Sending You Out
Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It's made the news over the past year because of various protests and public disagreements with the current administration. Did you know that Harvard was founded to educate preachers?
It was named for its first benefactor, a minister named John Harvard. Its stated purpose was, "to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust." For the first seventy two years of its existence, every Harvard president was a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Much more recently, an association of more than 30 Harvard chaplains representing a wide range of religious communities elected Greg Epstein as their new leader. The odd thing is - Chaplain Epstein doesn't believe in God at all. In an interview, Epstein calls himself a "humanist rabbi" combining Jewish culture with the belief that "this world is all we have". He claims he's not anti-religion, but works to beat back what he calls "the fundamentalist religious right."
And by his definition, John Harvard and the first seven decade's worth of Harvard presidents would qualify as 'fundamentalists'. Harvard has changed quite a bit since it was founded.
We live in a world, in a nation, that's becoming increasingly hostile to the mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus came as God in the flesh – to bring all of mankind back to Himself. Jesus loves us and wants us to leave our lives of sin and follow Him, and Him alone, completely. That mission is now viewed by many as controversial, closed minded, exclusive and even intrusive – even by some who claim the very title of Christian.
Now don't misunderstand; I'm not equating an atheist chaplain with religious persecution. Nor do I want anyone of faith to think of themselves as a victim. But I do want us to recognize a Biblical truth - Jesus faced serious opposition and we will too when we follow Him.
There is evil in the world. We've seen various terror attacks against Jewish people, the horrific attack of the Egyptian man who threw Molotov cocktails that burned multiple victims. We've seen multiple Church buildings vandalized. We've seen the attack in Seattle on Christians for publicly standing up for their faith.
This hostility may be relatively new to our experience, but it's really nothing new if we look at the big picture of history. If we look back to Jesus' own words as He addressed His earliest disciples, we see Him referring to them as…
I. Sheep among wolves
I'd like us to read where Jesus is instructing His original twelve disciples in Matthew 10:16-23 (NIV)...
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (17) Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. (18) On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. (19) 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,
(20) for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (21) Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. (22) All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (23) When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Two thousand years ago, those who followed Jesus experienced a world very hostile to the mission of Jesus. That conflict has been removed a bit from our lives because we've been blessed to live in a time and country relatively free from persecution for our faith in Jesus. This freedom, in this short time in history, is not really the norm for most followers of Christ throughout the world.
If we take Jesus at His word - if you are living as a Christian lives, you can expect trouble. If you never get any resistance as you follow Jesus, if it never costs you anything – you're probably not doing it right. God's ultimate purpose for us in this life is not to keep us comfortable, trouble free or even alive. If we look in the Bible we find multiple examples of followers whose lives were anything but comfortable. When you try to live out Jesus' values and share them with others - you will find opposition.
But remember - those who oppose you are not our enemies - but our mission. Those who do not believe in the existence of God will of course think you're a bit crazy. They're not necessarily being mean. If they honestly think you are crazy - how would you treat someone you honestly believed was crazy...? That doesn't make it right, but it gives perspective.
We are like sheep among wolves, we will experience trouble and the differences between those who believe in Jesus and those who don't - those differences are getting much bigger. So when Jesus established His Church, those of us who are a part of His Church and are to carry on His mission of spreading the Good News - we need to remember…
II. There is a price
Let's pick up where we left off and go back to Jesus' words in Matthew 10:24-33 (NIV)...
A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. (25) It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub [which is the Greek name for the prince of demons], how much more the members of his household! (26) So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. (27) What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
(28) 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. (29) Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (30) And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (31) So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
(32) Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (33) But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
There is a price for following Jesus. He was called names – we will be called names. He was treated unfairly by unbelievers – we will be treated unfairly by unbelievers. If Jesus lived a life of hardship and sacrifice, how can we, as His followers, expect to have a perfect, trouble free life?
Now, there are several statements here that might have seemed a bit confusing in that passage. - Are we to be afraid or not?
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." "Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body." "So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Just to clarify, Jesus was first reminding His disciples to not fear those in this world who opposed them. The worst that they could do is kill them. 'Big deal' – when you serve a master who has power over death. 'Big deal' – when you know that in the end you will have eternal life in Heaven with Him.
Now, He did say to be afraid of the "One who can destroy both soul and body in Hell." And when you first read this, you might think He was warning them to fear 'the devil'. But if you look closely, He was really warning them that in the end only God has the power to destroy. He was the One they should truly fear - but then Jesus comforts them by explaining just how much God loves those who follow Him.
