June 14th Service
On Line Service due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Graduation Sunday


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Saint John's Pulpit (June 7, Graduation Sunday) –
"Jesus’ Commencement Speech 2020" Matthew 9:35-10:8

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

Jesus Commissions His Disciples

Good morning St. John’s and the class of 2020! Today we are very glad to make this Sunday Graduation Sunday. Congrats! Hope your next journey will be blessed and guided by the Lord. Please remember and keep St. John’s in your prayers. It is your home church!

In preparing for the sermon today, I was so surprised to see the text today when I checked out several suggested readings from a church lectionary. The text today was perfectly fit to the service today! In this story, we see that Jesus is commissioning his disciples. In other words, now Jesus is sending out his disciples for the mission of God. When Jesus did this commissioning, he gave his disciples some very important lessons which can be regarded as Jesus’ commencement speech for all graduates. In this Pandemic, you did not have a in-person commencement ceremony. Do not be sad. We got the greatest speaker for your graduation. It is Jesus Christ! Let us explore what he addressed in the text today.

The Laborers Few, Please Be a Good Laborer!

I am not sure what plans do you have after your graduation. Going to college or getting a job? Wherever you are, please remember this. You all need to be a good laborer for the Kingdom of God. People whom you meet in your life are your potential harvest. They expect to see Christian characters from you. So, becoming a good laborer means becoming a good Christian. When you become a good Christian, you would share Jesus with many more people. Simply speaking, the better, the more!

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  38  therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37-38 NRSV

Appreciate Diversity in Your Place!

When Jesus commissioned, the text today presents all names of apostles. It is like calling all graduates in their commencement ceremony. Please look at all these names. Isn't it interesting to see diversity in the list? There is a remarkable diversity among the 12 apostles, including fishermen, a tax collector (Matthew), and a zealous revolutionary (Simon the Zealot). Judas Iscariot is always listed last and followed by one special tag, "the one who betrayed Jesus!"

>These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. Matthew 10:2-4 NRSV

Please remember this. Jesus' disciples were called by Jesus. They did not call Jesus or choose him as their mentor. Jesus called them from each of various settings and embraced them as his disciples. Like a business world today, Jesus did not take a psychology test, request their medical records, or consider their physiognomy. Jesus just called, welcomed, embraced, and trained them. Dear the class of 2020, you are called to serve the World in diversity. Appreciate it and make good use of it for your growth. Jesus' disciples also did it in their ministry.

Keep Your Life Message!

The last two verses from the text today give us very important lessons how to live our life as Christians. When Jesus was about to finish his commissioning, he highlighted two missions for his apostles in Matthew 10:7-8.

7  As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’  8  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Matthew 10:7-8 NRSV

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? According to Jesus Christ, becoming his disciple means becoming a good news deliverer. The content of this good news is the Kingdom of heaven. Please take the kingdom of heaven as your life message. Keep this good news in your life. To everyone whom you meet, let them experience the Kingdom of heaven. As long as you speak about the kingdom of God, you would own it and stay there. Here is one last thing. Please look at the last verse again:

You received without payment; give without payment. Matthew 10:8b

Dear the class of 2020, I know that you have lots of potentials and chances to grow, flourish and to be more influential in your life. Please remember this. All are from God without payment. Then you need to give all you own to someone without payment. Our world logic is always 'give and take'. But in the Kingdom of God is always 'GIVE' without payment. This is Jesus’ Commencement Speech for the class of 2020.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 NRSV