Stewardship: Presence

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Central Verse:

“…And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b NRSV

Central Truth:

We are a distracted and distractible people. I have to be intentional about putting my phone down in the evenings. We are pressed to give attention to everything and everyone on an equal basis, the call apps like Facebook and Twitter are almost irresistible to some and while it is possible to have meaningful relationships over these apps the time spent is often wasteful rather than fruitful.

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew we receive what is commonly known as the great commission. I’ve heard many sermons talking about the great commission and I’ve done more than a few sermons on it myself but the key part I want to focus on is the last verse. That Christ promises to be with us. Christ promises his presence in our lives all the way to the end of the world.

Because of all the important things to talk about in this section I have noticed that in the past I have skipped over looking at this verse. This verse tells us that Christ values our relationship and is going to invest time and energy into it.

I have often heard people talk about the church and talk about what they don’t like about local congregations. Then there are occasions that I talk to people and I hear only wonderful things about their church and their experiences in their church. What’s interesting is that it’s often within the same church I’m getting these vastly different testimonials. I’ve had to ask myself what is different between the two individuals and their experiences. Often what the difference is, is that one has invested time and the other has not.

Another key part to understanding this text is the relationship between doubt and faith. There is clearly mention in this text that the disciples doubt. While we are focusing for stewardship on the ideas of presence, God’s presence with us and our presence in the church, we would do a great disservice to ourselves to ignore that the relationship of faith and doubt are not polar opposites. Somehow faith and doubt exists together and there should be space made for each within our churches.

Food For Thought: (questions about the text)

This text is known as the Great Commandment but in a literal translation we see that there is nothing commanded here. How might we suggest the call to do what Christ says here?

Connections: (time with our society)

When we take membership vows in our church we promise to participate in the ministries of the church. This is not giving money or giving of time, those are separate sermons which we’ll get to in the next few weeks. Participation, presence, means an investment in our relationships together. When you serve the homeless at one of our ministries, or give out food at the food pantry. When you participate in bible study, and you show up on Sunday morning, regularly, you are forming relationships with each other and with God.

You cannot have a healthy relationship with God or the church unless you are present in a relationship with them. None of this is to say you can’t take a Sunday off or miss a bible study on occasion. This is more to point to the fact that if you want a growing church and if you want a relationship with God you have to invest yourself in that relationship. Christ promises to be with us always, God promises to walk with us. We in turn promise as members of the local church to invest of ourselves into each other and into our relationship with God. This doesn’t mean that when you invest your presence you’ll get a warm fuzzy feeling all over for your church. Church can be frustrating sometimes! The people who I’ve invested in the most in my life often frustrate me, but I value them enough to continue to invest in them.

Application:

Questions:

Discussion:

Baptismal Covenant II, UMH 43, paragraph 16 “We give thanks for all that God has already given you and we welcome you in Christian love. As members together with you in the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church, we renew our covenant faithfully to participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” – we use the baptismal covenant to remind ourselves what it means to be a member in the Methodist church. How do you live up to this? What are some way’s you fall short? How might we together encourage more participation?

Close in prayer: