The cost of being Harvesters (2)

All right, we're going to read from Matthew 10, verse 32 to 42.

Matthew 10:32–42

And then David will come up and speak to us.

And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it.

And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Whoever receives you receives me.

And whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward.

And the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple,

truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Well, if you look at the trail of Christianity through history, there's lots of ways you can describe it.

But one way that would be quite appropriate is that it's a very bloody trail.

And it's bloody because Jesus has never been comfortable or acceptable in our world.

When faithfully proclaimed as God's king and savior,

he challenges that which is actually hardwired into every single person.

That is what we call personal sovereignty.

We just naturally believe that we're competent to run our own life apart from God.

And so when we speak of Jesus,

then we're automatically on a collision course with individuals around us and our society at large.

It can't be any other way.

We're a threat as we speak about Jesus.

We become a threat.

Jesus is a threat to how people think, to how people live.

And as a result of that, then, generally speaking,

Christians have not been welcomed or accepted as the message of Jesus has not been welcomed or accepted.

And generally speaking, when you look back through history,

generally speaking, you would have to say that the lives of Christians

who are seriously committed to Jesus and serving Jesus and speaking about Jesus,

you'd have to say their lives have not been comfortable or peaceful.

Now, I suspect that's not how most of us think about our week to come, is it?

Because, you see, I think generally in our day and age,

generally we think that having sorted out a relationship with God,

being a Christian is about getting on with life,

enjoying the things that life has to offer us.

The comforts, the leisure, the pleasure, the possessions.

Now, we might actually qualify that a little bit when talking to somebody.

They might say, well, we expect from time to time that people will attack our faith in Jesus.

But it's that sort of magnitude.

The prevailing view, I think, is that we expect, being Christians,

is an enjoyable life, perhaps even a comfortable life,

albeit with that relationship with God sorted out.

Now, friends, I think what that means as we move into this passage,

I think what it means is that we're really ill-prepared to hear these words this morning.

Perhaps even worse, perhaps we're even reluctant to hear these words this morning.

Because they detail out, as James already opened up,

whereas they detail out hostility, division, suffering,

that serving Jesus will bring,

right into even those most personal and intimate relationships.

relationships.

So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to stop,

and I'm going to ask you to join me in prayer

that the Lord might help us impact on these verses and these verses to impact on us,

given that they're talking about selflessness

when we're so hardwired to be selfish.

So join with me now in prayer just as we move into these verses.

Lord, we are ill-prepared to hear the challenge of these verses,

perhaps even reluctant.

We are naturally inclined to self-interest,

and yet these verses call us to your interest and our selflessness.

So, Lord, we need you to go before us.

We need you to open these words to our minds

and open our minds to these words

and change us from the inside out.

Amen.

Okay, as usual,

before we get into the detail of the text,

I want to do some revision,

just to keep these chapters together,

from chapter 9, verse 35,

through to chapter 10, verse 33.

We're working on this section that stands together.

Jesus, back in chapter 9, verse 35,

likened his mission to the work of harvesting.

So preaching the gospel is harvesting.

He's the Lord of the harvest,

and he invites his disciples to share in this exciting mission,

in his exciting mission,

and indeed share in the bumper harvest that he said would be there.

Then in chapter 10,

Jesus sends out his disciples as harvest workers,

or mission partners.

And chapter 10 then is essentially

talking his disciples through the practical challenges

and difficulties they might expect to encounter.

There's a cost in being harvesters.

And as we work through chapter 10,

we see that cost steadily ramping up.

Initially, verses 5 through to 15,

any opposition seemed sort of general,

impersonal, remote.

So Jesus sends them out,

and he talks about them going into a village.

If you're going into a village or into a house,

it's out there.

It's just out there.

And he says that you can expect

there would be random people in random villages,

showing disinterest.

That's where we start,

in those verses 10 through to 15.

And then last week,

we saw verses 16 to 33.

It ramps up.

Jesus prepares them for much more challenging scenarios.

