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SERMON

                  Pentecostal Nanobots          

                                   Matthew 28:16-20

 

 Pastor Robyn Hogue                      June 15, 2014            Skyline Presbyterian Church

 

 

School is either out or almost out and it feels like the summer season is about to begin. In the church our “seasons” are not determined by temperature changes or the rhythm of equinox and solstice. Instead of fall, winter, spring, and summer, the church calendar recognizes seven “seasons:”

Advent                                                                                                                       
Christmas-Epiphany                                                                                                                         Lent-HolyWeek                                                                                                                                 Easter
Pentecost
Ordinary Days

Unlike those other “four seasons” that neatly divvy up the year into four equal parts, the church seasons are all of different lengths. Advent is only four Sundays long. Lent is observed for six Sundays. Holy Week gets its own “season.” But by far the majority of the church year is designated as the “Ordinary Days” or “Sundays after Pentecost” — depending on what church calendar you are using, up to twenty-seven Sundays in all, with this week being the first of those many “Pentecost Sundays.”

The reason for such a lop-sided division of the “seasons” in the church is explained in part by this week’s gospel text. Matthew 28:16-20 This portion of the Bible is identified as the “The Great Commission.”

In these few verses Matthew manages to encapsulate the whole of His gospel story. The earthly Jesus appears now as the risen Lord, and He is worshiped as such by His disciples.

Jesus affirms that He has “all authority in heaven and on earth.” With that authority Jesus passes along the privilege of spreading the gospel. His disciples are to continue teaching the message He has preached and they are promised that His presence will be with them in all that they do, even “to the end of the age.” Alleviating hunger and advancing peace are noble causes. They are worthy of our attention and investment. But according to this passage in Matthew they are secondary to our main assignment. Our main assignment is here: The Great Commission.

You might even call The Great Commission “Jesus’ Last Tweet.” In this passage Jesus affirmed all that He proclaimed, all that He was, all that He fulfilled, all that He promised. And all of those “alls” He passed on with a new power, the power of the Holy Spirit. He passed it to His first generation of disciples and to all of those who would be disciples in the future. What an amazing tweet!

But wait a minute. Those “first generation,” first post-Pentecost disciples were minuscule in numbers. They had been twelve. (They would be twelve again when Paul joined their ranks.) But at the end of Matthew they were eleven…eleven followers given a charge to change the world by the risen Lord they knew to be “large and in charge,” a Savior who had promised to be with them, beside them, before them, behind them, with every step they took.

Bigger is always better . . . right? That is the mantra of the world. More money. More fame. More influence. More celebrity. That is what gets the world’s attention: More, More, More.

But there is another huge — no TINY — revolution going on under our usual radar. The most cutting edge research going on in our world today is within something called “nanotechnology.” This is one of the four key pioneering sciences of our day: Genetics, Robotics, Information Technology, and Nanotechnology, or GRIN, for short.

The last, nanotechnology, only works in the realm of the infinitesimal. Anything that is “nano” is, by scientific definition, being done by nanometers — that is a measurement that is one-billionth of a meter (a meter is just over 3 feet). Scientists are using amazing microscopic abilities to engineer working machines that are smaller than our DNA.

The miniscule, ultra-microscopic existence of these “nanobots” are revolutionizing medicine, manufacturing, home improvement, every arena of life. Whether nano-scientists are making paint more resistant to weather or whether they may be able to help our bodies resist diseases like cancer, nanotechnology is the twenty-first century incarnation of how something small can impact the entire known universe. 

The disciples were the “nanobots” of the first century. They were miniscule nobodies with nothing impressive to offer. They were eleven followers of a crucified messiah. There was no possible way they could ever do anything.

Yet they did. They did everything necessary. They turned the world upside down. They changed everything.

When the risen Christ commissioned and charged His remaining eleven disciples with His Spirit and power, He created “pentecostal nanobots” seemingly small, unimpressive charges that ultimately changed the world. This insignificant group of individuals was uniquely “charged.” They were “charged” with the power of cohesiveness. They were to stay together as a community of faith. These Pentecostal nanobots, were charged with a life-changing charge of power. Jesus’ “charge” made His first generation of disciples, and every generation since, into the body of disciples who can “hold their own” in the face of whatever this world brings. Jesus charged His disciples with the power of His authority and with the presence of His Spirit. It was this “charge” that made it possible for the disciples to welcome diversity, stay together, witness together, and spread the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

Are we charged? On this first Sunday of Pentecost we are called to be “charged up.” The “commissioning of the disciples” is not merely a historical event… it is a daily reality. Jesus’ disciples are first charged with the Holy Spirit — a force that bonds them together in a way that no other force on earth could possibly imitate.

But there is also a second “zap” for disciples of Jesus, for those who would claim the directive to be in mission. That second “charge” is not just to affirm, but to attest. Not just to be charged up to witness certain things, but to be charged up to witness to certain things. Being a disciple is not just about believing. Being a disciple is all about proclaiming that belief, spreading that good news of the power of the risen Christ to any and all.

I could not find the author of the following, but I have adapted it for our use today.

We are the fellowship of Pentecostal Nanobots.
We have Holy Spirit power.

We have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made.
We are disciples of Jesus Christ.

We won’t look back, let up, slow down or back away.

Our past is redeemed,
Our present makes sense, Our future secure.

We are finished and done with low living, small planning,
tame division, colorless dreams, mundane talking,                                                                               cheap giving and mediocre goals.

We no longer need preeminence, position,
promotion or popularity.

We don’t have to be right.
We don’t have to be first.
We don’t have to be recognized, praised, or rewarded.

We live by faith, lean on the Spirit’s presence,                                                                                                walk by discernment, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

Our face is set, our gait is fast, our goal is Heaven on Earth.
Our road is narrow, our way is rough, our companions few.                                                                  Our Guide reliable - Our mission clear.

We cannot be bought, compromised, detoured,                                                                                lured away, turned back,                                                                                                             deluded or delayed.

We will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,
hesitate in the presence of the adversary,
negotiate at the table of the enemy,
meander in the maze of mediocrity.

We won’t give up, shut up, let up.
Until we’ve, spread the cause of Christ.
We are Pentecostal Nanobots!