Mission & Martyrdom (Matthew 10:5-42)

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All right, you can go ahead and grab your Bibles. Open up to Matthew chapter 10 as we continue in our series the good news of the kingdom, Matthew 10, we’ll be picking up in verse five as you’re turning there. I don’t know about you, one of the things that frustrates me the most is when people don’t tell you upfront how bad something is going to be. Like, I’m always annoyed when you know your flight’s delayed, and they’re just like, it’ll be a little while. Like, don’t lie to me if it’s gonna be hours, just tell me now that it’s hours so I can wrap my head around it. Okay? Or another one is the the easy to assemble piece of furniture that you ordered online, right? It’s in two easy steps. You’re gonna be sleeping in this bed. Step one, assemble the bed, and then step two, you know, cover it with bedding. And you’re like, well, that step one was a little bit longer than I thought it was going to be. So you get this bait and switch that happens so often. It is so frustrating. There’s no false advertising with Jesus. There’s no bait and switch with Jesus. He is not like that. Jesus goes out of his way repeatedly to explain just how hard it’s going to be to follow him. He talks regularly about the cost of discipleship, of following him, and even the cost of mission, what it means to live for the glory of his name, to help others follow him, which is in stark contrast, by the way, to so much of the Christianity light that is preached today, as if Jesus were just a life hack to make things easier. He makes things better, yes, but not necessarily easier. So in today’s passage, we’re going to see the cost of mission, and it is a cost that we all must count, because we’re all called to the mission, right? Jesus told all of us, who are His followers, go and make disciples of all nations. So we need to know what that cost is, or else we we won’t persevere. We won’t endure. And exactly what we talked about at the end of last week. So we ended last week with this kind of four step strategy that Jesus gives us to to feel first of all, then to pray, to follow and to proclaim. So where are we in that process? Well, we now hopefully feel compassion for the lost like Jesus does, and then we’re praying to God, not only for the lost, but that he would raise up laborers, which is us to go into the harvest. Well, now today, we get ready to follow, to follow Jesus on his mission. But remember, we are following Jesus whom they tortured and murdered. So there’s that cost piece again, if we’re going to follow Him, we see what we’re signing up for now, tortured and crucified, and he willingly endured all of that for the joy set before him, and part of the joy set before him, of course, is us, the people who would be changed as a result of his work. We need to keep that in mind as well, as we’ll see at the end. Now these words we’re about to read here today, these are his instructions to the original 12 Disciples as he sends them out the first time, especially in the first section, we’ll see some stuff where it’s like this is clearly just for these 12, although there’ll be some principles that we can extract from it. But these are also words for all of us, as we’ll see in the second and third sections. It clearly expands beyond just the 12. And so we get these three truths, these three ideas that will prepare us for His mission. Let’s look at the first one, chapter 10, verses five to 15, where we embody the mission. We read the passage for us now these 12 Jesus sent out with the following instructions, do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans go, rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received freely give. Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts, no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff for the worker is worth his keep whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it. If it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet, truly, I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. So specific instructions for these people at this time. And we know that because we know Jesus intends. Launch a global mission. Again, the Great Commission already said it make disciples of all nations. So why does he restrict it here just to Israel? And there are a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s because the disciples aren’t ready for a larger mission than this right now. I mean, notice he specifies Samaria even just don’t even go to Samaria, which is like next door neighbors. Why? Well, because he’s seen John and James, for example, get really angry at some Samaritans already and start calling down curses on their heads. So the disciples aren’t ready for that next phase of mission yet. But secondly, it’s also because of where we are in salvation history at this moment, Jesus is unquestionably the Jewish Messiah. He is the heir to David’s throne in Jerusalem, and so he came for his own the Jews, knowing that many of them would reject Him, some of his personal claims, for example, that He is God, are already offending many of them, as we saw last week in chapter nine. So