And Jesus says,

as they proclaim the gospel of Jesus,

they should expect initial opposition and disinterest

to become persecution.

violent persecution.

Violent persecution.

You should expect loss of freedom,

loss of reputation,

ridicule,

false accusations,

and in the most extreme cases,

death.

And last week,

as I tried to open up this idea of Jesus' perspective

on the cost of being harvesters,

harvesters,

I used the idea of a cost-benefit analysis.

As Jesus prepared,

his disciples for what lay ahead.

And so,

the costs are real,

says Jesus,

but the eternal benefits

of identifying with Jesus,

of keeping our eyes on him,

seeing through our circumstances

to our Savior and the Lord of the harvest

behind our circumstances,

though the benefits of that

move us from fear

to freedom,

move us from reluctance

to see opportunity

to minister and stand with Jesus,

from fear to excitement

in the mission with Jesus.

Now,

with that background,

let's step into these confronting verses

in verse 32,

but mainly kicking into verse 34

for a start.

And the cost ramps up even further.

Jesus hears warning

that the greatest cost

is likely to be experienced

in our most personal

and valued relationships.

The greatest cost

is likely to be felt closest to home,

in other words.

Verse 34.

Here's where it starts

to open up the gap

between where we are

and between what Jesus says.

As Christians,

we're determined

to believe

that Jesus' gospel

or message

will bring peace

and happiness

and well-being

to our lives.

I mean,

we're just starting to move

into that silly season

of Christmas

and that's what we're starting to hear.

You know,

peace and goodwill

to all men.

Quietly,

I think,

as Christians,

we're committed to

and demand

from the Lord

hassle-free lives.

And we see that

as so fundamental

to being Christians.

Well,

Jesus says the opposite.

Allegiance to him,

allegiance to his gospel

of salvation,

says Jesus,

inevitably

results in conflict.

Now,

we need to read this

very,

very carefully

in today's

modern society.

Jesus is not

inciting people

to violence.

That's not his point

here at all.

His point is that

people,

when they're confronted

with him

as Savior

and Lord

and confronted

with his gospel,

they will not

easily give up

their own

personal sovereignty.

There will need

to be a struggle

for that to happen.

People will push back

at anybody

who threatens

their personal

self-sovereignty.

Jesus himself,

back from the Sermon

on the Mount,

is the ultimate

peacemaker.

But when you think

of Jesus like a surgeon

who comes,

as patient comes

and his body

is ravaged

by cancer,

how is the surgeon

going to bring peace

into that body,

if I can use

that sort of metaphor?

Well,

he has to

take that patient

into a place

of more pain,

more suffering

through surgery.

There can be

no shortcutting

of that.

The pathway

to peace

and health

is suffering.

That is the way

Jesus,

the peacemaker,

brings his peace

into our lives

and in the lives

of people around us.

verses 35,

30,

37 then.

For I have come

to set a man

against his father

and a daughter

against her mother.

Even as we start

to read these verses,

we start to think,

this is obscene.

And yet,

these are the words

of Jesus.

A daughter-in-law

against her mother-in-law

and a person's enemies

will be those

of his own household.

Whoever loves

father or mother

more than me

is not worthy of me.

And whoever loves

son or daughter

more than me

is not worthy of me.

The gospel of Jesus

polarizes people.

The most painful divisions,

the greatest hostility,

the most heartbreaking

suffering,

will surface

closest to home

in our closest,

most personal relationships

when we share

that Jesus is God's king

to be obeyed.

God's savior

without whom

nobody gets to heaven.

If we share that,

even our closest relationships

will be under severe pressure.

And even then,

Jesus calls us

to absolute loyalty,

choosing relationship

with him

over any other relationship,

any other relationship.

And accepting,

in practical terms,

that sometimes

when we want to speak

the gospel

to those we love most,

they are closest to,

them,

they actually

will become

enemies.

We will become

enemies to them.

So much will they hate

what we're saying to them,

even though what we say

to them

is driven by our love

for them.

