Scripture Matthew 9:35-10:23
What is this doing in the Bible! The Bible is all about love and joy and forgiveness and peace, isn’t it? And how God is good and blesses us when we follow him right? But this message is hard! The disciples are being told to look forward to great difficulties and dangerous challenges! It was a great challenge to me just to find a way to talk about this difficult and uncomfortable set of instructions without discouraging us from wanting to reach the lost with the gospel of salvation. Why in the world would anybody want to follow a leader who is going to lead them into such hardship? The short answer is, because it’s worth it! Jesus the king of the universe loves us! He laid down his life for us. And in response we love him and become willing to lay down our lives for him.
This portion of the gospel reminds me of those disclaimers you hear on TV commercials about new medicines. But it’s different too. In those commercials, they spend most of the time telling you how great their new product is and why you really need to buy it to solve your big problem. I did a little search for a simple little medication, one that is supposed to cure acne. Not because I have acne, but because one might imagine a topical treatment like that could be relatively safe. In big bold letters they say, ONEXTON Gel contains TWO ACNE-FIGHTING MEDICINES THAT TREAT 3 TYPES OF ACNE FOR VISIBLY CLEARER SKIN. ONEXTON is the only prescription product that contains clindamycin 1.2% and benzoyl peroxide 3.75%—2 medications that fight acne. It was designed to be pH balanced for the skin. No alcohol. No preservatives. No surfactants.
Then down below in tiny little letters they admit that their product can cause serious side effects including: Inflammation of the colon (colitis). Stop using ONEXTON Gel and call your doctor right away if you have severe watery, or bloody..Uh, I’m not going to say that word in church.
Then it warns us of Allergic reactions. Stop using ONEXTON Gel, call your doctor and get help right away if you have any of the following symptoms: severe itching; swelling of your face, eyes, lips, tongue or throat; or trouble breathing.
Common side effects with ONEXTON Gel include skin irritation. Stop using ONEXTON Gel and call your doctor if you have a skin rash or your skin becomes very red, itchy or swollen. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.
Personally, considering the risks, I’d rather live with acne if I had to.
But Jesus never did paint a rosy picture of life with him. He didn’t hide the disclaimer in fine print or a very fast talking hard to hear little speech at the end, after telling how wonderful it would all be.
We do have John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We do have the beatitudes to tell us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. But see, even there, Jesus is getting his followers ready for more than blessings. Trouble is coming too! They will be persecuted.
Jesus preached, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” In Luke 9:62 Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” No turning back! Jesus demands whole hearted commitment. He said in Matthew 10:38 “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” To take up your cross is to prepare to die!
Jesus had no trouble telling his disciples that serving him would be demanding and hard. But I think we have trouble hearing it. We would much rather focus on healing and forgiveness and grace and mercy. This is understandable because we know we are sinners in need of grace. But Jesus seems to think that if we accept forgiveness then he has a right to ask us to get out of our comfort zones and so some hard things for him.
Speaking of comfort zone, did you notice that on the floor there? (I Had put some yellow paper strips labeled “comfort zone” on both sides of the aisle, from the back pew to fourth from the back. It kind of looks like caution tape.) Cute eh? We have often heard that we have to be willing to get out of our comfort zones in order to serve the Lord. But we rarely get the idea that clearly, eh?
I remember asking you to move forward last week, and I am very happy to see how many of you remembered that and are up here closer to me again today. For those of you still back there in the comfort zone, if guests come, guess where they would prefer to sit? you’re in their spot! Now on the other hand, if you bring guests, please sit with them, even in the comfort zone. Now I hope you will continue to practice hospitality and sit closer to the front if you’re already a member or regular attender, but don’t worry, the signs on the floor will be gone again for next Sunday.
So, this week, continuing with the readings assigned by the liturgical calendar, we get a nice follow up to last Sunday’s challenge and call for us to go and make disciples. In today’s reading in Matthew, we get to listen in as Jesus gives his first disciples instructions on how to do the ministry to which he has called them. But by the time we get to the end of the passage, we see that it’s not going to be an easy ride, to say the least.
Let’s take a closer look. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We’ve heard plenty of sermons on these verses. Missionaries like this one because they are always looking for more help and more support for building the kingdom of God. I think maybe a lot of church members like it too because they don’t think they are being called to be a worker in the harvest field. They are only being asked to pray for God to send more. And all God’s people said, “Sure, I’ll pray for that.” But few regular church members feel qualified to be that. As a matter of fact, I remember a study that showed that in regular mainline churches, such as Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics and even Presbyterians, 90% of the people in the pews have never shared their faith with an unbeliever, hoping to lead them to faith in Jesus. 90%!