why make it worse with a Gentile mission which really annoys them with sea throughout the Gospels as well, salvation and judgment are for the Jew first and then for the Gentile, as Paul says, even in Romans, one in which Paul lived in his own mission also, I mean, Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles, to the non Jews. And even he always goes to the synagogue first, and then, once they kick him out, he shakes the dust off his feet and goes and speaks to the Gentiles. But notice, even here, in this restricted moment, both the messengers and the audience communicate something about the message they are proclaiming. They are embodying the message just by who they are. Jesus sends them out to the lost sheep. That says something about people, doesn’t it? I mean our lostness, we think of maybe the prodigal son there, and the fact that we are sheep harassed. We need a and helpless. We need a shepherd to guide us. So we’re reaching outcasts, the helpless, the harassed. But who is reaching them? It’s not the A team, is it? It’s outcasts, helpless reaching, helpless outcasts. I mean, look back at verses two to four, the names of the 12 that Jesus calls to himself, and you get some biographical information about a few of them. But mostly just to differentiate, we got James son of Zebedee and also James son of Alphaeus. We really don’t get much, and what we get isn’t impressive. You know, there’s not Peter the Great here, Thaddeus, the CEO of this up and coming company. No, you get nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, except a zealot, which means he’s looking for a political Messiah. So he’s totally off base in his theology. What God is going to do to save His people? And then you get Matthew the tax collector, a notorious sinner, as we saw last week. This is encouraging to me, I hope it’s encouraging to you, you don’t have to be someone special to go on God’s mission. It’s the message that’s special, not the messenger. We carry this treasure in jars of clay, cracked earthen vessels. That’s all that we are, but we have the treasure of the gospel within us. And of course, the real treasure is Jesus himself. He is the special one. So Jesus sends these helpless outcasts to reach helpless outcasts, and he sends them on a truly apostolic mission, because they are to preach what Jesus preached almost exactly, and then to do what Jesus did, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. This is just a description of Jesus’s own ministry, and they’re gonna do what Jesus did to show that Jesus gave them authority to preach the message that they are preaching. In other words, they’re going to embody the authority of the message as well. Of the sort is what, the way Hebrews describes it, talking about the apostles. It says God also testified to it, to the message the apostles preached by signs, wonders and various miracles. Exactly what we get here, even the specifics of the message. They speak, though, communicate the gospel. I mean, look at what they are to say, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. It’s a remarkable statement, if you think about it, it is truly evangelism. The word just means good musing, and that’s what it is, because it is. Just news. It is just an announcement. The kingdom is here. There’s no advice, there’s no offer, there’s no suggestion attached to it. It is simply describing what God has done, is doing and will do. I’m reminded of what God told the Israelites when they were stranded on the side of the Red Sea about to be walloped by the Egyptian army, which we’ll get to in a few weeks time here. And it says The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. This is a you need only to be still. Kind of message, the kingdom is here. All we can do is receive, believe this message of grace, although they do embody the graciousness of the message as well, because Jesus says, Freely you have received freely give, you can’t hoard grace. That would be unconscionable. And I think what’s being said here in particular is you don’t charge to offer it, right? There’s no 200 bucks. And I’ll let you in on the secret that’ll change your life, like a Tony Robbins infomercial or something like that. No, this is a free gift, and so we give it freely. Selfish greed is utterly excluded for the preacher of the gospel, although it is interesting, at the same time that the mission depends on sacrificial giving for the worker is worth his keep. Jesus says, In other words, we all sacrifice like Christ in some way, some of us, myself included, of course, depend on the generosity of others to continue preaching this message. And there is a sense of, okay, well, I get what is given. You’ll probably make more money in a different field. That’s not why I’m here. At the same time, though, you are all giving to support this work, and so you’re sacrificing. You would have more money if you didn’t have to pay my salary. So we all get to sacrifice, which is, of course, part of the gospel as well. That’s why they’re to pack light all these things. They’re not allowed to bring, because they’re supposed to have their needs met by others, which is itself a little parable of grace, isn’t