Finding security in the inspired life
Trinity Sunday | Matthew 28:16-20
We’ve got a tall order today. We read about creation and the Great Commission so there’s purpose and evangelism to discuss. It’s Trinity Sunday, so we’ve got to talk about theology while avoiding heresy. And we’re celebrating graduations. That is a lot to cover in a short amount of time.
But I want to start with the most controversial part in this morning’s gospel. Ready? You’re welcome to follow along. Here’s how we might read the opening verses:
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him and doubted.
They worshiped and doubted. But you aren’t going to find this phrasing in any translation because scholars are chicken. There are two obvious reasons for this.
- King James. Every translation uses that one as a primary source, so they are essentially defaulting to a tradition of centuries of avoidance.
- The Faith/Doubt binary. There also is a tradition of making the presence of doubt disqualifying of faith. So they try to minimize its impact.
Minimizing the impact of doubt is costly, however, as limiting it to some of the disciples prevents us from seeing ourselves in the moment with grace.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.
