Matthew (Yes, the whole gospel! My congregation read it this week.)
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
It was the final examination for an introductory History course at the local university. Like many such freshman courses, it was designed to weed out those new students who weren’t really college material, having over 500 students in the class!
The examination was two hours long, and exam booklets were provided. The professor was very strict and told the class that any exam that was not on his desk in exactly two hours would not be accepted and the student would fail. Half an hour into the exam, a student came rushing in and asked the professor for an exam booklet.
"You're not going to have time to finish this," the professor stated sarcastically as he handed the student a booklet.
"Yes I will," replied the student. He then took a seat and began writing. After two hours, the professor called for the exams, and the students filed up and handed them in. All except the late student, who continued writing. An hour later, the last student came up to the professor who was sitting at his desk preparing for his next class. He attempted to put his exam on the stack of exam booklets already there.
"No you don't, I'm not going to accept that. It's way too late."
The student looked incredulous and angry.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No, as a matter of fact I don't," replied the professor with an air of sarcasm in his voice.
"Don’t you know who I am?" the student asked again in a louder voice.
"No, and I don't care." replied the professor with an air of superiority.
"Great," replied the student, who quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, stuffed his in the middle, and walked out of the room.
In other news, one day a famous man went to a nursing home to see all of his friends again and see how they were doing. When he got there EVERYBODY greeted him, because, of course, everybody knows him. However, he noticed there was one man who didn't come up to him or say anything to him. So, he eventually walked up to the man who had been ignoring him and asked him "Don’t you know who I am?" and the old man replied "No, I don’t. But you can go to the front desk and they'll tell you."
Actually, when you do know who you are it makes a difference in how you behave. We haven’t read the gospel of John yet in this Lenten season but I bet you remember that it says in John 13, “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.” Then as you know, he humbly served his disciples, washing their feet. The key point there is that Jesus knew who he really was, so, or therefore, he performed this humble loving act of service. He washed his disciples feet because of who he is.
We usually think of the gospel stories as being all about who Jesus is, and they are. But in the book of Matthew there is also a lot of information about who we are in Christ, with the expectation that we will do certain things and behave in certain ways because of who we find out that we are through faith in Jesus. For example, early on in the gospel Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” He also says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Because of who you are, the light of the world, you will not be able to hide your actions.
As I read the gospel of Matthew this time I paid attention to the ways that Jesus identified his disciples and what it means for us as God’s people, as disciples of Christ, who live that out. Our faith defines who we are and what we do. The book of Matthew has often been called an early discipleship manual for Jewish believers in Jesus. That is because it is characterized by both instructions for proper living and it has a repeated emphasis on prophecies fulfilled.
The book we are reading explained how the author of the gospel used his material to show the important parallel between Moses and Jesus. Just as the Torah, the Pentateuch, that Moses wrote is divided into five books, the gospel of Matthew is divided in to five sections, organized around five long speeches that Jesus made. This is to help the reader get the idea that Jesus is like a second Moses, leading the True Israel of faithful believers into a new and Glorious Kingdom.
I am copying that framework of those five speeches to organize my observations of who we are in Christ and how that identity guides and influences our behavior. The first speech is the famous sermon on the mount. This is where we learn that we are the light of the world. It also gives a fairly detailed description of the kind of morals and ethics Jesus wants us to live up to. This is the place where Jesus says so often, “You have heard that it was said... but I tell you…” And he made it harder to keep the law.
But It is about righteous living. Since you are the light of the world, your behavior will put God’s glory on display. You are the blessed light of the world and salt of the earth. You are the hope of the world. You have something worth sharing. It won’t be easy, but it’s sure will be worth it.
In the second speech which takes up all of Matthew 10, Jesus sends his disciples out on their first mission. He gives them instructions about how they will be provided for and how they are to treat the various kinds of people they meet. Some of the key identifying phrases in this speech are: they are disciples. They are sent out like sheep among wolves. Sheep are the sacrificial animals of the Jewish worship system. So the disciples are to sacrifice themselves in this service of spreading the gospel. They also are to see themselves as defenseless and completely dependent upon the good shepherd who will protect them from the wolves. The instruction is to be careful but not afraid to do the work they are called to do. Expect opposition, but don’t let that stop you. You are the renewed Israel, on a mission.
