Trust & Obey Matthew 10.23-35
On the surface, this reading from Matthew's gospel is a strange sounding, and somewhat puzzling passage. And when you get right down to it, it’s one we could easily dismiss since it is specifically addressed to the original 12 disciples.
Our text this morning is part of a lengthy chapter detailing the instructions Jesus gives to those 12 disciples prior to their first "missionary" effort.
What could that possibly have to do with us in this 21st century?
But, before we dismiss these words too quickly, let’s remember that Matthew is writing to a church that probably responded in the same way.
Tradition tells us that the gospel of Matthew was written by the same Matthew that shared some three years “on the road” with the Master. He had listened to Jesus give these instruction. Now he is writing to second, perhaps even third generation Christians, 40 or more years after that original mission challenge. There must be something here.
As Jesus the Christ taught him, so now Matthew passes the word on to his church, and their children and their children's children. We are now the children of the children of the children, and I believe that these words should still ring in our hearts and stir our imagination.
· For Matthew, for Matthew's church, and for us, these are moving words. This is not a text for those who think that faith is something they put on when they come to the church building occasionally.
· This is not a word for those who like to assemble in congregations to sing familiar songs, recite prayers, talk about some nice philosophy (conveniently labeled Christianity), and then return home to live in a kind of non-faith world.
· These are words for a church on the move, a church not content with standing still and maintaining the status quo.
· These are charges for those who, in the words of the hymn that we just sang, are willing to walk with the Master, in service. These are instructions for pilgrims who are marching the road to Zion and need some directions to stay on the right road and finish the journey.
I played in the high school band before the days of flag corps, rifle drill teams and dance routines. Everything depended on the band and our abilities and talents in playing and marching. Every week we had to learn an entire new set of songs, to go with our new marching formations to be performed at half time of the football games. We all received our instructions early in the week and then practiced them until we got them right. They were not always easy: count time, play the music, step out on the appropriate measure and move exactly eight steps every five yards. As long as everyone followed their set of instructions, the maneuvers on the field were correct and the trombones did not run into the clarinets.
Of course, if you missed a beat, or turned the wrong way, you could end up at one end of the field while the rest of the band was at the other. It's not easy trying to convince everyone that you are right and the other 64 are wrong!
Well, the disciples are called to march, to move out with a special mission in the world. They are called to be obedient to the marching orders of the Master. Matthew heard these moving words as addressed not only to him but to all who would join the movement in the years to come. In the words of the old Mission Impossible show, “Your mission church, should you decide to accept it, is to move out and change the world.”
So the inevitable question is this: How do we move out?
How do so few of us “change the world?
The first direction we receive is this: imitate the teacher.
All of us can probably point to those persons who have shaped and influenced our lives. Many of these people will have been our teachers in school; some of them, perhaps, our Sunday school teachers; some are simply those adults from whom we have learned by watching or asking questions. We sat at their feet and profited from their wisdom.
They enabled us to uncover hidden abilities which were then developed into who we are today. These were the people who opened the doors and turned on the lights for us.
There were just a few of these special people who made a difference in my life. Yet, it is in the words and life of Jesus, the Teacher that I catch a true glimpse of what I am to do, and who I am to be. If we only skim the words of this passage, we will miss a rich phrase: "it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher (Matthew 10:25a, NRSV)."
We are not called to be little saviors, but to be faithful servants obediently following the example of Jesus. From him we see and learn compassion and simplicity, honesty and integrity. From him we learn what it means to rely on God and not on our own power and ingenuity.
Yet, I want to lay another caution at your feet. For those who are moving with Christ, be prepared to be on the receiving end of the name-callers and teasers. The names, some of them rather creative, will certainly fly toward those of us who choose to follow Christ at a time when society seems all to willing to follow the glitter and the glitz of our current day and age.
Remember that in Antioch of the first century, they even resorted to calling such people "Christian," a derogatory name at the time. Paul, they called a fool, which he took to be a compliment, even naming himself a fool for Christ's sake. And what a compliment! Is there a higher one? To be called a name that distinguishes you from the world and names you as an imitator of Christ.
