Sermon for Feb. 7, 2016

“In His Service”¹

Matthew 9:35-38; 10:7-8

Sermon Series: Kingdom Expectations

Intro

Show “Get Service” video clip from Youtube.²

How do you view people? Do you see those that cross your path as an inconvenience or a opportunities? This video shows us that there is a world around us suffering amid sin and trials of various kinds. This world needs to hear the good news of the kingdom. They need to know that Jesus has authority over sin, sickness, cancer, disease, natural disasters, and even death itself, and they must hear the gospel in order to be saved.

The good news is for everyone you work with and live around. It’s for your own neighborhood and for the unreached people groups of the world. We live to celebrate this good news; we live to spread this good news. But when we do, we must realize that just as Jesus faces opposition, so we face opposition. That’s what Matthew 9:35-10:42 is all about.

May God use this passage to so grip our hearts with the good news of Jesus that students will risk their reputations at school, that brothers and sisters in Christ will risk their reputations at work, that the church will throw amid the fear of man, and that every one of us will give our lives spreading the good news of Christ’s kingdom everywhere we go.³ If we are to do this, we must notice several things:

I. The Compassion That Was Demonstrated (9:35-36).

“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

³⁶ Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

Spiritual Truth #1: To become a true disciple, we must see people through Jesus’ eyes.

This kind of risk-taking discipleship that Scriptures calls for will not be a reality in our lives until we see the lost as Jesus sees them. At the end of chapter 9, Matthew closes out a section of Jesus’ miracle stories and teaching on discipleship by pointing to Jesus’ compassion for those who needed Him. Verses 35-36 give us a glimpse into the Savior’s heart.

To understand what compelled the compassion of Jesus, we need to understand two factors:

1. We need to see the crowd’s size.

Verse 36 says, “When He saw the crowd He felt compassion for them.”

There may have been around 200 cities and villages in Galilee at this point, with a possible population of about three million people.⁴ When Jesus saw the people, the text indicates that He literally felt agony. The Greek word here is splanchos that refers to a “gut level reaction” from the bowels and kidneys.⁵ He was not just emotionally moved, but physically affected with compassion when He saw the crowds. Imagine seeing someone you love hurting or suffering so much so that your heart physically feels like it is going to burst for them. That is the kind of language used here.

2. We need to feel the crowd’s suffering.

Matthew describes the crowds in v. 36 as “weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus’ compassion increases because Israel lacks adequate leadership, despite many who would claim to guide it. The Twelve disciples begin to fill that vacuum, foreshadowing the institution of the church. The language of “sheep without a shepherd” echoes Num. 27:17 and Ezekiel 34:5, in which the shepherd is messianic. As in the days of the prophets, the rightful leadership of Israel had abdicated its responsibility, as demonstrated by its inability or unwillingness to recognize God’s true spokesman. The words “weary and worn out” literally mean “torn and thrown down.” Predators and possibly even unscrupulous shepherds have ravaged the sheep. Jesus gives a stinging rebuke to the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees.⁶

Spiritual Truth #2: We must not elevate our traditions to the point we cannot see the truth of the gospel message.

As Jesus came with His plan of deliverance, He almost immediately encountered opposition, but the heartbreak is that it came primarily from His own people, especially the religious leaders of Israel. They objected to His associations with sinful people as He reached out with His call to kingdom repentance (9:11). They objected to His disciples’ supposed lack of commitment to spiritual disciplines (9:14). They objected to Jesus’ form of spiritual liberation because it did not fit their predetermined paradigm (9:34).⁷

These religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, had elevated their traditions to the point where they could not hear or see the truth of Jesus’ gospel message. Their human traditions and interpretations supplanted God’s Word and distorted Jesus’ message. Later, Jesus will warn the Pharisees of this dangerous tendency in their “traditions of the elders” (15:1-9). A day of judgment awaits those who continue down that path.⁸

We too will face opposition if we are doing God’s work in God’s way. We will not be popular with the current secular culture and will find opposition if we speak the truth about sin or give biblical evaluation of current trends in our culture. We should expect opposition, but the heartbreak will be when it is from within. It may be one of your family members who oppose you when you decide to go on the mission field. Opposition might come when the pastor tries to take the church in a direction that might mean giving up some preferences.