it? I don’t have it. Somebody’s gonna have to give me what I need most, the righteousness of God in Christ. And so it’s humbling. If you’ve ever received charity, you know how humbling it is, and that’s good for us, because God gives grace to the home, to the humble, right. But if you’re proud, well, he’s gonna bring you low, basically, so that you’re humble enough to receive it. That’s good for us. Jake talked about the benevolence fund a moment ago, and that’s that’s another one of these moments, right? I’m often the one who writes the check for the benevolence fund, so I know, and I know how hard it is for people to receive it, because it is so humbling. But it is also a picture of the gospel. Then Jesus tells them, find a worthy person. That just means someone willing to host them while they’re on mission, somebody who’s open to the message. And Jesus says, remain with that person. He’s He’s saying, Don’t shop around for a better offer. Is there somebody in this town who’s got a nicer bathroom or comfier bed, if you’ve ever done like a short term missions trip, by the way, you know that’s a real temptation. I went to one place once, I won’t say where, with whom, or anything like that. Went to one place once, where I thought, well, next time I’m staying somewhere else. I was convicted by this passage this week. As a result, we are preaching selflessness, sacrifice, humility, and so our character, our actions, will either adorn that message or contradict it, which means it’s probably time for just a moment of self examination. Do your words? Do your actions commend Christ or call his power into question because you’re living an unchanged life. And Jesus says, remain with them, unless that is they turn on you. If they reject the message as they understand it better, they’re listening and they’re going, Oh yeah, yeah, come stay with me. Wait a minute. No. This is nonsense. This is heresy. If they turn hostile, then you can let your peace return to you, which is a saying maybe we’ve heard before, read before, but it doesn’t make any intuitive sense to us. I don’t think a lot of you are going I don’t know what that means. Well, the peace is the blessing of God. It actually shows up in the Old Testament. Blessing right. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and be gracious to you. May I said it wrong. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May Lord make his face shine on you and be. Gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you, and here’s the key part all that work and give you peace. So there’s the blessing. May the Lord’s Peace be upon you for as long as they’re there, at least when they leave, the blessing leaves as well. The picture you might want to have in your head here is like Joseph in Potiphar his house. So Joseph is actually a slave in Potiphar his house. He’s been sold into slavery by his wicked brothers and all of that. But as he’s there because the blessing of God is on him. The blessing of God is on Potiphar his household. He prospers in all that he does right up until he tosses Joseph into prison, and then the peace, the blessing is removed. And so when that happens, you shake the dust off your feet again, something we hear a lot about, but I’m guessing none of you do this when you leave certain places. But that is what pious Jews would do when they left Gentile territory. So if they had to walk through Samaria or the Decapolis or something like that, when they got back into Israel, they would actually wipe the dust off their feet, because they’re wiping the stink off of them, the defilement off of them. And so when Jesus says to do this in Jewish towns, he is saying that Jews who reject Jesus are functionally pagan. They are, in a very real sense, godless, because they are rejecting God, Jesus Himself. And so they embody the judgment here, as well, these 12 Disciples, and of course, simply by obeying Jesus’s commands, which we know they do. They go out and and follow all of this, they are embodying submission to the king, which is the message they’re proclaiming. Jesus is King, and so we will submit to His rule. So even though the specific instructions here are not for us, the overall point is it is not enough to speak gospel words. We need to live gospel lives, character matters, including how we proclaim the gospel truth. There’s a saying in ministry circles, what you win them with is what you’ll win them to, and that’s a lot of what Jesus is saying here. Also, like the medium is part of the message, and so it’s something we need to be aware of as a congregation. And if we win people with entertainment meeting their felt needs, then we are going to produce entertained consumers, and not Disciples of Christ. That’s the material point here. So first, we embody the mission. Second, we embrace the sacrifice. Let me keep reading verses 16 to 31 I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues, on my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved 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. The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called baalzebul, how much more the members of his household. 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. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight, what is whispered in your ear proclaim from the roofs, 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. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your father’s care, and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. All
