[0:00] Well, good morning. Good morning and welcome to Christ Church Chicago.
[0:12] I'm so glad that you're here with us today. My name is David Helm and I'm on the pastoral team here. And it is obvious by your attendance and many of you men in suits that Easter is an event.
[0:35] But I want to talk today to what end. A lot is happening in our minds today as the church gathers to celebrate the resurrection.
[0:50] We affirm Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. But so what? For Matthew, in his account, Easter is not so much about Christ's resurrection appearances as it is about the implications.
[1:20] If you're wondering, so what with Easter? Then Matthew is your writer.
[1:32] I mean, at least from the chapter that was read here, three simple paragraphs. He does provide an appearance of Christ raised from the dead.
[1:45] But it yields to the only account we have of a cover-up story that would account for the lack of his body in the grave.
[1:58] Finished off with this commission by him to those who followed him in that early day. Let me see if I can position Matthew in contrast to the other gospel writers.
[2:17] If you had come to Easter Sunday at Christ Church Chicago and we were reading from Luke, there would have been three resurrection appearances.
[2:27] If we had been reading from Mark's gospel, inclusive of the longer ending, he would have made large on four resurrection appearances.
[2:43] Easter as the event. If we had settled in from John's gospel, we would have had five resurrection appearances.
[2:53] But with Matthew, we have but one. Evidently, Matthew is not overly concerned with us seeing Jesus.
[3:11] Rather, he simply wants you to consider the implication of Easter. That the Jesus who saves is the Jesus who sends.
[3:26] Can we talk about that this morning? Jesus sends. I'm not here today to help you get a glimpse of him.
[3:39] But of him giving you the go-ahead to get on your way. Let me put it, if I can, by way of Good Friday and Easter.
[3:53] On Good Friday, we know that Jesus saves. But come Easter Sunday, Jesus sends. And let me look at it this way.
[4:04] Jesus has every right to send. I mean, we're launched right there into verse 16 through 18. I'll pick it up at 18.
[4:15] And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Jesus has the right to send people with the message of his resurrection.
[4:31] And that right is grounded in that truth. All authority has been given unto me. Did you notice the aspects of authority in the text?
[4:42] They were spatial. They were, here it is, terrestrial. They were temporal. They were spatial. All authority in heaven and on earth.
[4:55] That's a lot of authority. They were also terrestrial. All authority on earth to the ends of the earth to all nations on this globe.
[5:11] And they were temporal. Lo, I will be with you always. All authority over all people for all time.
[5:21] On the basis of that authority, he has every right to make sure that his resurrection will be made known.
[5:32] In fact, it's the authority of Jesus that was Matthew's theme from the opening verse of his gospel. He gave you genealogies of Jesus, calling him the son of David, the son of Abraham.
[5:47] These two Old Testament luminaries. One of which we were to see a ruler emerge from all time through the line of David. The other of which we were to see the promised blessings of God go to all people.
[6:01] And so Matthew opens his gospel. That I'm going to tell you about Jesus, who is for all people. Whose son, in his son, is the one who has rule over all people.
[6:13] And he closes on the same place. All authority given to him. And in his gospel, all authority was given to Jesus in his teaching. They were astonished at his preaching.
[6:26] All authority was given to Jesus over disease. Over demonic hosts. Over death. All authority was given to Jesus in the temple when he replaced the teaching of those who held forth the Torah.
[6:41] And so it closes with all authority now. Based on my resurrection. Based on life. And I am life. All authority has been given to me. Make my resurrection known.
[6:54] He has the right to sin. Just a word. Just a word. To all of us today. This is the first implication of Easter. The so what of Easter.
[7:08] Begin living your life under his authority today. Can you imagine. Can you imagine. Flaunting the authority.
[7:19] Of one. Who has all authority. Over all people. For all time. This is what becoming a Christian is. It's turning from your self-governing ways.
[7:34] Concerning what you're going to do with your life. And giving it to Jesus. And learning of him. And prayerfully asking to be directed anywhere he might send you.
[7:50] To crown him. With many crowns. To have your soul awakened. That you might sing. To hail him as your matchless king.
[8:02] And to do so through all eternity. Wouldn't it be a great thing? You walk in here today. To consider the Easter event. And you walk out.
[8:13] Under the authority. Of the risen Lord. Not only does he have every right to send. Look at verses 19 through 20.
[8:24] A with me. He has every intention. To send. Go therefore. And make disciples of all nations.
[8:36] Baptizing them. In the name of the Father. And of the Son. And of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe. All that I have. Commanded you. All authority has been given to him.
[8:47] But in these verses. Our task. Is to make disciples. Of him. That's the task of the church. You don't have to go into a committee.
[8:58] For three months. To determine. The functional task of the church. We're given it. We're right here. To make disciples. Of him.
[9:09] Interesting. With all those words in there. The going. The teaching. The baptizing. The making. It's this. Make disciples. Which is the command. It's the dominant.