The listing could be endless, but should it should be added that it may not be easily determined in each situation who is in the right. A bit of tension in relationships should encourage us to open up lines of communication so that we listen to one another and try to ascertain clearly the Lord’s principles and leading in different scenario. I am certain that the Pharisees thought that they were right in opposing Jesus. They felt that Jesus was unjustly opposing their leadership among the people. Their heard-heartedness prevented them from hearing Jesus’ message and from allowing the Spirit to guide them to the truth.

We should expect opposition if we are doing something right, but our own humility must cause us to admit also that we may be wrong.

These people were running after pleasures, pursuits, and people in this world, thinking they could be satisfied apart from God, but they couldn’t. Every road to satisfaction that this world offers-the road of success or sex or money or relationships or pleasures-is ultimately empty. Jesus knew this. These crowds desperately needed Him as a merciful shepherd.

It is said that during the Second World War some soldiers serving in France wanted to bury a friend and fellow soldier who had been killed. Being in a foreign country they wanted to ensure their fallen comrade had a proper burial. They found a well-kept cemetery with a low stone wall around it, a picturesque little Catholic church and a peaceful outlook. This was just the place to bury their friend. But when they approached the priest he answered that unless their friend was a baptised Catholic he could not be buried in the cemetery. He wasn’t. Sensing the soldiers disappointment the priest showed them a spot outside the walls where they could bury their friend. Reluctantly they did so.

The next day the soldiers returned to pay their final respects to their fallen friend but could not find the grave. “Surely we can’t be mistaken. It was right here!” they said. Confused, they approached the priest who took them to a spot inside the cemetery walls. “Last night I couldn’t sleep” said the priest. “I was troubled that your friend had to be buried outside the cemetery walls, so I got up and moved the fence.”⁹

II. The Challenge That Was Issued (9:37-38).

Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Spiritual Truth #2: In light of the coming judgment, we must have a sense of urgency in reaching the lost.

This “harvest” language in Scripture is often associated with judgment. For example, the prophet Joel says:¹⁰

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

-Joel 3:13-14

Jesus also speaks of the harvest as a time of judgment in Matthew 13. At the end of the age, Jesus will bring the wheat (the righteous) to eternal blessing, and He will cast the tares (the unrighteous) into “blazing furnace” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 42).

In light of God’s coming judgment, Jesus knew the desperate condition of those to whom He ministered. These where people who were separated from God and who, if nothing changed, would one day stand before God in their sin and be cast into eternal darkness. This is why Jesus had such compassion on them. How much more should this be true in our day?

We live in a world of approximately seven billion people, with most liberal estimates labeling about one-third of this seven billion “Christians.” That leaves 4.5 billion people without Christ-that’s more than 4.5 billion people on a road that leads to an eternal hell. This is the condition of the lost.¹¹

Do we realize the gravity of eternity? Far more important than sports, money, sex, or success in this world, there are people around us today (and every day) who are eternally lost. Do we sense the urgency? Do we see the world with the eyes of Jesus? We don’t have time to play game with our lives or play games in the church. And we don’t have time to waste our lives on the pursuits, pleasures, and possessions of this world, when there is something infinitely more important for us to do. But what exactly is that purpose? What is more important than all the world offers? Answer: The commission of Christ.

Spiritual Truth #2: We are the answer to our prayers.

• Notice here that Jesus calls us to pray.

He says, “Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (v. 38).

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Here is the harvest, now go!” Instead, He say, “Here is the harvest, now pray.” Jesus will eventually get to the “go” part, but first His followers must be on their knees, asking and pleading with God to send out workers.

This is precisely what we should be doing in our churches as we seek to send people out regularly into this dark world to proclaim the gospel. We should actually pray for people to leave. . .on mission! God loves to answer prayers like this. Our churches ought to be sending bases of laborers for the harvest of souls. No one is to be a spectator.

Many believers don’t even consider the possibility that God could call them to proclaim the gospel in another location. Or if they do, they often have a distorted view of what such a call would look like. Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr to the Auca Indians of Peru, lamented the fact that so few were willing to go the mission field in his own day. He said, “Our young men are going into other fields because they don’t ‘feel called” to the mission field. We don’t need a call; we need a kick in the pants.”¹²

As followers of Christ, our lives should be “on the table” before the Lord. Wherever He says to go, we go. None of us are intended simply to coast through life until we get to heaven.

