Pentecost 1 (Holy Trinity)

Have you heard about the email fraud known as the “Nigerian Scam”? Have you received one of these emails? I’ve been getting them for two years! An inheritance of millions!
You get an email from Nigeria or another third world country. It is written by someone very kind, courteous, and interested in you. You’re told about an important person who died and left a huge inheritance behind. It is often worth millions of dollars. The schemer needs help in transferring the money, and if they can use your bank to do it, they will give you a few million, of course. All you have to do is send them some of your bank info. You can guess what they do with your bank info. Or they ask you to make a phone call to set it all up. And that certain phone number ends up costing you hundreds of dollars, payable to them.

Oh, it’s not funny. People have been sucked in by this. A University professor. A Miami lawyer. An American even went to Nigeria and was murdered. Ahhh… an inheritance worth millions! What a break! Right? Wrong. There is no inheritance like that waiting for any of us! Those are made-up stories. And I‘m sure you won’t be misled by those offers because the people offering them have proven to be fakes with no authority to what they are saying.

But you do have an inheritance coming. A big one! Bigger than any of the ones from Nigeria! And this is a real one. You can be sure because the One offering it to you can be absolutely trusted. He really does have the authority to tell you about the inheritance that is yours – an inheritance of a lifetime! So let’s do that today. Let’s Talk About Your Inheritance!

Unlike any fraudulent inheritance scam, this one comes to you from someone who has authority. The kind of authority that caused his disciples to worship Him when He met them on the mountain in Galilee. He was their Risen Lord and Savior, not just their Rabbi and Friend. But like any fraudulent inheritance scam, Jesus’ offer was also too good to be true! So they also had their doubts. Who really is this guy? What kind of kingdom is He going to set up? What happens now? What is our place in all of this? Brave as they were, these people still had sinful weakness. Just like us. I mean, we have doubts, even while we worship, don’t we?

Of course we do! That’s why we need confidence in the One making us the offer! Knowing that his followers needed the same thing, Jesus began by saying: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” In other words, you can believe what I tell you. My words aren’t empty. There is action and worth behind them. I have authority you can trust!

Friends, Jesus’ authority had reduced demons to beggars, caused fearful citizens to plead for his departure, healed the sick, woke the dead, conquered his enemies, made the sinful shudder, and made the guilty whole again with the comfort of his undeserved forgiveness. There is no question about Jesus’ authority. So now, Jesus tells of his authority to reassure his disciples who were both worshiping and doubting that they no longer need to doubt.

Then, as He reveals his plan to them, He reminds them of their inheritance. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” There is your inheritance too! But one you can be sure of! Let’s Talk About Your Inheritance! An inheritance is something you get from being part of a family, right? Well, in baptism, God adopts a person into his family. You become part of God’s family! And you take on his name, because you were baptized into his name! You are a Christian. A Child of God. And here is what you inherit: The Father’s love. The Son’s Redemption. And the Holy Spirit’s gift of fruitful faith.

The Father’s love. The fact that He loved you, planned you, created you, and had the idea of you before the world was ever birthed. God has had you in his mind and heart forever. He loved you enough to give up his own Son for you. That love is yours as a part of his family.

The Son’s Redemption. Your brother Jesus was the only one who could live like a perfect member of this family. You failed at doing that. So did I. But our brother Jesus came and lived like that in our place. Then suffered at the hands of his own Father to pay for our failures. He chose those nails for us. And you get the credit as part of his family.

The Holy Spirit’s gift of fruitful faith is the third part of your inheritance as a baptized member of God’s family. The Comforter works through God’s Word and sacraments to remind you of what your brother Jesus did for you, to give you faith in the forgiveness of your sins, to strengthen that faith, and enable to you live out a life that looks like one of God’s family!

So there is our inheritance, friends. And we have been informed about it from the most trusted authority in heaven and earth! You know what your inheritance is. You can be sure it’s yours! But now, Let’s Talk About Your Inheritance! Let’s really talk about it! To others!

