I find it interesting that today as we commemorate the Trinity doctrine, the church assigns the Bible reading that includes Jesus' Great Commission — Jesus' mandate to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). You can't do evangelism without believing in the Trinity, proclaiming the Triune God in whose name we baptize. And to believe in the Trinity, it seems, is to be an evangelist. That's the way it's supposed to work, but it does not feel that simple when you hear these words as calling you to be an evangelist. Let's face it, doing evangelism does not come easy for most of us.
I am right about our problems with evangelism, am I not? Most laity feel that that's the job of the pastor with a little help from the evangelism committee. Most of us say we do not have those gifts. Part of the problem is that it is a matter of our lack of confidence, a feeling that we do not know enough or do not feel comfortable approaching strangers. Another problem is that much of the purpose-driven talk we hear in churches these days is about the "mandatory" character of the mission of the Great Commission to do evangelism.1 If doing evangelism is mandatory, and we're not doing a very good job about it, what does that say about our relationship to God? What does that say about being a Christian and doing evangelism? It doesn't sound like much fun, more like a burden. Is that what Jesus intends? It seems a little strange, insofar as according to Matthew these were Jesus' last words to his disciples before leaving them at the Ascension to return to the Father, that he would lay that kind of burden on his followers. Let's see.
Our gospel lesson's account of Jesus' commissioning the disciples is unique to Matthew, and so we need to get clear on the point Matthew seems to have been trying to make. There is a general consensus among biblical scholars that a core commitment of Matthew is to believe that the earthly Jesus and the exalted Christ are one. This seems implied in our gospel lesson today, as Matthew only reports in verse 18 that Jesus "came up" (proselthown) — language which is just as conducive to a heavenly appearance as it is to an earthly, bodily appearance.2
Why does it matter? This point seems to be Matthew's way of drawing us into the story. Because if there is a thin line between Jesus' post-resurrection earthly appearances and his heavenly communications since that time, then time itself is blurred. This entails that Jesus appeared to the disciples in a manner not different from the way in which he comes to you and me today. As a result of his fusing the time of Jesus and the time of the church, Matthew is effectively communicating to us that the disciples represent all future generations of believers. They represent you and me!3
What does Jesus say to us? Because all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him, we are to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..." (Matthew 28:18b-19). You and I have been commissioned, to do the work of evangelism. But wait, there are some nuances to Matthews' version of this commission that put some new, happy light on how to do evangelism.
New Testament scholars like to point out that because Matthew is the most Jewish of all the gospel writers, he tends to focus more on obedience. This is evident in his version of the Great Commission, as it is not so much preaching or the conjuring of the Spirit that is to be done in evangelism (Luke 24:46-48; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:22-23), but instead evangelists are to teach to the targets of evangelism "to obey everything ... [Christ] commanded ..." (Matthew 28:20).4
Does that mean evangelism is commanded? It is not insignificant to remind ourselves that before Matthew had Jesus tell his disciples and us that we were to teach potential converts to obey what Christ commanded, he refers to baptism in the name of the Triune God. Again we are reminded that evangelism and the Triune God are inextricably linked. Let's also not forget that if evangelism includes obedience to what Christ commanded, the first point Matthew wants readers to know about Jesus' way of living was to tell the story of how Jesus began his ministry after his baptism by John by dealing with temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). And the main point of that temptation was to provide Jesus with an opportunity to testify that we are to "Worship the Lord ... God and serve only him" (Matthew 4:10; 6:33 cf).
Get the point? The heart of the obedient lifestyle to which evangelism aims is to focus on God alone. We are back to the main point I have been trying to make in this sermon. Evangelism comes easy, and it's a lot more fun, when you're focused on God.
Let's start with the nature of that God on whom we are focused. We have talked all along about the Trinity and the celebration of that mystery today. Contemplate that mystery with me for a moment.
What does it mean to say that God is Triune? It entails that God is a relational or communal God. He is always in a relationship with himself. The Father relates to the Son and to the Spirit, and the Spirit relates to the Son. Think of it. Forever and ever God has been in relationship. He is no solitary God.
You and I are created in the image of God, the Bible teaches (Genesis 1:26-27). That has implications for evangelism, for community life, and for doing justice in society. Carl Henry, the famous American Conservative Evangelical theologian and long-time editor of the Right's premier magazine, Christianity Today, had it right. He once wrote, "Trinitarian religion involves all men's relations to God and to society; the social relationships within the Trinity call out against any antisocial interpretation of personal religion."5 In other words, to live your life in solitude without social relationships is to be out of harmony with the social creature God made you to be by creating you in his image. Relating to other people comes naturally to folks created in the image of our social God. Evangelism, making new friends in Christ, comes natural! It's only tough when you forget that you are God's creature, forget that you have a God who is naturally social and who has made you that way. It is kind of hard to be unconcerned about society and the things of the world when you know who you are. People created in the image of God are not loners. They are people passionate about social relations as God originally created them.
There is another aspect to the nature of the Triune God that is relevant here. Yes, God is three, and is always socializing. But do not forget that he is also one. His communal character is also concerned to bring about unity. Well, evangelism is not just about cultivating social relationships. It also aims to facilitate unity, to bring all whom we contact into unity with us in the body of Christ. Just as God's sociality brings unity, the aim to facilitate such unity in Christ with all human beings through our social engagements with them is built into our genes. Can't you see? When it comes to doing evangelism (and seeking justice in society), you're a natural!