I've had very devoted believers tell me that fear has nothing to do with their relationship with God. I've shared this before, but I think C.S. Lewis captured this mix of emotion - of fear and love - best when he described the lion character 'Aslan' in his story 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. He wrote, "Of course He's good. But He's not safe. He's not a tame lion!" God absolutely loves each one of us – but He's not safe.
We see this in Hebrews 10:31 (NIV)...
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Scripture often refers to 'the fear of God' which we more comfortably refer to as "reverence". Reverence focuses on our decorum, sitting quietly, talking in whispers, like proper behavior in a library or at a funeral. "Fear" reminds us that God is The All Powerful, Holy Creator who could rightly snuff us out in an instant. - However, He chooses not to because of His great love for us! I don't want you to be scared of God - but Jesus did call for a healthy fear of God.
There's a price to following Jesus, but because of God's great love, there's also the promise of a future hope. We who believe know it will be more than worth it in the end. We have the promise of Heaven, of life after death, a reunion with our loved ones who have died in Christ! We have that promise of a future hope – but what about now?
III. Can we expect peace?
If we go back to Jesus' 'Sermon on the Mount' – we find Him saying, in Matthew 5:9 (NIV)...
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Which is of course a call for us to live peacefully – to intentionally work for peace, but then in the very next verse we see…
Matthew 5:10 (NIV)
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Persecution - that doesn't sound very peaceful. Once again we see this seemingly incompatible mix of peace and violence. Jesus almost seems to be making a contradiction here. Like things don't quite fit here.
And then there's the person of Jesus Himself. We're told that Jesus is all about love - and many picture 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild', someone who wouldn't hurt a fly. That's what many believe about Jesus, but they forget Jesus' own words. - Continuing on in Matthew 10:34-39 (NIV)...
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (35) 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 - (36) a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
(37) Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (38) and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (39) Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
So how do we reconcile this peace and conflict about which Jesus spoke? Many times when Jesus spoke about peace, He wasn't simply talking about a complete lack of conflict but peace despite the conflict. Let's look at John 14:27 (NIV)...
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
There may be plenty about which to be troubled– but Jesus is promising personal peace despite the turmoil around us.
You can go through life worrying about all of the conflict and trouble and frustration that this world throws at you - or you can choose to accept this 'inner peace' that Jesus offers. Understand that no matter what happens, God is in control and His ultimate purpose is not to keep us comfortable, trouble free or even alive. BUT He does want to bless you more than you can imagine – in spite of the circumstances of this world!
Now, I have to admit once again that I'm not always great at being peaceful despite circumstances – I'm learning, but I still struggle with it. For those who follow Jesus - we are to be peacemakers, to not seek out conflict. – However, as we teach what Jesus taught, there will be conflict. The writer of Hebrews again instructs us in Hebrews 12:14-16 (NIV)...
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (15) See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (16) See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
We are to 'make every effort to live in peace', but I guarantee if we take a strong stand for holiness and against sexual immorality – there will be conflict. That's what happened at the Christian rally in Seattle.
Some believe that in order to avoid trouble we need to tone down any message that might offend. Some say, 'We shouldn't talk so much about sin. We shouldn't talk about issues such as the sanctity of human life or marriage – those are controversial issues that have no place in the pulpit.' Some believe we should be more open to a changing culture that believes in no restrictions on sexual relationships between any consenting adults.
But that's not God's design and it will bring heartache. God's ways are better than our ways! We are to live in peace, but not at all cost. We are called to be peacemakers, but not at the cost of God's true message of hope only in Jesus!
So What?
I spoke of Harvard University's change in values and mission over the years. Harvard has provided a good education to many and its students have gone on to do some very good things. However, as far as its original mission of training preachers – it's failed. It slowly compromised a bit here and a bit there in order to not upset the educational community. And eventually Harvard became useless for its original purpose.
We are being sent out to a world that desperately needs God's love, yet many reject it. We can't compromise the truth in order to make peace with those who oppose Jesus' message. If we compromise, we may be able to do some good things in the world's eyes but fail at doing the best things – bringing lost people to Jesus. One final passage...
John 14:23-24 (NIV)
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (24) He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."
If teaching what Jesus taught and expecting people to accept and obey everything He taught is crazy – I guess that makes me crazy. So let's take the crazy love of Jesus to everyone we know!
And here's my practical challenge this morning. It's easy to talk about going out as sheep among wolves - it's harder to do it. What I'd like you to do - as you leave this morning, grab one of these invite cards with the QR code at the welcome center. I'm making this as simple as I can - grab one card and give it to someone this week - someone who needs to know Jesus...