Verse 38,

as harvesters

working for Jesus,

we must be

totally selfless,

that idea that

Jen's already

opened up helpfully,

carrying the cross.

Most days

when you hear Christians,

it's just used

as a turn of phrase

when you speak

and do lots of Christians.

Oh yes,

I have a cross to carry.

That is,

there's a particular

unpleasant circumstance

in my week this week

or something like that.

That's what carrying a cross is.

But not so in Jesus' day.

When you carried your cross,

you had already

been sentenced to death.

So to carry your cross

is to act

as one whose life

has already been forfeited

to somebody else.

totally selfless.

Disciples

are to demonstrate,

we disciples

are to demonstrate

our total commitment

to Jesus

and his cause

even if necessary

walking away

from the most

treasured relationships

in our lives.

man,

that's a big call,

isn't it?

That's huge.

And it's huge

simply because

treasured relationships

are exactly as they say,

treasured relationships.

And yet,

that's what Jesus

calls us to.

Verse 39

cuts even deeper.

whoever finds his life

will lose it

and whoever loses

his life for my sake

will find it.

Another sort of

proverbial type phrase

but I think it's this.

I think Jesus is saying,

look,

there's two choices

and only two choices.

Either

we will be committed

to building

our own kingdom,

that's the self-sovereignty

thing again,

building our own kingdom,

our own secure

and comfortable life

in this world

which will mean

that we need to make

peace with this world

and in a sense

approximate something

of the values

and philosophies

of those around us

in order to be

peaceful and acceptable

among them.

So we can go that way.

So we can sort of

find a life

that says Jesus

but ultimately

will lose it

or the alternative is

we will be committed

to building

his kingdom

by speaking

the gospel

of Jesus

as God's

savior and king

and accept

the cost

involved in that.

Now,

there's no way

to sugarcoat

those verses.

They're confronting

and they force

a confronting question

for each one of us.

So go back

to the idea

of the cost-benefit

analysis

that we talked

about last week.

What will these

details

mean for your

cost-benefit

analysis

of serving Jesus?

It's quite possible

for some here

this morning

these verses

would be

a deal-breaker.

giving up

those relationships

most valuable

to me

closest to me

is just

too much

to ask.

Or

is it still

a good

decision

to serve

Jesus

getting involved

in this

mission

with ever

increasing

costs?

And so

maybe in your

mind you're

saying

could any

person in

their right

mind

be prepared

for the

intense

personal cost

of giving up

the closest

and most

precious of

relationships

and family

relationships

or close

friends

for the sake

of spreading

the gospel

of Jesus

could anybody

in their

right mind

say

yep

I'm up

for that.

Continuing

from last

Sunday

the theme

that I used

what sort

of gospel

perspective

could enable

us to go

down this

pathway?

And I tell

you

it needs

to be a

gospel

perspective

nothing

else

will take

us down

that

pathway

but what

gospel

perspective

could possibly

take us

down

that

pathway?

