Genesis 1:1-2:4 & Matthew 28:16-20
May 31, 2026
When I was growing up recycling was a new thing that everyone was encouraged to do. There was even a television commercial in our area that showed two guys walking through a snow storm and one guy said to the other, “I don’t know if I can make it through this storm.” He then falls down on his knees and says to his friend, “If I don’t make it, promise me one thing. Take this bottle and recycle it.” I think everyone enjoyed the point of that commercial, but there is something about a person’s last words. We take them very seriously.
One of the very last requests that Jesus made of His disciples in our Gospel lesson, before He ascended into heaven, was “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them everything I have commanded you.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “As you go about your work as parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, make disciples of your children, grandchildren, nieces & nephews. As you go about your life at school, make disciples of your classmates. As you go about your job, make disciples of the people you work with and the people you meet.
But why did Jesus make that request? What was the goal or the purpose? I think for us to understand the meaning behind some of Jesus’ last words we need to go back to the beginning of our story. Who are we? How did we get here? What is our purpose? Our Old Testament lesson for today is the opening chapter of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. And like all good books or stories, it begins with the words, “In the beginning,” and right away we see that this story has an author, a creator, known as God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – 3 people in one God and He is good. He is the source of all good things. He created the world, but it was covered in darkness. Suddenly the voice of God broke through the silence and there was light. Then God spoke some more words and the seas and the oceans were formed. He spoke again and the land was formed, and He filled it with hills, trees, flowers, grass, animals, birds, fish, and insects. After 5 days of creating, everything was good, beautiful, and perfect. Then God got intimate with His creation on day 6 as He took some dust from the ground, shaped it and molded it into a human being. He breathed life into that human being that He said was made in His own image, meaning we were created to be like God. We were given the ability to reason, to create, to share intimacy, to know joy and laughter, and to love. He also gave us freedom – freedom to follow Him and even the freedom to reject Him. God then told this first man and woman that they were free to eat from any tree in the garden where He had placed them, except for one particular tree. God told them if they ate from that tree they would die.
God created this man and woman to walk with Him and talk with Him on a daily basis; He wanted to have a relationship with them as their God. He wanted to be involved in their story and your story. So in the beginning, all was well with Adam and Eve; there was no stress or difficulties or sadness. The garden they lived in was beautiful. There was an abundance of food. There was no disease or arguing. There was peace and harmony. God loved them and they loved God. Everything was perfect. There was order. “This is very good,” said God.
But like many stories, their story (which is our story) has a villain. A villain who was created good, but turned evil. Think of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz or Darth Vader in Star Wars. This villain, known as Satan, was an angel God created to be good, but he fell away from God, and disguised himself as a serpent and told Adam and Eve, “You’re not going to die if you eat from the tree that God has forbidden. God knows if you eat from it you will be just like Him in every way.” Satan created doubt in their minds, just like he does to us. Remember, God gave them freedom. So rather than force them to love Him, they could choose to be with Him or to leave Him. Sadly, Adam and Even chose to listen to the voice of Satan as they ate from that tree.
As a result, sin (disorder) entered God’s perfect world through them. By their disobedience, they destroyed their relationship with God and with each other. Then, knowing they had done wrong, they tried to hide from God; and they tried to avoid responsibility for their actions when they were caught, just like us. This sin brought about pain, disease, hatred, killings, racism, violence, war, and catastrophes. God never intended for human beings to suffer.
The Bible goes on to tell us the rest of the story. Despite Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God still loved them and He wanted them back. So He takes the steps to repair their love, but initially nothing seemed to work. He tried flooding the earth until there were only 8 people left who came out of the ark, but sin continued. He tried making a covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai, giving him 10 Commandments for the way people should live, but the people rejected those Commandments. He tried sending prophets and kings, urging people to repent of their sin to God and to follow Him alone, but people continued to turn away.
Finally, God literally stepped into His own creation in Jesus. Jesus, God in the flesh, came down to this world to save us, to bring us back into harmony and peace with Himself. So Jesus was born and grew, just like us, and He lived the life we were supposed to live. He was perfect, He was God in every way as He healed the sick, loved the unlovable, and resisted every temptation to sin. But He was unjustly arrested and sentenced to die on a cross, where the sin of the world was placed on Him. God loved us, His creation, so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son so we sinful human beings could live with Him forever. But death could not hold Jesus. He rose from the dead and defeated sin, death, and the power of Satan; and He restored our relationship with God.
So as Jesus then prepares to ascend back to heaven, in our Gospel lesson, He tells His followers, “I have taken away the punishment for sin, that being death – eternal separation from God, now as you’re going about your lives, make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching everything I have commanded you so that every person created by God can live with me forever.” I would guess that upon hearing those words the disciples may have been overwhelmed. “Make disciples of all nations, all people throughout the world, even people we don’t like? How are we going to do that?” I think we often have those same doubts.
But when Jesus tells us to do something, He doesn’t abandon us. In fact, after telling His disciples what to do He said, “I will be with you always to the very end of the age.” He also doesn’t send us out empty handed. He gives us His Word and when used with water in baptism sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit enters into a person’s life so they may believe in Jesus. That word when read and taught and shared with others has the power to change peoples’ hearts. (Our confirmation students are living examples of that today.)
If someone really said to you before they died, “Promise me one thing, take this bottle and recycle it.” Would you do it? As silly as it may seem, we probably would, because we value peoples’ final requests. So knowing that, how much more then should we value Jesus’ final request of us and make it our first concern. In this challenging world the heart of the issue we all face is sin. All of the horrible things we see or experience are symptoms of sin. Sin destroys lives, but with Jesus there is hope, forgiveness, and life. Making disciples is not just a task Jesus gives us, it is the reason we are still here on this earth. Let us make these words of Jesus our top priority so that all may repent of their sin, know Jesus as their Savior, and live with Him in His perfect heavenly kingdom forever.
