Fitting in

You’re it

Do you remember playing tag? What was the first thing you did when you play tag? I remember that as a kid the very first thing was to scream as quick as you could “Not It!” and the last player to say it was obviously it. Many arguments and fights started over those words and I can guarantee you somewhere on this planet there is a group of kids saying not it. When we are talking about playing tag calling not it is not a big deal until you get to the last person and they don't want to be it. If no one is it you cannot play tag. In the same manner if we all say not it when God calls us, who will do the work? Matthew 9:35-38 and Matthew 10:1-5a

Walks us through one of the times where Jesus called and how He prepared the called for His glory. We will explore three steps of being it for Jesus. First we will explore the Team, then we will explore the Play, and lastly we will explore the Win

The Team

With every game it is important to pick your team. Picking the right team is probably the single most important thing that a player can do when they begin playing a sport. If the team is not solid then no matter how good an individual player is their success is limited. As the disciples were concerned they were on the right team. They saw what was possible with the players that were on the team and they wanted to be on the winning team.

Matthew 4:18–22 ESV

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

The disciples were already on the winning team, they made the decision to be on the winning team and they went immediately following Jesus.

In the business world when building a team you are looking for some specifics when choosing the people who will help you be successful. The fist thing is that the person loves what they do. If you hire someone who does not love what they do or are only there for the money you are bound for failure. The second thing you look for is that your team cares about each other. Jesus built a team that cared more about the vision and the goal than the pay. We must be willing to really be a part of the team with Christ. The team with Christ is not always glamorous and as a matter of fact in the same chapters we are studying Jesus tells His disciples that they must be prepared to give up everything to follow Him. Are you on the team? Not just a participant in the stands but truly on the team. Watch what Jesus does to the disciples here, its a little comical. Jesus says

Matthew 9:37–38 ESV

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

He tells His disciples lets pray that workers are sent that someone will be here that can do the work that needs to be done. Now based on the rules of literature and writing we can assume that there is time between the time that Jesus told the disciples to pray and what happens next in the scripture. So what happens next? Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus called the 12 disciples back in.

Matthew 10:1 ESV

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

So here we have Jesus and he says, Look what we have here we prayed for workers and now here are 12 of them! You have to believe the disciples are looking at each other going what? Wait a minute, we were praying that others would show up! and Jesus flips the script on them, He says yep you are the team, you are the workers you prayed for! Then the scripture lists the names of the disciples on the team

Matthew 10:2–4 ESV

The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

I love sports in general and college football is my thing. As a part of college football the Florida State Seminoles are my team, win or lose I will always root for the Seminoles. My wife loves to irritate me during football games. I am sitting there in normal fashion yelling at the TV and not understanding why the quarterback chooses the wrong receiver, or why the coach makes the call he does, or why the ref threw the flag. The words come so easy during those times, we are never going to win like this! My wife in her wonderful fashion looks over and says you aren't on the team so you wont win either way. In my heart I feel like i’m on the team. I have the shirts, Jersey’s, the cups, and even a helmet. But at the end of the day as much as i feel like i’m on the team, my wife is right and i’m not actually on the team.

There are many people who feel like they are a part of the team and that they are a part of the winning and losing but in reality they never leave the bleachers, they never get out from in front of the TV, they never leave their pews. To be a part of the team is not to just dress in the uniform but you must be at the practices, you must be at the conditioning, and you must participate in the games. There are no sideline participants in God’s team. Now this is not a sale to make you feel guilty for not being in church. Church is great and wonderful and is a place of encouragement and engagement in each others lives. Church without being in the word on a daily basis, or being in prayer on a daily basis is not being on the team. Going to church every Sunday and not participating in the game during the week is not being a part of the team. So my challenge is a two part challenge. First you must join the team, if you don’t know Jesus and you want to at the end of this message I am happy to talk to you about how you can come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Second, if you know Jesus as your Lord then it is time to play in the game. Be a part of the team and win with the team or lose with the team but at the very least participate. It is time to leave your pew and be an active player in what God is doing in the lives of the people the closest to you.

