Rev. Lisa Horst Clark

Message June 2, 2019

Matthew 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 some 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.”

I have been listening to this podcast, “How To Be a Girl,” about a mom raising her transgender daughter. The creator goes by the pseudonym Marlo Mack, and her child was assigned male at birth. At the age of three Marlo’s child was expressing a wish to climb back in her tummy because something was wrong: she was really a girl. And so a year later at four they transitioned, and now Marlo has a daughter; a beautiful little girl with long hair and twirly dresses who is now ten years old and most folks wouldn’t know is transgender.

And here is what I have noticed: every time as Marlo is telling this story and she names that someone she meets is Christian…I get tense. It is like when you are watching a movie and the ominous music comes on, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next, but there is a distinct possibility it could be terrible. Listening to this mom trying to raise her daughter  with all the worries parenting brings, and a few new ones, and the greatest signifier that someone might treat them with cruelty? It is the title Christian. Sometimes the ominous music in my head is unnecessary – the person ends up being decent. But whatever happens is built with this backdrop that from Christians they need to be on the lookout for hatred. And I both completely understand, and it breaks my heart, because of how completely the acts of Christians can be separated from Christ. The profound boundary-crossing, life-affirming, fill all the seats at the table, the last shall be first and the first shall be last Christ. And the knowledge that the only way that folks in the world might know this Christ— is through us Christians, it sometimes seems questionable if we are up to the task.

We have been looking at Jesus’ resurrection appearances. Here in the gospel of Matthew, after the empty tomb, the disciples are sent to Galilee. They climb a mountain, and are met by the risen Christ who then sends them on a task: “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.” And if you are wondering, this is where the gospel of Matthew ends. It is the final words on the matter. It is a text commonly known as the Great Commission. And it’s famous for complicated reasons.

In the text itself, what do we see but that the resurrection is paired with a call to action. It’s not just “look Jesus is raised.” That is linked explicitly to an expansion of their call and purpose to go and make disciples, not just from Jewish communities, but of all the nations. The history of how this text has been used is…fraught to say the least. When the economic powers called for colonization, it was this text that was lifted up; the call to make disciples of all the nations was turned into an excuse to abuse and oppress and destroy untold civilizations in the guise of seeing their conversion to Christianity. On a mission against the heathens, this text has been used as a banner to justify a number of atrocities. Which is the kind of fact that makes me feel downright ill.

The late Rachel Held E