2 Timothy 4:5 instructs Timothy, a pastor chosen by Paul, “keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” And again, you might think that only certain people actually are evangelists and called to do that work. But 1 Peter 3:14-16 is speaking to everyone when it says, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
That is doing the work of an evangelist in a potentially hostile environment, just as Jesus was talking about. And John 4:28-29 shows us the excitement of the Samaritan woman, eager to share: “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Which is to say that if you are truly born again and filled with the joy of how much God loves you, it ought to be hard to keep that to yourself.
In the Samaritan’s Purse ministry newsletter, I read the story of Innocent and Jessica, a pair of siblings in Namibia of Southern Africa. Jessica, at 13 years old, used to steal money from her mother and Innocent, only 12, was staying out all night with a dangerous crowd. But they received Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and a chance to join the discipleship class. Soon they gave their hearts to the Lord and now they excitedly share their lessons with dozens of other neighborhood kids! The change in them was so dramatic that their alcoholic mother also became a Christian soon after. Even kids can do the work of an evangelist.
Now I know I’ve barely covered all of the Bible passage we read, but I promise we can get through the rest pretty quickly. First, Jesus gives his disciples authority to pray for healing of disease and recovery of the demonized. Indeed, even today Paul assures us in Eph. 1:19 that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is ours to know and ask for in our prayers for people to be healed, delivered and saved.
Second Jesus gave them instructions specific to their current situation. They were to trust the Lord to provide for their daily needs and to rely on the hospitality customs common in that culture for lodging and meals. They were to be discerning about the people they were hanging out with and offer blessings and prayers appropriately or else shake the dust off their feet as they left.
Similarly, in our day, we face special and specific challenges and circumstances that have a direct impact on the ways we can do the work of evangelism in our neighborhoods. The only way we can know how to respond to the circumstances we are facing is to either guess and experiment, which is a good option, as long as you are open to keep trying different things until you find what works, or to hear from Jesus through our conscious dependence upon the Holy Spirit as we pray for God’s wisdom and guidance, and most likely: a combination of both.
In the weeks to come, I want to offer a teaching series on prayer and another series on evangelism, Lord willing, so that we all feel better equipped to hear from God and try new kinds of evangelistic ministry. We want, we need to regularly, review and renew our spiritual lives because when we are spiritually healthier God will bless us and add to our number. Healthy things grow.
The last thing we need to talk about is the idea that doing this can be hard work. We could meet with much resistance, even persecution. But we are not to be discouraged even though, Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Surely, we don’t have to worry about things getting that bad for us, do we? Compared to what Paul endured on his missionary journeys, what God asks of us right here, right now is to just be willing to talk to strangers about the gospel, not to mention friends and neighbors.
In today’s culture, especially in the Western church, we surely give thanks for the freedom to worship as we please. But is that really an advantage? The church is growing faster in places where it is dangerous to be a Christian. Do you know why? It is not because they can worship as they please. It is because they show the courage to worship anyway, as dangerous as it is.
There was a man in prison who wrote bible verses in his prison cell whenever he could find a small scrap of paper. But instead of hiding them, he posted them, using the dampness of the wall to stick the verses up as a love offering, where everyone could see, even the guards, and they regularly beat him up for doing it. But that didn’t stop him. This went on for many months. Also, every morning when he woke up he stood at the bars of his cell and sang praises to the Lord, the same song every day, his heart song. The other prisoners complained, but he did it every day.
Finally, through a deception in which the guards convinced him that they had tortured and killed his wife, he was broken and had to get out in order to find and protect his children. He was getting ready to sign a document to recant his faith. But that night, he had a vision. The Holy Spirit showed him that his wife was ok. So, the next morning he refused to sign. The guards were so furious that they dragged him out of his cell, intent on executing him on the spot. But they were stopped by an amazing sound.
All the rest of the prisoners had seen this man’s courage and had been impressed enough that when they understood what was about to happen, one of them came to the bars of his cell and started singing the praise song that he had learned because our hero sang it every day. One by one, all the other prisoners joined in until the entire place was ringing like a choir with the joyful song. It was like a miracle. The next day, this Christian was released from the prison so that he could no longer have such a positive influence over the rest of the prisoners!
But all that Jesus is asking of us, is to be brave enough to talk to our friends, neighbors and relatives about Jesus. They need to hear the gospel! “You see,” according to Romans 5: 6-8, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (That’s us.) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We will have to get out of our “comfort zones” to answer Christ’s call to be workers in the harvest field. But when we do that we will find that the real comfort zone is in Christ, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
My original working title for this sermon was “Dressed for Work.” The idea there was that when we are robed in the righteousness of Christ, that’s not a lounge coat. It’s not pajamas. It’s work clothes. We also put on the full armor of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we will be able to stand and do the work God calls us to do, through Jesus Christ who is victorious over all! We have nothing to fear! We have much for which to give thanks and a great work ahead of reaching the lost and welcoming new believers into our fellowship!
