| Easter Sunday, April 21 | Read Matthew 28 |
Jesus came and said to them … “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 …” (v. 19)
Subject to Change
As my year with Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) began, the phrase “subject to change” had an almost comedic ring to it. Before I even made it to Argentinian soil, I had already faced an appendectomy, a change in my country of service, and an extra day of layover in Bogotá, Columbia. After arriving at my site in Buenos Aires, the dynamism of this year began to strain me. My pace began to falter. Change became an ugly word, one which filled my heart, not with joy and excitement but with bitterness and fear.
Nothing about the life and gospel of Jesus Christ seemed to go according to human plan or expectation, either. The Jews of those days thought the Messiah would bring a new golden age to their people. Instead, this king was born in scandal to migrant parents, a lowly carpenter’s family, and rather than spending time with the Jewish elite, Jesus chose to commune with the sick, the poor, and the ostracized. More than once, his disciples – a ramshackle group of fisherman and other assorted vagrants – harshly questioned Jesus’ tactics. Yet, again and again breaking conventional understanding, Jesus pushed on. At the height of his ministry, Jesus was put to death on a cross. But our Nazarene rabbi wasn’t done yet.
Stamping “Subject to Change” on death, he rose again. Then, without any visible revolution, smashing of thrones or new Judean empire, Jesus told his followers it was now their turn to act. And that’s it, the end of the gospel.
“Go and make disciples of all nations.” Now when I read those words, I feel a hint of both fear and joy. This journey with Christ is “Subject to Change,” and that comes with so much uncertainty. In the midst of a world which so often feels divided, longing for a bit of Christly love, we sinner-saints are asked to answer the call.
I’ve come to realize that there are many pockets of Jesus’ presence to be found, even now, in this beautifully-broken world, and though it has taken time, the love found in my YAGM community has begun again to make sweet the taste of the word “change.” At times the shifting sands of life begin to feel like a desert, but Christ reminds us today that the refreshing water of his love lies just beneath the surface, and he calls us to dig for it together.
Eric Jensen