July 3, 2022 Matt. 10:40-42 “Go, and Be You, in the Name of Jesus!”

01 Jul July 3, 2022 Matt. 10:40-42 “Go, and Be You, in the Name of Jesus!”

July 3, 2022   Matt. 10:40-42   “Go, and Be You, in the Name of Jesus!”

I remember one time a few years ago when we bought something that to be put together or as they said, some assembly required.  Anyway, I was old and experienced enough to know that I would need the directions.  So, I used them, somewhat.  I would get rolling along getting things together and kind of following directions.  But if something seemed like it should be next, I went ahead and did it.  It wasn’t too long before I found out I had to take a bunch of it apart again because it wouldn’t work if I didn’t do the directions in order.  Well, sadly, this isn’t the only time that this has happened to me.  I’m sure that there are men listening today who will silently agree with me.  Today, we are so fancy with directions that we can get directions for just about anything on our phones.  But don’t get too reliant on these.  For instance, once there were two television crews coming to our country church for an interview.  I told them not to use their phones for directions because they wouldn’t work.  I asked them to follow my directions.  Guess what?  They didn’t and they both ended up miles from where they wanted to be.  It was a good thing it was spring and not winter.  Today we are going to continue to look at Matthew as Jesus is sending out the disciples with instructions.  Let’s see if maybe we can improve our lives by following the instructions of the greatest being ever to live, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we have to bend the instruction rules of this world a little in order to survive as can be seen in the following story and I don’t know its source.  A successful man known for his generosity was driving his new car through a poor part of town. A boy tried to flag him down. The man didn’t want to get involved, so he pretended he didn’t see the child. As he slowed for a red traffic light, he heard a loud crash. Someone had thrown a brick at his car, denting the trunk.  The man stopped, jumped out of his car and grabbed the boy that threw the brick. “You juvenile delinquent!” he yelled. “You’ll pay for this or go to jail!”

“I’m sorry, mister,” the boy cried. “My mom’s lying on the floor in our apartment. I think she’s dying. Our phone’s been cut off and I’ve been trying for ten minutes to get someone to stop. I didn’t know what else to do! Take me to jail, but please, call a doctor for my mom first.”

The man was filled with shame. “I’m a doctor,” he said and asked, “Where is she?” The boy took him to his mother and the doctor administered CPR and called an ambulance.

“Will she live?” the boy sobbed. “Yes, son, she will,” the doctor said. “Then it’s worth going to jail. I’m sorry I ruined your car. You can take me in now.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the doctor said. “It was my fault you had to throw a brick to get my attention.”  The doctor made sure the boy was taken care of, and as he drove home, he resolved not to fix the dent. He would keep it as a reminder that not everyone in need has a brick to throw.  So, my question is this.  How often has God thrown a brick at you to get your attention?  Our reading today is about Jesus throwing a brick and denting your car.

This chapter of Matthew has been all about sending out the 12 disciples to do the work of Christ.  We have to remember that these 12 and the others were not evangelists by trade.  They just common folks like you and I.  A lot of this had been warnings about some of the hardships that they might encounter.  Jesus knows that each one of them will succeed and He is giving them a little “heads up” as to what to expect when they go out on their own.

This hasn’t changed much in 2000 years.  I would guess that most of us are not real enthused about going out, maybe door to door, and talking about how great Jesus is and all that He has done.  I would go as far as to say that most of us would be unable to do this.  I know that before I first started out being a pastor, I was unable to even talk in front of people.  There would be no way I could have ever stood up in front of you like I am today.  I would have had panic attacks and been so nervous that I wouldn’t have been able to do it.  That is because I had no training to do this.  And it’s the same way with all of us.  I mean you don’t just go out and be the best welder in the world.  You don’t just be the best teacher in the world.  It all takes time and a little training.  Well, it’s the same way with following Jesus.  He wants you to know a few things before you start out so that you can be more at ease and are a better asset to the Kingdom of Heaven.

You can go ahead and read this chapter up to today’s reading as He is telling us His instructions.  Today’s reading summarizes all His instructions.  He begins by saying, “He who receives you, receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.”  What Jesus is saying here is that basically God is the one who sends you and you become an agent of God.  This had some real significance in ancient times.

In Biblical times, people really didn’t talk to God that much and they surely didn’t have God talking to them, or at least not that they would know it.  I have mentioned before how their society was a world of family units.  In other words, the family was the most important aspect of your life.  You, as an individual, really meant very little.  You were just a cog in the bigger family unit.  In ancient times, one would think nothing of sacrificing your life for the good of the family unit.

So what Jesus is telling them is really quite revolutionary.  If they as individuals go out in the name of Jesus, then when people accept them, they are in fact accepting Jesus.  And if they accept that, then they are actually accepting God Himself.  This is a huge change from learning the Law at home and going to the local synagogue for all religious training.  Now Jesus was sending out His disciples to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world and they will be acting as agents of God Himself.