A choir was all set to give a concert of sacred music to be carried live by a local radio station. When everything appeared to be ready, the announcer made his final introduction and waited for the choir to begin. One of the tenors was not ready, however, so the venerable conductor refused to raise his baton. All this time, nothing but silence was being broadcast. Growing very nervous, the announcer, forgetting his microphone was still on and that he could be heard in the church and on the radio, said in exasperation, "Get on with it, you old goat!"

Later in the week, the radio station got a letter from one of its listeners--a man who had tuned in to listen to the music from the comfort of his easy chair. When he heard "Get on with it, you old goat!" he took the message personally. He had been doing nothing to further God's work, and this startling message was enough to convict him to get going again!

Sometimes we need a wakeup call. We need to be reminded that before Jesus left this earth, He gave us all the instructions we need. He told us we should go and make disciples. We need to Go! Get on with our singing about Jesus! The church’s involvement in missions is like the relationship that exists between fire and burning. “The church exists by missions as fire exists by burning.” In other words, no burning, no fire. No missions, no church.

Friends, Let’s Talk about our Inheritance! Let’s tell others of the inheritance waiting for them: The Father’s love, the Son’s Redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s gift of fruitful faith! Jesus, the One with all that authority, told us to! He said, “Go 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 I have commanded you.”

Let’s make sure we have this straight. The MISSION Jesus sent us out on here is to Make Disciples. Change lives by leading people to Jesus Christ and his cure for sin. Bring more people into the Family of God, looking forward to their eternal inheritance. That is the mission. The METHOD to carry out that mission is Baptizing and Teaching. That’s how the Holy Spirit makes people disciples of Jesus. So that is what Jesus’ followers need to be doing. Everything we do as a church should lead toward those things. And the tools, or MEANS, by which we baptize and teach, are the Word and Sacraments. It is through the Word of God, in the Bible, in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, that the Holy Spirit works in hearts of people who don’t yet know Jesus to come to know Him better and produce fruit of thankfulness in their lives! So Jesus gave us the proper tools to do the work! And the proper motivation. Love.

When Hudson Taylor was director of the China Inland Mission, he often interviewed candidates for the mission field. On one occasion, he met with a group of applicants to determine their motivations for service. “And why do you wish to go as a foreign missionary?” he asked one. “I want to go because Christ has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” was the reply. Another said, “I want to go because millions are perishing without Christ.” Others gave different answers. Then Taylor said, “All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testing, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing; namely, the love of Christ.”

A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. “Do I like this work?” he said. “No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonable refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse. But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ‘Go,’ and we go. Love constrains us.”

Friends, Let’s Talk about our Inheritance! It is too wonderful to keep to ourselves. And before you leave here in dreaded fear because of this daunting task that our Triune God has given us, let’s not forget what our inheritance is! The eternal, abiding, loving presence of that Triune God! The Father’s love! The Son’s forgiveness! The Holy Spirit’s gift of faith!

And finally, a promise that Jesus leaves his disciples with as they go out into the world: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” As you talk about your inheritance, and interest other people in the wonderful family you are a part of, you have Jesus talking and singing right along beside you!

An opera singer once visited a church. No one knew who he was or that his voice was trained. You couldn’t have known by his corduroy coat and loafers. No tuxedo, cummerbund, or silk tie. His appearance raised no eyebrows. But his voice certainly did. His vibrato made dentures rattle and rafters shake. He tried to contain himself. But how can a tuba hide in a room full of piccolos? For a moment the people around him were startled. But within a verse, they were inspired. Emboldened by his volume, they lifted theirs. Did they sing better? Who knows? You couldn’t hear them. Their warbling was lost in his talent. But did they try harder? No doubt. His power brought out the best in them. And made them sound good.

As you talk about your inheritance, as you go and tell others about your Savior, could you use a little help? You want to make your words sing? Could your words use a little music to them? A little authority? If so, invite heaven’s baritone to cut loose! He may look as common as the guy next door, but just wait till you see what He can do. Who knows? A few songs with Him might change the way you sing. Forever. Amen.

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