Joining in Jesus’ Mission

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0:18Well, good morning everyone, and welcome back middle schoolers. Uh, we are praising God. That's right. Yeah. For Those of you who don't know, our middle schoolers, at least many of them were at campus this past week, and I've personally already heard several stories of how God was at work. So we are praising God for what he did, and we're praising God that you are back among us. Well, my name is Brian Lichty and I serve here as the pastor for counseling. And I'm so grateful that all of you are here today to join as we worship the Lord and hear from his word. And so before we do anything else this morning, let's turn to the Lord and ask for his help in prayer.

1:01Father, we are about to look at your word and we wanna honor you in the way that we do that. So help us to rightly understand what this passage is saying and how to apply it in our lives. Help us to see Jesus more clearly and follow him more closely as a result. Father, we love you. We praise you, and we pray all these things in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I don't know about you, but I consider myself to be pretty good at following instructions. Over the years, I've had lots of practice. I've assembled new toys, I've, uh, figured out how to play new board games, I've put together furniture.

1:48And for the most part, uh, those projects have gone pretty well. But there have been a few blunders along the way. In fact, if you ask my family the time that they'll probably recall the most was a hike that we took up north a couple years ago. Now, this was a hike that we had never been on before. And so I made sure to look at a map before we set out. And initially things started off pretty well. Uh, the first couple of miles, it was just kind of straight on a path. There really wasn't much opportunity to get lost, but eventually we got to a place where there was a fork in the trail and we could either go left or we could go right.

2:28Well, I was very confident that we needed to go left, and so we did. And so the next 60 minutes we spent on that path, and eventually we got to a place where there was an overlook and we could actually see Lake Superior off in the distance. And as soon as we got to that overlook, my heart was crushed because I knew something was off. We were supposed to be going away from that lake, not toward it. And so I pulled out the map and sure enough, I made a huge mistake. Rather than turning left at that fork in the road, we were supposed to turn right. And because I didn't read those instructions carefully, we ended up adding another two hours onto our hike.

3:19Well, in our passage today, we're gonna look at several instructions that come from the lips of Jesus. And as we consider those instructions, it's important that we read them very, very carefully. We wanna do everything we can to avoid the mistake that I made during that hike. So rather than glossing over these instructions or making assumptions about them, we need to pay careful attention to what Jesus said. After all, Jesus gave these instructions specifically to the apostles. He gave them not just to the apostles, but for a specific mission at a specific point in redemptive history. And so the reality is these instructions don't carry over to us verbatim.

4:11They don't apply to us in the exact same way that they did to the apostles. And yet I do think this passage offers us some helpful insights, some general principles that we can learn from and that we can live in light of. In fact, my hope this morning is that you see not only how the apostles were to join in Jesus's mission, but how we can as well. And so with that in mind, we're going to work our way through this passage. And to do that, we'll consider Jesus's instructions in four parts. We'll consider Jesus' instructions to the apostles about where they should go, what ministry they should do, what provisions they should take, and how they should secure lodging and respond to rejection.

5:05So first, this morning, beginning in verses five to six, let's consider Jesus' instructions to the apostles about where they should go. Again, we're gonna start in verses five to six and look at the apo, uh, instructions to the apostles about where they should go and where were they supposed to go? Well, as Jesus said, they were to go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, when Jesus spoke those words, he and the apostles were in the northern part of Israel. They were in Galilee, so they were in Jewish territory, and Jesus made it very clear that's where he wanted them to minister.

5:51He wanted them to minister among the Jews. Again, as our verse says, he wanted them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In other words, rather than going to the Gentiles who were in the north and in the east or to the Samaritans who were in the South, he wanted them to stay right where they were. He wanted them to conduct their missionary activity in Galilee. That's the mission field that he was calling them to. But why was that? Why did Jesus limit the apostles ministry to the Jews? Why did he limit it to the people of Israel? Well, I think the main reason has to do with what's happening at that moment in redemptive history.

