Sunday, June 4th - "Along the Way: Commissioned"

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First United Presbyterian Church

“Along the Way: Commissioned”

Rev. Amy Morgan

June 4, 2023

Matt. 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

They thought they knew where they were going. Up a mountain. Again. Some of them had gone up a mountain and seen Jesus transfigured. Some of them had seen him crucified on another mountain. And now, after his miraculous resurrection, they were supposed to meet him at the top of another mountain. 

Surely this would be it: their final destination, the end of their long journey with Jesus. Surely they would discover what their grand reward would be for their faithful discipleship. At last, they were going to arrive somewhere instead of this continuous moving from place to place, following an itinerant preacher. 

When they arrived at the mountaintop, they saw Jesus, and for at least some of them, this sight solidified their feelings of arrival. They worshiped Jesus because they knew he, and this mountaintop, were the end of the road, the last stop along the way, the culmination of their wanderings.

But there was doubt among the disciples, too. It’s not clear if some of them were all in and some of them doubted, or if they all worshiped Jesus even as they all carried a bit of doubt. I kind of prefer the second translation, which is what we read today. Even in their elation, hope, and joy, doubt was still present. They still weren’t absolutely sure about Jesus, or their destination, or what was going to happen now that they’d arrived. 

And it turns out their doubt was well-founded. Because very soon they discover that they have not, in fact, arrived at their final destination. This mountaintop is just one more stop on the journey. Before they can even catch their breath from the hike, Jesus sends them out on the road again. 

Many times in our lives, we think we know where we’re going. Our destination is just around the next corner, at the top of the next mountain. The rest and rewards that await at the end of the journey seem almost within our reach. The dream job, the Golden Years of retirement, the perfect life partner, the place we’ve always wanted to live, the trip we’ve longed to take, the relationship we’ve hoped to repair. We might recite the platitudes about “life is about the journey, not the destination,” but we’re all still longing to arrive somewhere. Travel is exciting, yes, but it’s also disorienting and uncomfortable or exhausting. Sometimes we just want to feel settled, comfortable in our own skin, certain of our place in the world. 

But many times we find that, even when we think we’ve arrived, when we’ve reached that mountaintop of achievement, accumulation, acceptance, we discover that our journey is not quite over. 

And that’s exactly what Jesus’s disciples find. Jesus gathers them on the mountaintop, not to reward them or give them rest, but to send them along the way, to commission them for their next journey. And this journey has no clear destination point at all. They are sent “to all nations.” Not to a particular city or region or mountain or valley. All nations. They are going to be on the road for quite a while. Probably for the rest of their lives. 

This is the essence of the Christian faith. It is characterized by movement. From the itinerant preacher Jesus, to his disciples brining the good news to all nations. From the pilgrims of the middle ages, to the religious refugees fleeing to the New World. From the circuit riders of the Great Awakening, to the missionary movement in the global south. The Christian faith is something that is always in motion, and it’s about what happens along the way.

And that motion continues today. 

Ten years ago, our denomination, the PC(USA) started a movement called 1001 New Worshiping Communities. The intention of this movement was to keep the church on the move and see what might happen along the way. New worshiping communities were encouraged to be more mobile than traditional churches, more responsive to the spiritual needs and longings of our current culture, and express the good news of the gospel in creative and innovative ways. 

Along the way, these New Worshiping Communities reached thousands of people who would never have set foot in a traditional church. And along the way, they have inspired more traditional churches to learn from and incorporate their innovations. 

One of these worshiping communities, called Weaving Home, is focusing on “sustainable, compassionate, contemplative, creative living in harmony with the earth.” They offer contemplative gatherings, retreats, book studies, training in spiritual practices, and Spiritual Direction. Instead of resting on mountaintop experiences, they are moving Christianity deeper into connection with nature and connection with our souls. 

Another worshiping community, this one in New York City, is called Common Ground. They are moving Christianity toward those on the margins of our society, cultivating unity in diversity as they pursue liberation for all and practice generosity of spirit. They engage in conversation around non-violent communication, do service projects in the community, and generate community connection over shared meals. 

The Latinx in Action community in Massachusetts operates more like a non-profit than a traditional church. They show the love of Christ in action, operating a food bank, serving their neighbors through a variety of community service programs, and spending their Sunday mornings volunteering with local agencies. Along the way, the good news of Jesus Christ is witnessed, not just in words, but in deeds. 

And there is a new worshipping community right here in our Presbytery, located in a garden in Longmont. The Round Urban Garden, on the grounds of Westview Presbyterian Church, invites anyone in the community to come and put their hands in the dirt and help grow nutritious food for a local food pantry. On Thursday nights, they celebrate Picnic Church, which includes a message, prayer, music, and a simple potluck dinner. This garden church has welcomed new immigrant families, given respite to stressed-out bank managers, and fed hundreds of people in the community in body and spirit. 

First on Fourth is not exactly new. We’re nearing 150 years old as a faith community. But in many ways, we are embodying that understanding of faith in motion. Through my almost 6 years here, we have continually climbed new mountains, set new goals, crafted new visions, dreamed new dreams. From the Art Hub camp to our online ministries, from Green Team projects to the upcoming Supper Squads, we are a community that understands that faith is not reaching a destination. It is something that happens along the way as we continue to move in the new directions the Spirit leads us. 

I’ve been so grateful for our current faith formation series on imagination, as it encourages us to continue climbing, visioning, dreaming, imagining. It pushes us to keep moving. 

And I’m excited to see where this imaginative motion will lead us. As we hear stories this summer of things that happen along the way in scripture, I hope we will listen for where the Spirit is calling us as a church and as individuals. I hope we’ll be attentive to what is happening along the way in our own faith journeys. I hope we’ll accept that along with our faith there is a measure of doubt. And that doubt simply reminds us that our journey isn’t finished. 

There are people in our community and in the world who have not experienced the grace of God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. There are people who do not know the deep and mysterious love of our Triune God. There are people who are longing for that intimate connection, that liberating justice, that indescribable peace that we find along the way in our faith journeys.

So we will keep traveling on. We will pursue new horizons of faith and love and justice and peace. We will accept Jesus’s commission to take the gospel beyond the mountaintop, beyond the walls of this church, beyond the boundaries of doctrine and tradition.

And we will know that wherever our journey takes us, Jesus is with us, all along the way.

Thanks be to God. Amen.