What is this doing in the Bible! The Bible is all about love and joy and forgiveness and peace, isn’t it? And how God is good and blesses us when we follow him right? But this message is hard! The disciples are being told to look forward to great difficulties and dangerous challenges! It was a great challenge to me just to find a way to talk about this difficult and uncomfortable set of instructions without discouraging us from wanting to reach the lost with the gospel of salvation. Why in the world would anybody want to follow a leader who is going to lead them into such hardship? The short answer is, because it’s worth it! Jesus the king of the universe loves us! He laid down his life for us. And in response we love him and become willing to lay down our lives for him.
This portion of the gospel reminds me of those disclaimers you hear on TV commercials about new medicines. But it’s different too. In those commercials, they spend most of the time telling you how great their new product is and why you really need to buy it to solve your big problem. I did a little search for a simple little medication, one that is supposed to cure acne. Not because I have acne, but because one might imagine a topical treatment like that could be relatively safe. In big bold letters they say, ONEXTON Gel contains TWO ACNE-FIGHTING MEDICINES THAT TREAT 3 TYPES OF ACNE FOR VISIBLY CLEARER SKIN. ONEXTON is the only prescription product that contains clindamycin 1.2% and benzoyl peroxide 3.75%—2 medications that fight acne. It was designed to be pH balanced for the skin. No alcohol. No preservatives. No surfactants.
Then down below in tiny little letters they admit that their product can cause serious side effects including: Inflammation of the colon (colitis). Stop using ONEXTON Gel and call your doctor right away if you have severe watery, or bloody..Uh, I’m not going to say that word in church.
Then it warns us of Allergic reactions. Stop using ONEXTON Gel, call your doctor and get help right away if you have any of the following symptoms: severe itching; swelling of your face, eyes, lips, tongue or throat; or trouble breathing.
Common side effects with ONEXTON Gel include skin irritation. Stop using ONEXTON Gel and call your doctor if you have a skin rash or your skin becomes very red, itchy or swollen. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.
Personally, considering the risks, I’d rather live with acne if I had to.
But Jesus never did paint a rosy picture of life with him. He didn’t hide the disclaimer in fine print or a very fast talking hard to hear little speech at the end, after telling how wonderful it would all be.
We do have John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We do have the beatitudes to tell us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. But see, even there, Jesus is getting his followers ready for more than blessings. Trouble is coming too! They will be persecuted.
Jesus preached, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” In Luke 9:62 Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” No turning back! Jesus demands whole hearted commitment. He said in Matthew 10:38 “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” To take up your cross is to prepare to die!
Jesus had no trouble telling his disciples that serving him would be demanding and hard. But I think we have trouble hearing it. We would much rather focus on healing and forgiveness and grace and mercy. This is understandable because we know we are sinners in need of grace. But Jesus seems to think that if we accept forgiveness then he has a right to ask us to get out of our comfort zones and so some hard things for him.
Speaking of comfort zone, did you notice that on the floor there? (I Had put some yellow paper strips labeled “comfort zone” on both sides of the aisle, from the back pew to fourth from the back. It kind of looks like caution tape.) Cute eh? We have often heard that we have to be willing to get out of our comfort zones in order to serve the Lord. But we rarely get the idea that clearly, eh?
I remember asking you to move forward last week, and I am very happy to see how many of you remembered that and are up here closer to me again today. For those of you still back there in the comfort zone, if guests come, guess where they would prefer to sit? you’re in their spot! Now on the other hand, if you bring guests, please sit with them, even in the comfort zone. Now I hope you will continue to practice hospitality and sit closer to the front if you’re already a member or regular attender, but don’t worry, the signs on the floor will be gone again for next Sunday.
So, this week, continuing with the readings assigned by the liturgical calendar, we get a nice follow up to last Sunday’s challenge and call for us to go and make disciples. In today’s reading in Matthew, we get to listen in as Jesus gives his first disciples instructions on how to do the ministry to which he has called them. But by the time we get to the end of the passage, we see that it’s not going to be an easy ride, to say the least.
Let’s take a closer look. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We’ve heard plenty of sermons on these verses. Missionaries like this one because they are always looking for more help and more support for building the kingdom of God. I think maybe a lot of church members like it too because they don’t think they are being called to be a worker in the harvest field. They are only being asked to pray for God to send more. And all God’s people said, “Sure, I’ll pray for that.” But few regular church members feel qualified to be that. As a matter of fact, I remember a study that showed that in regular mainline churches, such as Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics and even Presbyterians, 90% of the people in the pews have never shared their faith with an unbeliever, hoping to lead them to faith in Jesus. 90%!
