Therefore, Go

I was a sophomore at Ball State University in Indiana, and his name was Lars. I was sitting at my desk one Saturday night working on a project when there came a knock at my dorm-room door. I cringed on the inside when I saw it was Lars. You see, Ball State wasn’t exactly a godly school, and Swinford Hall, where I lived, was one of the most liberal dorms on campus. Friday nights were crazy around there. As a Christian young person, I stayed to myself on weekends in order to avoid the “weirdness” of the party atmosphere. On this night, however, the atmosphere came to me: Lars was at my door.

Lars lived down the hall from me, and was up to his eyeballs in weirdness. He drank a lot, smoked a lot, and partied a lot. It had become clear that Lars was probably bisexual. Some of the things that happened in his room I’d rather not know about. On this night, he came to my room.

He was crying and visibly upset. “Can I talk to you?” he asked. “Sure,” I said. Lars came in my room, sat next to me, and for the next fifteen minutes, he told me in detail the things he was involved in. He told me about the drinking, the drugs, and the parties. He told me about his sexual relations with both women and men. Then he looked at me and said, “Mark, I know you’re a Christian. I was raised as a Catholic. I don’t want to live this way. I know it’s wrong. Do you think God could forgive me after all this? I’m not sure He can.”

In that moment, I had a choice to make. This conversation happened before I sensed God’s call to be a pastor, before seminary, before serving in a church as a spiritual leader. I was just an average music major trying to live as a Christian in a very dark place. In that moment, I had to choose: Did I believe God could work in the life of this broken, lost person whose sin repulsed me, or not? Would I dismiss him as a bisexual party animal, or would I allow God to use me to share good news with him?

Some of the disciples in today’s passage, I think, were in a similar spot. It says when they saw him, the disciples worshipped the risen Jesus, but some doubted. After all that had taken place, even after the Resurrection, they had their doubts. The future was uncertain. The meaning of the Resurrection was unknown. Their mission was unclear. Some doubted.

And sometimes I think we doubt. Sometimes it’s tough to look at our town and see the glorious, powerful, life-changing work of the living God. Sometimes it’s hard when we can look out the church’s front door and see 2 drug houses, when the students at are school are strung out on booze or drugs, and when it seems like so few live in the hope that Jesus Christ brings. I was scared as I was talking with Lars.

That night at Ball State, God taught me a very important lesson. It’s the same lesson Jesus teaches us in today’s passage: “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In that moment, when Olaf asked if God could forgive him, I was reminded that God really does have the power to change lives. God was with us in that moment in that dorm room. With tears in my eyes, I told Olaf, “Yes, God can forgive you. He wants to. And he can do it tonight, if you let him.”

God answers our doubts with 2 promises and a command. He reminds us the power and authority are his, even in the midst of a dark, sinful world. He also promises to be with us, every step of the way. Everywhere we go, every conversation we have, and every dark place in which we walk has the presence of God because He is with us. We go nowhere on our own, and would be foolish to try. God is already out there, drawing people to himself through the power of the Spirit. He is “out there,” and He has the power “out there.”

Therefore, Jesus says, go. Amid the promises, Jesus issues a command. If He has the power and has promised us His presence, we can go into the dark places of this world with confidence instead of doubt. As we trust in Him, we can come to the place where we engage our world instead of hiding from it. We can dive into the messy, sinful lives of people because we aren’t on our own. As this church has done in the past, we must, with God’s presence and authority reach into hell and pull some people out. Therefore, go.

	Pentecost Sunday May 11, 2008
	Trinity Sunday May 18, 2008
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