“Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to
Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment
they saw him they worshipped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about
worship, about risking themselves totally.
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his
charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train
everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism
in the threefold name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the
practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day
after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28: 16-20 (Message)
The cool thing about Scripture and interpretations is this:
many people see/receive many things from them. The above Scripture is one that
many denominations/traditions interpret in many ways. I love the way The
Message version eloquently expresses the tension of some disciples, “Some,
though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.”
No matter how you interpret, view or look upon this passage
you have to admit that this phrase captures the emotions and reservations of
the disciples perfectly. I can imagine that the disciples were a group of
people with different backgrounds, different stories – much like us FTE
Fellows. We all came to this place with different stories, different ways of
interpretation, different callings. I can also imagine how reserved some of us
might have been on those first few days. Some people simply holding back,
struggling, preventing themselves from “risking themselves totally.”
The Good News for us is that Jesus remains undeterred.
Regardless of what we bring to the table or how we approach our days, Jesus is
right there to give his charge. For us, The Holy Spirit began to do its magic
and by the end of day two you could feel a sweet Spirit in the air working in
and amongst us, loosening the hold we had on ourselves. Rev. Mike Waters put it
best at the end of day four, “there’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place.”
Today, we all witnessed how awesome and magnificent the power
of the Holy Spirit is. Closing worship is always powerful, but there was
something about today’s worship that really summed up our entire week at the conference. You could feel the power and witness in the
songs by the choir. You could feel the sincerity and vulnerability in the
sermon. You could feel the hurt and pain
in the voices of those who led us in the Hip Hop Prayers, “These are the
prayers of my people,” Rev. Waters said. The most powerful moment, for me, was
the prayers at the end of the service when we all gathered around our
roundtable leaders. It was simply a
moving experience. God truly was there with us. It was a beautiful experience,
one that served to move us to action, to realize our call – our commission.
No matter what we bring to the table, no matter where we are
along our journey, no matter our struggles or strengths Jesus remains ready to
send us to Galilee. “God authorized and commanded
me to commission you: Go!” It’s that
simple, just go!
I pray that God moves you in a mighty way towards action –
action that is honest, humble, sincere and genuine.
“God authorized and commanded me to
commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way
of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be
with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the
age.”
