Sent on Mission

Introduction 

We are resuming our series in the Gospel of Matthew. We’ve been at it for the last couple of years and we will be in it for the next 8 weeks.  

When I was younger, my mom used to send me on errands. She would call me and say “Dayo, (Dayo is the name my family call me, the second half of my full name but apparently it was too hard for my American friends so I gave them Temi), My mom would say, Dayo, go and buy me bread from the bread lady across the street, Dayo go with your brothers to fetch some water, and my favorite one, when I was in trouble she would say, Dayo go and grab me the cane.  

In all those instances my mom sent me on a mission with clear instructions and my responsibility as her son was to do as I have been instructed.  

Ladies and gentlemen, it is not only our parents who send us on errands. There is no greater mission or errand that we can be sent on than the one Jesus entrusts to his disciples.  

Over the next 8 weeks we will look at the Kingdom Mission that Jesus gave to his foundational 12 disciples and by application to all those who come after them. It’s a mission that came with specific set of instructions. Who to go to, what to do, what to take, and where to stay.  

In Matthew 10 – 11 that we will examine over the next few weeks, Jesus sends his 12 disciples out on mission but he tells them they will be scorned and rejected but in the midst of the scorn and rejection, he promises to sustain them.  

To begin the series we will start in Matthew 10:1-15. We ended our time in the series last year at the end of Matthew 9 when Jesus lamented that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. It’s therefore not a coincidence that Matthew opens up chapter 10 with Jesus sending his disciples as laborers into the field to reap the harvest.  

The main take-away from this message is this: Jesus sends His disciples into the mission field with clear instructions, and He sends us with the same gospel mission to proclaim and demonstrate His kingdom. Mission field is not merely a foreign country, as we will see even the 12 disciples in this moment that Jesus sends them did not leave the country they reside in. The mission field is wherever you find yourself. Work, home, grocery store, the park, the train, restaurants, Wherever you find yourself with non-followers of Jesus is the mission field.  

Let us pray.  

Commision 

In the first 4 verses of the chapter, Jesus summons the disciples, and commissions them. Reading the first 4 verses on Matthew 10, here’s what it says “Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” 

Jesus calls the 12 Apostles and gave them authority to do the things they had seen him do. They had seen Jesus make the lame walk, drive out demons from hurting souls, calm the storming sea, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom.   

Now, it’s their turn to go out and do likewise.  

I think it’s pretty cool that Jesus didn’t just send them out as individuals. He sent them out as a community, he sent them out in groups of twos. He saw the value in what the writer of Ecclesiastes said when he wrote the words “Two is better than one. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him.” 

You cannot save the whole world by yourself; you cannot be a light on a hill by yourself; you need partnership with your brothers and sisters. It is hard being on mission by your yourself. You need a local church of people who encourage you, challenge you, pray for you, support you, bear with you, cry with you, laugh with you.  

Each disciple had a brother next to them when they went out to the mission field. Look at some next to you, behind you, in front of you and say to them “will you be my brother/sister?” It was Peter with Andrew his brother, James with his brother John, Philip with Bartholomew, Thomas with Matthew, James with Thaddaeus, Simon with Judas.  

Man do I wish that the local church, including Restoration Church, is a place where Christians feel like they have real friends. A place where you can be honest and be understood. A place where you don’t have to feel lonely and isolated. A place where you can do mission together. Will you commit to helping Restoration Church be that type of place? It’ll take each one of us to make it happen.  

Matthew moves beyond the commission summary in 10:1-4 to give us the details of the mission in 10:5-15.  

Instruction 

I want us to see in these 10 verses four things Jesus tells the 12 disciples and along the way I want to show five principles that we can glean from his instructions to them.   

In these 10 verses, Jesus tells the 12 disciples where to go, what to do, what to take, and where to stay. 

I think it’s important to say church, that these instructions are particular to the 12 disciples. It is the 12 disciples that Jesus gives authority over unclean spirits, it is the 12 disciples that he gives the ability to heal every disease and sickness.  

At the same time, there are lessons and principles that we today, can glean from these instructions.  

In 10:5-6, Jesus tells them where to go.  It says, “5 Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritan town. 6 Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

Jesus intentionally limits the mission field to the nation of Israel. He restricts the disciples from engaging with foreigners. I think this is an important principle that we can get from this and that is to remember that mission does not always involve going to foreign lands. The first Christian missionaries were local. The local church should be a missionary to the local city that it belongs to.  

