Jane
and Gracie moved into our house a few months ago to enjoy a new beginning.
Meals in our house are very healthy, which means we eat lots of vegetables and lean meats. Each night, Gracie carefully plates her food to avoid the vegetables
that she does not like. Once on
her plate, she picks around her food to insure she separates out anything that
she doesn’t want to eat. When the meal is finished, one can see that Gracie has
successfully picked out the peas (and everything green).
So often when we come to the table of
worship, we pick out the promises and separate out the accountability, leaving that part behind. If it is challenging or difficult, we would rather
push it aside, and focus only on the promise. When the meal is finished, we
cling to the parts we liked and leave the rest on the plate.
Here
is a question that is essential for us to consider. So often Jesus gives a command, followed by instructions on
how to follow that command. Then he follows it up with a promise of some
kind. But, can we ignore the
command, skip over the instructions and still claim the promise? Let’s apply this question to an actual passage.
Matthew
28:18-20 reads this way, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. God therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We
love to claim the promise that Jesus is with us to the end of the age. God’s presence and support is an
amazing promise. However, that
promise follows the command to make disciples, and the instructions on how to
accomplish the disciple making process.
Can we claim the promise of the presence if we ignore the call to
go? If we avoid making disciples,
or the accountability of ministry involvement, can we legitimately claim the
promise of “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”?
God
wants us to accept the roughage, the greens, and the peas. The commands and instructions
are good for us, and also for the church, and world. Promises are so much
sweeter when the whole scripture is taken together. Commands, instructions, and
promises are together for a reason.
It is time we eat our peas.