Well

I want to

suggest two

the first

one there

if you see

your outline

in front

of you

being clear

about family

relationships

ultimate

family

and temporary

family

Now as I

said last

week

Jesus is

sending his

disciples

out to do

something so

new

so different

so dangerous

to anything

they've ever

experienced

and so in a

sense throughout

these two

chapters Jesus

said look

the key thing

is keep

your eyes

on me

keep looking

at me

see through

the circumstances

that are going

to come to

you and

see me

the Lord

of the harvest

behind those

circumstances

that's a

gospel

perspective

it's the

great faith

that Jesus

commended back

in chapters

8 and 9

when we looked

at some of

the miracles

which was

the ability

of people

who came

to Jesus

asking for

healing

and asking

for Jesus

blessing

it was the

ability to

see through

this man

that stood

in front

of them

to see

the Lord

of the

universe

who had

power

to heal

to renew

so my

friends

this is the

gospel

perspective

we will

need

when it

comes to

rejection

and opposition

and enmity

from those

that once

we treasured

and valued

as closest

to us

being able

to look

through that

rejection

and hatred

from those

closest to us

is so hard

of course

it's hard

because to

be human

is to crave

love

to crave

acceptance

to have

somebody

reciprocate

our love

and actions

towards them

to belong

to be in a

lasting

relationship

to be in a

secure relationship

without fear

of rejection

all those

things are just

so fundamental

to us

as humans

so what

could possibly

enable us

to give

those things

up

or walk

away

from them

well

we need

to remember

that our

ultimate

lasting

family

relationship

is in

God

I said

last week

that being

a disciple

is identifying

with God

and that's

true

but far

more important

is that

God identifies

with me

his disciple

because

that's

my security

that is

the relationship

I crave

for in my

innermost being

that is the

unbreakable

relationship

which can be

enjoyed

without fear

that's the

relationship

that keeps

on getting

better

and will

keep on

getting better

until I

go to

heaven

to be

with him

forever

and enjoy

the fullness

of that

relationship

in a way

that I

can't even

begin to

imagine

now

that is

in my

heart of

hearts

the relationship

sorry

that is the

relationship

I crave

in my

heart of

hearts

and it's

mine

in Christ

this relationship

is essentially

with God

in Trinity

and underpins

everything

Jesus

saying

in chapter

10

if you look

at chapter

29

sorry

verse 29

through to

32

we looked

at this

passage

these verses

last week

God is

my father

and he cares

for me deeply

as his child

for every aspect

of me

as I serve

him

Jesus has

dealt with

my sin

he's made

me acceptable

to my

father

who has

adopted

me into

his family

making

Jesus

like a

brother

to me

so

God

the

father

Jesus

my

brother

and

Jesus

gladly

identifies

with me

before the

father

he's

happy to

acknowledge

when we

stand

with him

he will

stand

with us

that's

what

brothers

do

in the

ideal

world

verse 25

you go back

to one of the

verses we

looked at

last week

it talks

about

how

they will

be treated

just like

the master

because in

the same

household

this is

what the

family treatment

will be

says Jesus

it's an

affirmation

of

family

likeness

and belonging

and he

reassures

the

disciples

even in

the midst

of what

seems

like

negative

he

reassures

them

that yes

when they

experience

rejection

and opposition

and hatred

then yay

that's

confirmation

that they're

in the

family of

Jesus

in a

sense

verses

21 and

22

go back

further

we looked

at those

again last

week as

well

when you're

under

pressure

when you're

holed up

before the

courts

don't worry

about what

to speak

because

your

father

will give

you what

to speak

through the

holy

spirit

and there

we have

it

the

trinity

working

for us

with us

as family

the

holy

spirit

has taken

up residence

with me

the

holy

spirit

we're

told

in other

parts

of the

scripture

daily

renovates

me

from the

inside

out

in a

sense

you can

talk of

the

holy

spirit

like

new

dna

when we

become

christians

and that

new

dna

is slowly

working

through all

my body

and renewing

me

spiritually

helping me

express the

mind of

christ in the

most difficult

of circumstances

my friends

this is the

family we

belong to

in christ

this is a

family like

no other

family

and all

of this

helped me

to remember

that my

identity

and security

is not

tied

to my

human

relationships

no matter

how personal

and how

treasured

they might

be to me

now

sadly

many

many

christians

get it

wrong

at this

point

many

christians

act as

though

family

human

