“Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20)”
Yesterday we chatted about Jesus’ farewell when he tells his followers to go and make desciples and teach them. Jesus does not stop there. He says to teach others to obey everything Jesus commanded. That is a mouthful. Netflix has been featuring a movie “Megan Leavy” and I watched it yesterday. A young adult woman, Megan, grieving the death of her good friend, living with stepparents, and fed up with life, joins the Marines. She fights authority but must submit and gets teamed up with a huge German Shepherd that is very aggressive that must learn to submit to her leadership. They become a bomb sniffing team in Iraq and save lives. The story, though, shows how a deep bond is formed between dog and woman as both learn what “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” means. They are hit by an IUD and she leaves the service but the dog must keep working though hurt and is finally retired and she is allowed to adopt it. It’s a good tear jerker but true.
I suspect Jesus was not encouraging his followers to teach theology or to teach information about God in the same way we learn facts about the history of the United States to become citizens. Jesus’ commandments are about relationships, not rules! His commandments teach us how life works best. The laws in the kingdom of heaven create a just and loving society because we love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves.
I think of Jesus’ commands like “come unto me all who are weary,” or “love your enemy and forgive those who persecute you,” or all the teachings in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. We are told to teach others to follow the life of Christ who laid down his life for others. Medical ministries, educational ministries, orphanages, and welfare have grown institutionally out of this.
So perhaps the point of reflection today is to turn the flashlight inward and ask ourselves how well we are obeying God’s commandments. Is there anyone in my life that I need to take the first step to repair relationship with? There may even be someone deceased who abused me terribly or disappointed me terribly that I no longer have direct access to but to whom I could write a letter that I will then destroy after I turn that hurt over to God. Life is not fair and we are not perfect and often misunderstandings arise because we do not walk in the other’s shoes, but forgiveness is a choice we are always free to make.
Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. As we “go” and “make disciples” – impact others of all types, encouraging love and forgiveness, we can become new creations, baptized in the name of the triune God. There is hope for the future no matter how dismal the present may seem. And best of all, God walks with us and we are not alone. Thank you, Lord.
On the Way to Wonder 