As for the behavior this calls for, Jesus also said, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
While not a part of the speech in chapter 10, in chapter 11 Jesus adds another very powerful identifier, Jesus’ disciples are greater than John the Baptist! He had said, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Every single one of you, if you are a believer saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus just said that you are more important to the world today than John the Baptist was to the world in his day. Also, just before we get to the third speech, Jesus lets us know that we who obey his teachings are his brothers. As Jesus’ brothers and sisters of Jesus, that in itself makes us sons and daughters of God. A little later I will say more about the significance of that.
In the third speech, found in Matthew 13:11-52 we get a collection of the parables of the Kingdom of God. The parables tell truths about the Kingdom but many people miss the hidden meanings in the parables because they already believe what they want to believe about God and are not open to changing their minds based on the Word of God as given by Jesus. But to those who do receive the instruction Jesus says, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” That means you are privileged by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your hearts to understand the mind of God better than the prophets of the Old Testament could.
That’s in Matt. 13:16-17. You are blessed to be let in on the mystery. You know more about the Kingdom of God than the prophets of old ever could. You are the royal subjects the mysterious, somewhat hidden, but very near you Kingdom of God. It’s different from earthly Kingdoms, but very real and of the utmost importance. It is on the basis of our citizenship in the kingdom of God that we become ambassadors for Christ in this present world. In fact, the most politically charged thing you can do today is to pray for the land in which we live. It’s on the basis of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God that we become ambassadors for Christ in this present world. You are an ambassador, you are in an official capacity representing the Kingdom of God by the way you live your life in the United States of America, since that’s where we happen to live.
The fourth speech happens after a series of amazing miracles, such as Jesus and Peter walking on the water, and the feeding of the five thousand. The speech is in Matt. 18. In it Jesus tells them they are to be like little children. Little children do not exist safely outside of a family, so in this speech Jesus is placing his disciples and us as well, inside the family of God, as God’s children, and he is teaching them how they are to treat each other in the church because of who they are in Christ.
You are the family of God powered up by the Holy Spirit and specially instructed for kingdom living of self-denial. Shortly before this speech, Peter, James and John have been with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration and they have seen Jesus in his brilliant glory. There God himself had said, Jesus is God’s son, with whom God is well pleased and we are instructed to listen to him. But as believers we are also called children of God, sons and daughters of God. And so we must ask ourselves, is God well pleased with us? That depends upon whether or not we deny ourselves as Jesus did to express God’s otherish love, and whether not we pray as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but yours be done.”
I want to make a note here that being part of the chosen people does mean salvation. All of us who believe in this gospel are saved and through our faith in Jesus Christ we are going to heaven one day. But it does not automatically mean that you have pleased God with the way you have lived your life. Salvation is all God’s grace to you, just as when all the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. Even the grumblers among them crossed the Red Sea. They were saved from slavery in Egypt, but do you think God was well pleased with their grumbling? Didn’t many of them fall in the desert because they weren’t living joyfully and faithfully with a continuing confidence that God would always provide for them as they acted in good faith? Weren’t most of them afraid to enter the Promised Land because they failed to have faith in the God who had gotten them that far? Did that please God? He will always love you. That will never change. Therefore, we all ought to be motivated to give him all we have of faithful obedience because he loves us.
The fifth major speech starts in Matt. 24:3 and runs to 25:46. In this one Jesus is preparing his disciples for the furtherance and completion of their mission after he is gone and before he comes again in glory. He warns them that as his ambassadors there will be much trouble because the world will hate them. He tells them that they are like wedding attendants waiting for the groom. If they do not remain alert and keep their lamps filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit, they may miss the big party. He tells them they are servants who must always be on the alert to do good and be ready for his return. He tells them that they are being given gifts that are to be invested in the work of the kingdom and that anyone who buries his talents will be sorry for their laziness. He says that they are the righteous if they look to the least of all people and care for them with food and shelter and healing and compassion and hospitality. It will be as if they have done these kind acts to Jesus himself.