right? I told you, Jesus doesn’t hold back, right? No false advertising here. And it’s not just that he’s aware of what’s coming. It’s that he’s aware that he’s the one causing what’s coming. I mean, look what he says right there in verse 16. I I am intentionally, purposefully sending you out like sheep among wolves. He knows what he’s doing. This man who calls himself The Good Shepherd, sends his sheep into the wolf pack, should cause a little cognitive dissonance in our minds and. Which, thankfully, he unpacks for us. And so that’s going to mean, though, if we’re going to be like sheep among wolves, we’re going to have to consider carefully what we’ll do, how we’ll live, and so we need to be shrewd like snakes, but innocent like doves, shrewd in that we’ll avoid needless conflict and attacks in the way we carry out our mission, but balanced by innocent like doves in particular, doves are easy to catch in a Fowler’s snare. In other words, innocent, meaning not so cautious or fearful that we’re unwilling to risk conflict or attacks. That’s a tough balance to maintain. So just think from with me for a moment, like, what would this look like in your workplace, if you’re in a workplace now, I mean, on the one hand, you could be kind of snakeish and so completely flaunt HR standards that you are, you know, fired because you’ve just clearly have broken the workplace rules. On the other hand, though, you could be so timid that you’ll never even initiate any sort of, even pre evangelistic gospel conversation with the people around you, it’s tough to get in that sweet spot where you’re forming the sorts of relationships with your colleagues, where they would invite you to share some of what you know you did over the weekend, which includes things like what you’re doing right now, which is an open door for at least some more conversation, so shrewd, like snakes, innocent, like doves. And then he says, Be on your guard. Be on your guard, because he says, it’s not going to go well. I mean, have you reckoned with that as a Christian? Have you reckoned with the fact that you actually might get fired because of your faith, even if you’re not flaunting HR standards. And I could share stories of people in this room who have had that experience, and so be on your guard, because you will be handed over. Persecution will come from the Jew first. They’ll be flogged in the synagogues when they are still there in Israel, and when the church is really still within the synagogue, almost as a sect within Judaism, as it is at first in the Jew first, but then from the Gentiles as well. He says that’s how we know we’re no longer talking about this specific mission trip, because they’re not supposed to go to Gentile territory. So we’re talking about later on. That means, this includes all of us too. And Jesus just says your worldwide mission is just going to mean worldwide persecution. You’re going to get it from everyone, and we need to be ready for that, because we are promised persecution. But thank God Jesus promises us help also, because we have the Spirit who indwells us, who will give us the grace we need in that moment, including the words to say when you’re hauled before some local magistrate. I’m sure it’s an imperfect analogy, but it’s a little bit like having that public defender when you’ve been unjustly accused of a crime and get hauled into the police station and you got somebody there who’s helping you understand how to answer the questions. But it’s not just hostile governments or HR departments, it’s even your family that may well hate and betray you, which was a bigger deal then in that context, than it is for us today in our context. But put this in a Middle Eastern context, even today, and you understand, you know, the the power of the clan, of the family, how important that is, more important than the individual, which means, if any individual within the clan has shamed the clan. They gotta be excluded. They gotta be kicked out. And that’s a real possibility for Christians the world over, even today, we need to be ready. I hear from some of our missionaries regularly, who will say, How can I ask you know, these potential disciples to risk this sort of exclusion, if I’m not willing to risk it all for Christ, also, that is a question we need to ask ourselves, because Jesus tells us, you will be hated by everyone. One of those precious promises in Scripture, isn’t it? And you have this on like a throw pillow or something? No, that’s not the one where Jeremiah 2911, no, no, no, guys, this one you will be hated by everyone, which means people from all walks of life will hate you. And if you’re not hated because of your faith, by the way, we. What might that say about your mission? Paul says something very similar, same kind of promise. Second, Timothy, 312, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ, Jesus