Kingdom Mission

More than a decade ago I finally said yes to the assistant chief steward for the union I was part of. The question was “would you be a steward?” I had put it off a bit after initially being asked.

Shortly after, I began sitting in grievance meetings with management. I was told to not say anything and just take notes. That’s what I did for quite a while. Wrote fast on a legal notepad what each party said trying to get as close to the word for word as I could. I got cramps pretty quick in my wrist, it was a lot of writing. I started to learn though, what kind of questions need to be asked. What counterpoints are effective. What process should I examine the record for.

At some point someone looked over at me and asked if I had any questions. I was not prepared to do anything but take notes. So I didn’t have any questions. I began reviewing and planning ahead of the grievances. What questions should we ask, where can we put pressure about this case that might get it overturned?

Eventually I just didn’t really need to prepare ahead of time. I knew the contract, I knew the management policies for applying discipline, and I’d seen most circumstances. Now when I have a grievance I get an idea of what happened that lead to the company’s discipline and just already know what I want to ask. Was this attendance? Give me the record for each occurrence with the date of absence, date of discipline for each absence, whether FMLA was filed and it’s status, is the step of discipline the member received correct? Almost everything that comes up I don’t really need to plan for, I’ve addressed it before and I’ll work to make sure I can get the best outcome that will make a better union member and employee. I’ve had years of experience thinking in the logical arguments that deal with these circumstances.

You may think this is a very odd way to begin the second message in our series about the The Kingdom in the book of Matthew but it’s because we’re in chapter ten and I realized there was a pattern that I saw in my own life for an aspect of my work.

Until Matthew 10 the disciples were just note takers, watching and taking it all in. Now Jesus is sending them out. That’s what the word apostle means by the way; To be sent.

Let’s pray;

Lord help us to see the mission you have for us in your kingdom. Let us have ears to hear what you have said. Let us understand and be obedient in love to your commands, Amen.

Open the word with me to Matthew chapter ten

Matthew 10:5–15 ESV

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

This is just the first mission. It was an announcement the King had arrived. This was that moment they transition from note takers to disciple makers. In fact if you want to see the fruits of this mission take a note to go read Luke 9:10-17 this week and see what happened when the disciples returned.

For the first training run, Jesus gives three temporary rules:

It’s Limited to the lost house of Israel only.

Go with authority but without pay or supplies.

Preach where desired; walk away where not.

Points 1 and 2 are going to change after the cross as we’ll see later. But point 3 will remain the same. As Jesus continues speaking in the rest of the chapter, He shifts to the realities of Kingdom Mission.

Jesus outlines three things we still need to know today: Adversity, Admonition, and Assurance.

Adversity

The first is adversity, persecution will happen. In verses 16 to 24 Jesus makes it clear that the Kingdom Mission does not come without consequence to your life.

Matthew 10:16 ESV

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Jesus makes a very clear statement about going in with your eyes open. Genesis 3 it tells us that the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field. In Genesis 8 we see the dove return to Noah on the Ark with an olive branch, the universal symbol for peace, the motives are pure.

I have to do the same thing when I walk into a room with management. I need to be smart and crafty but I have to keep integrity or it won’t matter how great my arguments are.

There is no point to lying or tricking people into coming to church or to get them to believe in Jesus. If you tell someone in suffering that they just need to accept Jesus and all their life’s problems will be fixed they’ll come back to you a month later calling you and your god a liar when their car dies, they lose their job, their best friend or family member dies, whatever bad things happen after you tell them life will be great from now on will be the reason to reject you and God.

It’s not your responsibility to save people, it’s your responsibility to have a reason for your hope.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

The reason we have for hope is the gospel! Remember the Gospel is summarized in 1 Cor 15.3-4 Christ died for our sins in accordance with scripture, he was buried and raised on the third day in accordance with scripture. You should memorize that snippet, but I also found a great acronym to help you share it.

G - God created us to be with Him (Gen 1-2)

O - Our sins separate us from God (Rom 3:23)

S - Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Eph 2:8-9)

P - Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Rom 5:8)

E - Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life (John 3:16)

L - Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever (John 10:28)

G - God created us to be with Him (Gen 1-2) O - Our sins separate us from God (Rom 3:23) S - Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Eph 2:8-9) P - Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Rom 5:8) E - Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life (John 3:16) L - Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever (John 10:28)

Persecution will come, so be ready. We are blessed here in America; It might not be that you’re hauled in front of kings and whipped. But you will be betrayed by family, friends, and coworkers because you tell people the Gospel. They pushed back against Jesus, why wouldn’t they do the same to you?

Which is why Jesus moves directly to his next point.

Admonition

In vs 26-39 Jesus tells us not to fear the persecution or rejection because the worst other people can do is kill your body, yet God can kill the body and the soul in Hell. Again you should not fear because you’re His, every hair on your head is numbered.

He says in verses

Matthew 10:32–33 ESV

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Don’t be afraid to tell people the gospel it’s the expectation that Jesus has for you. Picking back up in vs 34 we get a message from Jesus that seems strange to our modern western ears.

Matthew 10:34–39 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The peacemakers of last week’s message (you know the ones we talked about in the kingdom standard on character) they don't make peace with the world, they make peace with God and Men by presenting the gospel that reconciles sinners to their Christ.

