Matthew
10:21-33 NIV
21 “Brother will betray brother to death,
and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have
them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because
of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 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.
24 “The student is not above the teacher,
nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like
their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has
been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for
there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not
be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in
the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the
One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold
for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s
care. 30 And even the very hairs of
your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before
others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me
before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Tornado!
Remember last week?
Jesus sends His twelve apostles out into the world. Sends them with very
little. Yet, this week we hear the warnings. As these apostles, and us
disciples of today, GO… we can expect that the message of the Gospel will cause
societal divisions, yes, even divisions in family. At first glance it may not
make sense. Afterall the Gospel is the Good News of God’s forgiveness and
salvation. But many won’t agree. Salvation can’t be free! And many will
disagree with the message that salvation is a gift. It just can’t be true. You
are not truthful with this Gospel message.
Following Jesus just
may lead to hatred from people in this world. Jesus can’t be the answer. Jesus
can’t be the Savior. And for you to proclaim so, is a lie told. At least in the
eyes of the unbeliever.
This lie may bring
persecution, either physical or mental. But remaining obedient to Jesus’ call
to go into the fields is what matters.
If people won’t
listen to the Gospel message; move along. This advice from Jesus is some harsh
stuff here. But the message that the apostles bring, is for all the people of
this world, even if they are beginning with the Jewish people at first.
As disciples of
Christ, we need to be humble. Humble before God and one another. When we attempt
to understand and listen to Jesus, we must realize our need to learn, and grasp
what God tells us. In days of old, God spoke to people through the prophets,
but today we can open the pages of our Bible and hear and learn from Jesus.
What a wonderful gift this is. So be sure to take time, each and every day to
open the Word, seek God’s guidance and understanding, SO THAT, we can live out
God’s Will in His Way. In this we are obedient and faithful. In this we know
that God is God and we are not. In this we can commune with God and be His
child. Humility is a wonderful thing!
But know and
understand this, when we align with Jesus, we will be opposed by the evil and
the evils of this world. Satanic power is real and can’t stand what God has
sent Jesus to do for His Children. Satan will hate you as much as he hates God.
So, be ready, to turn all of your trust and faith over to the protection of
God. You can’t defeat Satan and evil… Only God can do this.
But even with this
evil world and the evil people and powers within it, we need not fear. God has
your back.
Psalm 27:1
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
What God commands us
to say, say it. Don’t be afraid of telling the word of God’s forgiveness and
grace to all the world. Some people will hate your message. Your message is a
gift from God, not something some people want to hear. Many folks only want to
hear how they themselves, or their works, or their riches, power, or influence
is what saves them. It doesn’t work that way. We need God.
Don’t fear mankind.
Fear and honor God and God alone. He is your salvation.
Look around and see
how God cares for creation, for animals, and for you and me as well. Remember
that whole “Daily Bread?” God gives us all we need. Completely. There is more
to all of this than what this world holds. Way more!
As a Child of God,
you can rest assured that God loves you and has your back, even in death.
When we go into the
world to tell of the Gospel, we are also telling people that God will turn
their lives around. We are showing people their sin. And God moves in His Law
to spin sinners away from evil, to face Him for grace and forgiveness. This
message can be a dangerous message for people who live in sin and don’t want to
change. Change is difficult and can send people into a wild defensive posture.
Expect it. But the message is NOT yours. This message IS God’s message. And as
tough as this message of sin is, we must be obedient to God’s command to speak
HIS Word and not our words. After all, it’s God who grants the forgiveness,
even for each of us as well, even as we speak God’s Word, we are convicted in
our sin as well.
Hear this and grasp
the comfort…
Psalm 91:1-4
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my
fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Even though we hear
harsh warnings from Jesus, we can obey His will. Sin does not win out. We are
not slaves to this evil world, even though we sin, Christ has freed us from the
power of sin and defeated death, SO THAT, we can live with Him and under Him in
His Kingdom, now and forever.
This past week, I
experienced several Tornado Warnings. Warnings that came out in the early hours
of the morning. First, my phone goes into that annoying alarm mode, detailing
the possibility of a tornado in the area. Then I hear the city sirens wailing
outside. Followed by my wife, coming to wake me from sleep! So, next we gather
together the dogs and the cat and traipse down into the basement. Of course,
the cat has his own ideas of taking cover and won’t comply with any wishes we
may have. I take along my phone, of course, and set it up to listen to the
local Cincinnati weather person reporting about all the tornado warnings in the
area.
There is fear of
what could happen, yet caution, to take cover of what may or may not happen.
Finally, the all clear is given and we go back to bed, or in the case of my
wife looking through some family papers she discovered in the basement. She is
one to stay up late anyway.
Back to bed, and
what happens? After about 30 minutes or so, another tornado warning is issued
and the city sirens go off once again. What do I do? Irritated with this whole
process, I lay in my upstairs bedroom and make the decision to “forget about
it!”
Was it good for me
to do this? Caution says no, but my impatience says okay.
This passage of Scripture from Matthew 10 makes me think of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus warns us about what to expect as we go into the world to proclaim how sinful and evil we, you and I can be. Jesus places the LAW right before our eyes and we are convicted just like those guys at the social gatherings who hold signs of “Burning in Hell” do. Yet the flip side of what Jesus tells His apostles, and today disciples, is that we can be sure that we will be rejected. Sort of like sirens going off, and phones blaring and weather personnel telling us to go to our safe place.
But where is “safe?”
Our world is not
safe. We have tornados, wars, hunger, poverty, accidents, illness and death all
around us. We have people that steal, murder, lie and cheat; all around us. Our
world is NOT safe!
Yet, here we are,
sent to proclaim to evil people that this world is NOT all there is. Well,
that’s just something that may be too far of a stretch for anyone to believe.
And on top of all that we proclaim that we all fall short, and we all sin and
are evil. Talk about making your neighbor mad at you!
But like the weather
person, telling us to go to our “safe place.” God does offer a Gospel message
in this “Safe Place” with Jesus. Jesus has overcome the evil of sin and
overcome the power of death, FOR us, SO THAT, we may have a “SAFE PLACE.” Yes,
a SAFE PLACE with Him forever in His Kingdom.
And it’s this
message that we GO into the fields of this world to all the people in desperate
need, to proclaim what God has already done.
God takes us and
spins us around, even as we are in the midst of our sin, to show us His
forgiveness and life with Him forever. And that’s not something we can do on
our own.
So, as we GO! Even
in the midst of repeated warnings, don’t ignore what Jesus sends us to do… not
even when the message of safety is irritating for the second, third, fourth or
maybe even fifth time in the middle of the night.
How can I not
re-iterate my Confirmation Verse spoken over me by Pastor Bergdall as he lay
his hands on my head…
Psalm 27:1 NIV
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
Listen in obedience
to the command, the warning, and GO out into the fields of this world to
proclaim… The Kingdom is near… Jesus is here… the Holy Spirit is with us… God
is at hand… today… tomorrow… and forever… Thanks be to God!
Hear now and be
inspired by my favorite song that reminds me of my Confirmation Verse, Psalm
27:1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsQzeBKKIFY&list=RDtsQzeBKKIFY&start_radio=1
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