will be persecuted. I remember reading once, it was a Romanian pastor, and this was under the Soviet Empire at the time, and so churches being viciously persecuted at this point. So their suffering. This Romanian pastor was in the Netherlands at the time, he was speaking to some Dutch pastors who were living easy. And the Romanian pastor drew their attention to this verse and said, Are you guys being persecuted? They said, No. And he said, What do you think that tells you? And the Dutch pastor understood, I think we are probably not being as bold for Jesus as we should be. Now, it is true, not everyone will be martyred for Christ or fired or kicked out of the house, but the point is, we all must be willing to be here’s the way Don Carson puts it in his commentary on Matthew if the opposition one of Jesus’ disciples faces calls for the sacrifice of life itself, commitment to Him must be so strong that the sacrifice is willingly made, otherwise There is no salvation like you’re not really in Christ, that’s what it means to stand firm to the end here, which is the message of revelation that we saw not too long ago. Can I just a brief aside too? Let me speak to the parents in the room. You know, we got a Family Ministries motto here, right? Kyle talks about it a lot. We want to raise children that the world can’t ignore. Oh, I like that. You understand that this is what we’re talking about. Like you’re going to raise children that the world can’t ignore. It means you’re going to raise children who will be hated and persecuted for their faith, and that is part of the cost that we must be willing to count as disciples of Christ when we get to verse 23 which is just very difficult to understand. What exactly does it mean that we’re not going to finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes? We’re going, Well, it’s been a few 1000 years. Son of Man has not yet returned. I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here. I think we’re talking about Jesus coming in judgment against the Jewish nation, which happens in AD 70, when the Roman Empire sacks Jerusalem, destroys the temple, all of that at that point, of course, the church is still in synagogues, and so are effectively shaking the dust off their feet when the temple falls. But none of this should catch us by surprise, because we follow Jesus. That’s what verses 2425 are getting at. We follow Jesus. So look what happened to him. The student is going to be like the teacher. So if they call him Satan, baalzebul, Lord of lies, Lord of Darkness, basically, if they call him Satan, which they did last week, surely they’re gonna call us satanic because we’re following the one they think is Satan. And so yeah, we would expect to be called things like narrow minded, hateful, foolish, ignorant and maybe even evil. But now you know so you can embrace the sacrifice, and then Jesus says, so do not be afraid. There’s no need to fear, don’t you? Love the Bible. I love the Bible. They’re going to hate you, they’re going to persecute you, you’re going to put you to death. Don’t worry. Well, no, that sounds like something I should worry about. No. But he gives us three reasons why we don’t need to be afraid. First of all, we have no need to fear because we know how the story ends. Don’t be afraid of them. There’s nothing concealed that will not be disclosed right in the end. It all comes to light so we can live in light of our future vindication, even if we are slandered. Now, in fact, that’s exactly what the resurrection of Christ is he was slandered as a blasphemer, put to death, and then God vindicated him by raising Him from the dead. We look forward to the same vindication. Interesting, by the way, just as a side note, that we’re going to have a more public ministry than Jesus, so the stuff that he’s whispering to the disciples, we shout from the rooftops. Of course, we’ve seen that because there were the Messianic secret where he didn’t let everybody know everything about him right up front, because they were gonna have this warped conception of what Messiah came to do. Well, no more misconception. And so now we can shout it from the rooftops. Secondly, no need to fear because they can only kill the body, which we saw last week is only sleep, not death, not really. So if you want to be afraid, you want to fear then fear God, not people, the one who can destroy us utterly and eternally. Then we already heard Kaylee read it for. Us a moment ago, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So this is what wise living looks like. You fear God more than people. Another proverb puts it like this. Proverbs, 2925 the fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe. So when we fear people more than God, it will always lead us astray and into danger. It could preach a whole sermon just on that, but we know that it will lead us to disobedience. And so here, in this sermon, in this passage, what would be the temptation it would be to keep silent about Jesus, instead of proclaiming, shouting this message from the rooftops, because we fear rejection or persecution or whatever it may be. Third, no need to fear because he’s got it all under control, even