family

relationships

or other

close

personal

friendships

are permanent

are absolute

are ultimate

in other

words

they are

so important

to life

that they are

to be

protected

against

everything

else

so

these

are my

fixed

points

in life

i'll give

up all

that out

there

but no

these

family

relationships

i need

them

that's a

wrong

statement

for christians

we might

desire them

we might

love them

and enjoy

them

but we

don't

need

them

in christ

the problem

with that

thinking

is that

we

become

flexible

at the

wrong

points

we

become

flexible

in our

service

and

testimony

to jesus

because

well

i don't

want to

risk

these

intensely

personal

friendships

relationships

so we

become

flexible

about jesus

and our

relationship

with him

and inflexible

about our

relationships

yeah that's

how to

kill her

now i got

to say here

carefully

i got to

say here

oh i don't

know what i'm

going to say

this is not a

license to be

careless

or heartless

or irresponsible

or disengaged

in this world

human family

relationships

that would be

a terrible way

to understand

scripture

so it's not

a license to

step away from

human family

relations

it's a

safeguard

against making

these relationships

absolute

and therefore

being devastated

or debilitated

when gospel

conflict surfaces

in them

so as

disciples of the

great peacemaker

we too

are peacemakers

but just

as jesus

pathway to

delivering

peace

meant

rejection

by his

human

family

and remember

that jesus

human family

first came

to see what

he was up

to because

they were a

bit embarrassed

by what he

was saying

and doing

then

down the

track a

little bit

their

embarrassment

changed

to outright

anger

they thought

he had

lost it

so

the pathway

of jesus

delivering

peace

meant

rejection

by his

human

family

and

ultimately

suffering

and death

so too

our sharing

in his

mission of

true peace

and renewal

will reflect

jesus pathway

my friends

this is hard

for us to

hear

is it

not

so

often

we have

secured

peaceful

relations

in our

families

and workplace

and with

our

friends

simply

because

we've

played

down

our

loyalty

to jesus

and we've

played

down

the message

of jesus

perhaps we've

been silent

about that

which we

say is at

the heart

of our

being

because we've

not wanted

to risk

those friendships

that are fun

or intense

or personal

or immediate

so often

i think we

protest

that we

don't have

the opportunity

to stand

publicly with

jesus and

the gospel

or that we

don't have

the ability

to say

anything

worthwhile

we often

try and

excuse

ourselves

for that

when in

fact

perhaps

the reason

is slightly

different

perhaps the

reason is

that we're

not prepared

to risk

those

friendships

that mean

most to

us

perhaps we're

not prepared

to risk

division

and hostility

creeping into

those friendships

that we value

so much

now friends

don't misunderstand

me

we should

never relish

or look for

hostility in a

fight

there's never

a license to

be that

annoying

christian

member of

the family

at family

gatherings

who just

won't

shut

up

there's

never

an excuse

for that

and we

all have

them

i might

even be

the one

in my

family

i'm not

sure

but there's

no excuse

for that

we're never

looking for

hostility in a

fight with

unbelievers

but neither

should we

bag away

from telling

them

those closest

to us

of their

need

for a

fresh start

in jesus

i mean

by definition

if they're a

close friend

that means

you love

them

and if

you love

them

surely you

want to

tell the

truth

to them

and if

the truth

means

confronting

their autonomy

and sovereignty

their own

individual

sovereignty

and talk

about

bowing to

jesus

then it's a

risk

surely if you

love them

it's worth

taking

and so

perhaps the

real reason

we're

silent

is because

we put

too much

value

on these

relationships

and we

don't want

to risk

them

second point

is appreciating

that we're

never

without

family

to enjoy

and nurture

we're never

without

family

to enjoy

and nurture

now i have

to say

these last

few verses

are not

easy to

understand

but here's

what i think

they might

mean

so you look

at verse

40

whoever

receives

you

receives

me

and whoever

receives

me

receives

him

who sent

me

i think

that's a

principle

perhaps

that jesus

sort of

proverbial

principle

that then

jesus

expands

in the

next

two

verses

and i think

it goes

something like

this

in jesus

day

it was

assumed

that a

person's

representative

would be

received

welcomed

and assisted

as if

the person

themselves

were there

present

so if you

want to put

it in the

family context

we're talking

about here

a person's

representative

in a sense

was just

an extension

of the