The next direction for movers is this: spread the word!
From the beginning of his ministry, through his night at Gethsemane, through the darkness of Calvary and into the light of the resurrection and the ascension, Jesus admonished the 12 to obediently share the good news. This Word was too good to be kept secret: God's redeeming, liberating grace is not for our ears only. It is not to be hoarded and protected between the safe four walls of this church building.
Spread the word!
It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly news of the latest sale spreads through a community of shoppers. One quick phone call announcing the fact that the sale has reached the 50% off level, and the store is filled with those whose only knowledge has come from someone else sharing this bit of welcomed news.
At the same time, it never ceases to amaze me how the good news, the greatest news of all time, spreads so slowly.
The word for these obedient disciples was simply that what they had heard from Jesus in moments of quiet teaching, they were to shout from the housetops; what they had listened to under the cover of darkness, they were to announce in the brightness of the day.
For contemporary disciples who assemble in churches across the land, what we have sung and heard and experienced inside, we are to go outside and share in the world of which we are a part, in which we live.
But be prepared: We will be persecuted, for the world does not want to hear what we have to say. When we obediently spread the word and the gospel is shared, it will challenge the comfortable, upset established patterns of living and disturb the status quo. Why does this word spread so slowly? Is it because we are afraid of turning things right side up? Have we become so accustomed to the way things are that we are no longer sure if we prefer the gospel way?
Is there any other way to tell if the gospel has been proclaimed and heard than to see that lives have changed, communities disturbed and people have altered their attitudes and actions?
Do you remember what happened when Paul and Silas landed in Thessalonica on one of their missions of spreading the Word? The religious establishment in the community was visibly upset when it heard the news that these two Christians had found their way to the town. An entire city was put in an uproar, because, the accusation went, "these people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also (Acts 17:6, NRSV)." What a testimony to those who are faithful in spreading the Word!
Our instructions for the movers and dispensers of the Gospel include one final direction: acknowledge Christ!
This is more than a mere verbal expression of faith made by those who assemble on Sunday mornings for the liturgies.
This is more than quoting the Apostles' Creed or reading other affirmations on command.
This is more than quietly admitting that "yes, I am a member of Mill Creek / McLeod UMC." To acknowledge Christ is to obediently live and act in such a way that everyone knows that we follow Jesus and they want some of what we have.
Christians in many areas of the world, but especially in the Muslim nations of the Far East and Africa, do not have the luxury of living in a religiously-tolerant society. We will never face the religious persecution that many of our brothers and sisters face on a daily basis.
How would you respond if someone threatened your children, your home, your very life if you did not renounce your faith?
But the fact is that we do face temptations to renounce our faith, ignore our commitments, or compromise our loyalties. We are tempted to deny we ever heard of the one called Jesus the Christ, enticed to deny his power over our living with phrases like: "Come on, everyone else is!" or "It will be fun, its not that big of a deal." We are forced every day to choose between the easy way, the quick fix- and the way of Christ. Those who obediently move on the way with Christ are charged to acknowledge him not just with our lips but also with hearts and minds.
Everything hinges on and depends up on our acknowledgement of Christ as Lord of our lives. This is not easy or simple. Such acknowledgment means we claim him as our final authority, the last word, the determining factor in our decision making and in our use of time, energy and resources. This is not a word for those willing to rest on the existing conditions, but rather for those who have been so moved by the Word of God that they we are willing to risk ourselves in obediently marching out to change the conditions of the world in which we live.
Well, it's now time to move out. We have had our weekly briefing session, our visit with the Master.
Whether through the music or the spoken word; whether in silence or in the sounds of faith, we have been touched, stirred and challenged.
We've received words for our moving into the days ahead:
Let us imitate the teacher, spread the Word and acknowledge Christ.
Let us obediently move out as we trust in the Lord and obey His call.