the little stuff. And I know there’s this temptation that we have to think God cares about the big stuff, not the little stuff, that actually undermines our confidence in God in the big stuff. So listen to a children’s book as we are driving back from Lake Placid. And at one point, this kid is in World War Two, occupied Netherlands, territory and stuff, and he he’s concerned about something he’s like, but I knew I couldn’t pray about it, because God’s worried about the war right now, I can’t trouble him with what my future career will be. And here Jesus says, you have that exactly backwards. God cares about the sparrow that falls. So, of course, he cares about you. Why would you ever doubt that he sees you and cares for you? You can trust him with the big picture, because your father and he keeps calling him father here, right? Your father has you. So do not be afraid. Yes, you will have to sacrifice. You will be called to suffer, just like Jesus, but you can embrace the call in Christ, and especially when you keep in mind third point, experience the reward. The rest of the passage, let me read verses 32 to 42 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law, a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water, it’s one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly, I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward. So Jesus restates the missional imperative to follow Christ, to claim him as Lord, demands public acknowledgement. You have to acknowledge Him before others. I mean, this looks like as one example baptism, even when you get up and you publicly proclaim your faith in Christ. Paul says it in Romans 10, verse nine, right? You want to be saved. Who’s gonna be saved whoever believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, you cannot be a Christian who doesn’t proclaim Christ, and it is Christ specifically. Did you notice that Jesus says, Whoever acknowledges Me, not God the Father? He says me. Ned Stonehouse puts it like this. He says, Jesus makes the entire position of people in the world to come, whether for real or woe, to depend on their relationship to and attitude toward him in this present world, which would be evidence, again, by the way, of His claim to divinity. This is one of those passages where you go. Well, we know Jesus is not just saying he’s a good moral teacher. He just said your eternal destiny depends on how you answer this question, Who do you say that he is? Who do you say that Jesus is? If he is who he unambiguously claims to be, then everything depends on how you answer that question. But not everyone likes the answer. Not everyone even likes the question. In fact, even now, some of you might be upset at the exclusive claims of Christ. Well, multiply that agitation, and you’ll very quickly end up with a sword instead of peace. That’s what Jesus means when he says he came to bring the sword. Like, yes, absolutely. Jesus came to bring peace. Ultimately, again, we saw what that looks like in Revelation 21 and 22 but that kind of peace can only come after judgment, as we talked about there. If you want Freedom from violence, then the violent need to be excluded from the life to come. So Jesus came to bring peace, but let’s not forget, they murdered him for it. There’s the sword. People will be so agitated by the message of Christianity they will turn to violence. And of course, because the sin in our own hearts. Sadly, many who have claimed Christ have turned to violence as well because they misunderstood the message Jesus gave them to proclaim. But you understand the agitation because who wants to hear that you’re sinful at your core, that you are just wicked all the way through? Who wants to hear that God will forgive rebels, but only after they lay down their arms and only in Christ. And who wants to hear that there’s judgment to come for those who don’t you understand the agitation, and so there’s no guarantee that following Jesus will bring you calm and tranquility inwardly. Yes, there’s a peace that surpasses understanding, but outwardly, no way. Again, Jesus not a bait and switch advertiser. This furniture is gonna take you a long time to put together. If you’re having marriage problems, hire somebody else to do it. It won’t survive. Okay? Like, that’s the stark reality. That’s how Jesus is talking here, and even at the family level, as Jesus himself experienced, and we might experience as well, you’re not going to be willing to endure that, never mind embrace that kind of suffering, that conflict, unless Jesus says next, you have your priorities straight and your loves rightly ordered, like what do you love most? And how do you know what you really love most? Well, you know when the two come into conflict and you have to choose one, then it’s very obvious. Do you think academics or athletics are more important? Well, are you willing to fail the class to make the team or to get cut from the team in order to pass the class. Now you’re going to know, do you neglect your family to get the promotion, or do you neglect the promotion in order to be the sort of husband and father you want to be? Do you disobey God to pursue pleasure, or do you