And when we pray, God will send us out in different ways to different places. For some, this will simply mean going to the workplace, not simply to provide for your family, but also to spread the gospel. For others, this will mean being a part of a church plant in an area that is difficult to reach with the gospel. Still for others, this will mean going to live with an unreached people group. Jesus calls us to pray to the Lord of the harvest for the glorious goal of spreading His gospel to the whole world.¹³

III. The Content of the Commission (10:7-8).

“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”

As we step back and take a look at the overall picture of Matthew 10, we begin to see what Jesus’ summons to “go” actually looks like.¹⁴

1. First, Jesus says to go to the diseased.

Our mission is not to the healthy, but to the sick.

2. Second, we go to the dying.

Jesus tells the disciples to “raise the dead” (v. 8). Today, that application would mean go to those terminally ill in the hospitals, the hospice, and the home.

3. Third, go to the despised.

In other words, cleanse those who have leprosy, those who are unclean. Today, that application would mean to those in the half-way houses, the women’s shelters, and the drug clinics.

4. Fourth, go to the dirty.

The disciples were commanded to engage the demon-possessed, the people most tainted by sin. In essence, Jesus told His disciples to go the people that the world ignored or oppressed. It is important for us to understand that the authority Jesus gave the disciples to perform these ministries was limited to the immediate assignment and was not permanent. It was intended to validate Jesus’ proclamation of the coming kingdom.

We as Jesus’ disciples are called and tasked to engage in mission and be transformed to meet life’s demands by being continually transformed to be like Jesus. Discipleship begins by taking up one’s cross, which symbolizes God’s will for a person’s life, and by following Jesus into every situation while on earth. The form of discipleship Jesus has instituted connects discipleship and mission-all believers are disciples/missionaries, and each role affects the other as they carry out that mission to the world.¹⁵

The compassion Jesus showed here in Matthew 9 provides an important object lesson for us. As we see the needs of people all around us, we must allow our hearts to feel deeply with them. But we cannot stop there. We must get close enough to them to see how we can bring the healing touch of the gospel to their deepest needs. For Jesus, the message of the kingdom’s saving power was primarily a ministry of spiritual healing.

A proper sense of balance comes from keeping an eternal perspective on our compassion. Our responsibility for being salt and light among the evil of this world will not result in the eradication of evil. Humanity is dying without the Great Physician, and we are the ones who must go next door or around the world carrying Jesus’ healing touch, because they will either be gathered in this harvest of grace or face the next harvest of judgment.¹⁶

The great violinist, Nicolo Paganini, willed his marvelous violin to Genoa -- the city of his birth -- but only on condition that the instrument never be played upon. It was an unfortunate condition, for it is a peculiarity of wood that as long as it is used and handled, it shows little wear. As soon as it is discarded, it begins to decay. The exquisite, mellow-toned violin has become worm-eaten in its beautiful case, valueless except as a relic. The moldering instrument is a reminder that a life withdrawn from all service to others loses its meaning.¹⁷

1 Copyright © 2016 by Bryan Cox. All Scripture is New American Standard (NASB), Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

2 This video was done by Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR, accessed 4 February 2016, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzmWqZS1QSU; Internet.

3 David Platt, eds. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Matthew, Christ-Centered Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2013), 131-132.

4 Platt, Matthew, Christ-Centered Commentary, 132.

5 Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, Volume 22 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), 166.

6 Blomberg, Matthew, New American Commentary, 166.

7 Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 380.

8 Ibid.

9 Illustration taken from storiesforpreaching.com; accessed 6 February 2016; available from http://storiesforpreaching.com/category/sermonillustrations/compassion/; Internet.

10 Platt, Matthew, Christ-Centered Commentary, 133.

11 Platt, Matthew, Christ-Centered Commentary, 133.

12 Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty (New York: HarperCollins, 1979), 150.

13 Platt, Matthew, Christ-Centered Commentary, 134-135.

14 Ibid., 136.

15 Wilkins, Matthew, The NIV Application Commentary, 404.

16 Ibid., 381.

17 Illustration taken from sermonillustrations.com; accessed 6 February 2016; available from http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/service.htm; Internet.