A fitting question to ask is how are we doing as a missionary to our local city? 

Just as the disciples were sent, we too have been sent. Turn to yourself and say “Mission starts here” 

Jesus restricts the mission field to the nation of Israel not because the Gentiles aren’t worthy of hearing the message but because in the God’s redemptive plan, Isreal gets the honor of being first to hear the message of Salvation.  

It’s why Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, then the Gentiles.” 

The people of Israel were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament so it was fitting that they would be the first to hear the message of salvation. But church, this restriction was never meant to be permanent. Jesus lifts the restriction in the great commission of Matthew 28:19 when he told the 12 disciples, “Go ye therefore into all the nations.” 

That is why we have global missions. That is why we yearn to travel to foreign lands for the sake of the gospel. But we also cannot neglect the local city that we belong to.  

And we must take that seriously. We must reach our local city for the sake of the gospel. Our local city must hear us proclaim the good news of the kingdom. By any righteous means necessary, we must share the truth of Jesus with our local city. 

In 10:7-8, Jesus tells the disciples what to do on this mission trip. He says, “7 As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons.” 

The disciples had two tasks. 1) Preach the good news of the kingdom. 2) Do the works that reflect the good news of the kingdom.  

The disciples are to go out and tell people that change is here then show them what change looks like. The miracles are a sign of a renewed kingdom. The old is passing and the new is at hand.  

People do not get saved simply by seeing the works. They must hear the message.  

Here’s another principle we can learn from this instruction, we too must be missionaries who preach and do the works that reflect the preached word. We know from scriptures that while the Spirit gives gifts to believers, not everyone has the same spiritual gifts. 

But regardless of the spiritual gift that we have, the question is how can we be instruments of restoration and redemption in people's lives and in our local community? That’s what miracles and healings represent. They represent a restoring and redeeming of what sin has manipulated. 

We may never raise the dead, but we can be a present hope-filled friend in a time of mourning. We may never drive out demons, but we can spend time in prayer for God’s deliverance.  

Where can you dispense acts of gospel motivated mercy and compassion to those who do not follow Jesus? How is your life speaking when words have ceased? 

We’ve seen so far where Jesus tells them to go, what he tells them to do and now we’ll see what he tells them to take and where he tells them to stay in 10:8-15. It says, “Freely you received, freely give. 9 Don’t take gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts. 10 Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food. 11 When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 Greet a household when you enter it, 13 and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” 

Jesus sent out his disciples not with a lambo, or a private jet, not with an emergency savings account, or a six figure income. He sends them out to be fully dependent on the provision of God through the people who believe their message. They are to give freely and not charge for the message or the works. They are to stay only with those who are receptive of the message and move on from those who aren’t. 

The principle is simple for us. We must put no precondition for the gospel message and gospel works. We can’t make people jump through hoops before we tell them about Jesus or show them the compassion of Christ. We can’t be like the old TV preacher who can only bless you if you sow a seed. We can’t look for the perfect time before we feel ready to open our mouth.  

We also cannot take the rejection of the message personally. We aren’t being reject, Jesus is who is being rejected.  

The biggest reason why we do not preach the goodness of the kingdom to those around us perhaps because we fear rejection.  

I’m not a fan of rejection. I was so scared to tell Modesta she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and that I would love to for her to be girlfriend because I was scared of her rejection.  

Jesus tells his disciples not to fear rejection but to shrug it off and move on knowing that judgment is coming upon those who reject the message of salvation.  

Conclusion 

As we wrap up, here’s a recap of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples. Jesus sends out his disciples into the mission field to reap the harvest that is plentiful. He gives them instructions for the journey on where to go, what to do, what to take, and where to stay.  

We might not be the direct recipients of these instructions but there are lessons that we can take from them. We too are to go into the mission field. We too are to go into our local community and preach the good news of the kingdom and do the works that is in keeping with the kingdom. We are to preach without precondition and don’t take the rejection personally.  

There is no greater errand to be sent on that the errand of helping people know that is a Saviour who can change them from the inside out, a Savior who is seeks their best and their good, a Savior who sustains through the tough times, a Saviour who heals and mends the brokenhearted, a Savior who forgives sins, a Savior who is full of power and majesty, a Savior who comforts the weary soul, a Savior who is a friend in dark times.  

We must preach about this Savior and there is no one left to tell.  

We must go locally. Speak boldly. Serve freely. And endure rejection.