obey God trusting there’s a greater pleasure? What’s really first in your heart, and for the Christian, the answer must be, Christ, always Christ, even when it’s good things we’re talking about like family. Now mind you, it’s not that we’re being called here to reject our family because of Christ. No, we’re being called to have our priorities straight and our love’s ordered, which means we’re called to be willing to be rejected by our family for the sake of Christ. It is a stern truth. George Elden Ladd says it like this, when a human relationship stands in the way of the demand of God’s kingdom, there can be but one choice. So if your parent tells you, no, you can’t follow Jesus. If you do, I will kick you out. I will stop loving you. There’s only one possible decision, does that sound hard? No. False advertising still. Does that sound hard? Yes. And then Jesus says, Tell you what. I’ll make it harder. Also, you need to take up your cross, or don’t bother following me. And this is serious, because we sometimes use this so wrongly, don’t we? Oh, it’s just my little cross to bear. That’s not what’s being talked about. That’s a burden. That’s what you’re talking about. Like, health problems are a burden. Having a difficult boss, right? Like that’s a burden. Kyle, Jake, Jackie, Cheryl, they can talk to you about this, right? It is a real burden. It is not a cross, because a cross is a place of death, not a burden we carry. And so the cross means we must be willing to give all willing to give all our last full measure of devotion for Christ. And maybe that means physical life that we give in our martyrdom. But if we’re to give that, then surely we’re to give all the rest of it as well the living too. There is a paradox here, of course, that we give all, yes, but we gain all, and, in fact, infinitely more as well. It’s interesting. You can look around the people who seek their own happiness first, almost never find it, but the people who put Christ first, inevitably. Do you? These priorities, though, then include not just how we live our life, but how we welcome others too. If you’re going to put the kingdom first, it means that you are going to support Kingdom work, which means you will support Kingdom workers like these 12 who are being sent out, right? Who is going to receive them? The question we have to ask today too, as we look at our missionaries, International Workers, compassion organizations, and as we’ve talked about with benevolence fund, even each other, and in part, because of what we could have to give up to follow Jesus. I mean, Jesus says this elsewhere, you may have to give up your home or your family for Jesus, but part of what you get in return from Jesus is new homes and new families, because we have all things in common as the Church of Christ. So whatever the specifics, the general truth is clear. Those who count Kingdom costs experience Kingdom rewards. Short term loss precedes long term eternal gain. And so we learn to practice delayed gratification as Christians, right? It’s like the person who skips the party in order to study so they pass the final they miss the party, but you know what? They don’t have to go to summer school so they can hang out with their friends all summer long. And so that’s that’s really the takeaway from the whole passage, our big idea today, the king’s mission costs a lot, but it’s worth it. The King’s mission costs a lot, but it’s worth it. Jesus doesn’t say it’ll be easy to assemble and there’s no weight, quite the opposite, but he does tell us why we’d go on mission anyway. He endured all. He endured the cross right for the joy set before him. We endure in mission for the joy set before us. And by the way, that is not only long term eternal joy. There is a here and now joy as well when we get to see the fruit of our mission. That’s why we all love baptism. Sunday. So much, right? Which we got one coming up next week. So same kind of thing where you just go. This is why we do it, to see people raised from death to new life in Christ and again, the resurrection is proof of that the agony of the crucifixion is real, but the everlasting joy of the resurrection is even more real. So let’s live and serve and go on mission like we believe. That’s true. The King’s mission costs a lot, but I promise you better still. Jesus promises you it’s worth it. Let’s pray, Lord, we come before you with eyes wide open. Now we know what you’ve promised us, and part of what you’ve promised us is suffering and sacrifice, but you’ve promised us that it is worth it also, and so Lord, would you set our coming joy before us now so that we can see the banquet to which we are called? Can see the glories of eternity with You, can see even the joy of the changed lives in this life so clearly that we’re willing to count the cost to do the work that you’ve given us to do. Lord, help us to feel compassion for the lost around us. Help us to be a people of prayer asking you to do what you promised you are going to do through us, and then Help us, Lord to follow you in your footsteps, even on the road past Calvary on the way to glory, as we proclaim the truth of the gospel for your kingdom’s sake. Amen.