Have you ever spoken with someone knowing it was the last time you would see them and your last opportunity to speak with them? I remember having that type of conversation with a cousin several years ago. He was dying from a terminal disease, and Paula and I made the trip to see and speak with Pat one last time, knowing that he would die soon. We reminisced, swapping stories of times spent together, told each other, "I love you," and I asked him if he was right with God. Thankfully, he was. Pat died a few weeks later. I was thankful for that last conversation.
When we knowingly have a "final" conversation, it’s usually in the face of death. They’re not easy to have, but they can be cleansing and empowering. We often times relive the words and details over and over in our minds, and that usually brings comfort.
In today’s scripture, Christ is having his final conversation with his disciples. The difference is that he has conquered death through his resurrection, so the tone of the conversation is not one of sadness or grief, but rather one of comfort, encouragement, commission, and vision.
In the wake of having celebrated Resurrection Sunday two weeks ago, having considered Thomas’ struggle to believe in the resurrected Lord last week, I read these words this morning, that they may serve as a reminder of what the resurrected Lord has promised to do, and what he has called us to do.
Christ’s final words send three messages. First, he assures us of his power. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." In other words, we know about Jesus’ miracles- his ability to heal, provide food, and command the winds and the seas. He has also conquered death, but he still reminds us, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me."
The opening of John’s gospel reminds us of this same thing:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
He is the resurrected Lord, he is God, and all authority and all power is his. This had to have been a tremendous boost for the disciples. Seeing Christ resurrected would’ve been powerful enough, but they are now hearing that the one with whom they’ve spent the past three years, the one by whom they’ve been taught, and the one from whom they’ve heard so many stories, does indeed have supreme authority in heaven and on earth.
Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts in the 50’s, when he was running for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes with no lunch he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and he was famished. As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.
Governor Herter said, “Excuse me, do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?” The woman told him. “I’m sorry, but I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.” “But I’m starved,” the governor said. “Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. “Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.” “Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister.”
She had the authority when it came to the chicken, but Christ is the one who has the ultimate authority. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word is…Jesus Christ. He assured the disciples, and he assures us of his power, because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.
The second message is the commission. This particular passage is referred to as the Great Commission, because it is here that Jesus commissions the disciples, giving them their marching orders for ministry, and in doing so, he spells out the mission of the church: make disciples, baptize them, and teach them about me.
Some folk ask the question, "Why baptism?" We often answer, "Jesus was baptized, and he told us to be baptized," which is true, but I think Paul Harvey, in describing his own baptism in Guidepost, explains it well.
He says that even though he had received almost every reward for his broadcasting powers and ability, he still felt empty inside. It seems that one summer he and his wife were vacationing in a place called Cave Creek, AZ. Sunday morning came and they decided to go to church. They went to this little church, and there were only 12 other people present, but there was a good spirit, and for some reason he began thinking about John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
He said, "I liked that ‘everlasting life’ part, and I believed in Jesus, but I had never gone forward in a church service. I remembered one night praying in my hotel room and asking Jesus to come into my heart, but I felt that there was still something that was missing."
He said that the preacher got up and announced that his sermon was going to be about baptism. Paul Harvey said, "I yawned. But as he started talking about it I found myself interested. He talked about the symbolism behind it, and how it symbolized the complete surrender of one’s life to Jesus Christ, and how there was nothing really magic in the water. But there was this cleansing inside that took place when you yielded yourself to Jesus."
He went on to say, "Finally, when he came to the end of his sermon he said, ‘If any of you have not been baptized in this way, I invite you to come forward and join me here at the pulpit.’" Paul Harvey said, "To my surprise, I found myself going forward. The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the water. Yet as I descended into the depths & rose again I knew something life changing had happened - a cleansing inside and out. No longer did there seem to be two uncertain contradictory Paul Harveys, just one immensely happy one. I felt the fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit in my life. The change this simple act made in my life is so immense as to be indescribable. Since totally yielding to Him in baptism, my heart can’t stop singing. Also, perhaps because baptism is such a public act and because one’s dignity gets as drenched as one’s body, I discovered a new unself-consciousness in talking about my beliefs."
Baptism is about surrender and cleansing. That’s why it’s so important, and why as Baptists, we hold it in such high regard.
Christ also said to make disciples and teach them about me. Becoming a disciple and obeying Christ is more than acknowledging his existence, it’s more than knowing who he is, and it’s more than understanding. Being a disciples means believing it and living it. You’ve heard me say before, that if you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.
Christ has laid a heavy responsibility on the Church, which means he’s laid a heavy responsibility on us. It is our responsibility to reach out to nonbelievers and develop them, along with existing believers, into committed followers of Christ. Those are the instructions.
This past Wednesday, the LRPC rolled out their initial update as to their work on the Long Range Plan for our church. The information and discussion centered on a lack of adequate space, requiring the construction of a new educational facility. Demographic analysis has been completed, attendance has been tracked, and all indications are that we need a new educational facility.
But while the numbers and data are important, what we’ve been stressing in our meetings is that the Long Range Planning Committee has not been charged with building a building. They’ve been charged with the development of a vision that is in line with God’s commission that we baptize and educate.
Baptism and discipleship, combined with love and mercy, are the responsibilities of this church. That’s what God has called us do. A new building will merely be a tool through which we will fulfill Jesus’ commission. If we get caught up in the drama of a new building and lose sight of the commission, we’re lost. Christ said, "Go forth." That means moving forward to baptize and educate.
On the Australian coat of arms, there is a picture of an emu and a kangaroo. These animals were chosen because they share a characteristic that appealed to their forefathers. Both the emu and kangaroo can move only forward, not back. The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backwards, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving in reverse by its large tail.
This is a tremendous analogy for the church that truly chooses to follow Jesus Christ. We must become like the emus and kangaroos, moving only forward, never back. Those are Christ’s instructions.
Christ’s final message was a promise that he would always be with them. A favorite poem of mine is entitled "Footprints." One night a man dreamed that he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from his life flashed across the sky. In each scene there were sets of footprints, sometimes one and sometimes two. This bothered the man, because he noticed that during the times of his greatest sorrow and greatest need, there was only one set of footprints.
The man said to the Lord, "Lord, you promised that if I would follow you, you would always walk with me. Why is it that during the most difficult times in my life, there is only one set of footprints? Why weren’t you with me?" The Lord replied, "The times where you only see one set of footprints is when I carried you."
Like this man, we may not always believe it, or feel it, or be able to see it, but God is always there.
There’s a song by Steven Curtis Chapman entitled, "Sometimes He Comes In The Clouds." He sings:
These are the places I was so sure I’d find Him. I’ve looked in the pages, and I’ve looked down on my knees. I’ve lifted my eyes in expectation, to see the sun still refusing to shine, but sometimes he comes in the clouds, sometimes his face cannot be found, sometimes the sky is dark and gray, but some things can only be known and sometimes our faith can only grow, when we can’t see, so sometimes he comes in the clouds.
Christ promised to never forsake them, to be with them always, even to the end of the age.
Christ’s final words: I am all-powerful, go baptize and make disciples, and remember, I am with you always until the end of the age. The disciples believed him, because every disciple but one was executed for believing and carrying out his final words. Where do you stand? Where do we stand in light of his final words?