The Play

Just being a part of the team does not get you to the championship though. The team must know what game they are playing and how they are going to win. Jesus took the time to explain the plays with the disciples. In Matthew 10 Jesus delivers His instructions to the disciples and He tells them what to expect during the game. Read with me Matthew 10:5, 16-20, 26-33

Jesus tells the disciples, congratulations you are the team and here is what you must do to win! Then in Matthew Jesus goes to his speech about how they must play and what to do when they meet challenges, He tells them that it wont be easy and that they may die, they may lose their families, they may lose their friends. Jesus tells them that the game they are playing is not an easy game. Knowing how to play the game is a big part of being able to be successful.

I tried out for the football team my Junior year and went to spring practice, summer practice and went through everything that it took to be on the team. I was not good, as a matter of fact I was literally knocked out during practice one day when another player ran me backwards during a ruck into a tree. Needless to say I spend the entire year on the bench. I joined the team with a friend of mine who was just as bad. He was tall and slow and he wanted to be a receiver. We sat most games on the bench and didn’t win any games. The night came though that our star receiver was out and they needed the backup to step in, the back up stepped in and dropped 3 passes back to back so they sat him on the bench and guess who got the next call. That’s right my buddy who was joking around with me on the sidelines. They placed him in the game he ran down the field the quarterback hurled the ball down the field and to everyone's amazement my buddy caught the ball. It was what happened next though that changed the way everyone would look at him for the next year and a half. As he caught the ball he spun to miss a defender and he began to run. As he ran he saw that he was pulling away from every defender he was running faster than he had ever run and he couldn’t believe what was happening. As he ran he drew closer to the end zone and just as he got to the end zone one yard away one of his own teammates tackled him and laid him flat on his back

As he came to he was confused, he couldn’t understand why his own teammate would prevent him from making the only touchdown he would ever get the chance of making. As the stars cleared and he looked down the field he noticed every defender on the opposite end of the field celebrating and jumping up and down. It was then that he realized that when he spun to miss the defender he got turned around and he ran all the way down the field to his own end zone and the defense was hoping for a touch back. This was the worst experience of his short football career. Just as he realized we realize today that we must know which side of the field we are on and we must run towards the correct end zone. The devil desires to disorient us and to convince us that we are heading the right direction as we are headed straight towards failure. Jesus in the scriptures we read laid out the plays for success. Living our lives speaking the truth to those around us, loving our neighbors as ourselves, laying down our lives for our friends.

Understanding that persecution will come and that we must be prepared to stay steadfast. Understanding that we are to have no fear because of whose team we are on. Matthew 10 is the charter call for every Christian. The playbook for success. We must ensure that we are following the play book and working towards winning. When we are on the team and we are playing the game. When we decide that we are going to be it and we are going to be the vessel for change and success then we are able to finally reach the point of getting to the big win. So what is the reward?

The Win

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.”

Notice that Jesus does not set the reward as treasure, a home, the nicest view in heaven. No instead Jesus sets Himself as the reward. When you ask a football player in the college football playoffs what is it that you want to win its the trophy and the ring. They want to win the prize of the ultimate game. They are not chasing the individual success of a good play or a great stat, it is the label of the number 1 team in the country and it is the trophies and the rings that come with it. The bragging rights for the years to come that you were once the champions. If you are not chasing the right reward you will stop short of success. If a team just chases the regional championship and has no desire to chase further they will never make it to the national championship. They must fight for the ultimate reward. We are often times way to comfortable with settling for the smaller rewards of playing the game with Christ. We often times loose the sight for the ultimate goal and sell the ultimate prize for the consolation prizes. You see if Jesus is not your ultimate prize then you are running toward the wrong goal. If financial stability, a nice home, a good church, a great family. If those are your goals then you are not working towards the ultimate goal. Jesus said that He is the ultimate reward and that those who chase after Him will receive the ultimate reward. We must know what the ultimate prize is and not settle for the smaller rewards. As we close this morning I encourage you to reflect on your life. Are you on the team? Have you given your heart to Christ? If you have given your heart to Christ are you playing the game? Are you making every online post count for Christ, are you making every relationship at work count for Christ. Are you running towards the correct end zone. And lastly are you doing it for the right reasons. Are you you running after Jesus or things that you think will give you a more enjoyable life? Is Jesus the reason for what we are doing. Is the all consuming thoughts in our minds that we cannot wait to meet Jesus, I'm so in love with Jesus. I want to be with Jesus. The fact is that in the game that we are in You're it. God has placed you in the workplace you are in the neighborhood you are in, the family you are in for a reason and the fact is that you are the player God wants in the game but you must follow the plays called, and chase the right goals. Lets pray.