There is one more short speech that occurs after the resurrection. In it Jesus tells the disciples that they will be his servants to spread the gospel over the whole world. They are to go and make disciples. You have to know who you really are. You are a child of God. You are a disciple of Christ. You are an evangelist bearing the light of the world to the lost. You are a member of the body of Christ with a particular gift or gifts that God will use through you to do his kingdom work. His kingdom work is not to keep a church going. His kingdom work is to make new disciples. If all you want to do is go to a good church, you are not being a good Christian! Our focus in life is to be much more about making disciples and not so much about entertaining the believers.
In Matthew 9, Jesus heals two blind men. In verse 29 he says, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Do you have faith in these things that God says you are to him? According to your faith, be it done to you. God can use you to grow disciples. When you have faith in God, people around you sense his presence. When you believe that God is alive and doing mighty things, people around you will be convicted of sin. The power of God is at work wherever there is faith in the risen Christ. Things are going to happen because he is the Lord of the resurrection, and he cannot be present without changing people. He raises the dead. They hear the voice of the Son of God and live!
It’s not up to you to create something by faith. It’s already created. You don’t have to put Christ in the heavens. You don’t have to make the gospel strong. All you have to do is recognize and believe in how strong it is and act that way. The King is already moving. Ask him to help you be obedient in your life and witness, but then believe that he will bring about the results. You can be confident that the gospel will be working to harvest the lost. As you step out in faith, knowing who you are in Christ, you will find that God has already begun to speak to the person to whom he leads you.
So, children of God, servants of God, ambassadors for Christ, light of the world, salt of the earth, let us be about our father’s business with joy and confidence in him who is at work among us. God wants to use your life, your words, your witness, your testimony to make disciples. Don’t hold back from that. Be excited about that! And filled with the love of God live it out and see what God does with you and through you and among all of us in his name.
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
It was the final examination for an introductory History course at the local university. Like many such freshman courses, it was designed to weed out those new students who weren’t really college material, having over 500 students in the class!
The examination was two hours long, and exam booklets were provided. The professor was very strict and told the class that any exam that was not on his desk in exactly two hours would not be accepted and the student would fail. Half an hour into the exam, a student came rushing in and asked the professor for an exam booklet.
"You're not going to have time to finish this," the professor stated sarcastically as he handed the student a booklet.
"Yes I will," replied the student. He then took a seat and began writing. After two hours, the professor called for the exams, and the students filed up and handed them in. All except the late student, who continued writing. An hour later, the last student came up to the professor who was sitting at his desk preparing for his next class. He attempted to put his exam on the stack of exam booklets already there.
"No you don't, I'm not going to accept that. It's way too late."
The student looked incredulous and angry.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No, as a matter of fact I don't," replied the professor with an air of sarcasm in his voice.
"Don’t you know who I am?" the student asked again in a louder voice.
"No, and I don't care." replied the professor with an air of superiority.
"Great," replied the student, who quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, stuffed his in the middle, and walked out of the room.
In other news, one day a famous man went to a nursing home to see all of his friends again and see how they were doing. When he got there EVERYBODY greeted him, because, of course, everybody knows him. However, he noticed there was one man who didn't come up to him or say anything to him. So, he eventually walked up to the man who had been ignoring him and asked him "Don’t you know who I am?" and the old man replied "No, I don’t. But you can go to the front desk and they'll tell you."
Actually, when you do know who you are it makes a difference in how you behave. We haven’t read the gospel of John yet in this Lenten season but I bet you remember that it says in John 13, “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.” Then as you know, he humbly served his disciples, washing their feet. The key point there is that Jesus knew who he really was, so, or therefore, he performed this humble loving act of service. He washed his disciples feet because of who he is.
