are charged to go; to teach; to baptize.
I love your mission statement. I love what it says about who you are and what God is calling you to be. Do you hear similarities between Jesus’ commission and your mission statement? Jesus tells them to “go out and share the gospel and make more disciples.” You say you will be so loving, so welcoming, so alive, that the good news is worth sharing with others. You will go and tell. Sounds like your mission and Jesus’ commission to his disciples’ line up.
Every one of you, every one of us, are disciples of Jesus Christ. Sounds ominous doesn’t it?! The 12 disciples Jesus chose were ordinary people. Fishermen, tax collectors – not wealthy, powerful people. Not the elite. They were ordinary people just like you and me. No different. And “as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called by God to make Christ known.”
Now, here’s the catch. We cannot make Christ known by staying inside the church building. We can’t just talk and interact with other people in the pews. That is not making Christ known to those who don’t know Him. We must “go out.” Go out there. We have to get out of the comfort of our pews; to leave this place where we feel comfortable, where we feel safe. We have to go out and into the broken, hurting world. We must go out and spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s evangelism!
Evangelism is a scary word. We think of the guy on the street corner yelling that we will go to hell if we don’t repent. This, my friends, is NOT evangelism. Remember, we are sharing something that we are excited about. It’s not preaching. It’s not telling someone where they’ve gone wrong. It’s loving, and serving, and reaching out when there’s a need.
Now before you all get up and run out the door, think about it. Think about who you are. Your food bank is an act of evangelism. Carol, I bet you never think of yourself as an evangelist! But you are. You are sharing the love Christ has given you with others. The food bank and clothing bank are places where people can get what they need for their family without shame, without embarrassment. It’s a place where people who are vulnerable, hurting, and needing hope are welcomed. You welcome and serve with grace and respect and love. I hate to shock you, but you are evangelizing. You are sharing who Christ is with everyone who walks through that door needing food and clothing.
When you welcome children and youth every summer for Arts Camp, you are evangelizing. They hear stories about Jesus. But not because you are cramming the Bible down their throats. They hear Jesus in an environment of love and acceptance. They have fun doing fun things. They make friends. They see adults loving them and having fun with them. There’s no fear. No tests. No judgment. Arts Camp is a place of community and love.
You are evangelizing when you have Arts Camp. Whether you are right up front telling the stories and teaching the songs, or whether you are doing crafts or serving snacks. You are evangelizing. You are living out Jesus’ last instructions to his disciples. You are living out his commission to his disciples. Can you see? Your mission lines up with the commission Jesus gave to his disciples more than 2,000 years ago.
You have the house next door and instead of renting it out at market value profit to help with the finances of the church, you use the house to help a family who needs some help. They are welcomed with love and respect. Without reading the lease, I doubt the lease mandates attending church every week. I don’t think Pastor Ken goes over there and preaches. (Of course, I don’t know for sure what Pastor Ken does!) Yet providing this asset to help a neighbor is a form of evangelism. Once again, your mission and Jesus’ commission are in sync.
Evangelism is also as simple as telling people your God story. Telling someone how God has met a need, been present in your life – changed your life. Who is God to you?
You might know that I raised Tracy and her sister Jessica as a single mom. When they were little, I had a very good job. I was a CPA. I made a decent provided for us. How he protected us. There is one experience that is particularly strong for me. One evening, I was driving the girls home from daycare. They were in their car seats talking about their day. While I drove, all I could think about was what I was going to fix for dinner. They had finished the milk the night before. Our cupboards were basically bare. I had not eaten the night before so that they would have enough. I turned into the driveway and there were bags by the front door. The bags were full of groceries. I don’t have any idea who left them there. But the girls had milk to drink that night and we all ate dinner. The groceries lasted for several weeks. You cannot convince me that that was not God providing for us.
And I have so many more stories. Stories about how God has provided for me, kept me safe, opened doors. But the point is, I’ve told that story to many people over the years. And when I tell that story, I am sharing how God has taken care of me and my family. I’m sharing the abundance of God. I’m not preaching. I’m not telling people what they should believe. I’m just sharing my own experience. I would venture that each one of you have stories just like mine.
Nowhere do we say that we know it all. That we have all the answers. That we understand. That we get it right 100% of the time. That we don’t doubt. I don’t know how many times people have come to me and I’ve said, “I don’t know.” But it does say that we will take the faith that we do have – as imperfect as it might be, out into the community. That we will share it. Share it with people we know very well and share it with people we don’t. We are called to share who we are, what we believe, honestly and openly. Share our stories. That’s what Jesus’ commissioned his disciples to do and that is what we have said we will do. Warts and all.
But we don’t stop there. After going out into the community and sharing our faith, we must open our doors and open our hearts and welcome the community in. People we don’t know. People who might be different than us. People who might change the way we worship; the way we gather. People who might cause us to stretch out of our comfort zone. People who will allow us to share our faith, to share our love of Christ in a safe environment. People who will become new friends; new family members; new disciples of Christ. People who might just deepen our faith and add richness to our lives.
Our mission is Jesus’ great commission to all disciples; to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t have to be words. But it does need to be honest. It means that we don’t go out into the community as arrogant people who have all the answers. Rather, we go out into the community as people that wrestle with our faith every single day. We go out as people whose faith is more like a roller coaster. Sometimes we feel like we are on a mountain top and our faith is strong and secure. And then life happens and we dip down into the depths of the valley, scared and unsure whether God is really there.
You see, our faith in Jesus Christ is not a destination. It’s a journey. That means that we don’t ever fully arrive. We don’t ever reach that “perfect faith.” We don’t ever know it all; we don’t ever have all the answers. At least not in this life! But part of the journey is growing – growing closer to Christ and growing more like Christ.
God has called us to walk this journey together. To learn from one another, to love one another and to pray for one another.
We go out with the same authority as those disciples 2,000 years ago did; the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And as imperfect as we are, as “little as our faith is,” God’s mission will go forward. We have a great story to tell – the greatest story there is. It’s radical. It’s life- changing. It’s a story that the world desperately needs to hear. And it’s up to us to tell it.
Let us pray: Lord, thank you for calling us to be your disciples and live out the great commission together. Thank you for your Holy Word that tells your story since the beginning of time. Thank you for trusting us with your message in spite of our questions, in spite of our lack of understanding, in spite of our lack of faith. Give us the strength and the courage to walk this journey together as your community of faith. Give us the deep desire to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with our community. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
