Sunday, May 31, 2026: "The End of the Story is Just the Beginning"

Watch the Sermon here

 First United Presbyterian Church

“The End of the Story is Just the Beginning”

Rev. Amy Morgan

May 31, 2026

Matt. 28:16-20

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

This is the end of the story. We’ve just heard the very last words of Jesus, the final sentence in the Gospel of Matthew. The credits are about to start rolling on the film of the Jesus epic. 

And yet, as we know all too well from the number of Downtown Abbey sequels, this story is really just beginning. This final scene is actually a set-up for the next chapter in a much bigger story, a story that is traced through the letters of Paul and the narrative of Acts, through the Christian diaspora, through monastic communities and schisms and Reformations, through revivals and awakenings, through the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. 

Like any good story, the final chapter in the Jesus story contains six important elements - who, what, when, where, why, and how.  

 

The “who” is a bunch of disciples who are filled with doubt. We don’t know exactly what they doubted. Were they still not entirely convinced Jesus was real? Did they worry about the future of the Jesus movement? Were they anxious that he might abandon them again? 

Or did they sense that the burden of carrying this message, this ministry of teaching, healing and participating in God’s realm on earth, was about to fall to them, and they weren’t up for it? Did they doubt their abilities, their capacities, their commitment? Did they doubt each other?

Perhaps this little statement, but they doubted, encompasses all these doubts. 

 

The disciples had come through a terrifying and magnificent adventure with Jesus –witnessing his miracles and teaching, living through the events leading up to his death,  

experiencing the hopelessness of seeing him crucified, and finally joyfully finding him risen from the grave. The disciples were ready for the story to be over, at least for a while. They were ready to sit back, process what had happened, take a breather, make a plan. They are not ready for what Jesus throws at them instead.

Before they can even begin to express their doubt, before they can catch their breath from this whirlwind experience, before they can feel prepared and equipped, Jesus sends them out. This is the “what” of the story: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, not just the ones you like, or are familiar with, or are comfortable in. ALL nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, make these nations disciples of the one triune God, not followers of an earthly teacher, not your personal devotees. And teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Teach them, don’t ask them to follow blindly. Teach them everything, not just the parts you wholeheartedly agree with and understand fully. Teach them what Jesus taught, what he commanded. The what of the story isn’t about how smart and accomplished the disciples are. It’s about who Jesus is and how he lived, the example he set and the way he demonstrated. 

The “why” of this story makes that even more clear. Jesus’ disciples have been loyal, faithful, and hardworking. But that isn’t why they are told to go and keep the story alive. Jesus tells them that All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Because of Jesus and his authority, the action happens. Jesus didn’t make the disciples part of the story because they’d earned it or because he had so much confidence in them. The “why” of this story has nothing to do with the disciples and everything to do with Jesus. 

This doesn’t feel terribly motivating, sort of a “go do this because I said so” kind of statement. And yet, it is delivered with urgency. The “when” of the story is now. Go. Get on with this work. 

And the “where” of the story is no less daunting. All nations. The whole, wide world. The entire known universe. Places you’ve never been, never heard of, never knew existed. That’s the new headquarters of the Jesus movement. 

 

Finally, Jesus comes to the “how” of this story. To understand the full significance of this “how,” we need to back up in our story just a bit. This last part of the Jesus story comes on the heels of the account of guards who were paid off by the religious authorities to keep quiet about what they saw at the tomb. This is an atmosphere of silencing the gospel, and Jesus is telling the disciples to spread the good news to all nations.   

Because the disciples did live out this great commission, we can be assured by their witness and by all those who came after them. But the disciples had no such luxury.   

They were the first to wrestle with the miracle of the resurrection, and it is little wonder that some still doubted. These are not confident, certain, rock-solid disciples. They are confused and questioning. They don’t know what’s going on. How on earth are they supposed to spread a gospel they’re not even sure they understand in an environment that is trying to silence them?

Jesus’s answer is this: 

Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.    

Jesus is the “how.”   

Jesus is the main character in this story from beginning to end.  

 

It is a story we continue to tell, and a story we continue to be a part of.   

 

Now here’s the major plot twist:  

not only are we characters in the Jesus story as it continues today, we know that it is more than a story. We are the “who” in the current episode of the gospel. And that means we, like the disciples, may be filled with doubt. We might come here on Sundays and worship, just like those first disciples on the mountaintop. And we also might wonder who Jesus really is and have all kinds of doubts about what we think and believe. We might have serious doubts about the future of the Jesus movement and worry that Jesus may have left the building. We might feel the burden of participating in this movement, doubting our abilities, our capacities, our commitment. We might even doubt each other. And that means we are exactly who we’re supposed to be as characters in this chapter of the Jesus story. 

The “what” in this story is something we wrestle with in every choice and action.   

What are we called to do as followers of Jesus?   

How do we interpret the “what” of the Jesus story in this particular time and place?   

The “what” of this story effects our decisions and living in ways that are far too real to call this “just a story.”   

We often neglect the “when” of our story, forgetting the urgency of Jesus’s command to “GO. Go NOW.” Maybe next year, when we’ve got more time. Maybe once our health improves. Maybe when we have more training and experience. Maybe when LITERALLY no one else will do it. THEN, we’ll go. Then, we’ll follow Jesus’s command. 

And we really struggle with the “where” in our story. Are we all supposed to become globe-trotting missionaries like Hunter Farrell? No. Even Hunter hasn’t gone to ALL nations. But there are folks living right next door to us, in our own families, in our own homes, who do not know the abundant life offered to us in Jesus Christ. Within this one nation, there are so many different cultures, contexts, and communities that we could spend a lifetime serving God’s realm on earth and never leave the borders of Loveland.  

The “why” in this story is asked everywhere in our lives –   

why do we care for others,  

why do we read and study scripture,  

why do we come to church,  

why do we believe in God?   

The “why” of the Jesus story is very real, and very present.   

 

Finally, the “how” of this story is, at times, our greatest hope and only comfort. Knowing that Jesus is with us from beginning to end is what carries us through the dark and lonely places in our lives; it is what gives us courage and confidence to make difficult decisions and take bold actions; it is what provides sanctuary when we feel overwhelmed; it is what keeps our heads above water when we feel like we’re sinking.   

 

Jesus is with us from beginning to end.   

 

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 the story going. With all of our faith and all of our doubt, we will keep the story going. We will keep Jesus at the center of all we do, and we will serve our neighbors of all nations with a sense of urgency. We will do it with the presence of Jesus always with us. 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.