We usually think of the gospel stories as being all about who Jesus is, and they are. But in the book of Matthew there is also a lot of information about who we are in Christ, with the expectation that we will do certain things and behave in certain ways because of who we find out that we are through faith in Jesus. For example, early on in the gospel Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” He also says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Because of who you are, the light of the world, you will not be able to hide your actions.
As I read the gospel of Matthew this time I paid attention to the ways that Jesus identified his disciples and what it means for us as God’s people, as disciples of Christ, who live that out. Our faith defines who we are and what we do. The book of Matthew has often been called an early discipleship manual for Jewish believers in Jesus. That is because it is characterized by both instructions for proper living and it has a repeated emphasis on prophecies fulfilled.
The book we are reading explained how the author of the gospel used his material to show the important parallel between Moses and Jesus. Just as the Torah, the Pentateuch, that Moses wrote is divided into five books, the gospel of Matthew is divided in to five sections, organized around five long speeches that Jesus made. This is to help the reader get the idea that Jesus is like a second Moses, leading the True Israel of faithful believers into a new and Glorious Kingdom.
I am copying that framework of those five speeches to organize my observations of who we are in Christ and how that identity guides and influences our behavior. The first speech is the famous sermon on the mount. This is where we learn that we are the light of the world. It also gives a fairly detailed description of the kind of morals and ethics Jesus wants us to live up to. This is the place where Jesus says so often, “You have heard that it was said... but I tell you…” And he made it harder to keep the law.
But It is about righteous living. Since you are the light of the world, your behavior will put God’s glory on display. You are the blessed light of the world and salt of the earth. You are the hope of the world. You have something worth sharing. It won’t be easy, but it’s sure will be worth it.
In the second speech which takes up all of Matthew 10, Jesus sends his disciples out on their first mission. He gives them instructions about how they will be provided for and how they are to treat the various kinds of people they meet. Some of the key identifying phrases in this speech are: they are disciples. They are sent out like sheep among wolves. Sheep are the sacrificial animals of the Jewish worship system. So the disciples are to sacrifice themselves in this service of spreading the gospel. They also are to see themselves as defenseless and completely dependent upon the good shepherd who will protect them from the wolves. The instruction is to be careful but not afraid to do the work they are called to do. Expect opposition, but don’t let that stop you. You are the renewed Israel, on a mission.
As for the behavior this calls for, Jesus also said, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
While not a part of the speech in chapter 10, in chapter 11 Jesus adds another very powerful identifier, Jesus’ disciples are greater than John the Baptist! He had said, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Every single one of you, if you are a believer saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus just said that you are more important to the world today than John the Baptist was to the world in his day. Also, just before we get to the third speech, Jesus lets us know that we who obey his teachings are his brothers. As Jesus’ brothers and sisters of Jesus, that in itself makes us sons and daughters of God. A little later I will say more about the significance of that.
In the third speech, found in Matthew 13:11-52 we get a collection of the parables of the Kingdom of God. The parables tell truths about the Kingdom but many people miss the hidden meanings in the parables because they already believe what they want to believe about God and are not open to changing their minds based on the Word of God as given by Jesus. But to those who do receive the instruction Jesus says, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” That means you are privileged by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your hearts to understand the mind of God better than the prophets of the Old Testament could.
That’s in Matt. 13:16-17. You are blessed to be let in on the mystery. You know more about the Kingdom of God than the prophets of old ever could. You are the royal subjects the mysterious, somewhat hidden, but very near you Kingdom of God. It’s different from earthly Kingdoms, but very real and of the utmost importance. It is on the basis of our citizenship in the kingdom of God that we become ambassadors for Christ in this present world. In fact, the most politically charged thing you can do today is to pray for the land in which we live. It’s on the basis of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God that we become ambassadors for Christ in this present world. You are an ambassador, you are in an official capacity representing the Kingdom of God by the way you live your life in the United States of America, since that’s where we happen to live.
The fourth speech happens after a series of amazing miracles, such as Jesus and Peter walking on the water, and the feeding of the five thousand. The speech is in Matt. 18. In it Jesus tells them they are to be like little children. Little children do not exist safely outside of a family, so in this speech Jesus is placing his disciples and us as well, inside the family of God, as God’s children, and he is teaching them how they are to treat each other in the church because of who they are in Christ.