[9:20] Umbrella. Over which all those other words. Find their meaning. It's the verb of making. Making disciples. Is our must. You know.
[9:32] The word disciples. Is learners. Just last week. Pastor Pace. Was preaching from Ephesians. And one of the questions. Listening to the readers. Are. Did you learn Christ.
[9:42] In that way. This. This learning. Is. Were you. Discipled. In the early days. On how to follow him. And right here. At the very outset. He's saying. That's what the church.
[9:53] Is called to do. That which is given. To the apostles. In their life. Is the pattern. For all of those. Who come after him. This is again.
[10:04] The implication. Of Easter. Not only that. All authority. Has been given to him. Therefore. You give him. Your life. But that you are to now. Make disciples. Of him. That's why he gives you.
[10:17] Breath. When. Well. While going. Go. And make. It really carries.
[10:29] The sense of. While going. When do you make. Disciples. While. While going. Going where. Going anywhere.
[10:41] Going everywhere. The. The resurrection. Of Jesus. Ought to be on the lips. Of the church. As far. As the church. Is found.
[10:52] On the streets. Of Chicago. While going. While going. To the lab. While going. To the coffee shop. While going.
[11:02] To your dry cleaner. While going. To your neighbor. For sugar. While going. To your condo meeting. In the midst. Of consternation. While going.
[11:13] While going. Every hour. Of every day. The church. Ought to be on the task. Of making.
[11:25] Disciples. And as we do that. We do it. Through teaching. And through. Baptizing. You can't make disciples.
[11:36] Without telling people. What Jesus said. That. So. While speaking. The necessity. Of speaking. It isn't.
[11:46] Enough. To merely let. Everyone. See your behavior. As a. Right. Upstanding. Chicagoan. Lest. They only. Attribute.
[11:57] To you. Some moral. Compass. For your actions. What needs. To happen. Is teaching. Proclaiming. Speaking.
[12:08] Saying to the friend. In the dorm room. Have you ever. Thought. Through. Jesus. From this gospel. It's as simple. And as difficult.
[12:19] As that. Speaking. Baptizing. While going. And to whom. I love this part. Of the text.
[12:29] We are to go. It says. To all. Nations. All nations. Sometimes. I would love.
[12:40] To do the experiment. I don't know. I don't know. If I have the guts. To do it. This morning. The word here. Is ethne. Ethnicities. Make disciples.
[12:52] From all. Ethnicities. Multiple. Ethnicities. We normally. Think of. Ethnicities. In the terms of.
[13:04] One's. Nation. Language. Place of origin. Whereas your. Your culture. Can be. Distinct.
[13:14] From your. Ethnicities. But I wonder. What would happen. If I paused. I'm thinking. I might do this. For 30 seconds.
[13:30] And just had people. Audibly. Proclaim. Their ethnicity. And. Give it a run.
[13:44] German. Chinese. Chinese. Puerto Rican.
[13:58] African American. Nigerian. Netherlands. Netherlands. Mexican.
[14:11] Egyptian. Filipino. Colombian. Britain.
[14:24] Italian. Panama. Texan.
[14:43] That's a man that said, enough of this, I know how to end this thing. I love it. I love it. All nations.
[14:56] All ethnicities. That's the implication of Easter. The verbal witness to the resurrection of Jesus to as many ethnicities as there are on the globe.
[15:23] What a context God has placed this particular church within. Most people don't have the luxury, the privilege, or the honor of being in a context like ours.
[15:36] Most people on the globe live in a much more homogeneously inclined ethnic context. Not ours. Let me say it again.
[15:46] The 2020 census numbers are in on our streets. If you take Woodlawn, Hyde Park, South Shore, and Grand Boulevard, that alone, 13% white, 75% black, 5% Asian, 4% Hispanic, Latino, 2% other.
[16:09] You want to get narrower? Go to Hyde Park alone. Ten years ago, it was 46% white. Today, it's 40%. The Latino population has risen in Hyde Park up to 16% from 12%.
[16:24] Take the fact that we live in the midst of a world-class university, and their demographics are even different than the other two I've already mentioned. 38% white, 14% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 4.5% black.
[16:40] Now, depending upon where you want to start from here, you are probably a majority culture. But when you think of the complete thing here, you are obviously a minority culture.
[16:51] In this context, we are called to make disciples from all nations, and all nations are here.
[17:03] You are perhaps one of the most privileged congregations in the world. To not have to go anywhere, but while going, complete what is here asked.
[17:16] And then to form one family that works it out together? This is the privileged calling of Christ Church.
[17:28] The vision of Christ Church Chicago cannot be less than our desire to become a local church whose membership is made up of the multiple ethnicities of those who presently reside in Woodlawn and her neighboring communities.