We are not only naturally equipped and gifted for evangelism and seeking just social relations. We have been wired by God to have fun with these commissions. That becomes clearer when we combine our recognition that, for Matthew, the heart of the obedient lifestyle to which Christians are called is to focus on God alone, along with the latest cutting-edge research on the brain.
Here's the story. For some time, pollsters have noted that religiously inclined people seem to have higher levels of happiness than the population as a whole.6 The latest cutting-edge research on neurology tell us why this is the case.
It seems that when we are engaged in spiritual exercises like prayer and contemplation, the front part of our brains, specifically the frontal lobe (the part of the brain which is the seat of concentration) and the limbic system (the part of the brain where powerful feelings are created by pleasurable neurochemicals), become very active. The neurochemicals (also called monamines) released in prayer and meditation create pleasurable feelings of self-transcendence. Of course, it is not surprising that you would feel that you are getting beyond yourself when all this is happening, because when the front part of your brain is in overdrive as it is in prayer and meditation, the back part of your brain, the parietal lobe which is the seat of your awareness of yourself and its circumstances, grows dim.
Got it? When you become single-mindedly focused on God like Jesus was, and live the obedient lifestyle to which evangelism directs converts, then you forget yourself! You also experience these pleasurable, drug-like chemical reactions transmitted by the neurochemicals that are released in your brain.7 It feels good to be caught up in God.
It gets more interesting. The part of our brain that is in overdrive when we are involved in spiritual activity contains within it the prefrontal cortex, which is a region of brain gray matter that is the seat of human emotions. It seems that feelings of happiness are to a great extent related to our activating this outer layer of gray matter in the front part of the brain, which then in turn becomes bathed in other neurochemicals, specifically dopamine and endorphins (which are like natural narcotics that numb pain and create feelings of euphoria).8 In other words, when you are focusing on some activity that's bigger than you are and forgetting your particular circumstances, be it falling in love, parenting, music, play, service, prayer, yes even evangelism, you get a natural high! Dedicating your life to something bigger than you are, and so even focusing on God, makes you happy.
Modern neurobiology confirms the insights of Martin Luther, which he articulated over dinner table and perhaps some German beer in 1531. He provided his own formula for happiness.
Prayer helps us very much and gives us a cheerful heart, not on account of any merit in the work, but because we have spoken with God and found everything to be in order.9
Immersion in spiritual matters, like focusing on God in prayer, makes you happy.
When we keep in mind how natural it is for us human beings to do evangelism, since we are socially oriented naturally just like the Triune God in whose image we have been made, and when we also keep in mind how much fun and happiness scientists now tell us we can find in spiritual undertakings and in getting focused on projects bigger than we are, then engaging in the Great Commission, doing evangelism, seems like a winner! Nobody has to tell you it's your purpose and require you to do it. It comes naturally along with a lot of good feelings and happiness from a Christian life focused on God.
Of course, there is still that ingrained inertia among lay people and even among some pastors about evangelism, a feeling that it is just not our gift. Neurobiologists would remind us that those feelings of insecurity emerge because we're too focused on the personal agendas that activate the back of our brain, not focused enough on thinking about the big picture part of our brain that gets the dopamine flowing. Getting focused (especially on spiritual matters), remember, makes you happy. Get focused on the Great Commission, forget yourself, and it won't be so bad. When you get that focused on God, then you see that he's your all-in-all, and that all you do is his work. When you lose yourself in that big picture, the dopamine, which stimulates feelings of pleasure and happiness, will start to flow. You'll enjoy it.
These brain dynamics and an appreciation of how God and his love permeate all you do also help us understand the sort of teaching or modeling of righteous living we are to do with potential converts. When they see you and me single-mindedly dedicated to the things of God and our (Great) Commission, a little of Jesus' single-minded devotion to God, a sense that grace surrounds you in all you do, will become theirs. And of course when that happens and they begin to activate the part of the brain exercised in concentration, the dopamine will flow. This life of obedience, like doing evangelism in that spirit, with an awareness that God is with you in dominating all aspects of your life, leads to happiness. The Great Commission and evangelism: It's a lot of fun! Amen.
1. Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), p. 283.
2. Brevard S. Childs, The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), pp. 65-67; Eduard Schweizer, Good News According To Matthew, trans. David E. Green (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975), p. 528.
3. Ibid, p. 67-69.
4. Op cit, Schweizer, pp. 535-536.
5. Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, Vol. V (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982), p. 213.
6. The Gallup Organization, "Americans' Personal Satisfaction" (2005), at www.gallup.com/poll/content/default/aspex?ci.
7. See Dean Hamer, The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes (New York: Doubleday, 2004). Also see Antoine Lutz, Lawrence L. Greischar, Nancy B. Rawlings, Matthieu Richard, and Richard J. Davidson, "Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 101, No. 46 (Nov. 16, 2004), pp. 16369-16373.
8. See Michael D. Lemonick, "The Biology of Joy," Time, Jan. 17, 2005, pp. A12-A19; Stephen Braun, The Science of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Mood (New York and Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2000), esp. pp. 71-76.
9. Martin Luther, Table Talk (1531), No. 122, in Luther's Works, Vol. 54, ed. and trans. Theodore G. Tappert (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967), pp. 17-18.