2 Timothy 4:5 instructs Timothy, a pastor chosen by Paul, “keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” And again, you might think that only certain people actually are evangelists and called to do that work. But 1 Peter 3:14-16 is speaking to everyone when it says, “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
That is doing the work of an evangelist in a potentially hostile environment, just as Jesus was talking about. And John 4:28-29 shows us the excitement of the Samaritan woman, eager to share: “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Which is to say that if you are truly born again and filled with the joy of how much God loves you, it ought to be hard to keep that to yourself.
In the Samaritan’s Purse ministry newsletter, I read the story of Innocent and Jessica, a pair of siblings in Namibia of Southern Africa. Jessica, at 13 years old, used to steal money from her mother and Innocent, only 12, was staying out all night with a dangerous crowd. But they received Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and a chance to join the discipleship class. Soon they gave their hearts to the Lord and now they excitedly share their lessons with dozens of other neighborhood kids! The change in them was so dramatic that their alcoholic mother also became a Christian soon after. Even kids can do the work of an evangelist.
Now I know I’ve barely covered all of the Bible passage we read, but I promise we can get through the rest pretty quickly. First, Jesus gives his disciples authority to pray for healing of disease and recovery of the demonized. Indeed, even today Paul assures us in Eph. 1:19 that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is ours to know and ask for in our prayers for people to be healed, delivered and saved.
Second Jesus gave them instructions specific to their current situation. They were to trust the Lord to provide for their daily needs and to rely on the hospitality customs common in that culture for lodging and meals. They were to be discerning about the people they were hanging out with and offer blessings and prayers appropriately or else shake the dust off their feet as they left.
Similarly, in our day, we face special and specific challenges and circumstances that have a direct impact on the ways we can do the work of evangelism in our neighborhoods. The only way we can know how to respond to the circumstances we are facing is to either guess and experiment, which is a good option, as long as you are open to keep trying different things until you find what works, or to hear from Jesus through our conscious dependence upon the Holy Spirit as we pray for God’s wisdom and guidance, and most likely: a combination of both.
In the weeks to come, I want to offer a teaching series on prayer and another series on evangelism, Lord willing, so that we all feel better equipped to hear from God and try new kinds of evangelistic ministry. We want, we need to regularly, review and renew our spiritual lives because when we are spiritually healthier God will bless us and add to our number. Healthy things grow.
The last thing we need to talk about is the idea that doing this can be hard work. We could meet with much resistance, even persecution. But we are not to be discouraged even though, Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Surely, we don’t have to worry about things getting that bad for us, do we? Compared to what Paul endured on his missionary journeys, what God asks of us right here, right now is to just be willing to talk to strangers about the gospel, not to mention friends and neighbors.
In today’s culture, especially in the Western church, we surely give thanks for the freedom to worship as we please. But is that really an advantage? The church is growing faster in places where it is dangerous to be a Christian. Do you know why? It is not because they can worship as they please. It is because they show the courage to worship anyway, as dangerous as it is.
There was a man in prison who wrote bible verses in his prison cell whenever he could find a small scrap of paper. But instead of hiding them, he posted them, using the dampness of the wall to stick the verses up as a love offering, where everyone could see, even the guards, and they regularly beat him up for doing it. But that didn’t stop him. This went on for many months. Also, every morning when he woke up he stood at the bars of his cell and sang praises to the Lord, the same song every day, his heart song. The other prisoners complained, but he did it every day.
Finally, through a deception in which the guards convinced him that they had tortured and killed his wife, he was broken and had to get out in order to find and protect his children. He was getting ready to sign a document to recant his faith. But that night, he had a vision. The Holy Spirit showed him that his wife was ok. So, the next morning he refused to sign. The guards were so furious that they dragged him out of his cell, intent on executing him on the spot. But they were stopped by an amazing sound.
All the rest of the prisoners had seen this man’s courage and had been impressed enough that when they understood what was about to happen, one of them came to the bars of his cell and started singing the praise song that he had learned because our hero sang it every day. One by one, all the other prisoners joined in until the entire place was ringing like a choir with the joyful song. It was like a miracle. The next day, this Christian was released from the prison so that he could no longer have such a positive influence over the rest of the prisoners!
But all that Jesus is asking of us, is to be brave enough to talk to our friends, neighbors and relatives about Jesus. They need to hear the gospel! “You see,” according to Romans 5: 6-8, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (That’s us.) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We will have to get out of our “comfort zones” to answer Christ’s call to be workers in the harvest field. But when we do that we will find that the real comfort zone is in Christ, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
My original working title for this sermon was “Dressed for Work.” The idea there was that when we are robed in the righteousness of Christ, that’s not a lounge coat. It’s not pajamas. It’s work clothes. We also put on the full armor of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we will be able to stand and do the work God calls us to do, through Jesus Christ who is victorious over all! We have nothing to fear! We have much for which to give thanks and a great work ahead of reaching the lost and welcoming new believers into our fellowship!
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