[17:44] Let me put it to you in last week's terms. We had five people, or two weeks ago, global ministry partners up here. We presently support six families and individuals that are going to the nations by leaving here, and we're actually helping fund their work in all nations.
[18:03] And they're all over the globe. We need more. I sat in the front row last week, or whenever that message was, where the global ministry partners were here, and all I could think of was, who here has a burden as they're listening to them to go anywhere for Jesus?
[18:24] Who in our midst should be sent from here with the gospel of Jesus? And how can we cultivate that? How can we clarify that calling?
[18:37] How can we test that calling? How can we support that calling? Christ Church Chicago ought to be making disciples while going on our streets, but we ought to be making disciples as we send people out all over the globe in the coming years with his gospel.
[18:55] We ought to train everyone. You cannot make disciples without actually knowing what is the gospel, and how can I share the gospel, and have I for myself actually apprehended the gospel?
[19:08] But once you know what the gospel is, and how through faith you apprehend the gospel, then your whole life changes no matter what vocation you're in. We need a ministry apprenticeship program.
[19:23] We need men and women who are clearly set apart to accomplish the task that Jesus gives his followers at the end of Matthew's gospel.
[19:34] We should see not just laymen and women going all over the city with the gospel. We should see God raising up men and women for full-time vocational work in the gospel. If this is indeed the implication of Easter, what else would we do?
[19:50] Why are we here? If not for these very purposes. For some, it's going to mean that you move here for the gospel.
[20:04] Perhaps you're visiting from another part of the country or world today. Perhaps God is sending you here for the gospel, and perhaps God is sending people here somewhere else for the gospel.
[20:16] But this is God's call upon our life. Jesus has the right to send. Jesus has every intention to send. Look at this third point.
[20:30] Jesus promised presence when he sends. Verse 20, the very last part. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[20:45] I am going to put it to you this way. Wherever Jesus sends you, he promises to go with you.
[21:00] Now, this is a truth that needs to get in your marrow. Because Jesus is saying this to the apostles. He is leaving. They are going. And he is promising that with them he is coming.
[21:13] How does this happen? What is this? What is this Easter encouragement? Let me just say, and I'm not going to tell you, but I've got two people's names written down in my notes from this congregation.
[21:33] And I'm supposed to be thinking about them while I'm preaching. This point. Because one of these is going and one of these is coming.
[21:45] And whether you're going or you're coming, you need to know that he won't send you without going with you. How does he do this?
[21:57] By the power of the resurrection. By the power of resurrection that raised Jesus from the dead, by that power, through the Holy Spirit, he gives us life and gives us his spirit.
[22:14] So that by his spirit, he remains with us, even though he is seated in the heavenlies. That he can be there, and yet his spirit can be in here.
[22:26] That is the promised sending of the comforter that you will need to carry out the directives of your commission. I think of Paul at the end of his life where he says, no one stood by me, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the gospel might go to the ends of the earth.
[22:48] Now, I don't know if Paul had a physical apparition of Jesus or not, because he had a couple of those in his lifetime. You're not going to get that. I'm not going to get that. But you are going to get the Holy Spirit who dwells within you, always going with you.
[23:02] He says, and behold, I am with you always. One day you will see him, but that's the future. One day you'll be with him, but that's not today.
[23:15] But until that day, he has every right to send you wherever he wants you to go. He has every intention of sending you to wherever he would place you.
[23:26] And he wants you now to know that he will always be with you. He will always be with you. If he is moving you, he will be with you. 24 years ago, our family moved here for the gospel.
[23:46] I can attest. He has always been with us.
[23:59] When I didn't see him, his spirit enabled us to persevere. When I didn't hear from him, his spirit enabled us to persevere.
[24:12] When I had questions for him, his word enabled us to persevere. I am a living witness of the truth of this gospel close.
[24:26] Behold, he is with you always. And when you leave here today and you go back to your room or go back to your place and you're all by yourself and the demons come and you wonder, is he really here or not here?
[24:40] Through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, he will not abandon you. Never. He will never abandon you. You are never alone when you're alone.
[24:52] This is an incredible implication of Easter. Jesus saves on Good Friday, but today is Easter.
[25:07] And my friends, my family, he is in the business of sending. I'm thinking of that song.
[25:18] I cast my mind to Calvary Where Jesus bled and died for me I see his wounds, his hands, his feet My Savior on that cursed tree That's Good Friday.
[25:44] But then it goes Easter. Then on the third, at break of dawn The Son of Heaven rose again O trampled death, where is your sting?
[26:04] The angels cry for Christ the King If you know the chorus, bring it Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God Oh, praise his name forever Forevermore For endless days We will sing your praise Oh, Lord Oh, Lord Oh, Lord Oh, Lord Our God Our Heavenly Father Easter's here So what?
[26:50] May we grab the implications of the event May we know that All authority has been given to him May we know our purpose To go and make disciples of him But may we know your promised presence That we will never be left without him In Jesus' name we pray Amen Amen