family

and was

to be

treated

like

family

and i

think that

principle

of family

connectedness

might be

at the

heart of

verses

40

to 42

as

disciples

busy in

the work

of harvesting

or proclaiming

the gospel

in a myriad

situations

and circumstances

we will

constantly

intersect

with other

disciples

doing exactly

the same

work

for exactly

the same

reasons

and bearing

exactly the

same

costs

and we'll

intersect

with them

and their

joy and

delight in

jesus

and we'll

intersect

with them

in their

desire that

others might

hear of

jesus

and know

the salvation

that we

ourselves

have

experienced

i think

the picture

there jesus

is saying

is that

we are

never without

family

and in fact

as disciples

we're engaged

in core

family business

and so we

will actually

have a much

bigger family

to be part

of than

anything we

could possibly

imagine

at the human

level

we are

engaged in

the core

family business

we all

know and

enjoy god

as our

father

we all

have a

rich sense

of privilege

as siblings

of jesus

and joint

heirs with

him

we all

have the

holy spirit

working quietly

behind the

scenes to

create family

likeness in

us

and in

these verses

it's hard

to know

whether jesus

has got

different

levels of

formality

or different

harvest tasks

in mind

so he

talks about

a righteous

person

he talks

about a

prophet

and he

talks about

little ones

i think

possibly he's

just spelling

it out in

some sort

of concrete

terms

that regardless

of the particular

part of the

harvest

wherever you

intersect

disciples busy

in the work

of harvest

they're all

his little

ones

they're all

to be

welcomed

encouraged

supported

enjoyed

the reward

that's mentioned

in here

well again

it's really

hard to be

precise

but the idea

I think

which fits

best with

the context

is simply

that embracing

the family

as they're

busy in

harvest

will win

the approval

of christ

because this

is how

god's family

should work

that's what

family's all

about

that's what

god's

family's all

about

if your

family

gatherings

are family

gatherings

you just

come back

to the

same

stories

the same

themes

all the

time

I mean

it's funny

when you're

there with

a family

but somebody

else looking

in would

just think

this is

weird

the family

has a

core

definition

a core

shape

common

stories

common

memories

our

spiritual

family

is the

place

for us

to rest

and thrive

and all

the more

so

against

the

dysfunction

and conflict

and hostility

that will

most likely

mark our

human families

and relationships

as we

are harvesters

for Jesus

my friends

put it

all down

to something

really simple

we're never

without

family

even when

our human

family

and those

closest to us

reject us

because

those we

have most

in common

with as

family members

are in

fact

Christ's

people

we are

never

without

family

to nurture

and enjoy

family

and what

a gracious

provision

that is

and many

many

Christians

have lost

all of

their family

and been

totally

rejected

totally

rejected

by their

family

but even

they are

never without

family

in the

Lord

Jesus

so which

close

relationships

will claim

your

primary

allegiance

that's the

question

which

family

which set

of close

relationships

are you

shaped by

defined by

identified

with

which do you

find security

in

which do you

give allegiance

to

that's the

question

that boils

down to

will you

continue

to expect

and demand

a hassle

free life

and

conflict

free

close

personal

relationships

whether

family or

friends

who are

hostile

to Jesus

even if

the cost

is not

speaking

about

Jesus

to them

is that

what you'll

continue

to hang

out for

and protect

or will

you sit

loose

to human

family

and other

relationships

knowing

that

your real

family

isn't

Jesus

if you

can do

that

then I

suspect

you will

be prepared

to take

the risk

because you

want your

closest friends

to know

of the

salvation

that you've

enjoyed

and continue

to enjoy

in Jesus

but it

will only

be that

gospel

perspective

that will

help you

step into

that place

pray with

me again

please

Lord I

prayed at the

start that you

would help

us hear

words that

we're

not inclined

to hear

and perhaps

even quite

reluctant

to hear

Lord we

confess to

you that we

have put

our allegiance

in wrong

places

we have

valued human

relationships

Lord

good

relationships

important

relationships

to us Lord

immediate

relationships

but we

valued them

too highly

and unfortunately

Lord the

cost has been

that we've

been silent

about you

to those

we would

say we

love most

help us

Lord to

see through

our

dearest

and most

personal

of relationships

to see

you the

Lord of the

harvest

and help

us Lord

to take