I think that in today’s world, we have forgotten all about this as we tend to go out on our own, ignoring God.  We like to say that the Bible really doesn’t mean this or mean that.  It only means what you want it to mean.  This is how we have come to say that homosexuality is ok, divorce is ok, even child abuse is ok.  We have taken the sacred Word of God and twisted it until it no longer means anything.  We live in a world where we think that we can pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe.  Well, I’m here to tell you the truth today.  You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe and be a Christian.  You either believe in Jesus and the Bible in their entirety or you don’t believe at all.  Now this may sound a little harsh but I guarantee that by following the Bible 100% of the time, you will have a much, much better life than picking and choosing.  That is probably because you aren’t as smart as God as He sees the big picture and you don’t!

Then Jesus says, “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive and prophets reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.”  This line is a little harder to understand at first.  The disciples were being sent out with a message that really had never been heard before.  They knew that there were going to be hardships in this.  They knew that the message wouldn’t be received every place they went.  They knew that there was a good chance of physical abuse because they were doing this.  They knew this because this was the kind of society that surrounded them.

They also knew who the prophets were.  These were a group of men and some women who would hear God’s word for the people and then go out and tell the leaders.  This caused them all sorts of trouble because the leaders often times didn’t believe in God but only in themselves.  Often times the prophets were persecuted or jailed.  If you read a bit in the Old Testament, you will find many prophets were like this.

Also, they had to be on the look out for false prophets.  One of the occupations of the time was to be a prophet that only told what the king or ruling body what they wanted to hear.  In this way, they could have nice jobs with nice incomes and all was nice until someone realized that they were lying.  So, all was not roses for prophets and even worse for false prophets.

But no matter where the prophets came from, no matter who they were trying to tell God’s message, they were changed people after God made them prophets.  Sometimes they were drastically change and other people were only greatly changed but all were changed.  And this is also what happened to some of the people who listened to them.  They were also changed.  The thing that made all this so great was that the change was for the good.  They never changed for the bad.  This was the reward that all received who listened and followed the prophets.

The same can be said of today’s world also.  You, yes you, can have the rewards of the prophets and the righteous people.  But remember, these aren’t the rewards of this world.  This doesn’t mean more money or a better job.  It doesn’t mean that you will get a better house or car.  It doesn’t even mean that you will have all sorts of power at your fingertips.  These are all rewards of the devil in this world.

I’m also talking about truly righteous people and prophets of the day.  We have to be doubly aware of all the false prophets in our world.  How many of you have received a phone call from someone in a foreign country who promises you riches?  Or how many of you have received letters in the mail promising riches but none come?  Or how many of you have been offered a great life if you support the homosexual agenda or the abortion agenda or the promise of cheap grace that you can have without repentance?  None of these things will come true, especially the ones that go directly against the Bible.  These types of promises are from the devil and he will stop at nothing to get you away from Jesus.  Remember, that whatever the devil promises, is a lie.  It’s a lie!

Anyway, you can have a better life, a much better life than anything else if you just listen to the prophets and righteous people in your life and follow their lead.  That is what Jesus is saying here.  Jesus has the uncanny ability to be able to take the same message and repeat it in hundreds of different ways.  Whichever way you hear it, follow it.  Jesus has never been wrong, He isn’t wrong now, and He won’t be wrong into the future.  When things go bad in your life, it is not because Jesus is wrong.  It’s because you are wrong.  Remember that.

Now we move to the last verse as Jesus sums up this whole chapter in today’s reading.  Jesus says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, he will certainly not lose his reward.”  The followers of Jesus at this time were downtrodden by everyone, both Jews and Romans.  They weren’t liked because everything they did went against the status quo.  Plus, they were used to religions of the time changing with every change of the wind.  They need to know all this as Jesus empowers them to do the job He had in mind.  They are having a tough time and needed to know that if they helped each other, then good things will happen.

One of the things we have to remember today is that we are all gifted differently and all these gifts are just as important as the next gift.  No one has a better gift than the next person.  Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 12 and other places.  We should know this by heart.  We often think that a person like me has an advantage over other people because I can speak in front of people.  Now if someone helps me by putting a glass of water up here for me or by making the bulletins for everyone, they will not be forgotten by Jesus Christ.  He sees the good things you are doing for others and you will be rewarded just as much as I will be rewarded.

Jesus Christ loves us so much that He has freely given to us all the tools necessary to carry out His ministry.  When you decide to follow Jesus in everything that He says, you will soon find that your life has become far easier and a whole lot more rewarding.  And you will not lose your rewards.  That is a promise that Jesus makes right here.  And if you are the type to hang on to all your bad traits or your sins, then remember this.  God has also promised that if you confess your sins to Jesus, maybe on a continual basis, He will forget that they ever happened.  That my friends in Jesus Christ, is a great deal.  Jesus remembers all the good that you do and He forgets the times when you slip up and sin.  That is just another reason to be in continual prayer.

The bottom line of all this is that Jesus loves you, this I know.  We all know this to be a fact because the Bible tells us so as does Jesus and all the writers of the Bible.  This is a love that will not stop and it cannot stop if you are living in Jesus.  Remember those poor individuals who don’t know Jesus and let’s try to make inroads to their hearts in the name of Jesus Christ.  Let’s see if we can get others to find this wondrous love for the first time in their lives.  Jesus will never forget this.  I think that following Jesus is one of the best and most exciting parts of life.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.