We are walking into war. If we were walking into peacetime there wouldn’t be admonition to not fear. The Kingdom Mission is controversial. For centuries it has divided even those closest ties we have to other people: our family.

These are difficult words for us to hear. First this is some uncomfortable phrasing in English. To us it seems like the purpose is just family division for the sake of dividing families. But it’s just a different way of thinking. Scripture speaks of the certain results of God’s work in language that emphasizes His sovereign purpose. Jesus isn’t saying His goal is to divide families for its own sake. It’s just an acknowledgement that the results of God’s work will inevitably expose the human heart and divide those who receive Him from those who reject him. Jesus is also quoting here from Micah 7 where the prophet is waiting for God’s redemption.

Micah describes a world so corrupted by sin that even the closest human relationships are broken. Yet in the middle of that darkness he says this in vs 7.

Micah 7:7 ESV

But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

He’s seen the wickedness of the world and despairs the sin all around him, but looks to the Lord waiting on salvation. Jesus uses this to point out that salvation has arrived and he is the salvation of the Lord Micah was waiting for.

It’s very possible you’re already thinking of someone in your family right now. Maybe because you follow Jesus they don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Maybe you feel that tension in your heart every time you see them because you know what needs to be said. You know they don’t need vague encouragement; they need to turn from sin, repent, and trust in the work of Jesus for their salvation. If you tell them that it might be the turning point… you just don’t know if that turn will be away from you or toward Christ.

*WAIT AND LET IT SINK IN*

Love God more than them and be obedient to tell them the gospel. Because if He is worthy of your life, He is worthy of every relationship in your life.

There are two sides of the same coin in view here. We cannot fear people so much we don’t tell them about the gospel. But we also cannot love people so much we walk away from God to make them comfortable. We still need to confront sin and call people to repentance telling them that Jesus paid the penalty of sin so that they would have eternal life.

Church we are in a war. Our numbers have shrunk but that doesn’t mean we huddle together and hide in this building. It’s a wakeup call. We must go out. We must proclaim the gospel to the world around us.

A couple weeks ago I was at Robin’s house and she had seen something she thought would be a great tool for outreach. She explained it and said “Get someone to do it, don’t just talk about it!” She continues to be a great encouragement. So, we’re getting some shirts that might help you with outreach. This isn’t the only way to reach people it’s just a tool. It will have our regular Crossroads logo on the front but on the back it will identify YOU as the kingdom citizen that can take action. It will ask “Need prayer?” then let people know they can tap you on the shoulder.

I don’t know if we’ll have them in time for Schweitzer Fest but when we get them, make sure you wear them when you’re going to do things in town. But even if you don’t have on a special shirt keep your eyes open for situations to pray for people or share the gospel.

The disciples were on a training mission in Mat 10 the parameters change a little after the cross.

Matthew 28:19a ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

This shifts that first note I made about the first mission. The message was limited to Israel but not anymore, now we take it to all nations.

The second note was go with authority but without pay or supplies. That’s shifts now, too.

Luke 22:35–36 ESV

And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

Christ is preparing the apostles for the matured mission of the church. In the early church we see Paul hold a job as tentmaker to self fund the mission. We see churches start funding missions like the church in Philippi. John praises the church for supporting full time missionaries.

3 John 5–8 ESV

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

And that takes things to the final point in Kingdom Mission

Assurance

What we see John just describe is the pattern at the end of Matthew 10. There are many roles and not everyone is called to all of them.

You do not need to baptize or teach from a pulpit to fulfill the Great Commission. You don’t need to be the street preacher able to argue with the atheists. You do need to know what the gospel is, and you need to share it with others. You don’t have to have the answers to every question, it’s okay to invite them to church and have your pastors answer their questions.

Your support is also your participation.

Matthew 10:40–42 ESV

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

This isn’t a series of reward tiers for the Kingdom Club, it is flattening the status. In the Old testament a prophet was a heavy and burdensome role. The righteous person would be known and looked to in the community and the little ones are the youngest and least responsible citizens of a kingdom.

Jesus is saying that everyone is expected in some way to be part of the Kingdom Mission. If you participate, you share equally in the reward.

Kingdom Mission can be terrifying. But fear not, you don’t go alone. Jesus puts us all on par because the identity is shared. We are in Him. If you are identified with Christ, then those who receive you receive Christ, if they receive Him, they receive the Father.

So let me wrap the whole message up with a fast summary and exhortation - that just means an encouragement to action.

Matthew 10 showed us the first Kingdom Mission and that mission’s authority is the same today but the method matured.

We now go to the whole world, and we start here in Perry County.

We give to support that mission, and walk out supported. We’re working with church funds to see how we can best revitalize and evangelize through our season of pruning, trusting our King for the growth.

We don’t waste our effort where it isn’t wanted. When you share the gospel and it’s rejected don’t waste effort pushing it. You plant; God grows.

We do these things with all awareness we are in a war and will have adversity. We are admonished not to fear people so much we are silent and not to love others so much we hide their sin from the light of Christ. And lastly, we are assured that as participants in the mission whether preaching in the street or offering a cup of cold water, we share in the King’s reward.