You are the family of God powered up by the Holy Spirit and specially instructed for kingdom living of self-denial. Shortly before this speech, Peter, James and John have been with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration and they have seen Jesus in his brilliant glory. There God himself had said, Jesus is God’s son, with whom God is well pleased and we are instructed to listen to him. But as believers we are also called children of God, sons and daughters of God. And so we must ask ourselves, is God well pleased with us? That depends upon whether or not we deny ourselves as Jesus did to express God’s otherish love, and whether not we pray as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but yours be done.”
I want to make a note here that being part of the chosen people does mean salvation. All of us who believe in this gospel are saved and through our faith in Jesus Christ we are going to heaven one day. But it does not automatically mean that you have pleased God with the way you have lived your life. Salvation is all God’s grace to you, just as when all the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. Even the grumblers among them crossed the Red Sea. They were saved from slavery in Egypt, but do you think God was well pleased with their grumbling? Didn’t many of them fall in the desert because they weren’t living joyfully and faithfully with a continuing confidence that God would always provide for them as they acted in good faith? Weren’t most of them afraid to enter the Promised Land because they failed to have faith in the God who had gotten them that far? Did that please God? He will always love you. That will never change. Therefore, we all ought to be motivated to give him all we have of faithful obedience because he loves us.
The fifth major speech starts in Matt. 24:3 and runs to 25:46. In this one Jesus is preparing his disciples for the furtherance and completion of their mission after he is gone and before he comes again in glory. He warns them that as his ambassadors there will be much trouble because the world will hate them. He tells them that they are like wedding attendants waiting for the groom. If they do not remain alert and keep their lamps filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit, they may miss the big party. He tells them they are servants who must always be on the alert to do good and be ready for his return. He tells them that they are being given gifts that are to be invested in the work of the kingdom and that anyone who buries his talents will be sorry for their laziness. He says that they are the righteous if they look to the least of all people and care for them with food and shelter and healing and compassion and hospitality. It will be as if they have done these kind acts to Jesus himself.
There is one more short speech that occurs after the resurrection. In it Jesus tells the disciples that they will be his servants to spread the gospel over the whole world. They are to go and make disciples. You have to know who you really are. You are a child of God. You are a disciple of Christ. You are an evangelist bearing the light of the world to the lost. You are a member of the body of Christ with a particular gift or gifts that God will use through you to do his kingdom work. His kingdom work is not to keep a church going. His kingdom work is to make new disciples. If all you want to do is go to a good church, you are not being a good Christian! Our focus in life is to be much more about making disciples and not so much about entertaining the believers.
In Matthew 9, Jesus heals two blind men. In verse 29 he says, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Do you have faith in these things that God says you are to him? According to your faith, be it done to you. God can use you to grow disciples. When you have faith in God, people around you sense his presence. When you believe that God is alive and doing mighty things, people around you will be convicted of sin. The power of God is at work wherever there is faith in the risen Christ. Things are going to happen because he is the Lord of the resurrection, and he cannot be present without changing people. He raises the dead. They hear the voice of the Son of God and live!
It’s not up to you to create something by faith. It’s already created. You don’t have to put Christ in the heavens. You don’t have to make the gospel strong. All you have to do is recognize and believe in how strong it is and act that way. The King is already moving. Ask him to help you be obedient in your life and witness, but then believe that he will bring about the results. You can be confident that the gospel will be working to harvest the lost. As you step out in faith, knowing who you are in Christ, you will find that God has already begun to speak to the person to whom he leads you.
So, children of God, servants of God, ambassadors for Christ, light of the world, salt of the earth, let us be about our father’s business with joy and confidence in him who is at work among us. God wants to use your life, your words, your witness, your testimony to make disciples. Don’t hold back from that. Be excited about that! And filled with the love of God live it out and see what God does with you and through you and among all of us in his name.
Comments
Post a Comment