6:39You see, at that moment in redemptive history, Jesus was focused on his call to be his people's messiah. As DA Carson explains, Jesus stood at the nexus in salvation history. Whereas a Jew and the son of David, he came in fulfillment of his people's history as their king and their redeemer. And of course, that's why for the most part, Jesus didn't travel outside of Israel. It's why for the most part he primarily but not exclusively limited his ministry to the Jews. So for instance, if you read through the gospels, you'll see that all of Jesus's public teaching, all of his public preaching took place amongst the Jews.

7:23Not only that, you'll see that the vast majority, the vast majority of his miracles also took place amongst the Jews. And Jesus was very upfront and explicit about this focus in Matthew 15 when the Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking him to heal her daughter. Here's what Jesus said to the disciples. He said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now there's something really important that you need to know here. It's not that Jesus didn't care about the nations. It's not that Jesus didn't have a plan for expanding his mission. He did. It just wasn't the time yet again, at this point in redemptive history, Jesus's focus was on the lost sheep of Israel.

8:17In order to fulfill scripture, the message of the kingdom had to go to the Jews first before it could go to others. And that's of course why the Apostle Paul says in the book of Romans that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone, first to the Jew and also to the Greek. Well, hopefully it's clear why Jesus instructed the apostles to only go to the lost sheep of Israel. He wanted them to join in his mission and expand his work among the Jews. But that brings up an important question for us, doesn't it? Do we have that same limitation? Do we have that same restriction on our mission today as followers of Jesus Christ?

9:07Well, the answer is no. No, not at all. The mission for the church today is not limited in the same way it was for the apostles at that time. As Matthew 28 makes it very, very clear, we are to go therefore and make disciples of what all nations, or as Jesus has said before, he, uh, ascended we are to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judean, Samaria and to the end of the earth. So brothers and sisters, we as followers of the Lord Jesus today, are to take the gospel to all nations, to all peoples Jew and Gentile alike. In fact, if you're not sure where to go, just look for p uh, people who are lost look for people who are lost.

9:58Again, that was part of what Jesus was doing, right? He was looking for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So ask yourself, where are the lost people around me? Are they in your workplace? Are they in your neighborhood? Are they in your friend group? Are they maybe even in your home? Brothers and sisters, the reality is there are lost people all over this world aren't there? There are lost people all over this world who have no hope apart from Jesus. So let's take the gospel to them, right? Let's join in Jesus's rescue mission by proclaiming the gospel and making disciples of all nations. That's what we're called to in our mission today.

10:53Well next, looking at verses seven to eight, let's consider Jesus's instructions to the apostles about what ministry they should do. And the first thing Jesus told them was to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, we've heard this phrase before. We've heard this, um, kind of, uh, demarcation for what they were to proclaim. What exactly was that? What was that message? What did it mean to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? Well, it's the message that Jesus is God's appointed king. It's the message that that Jesus came to this earth to usher in God's saving reign through his life and his teachings and his miracles and his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave.

11:43It's the message that all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus will be forgiven and welcomed into God's kingdom. That's the message of the kingdom. And of course, that was a message that the apostles would've been familiar with. After all, when John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, he went around proclaiming, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand for, and then of course, Jesus proclaimed that same message throughout his earthly ministry. So when Jesus told the apostles to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he was basically saying to them, do what I've been doing.

12:25This is how we go after lost sheep. This is how we address their need for salvation. We proclaim the kingdom of heaven and as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we get to proclaim that same message today, don't we? So we get to announce, we get to herald and proclaim that Jesus is God's appointed king. We get to proclaim that, that that Jesus came to this earth to establish God's saving reign through his life, through his miracles, through his teachings, and yes, through his death and resurrection. And we also get to tell people that if they repent of their sins so that they turn from their sins and they trust in Jesus, they'll be forgiven and they too will be welcomed into God's kingdom.

13:17Well, in addition to proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, Jesus also instructed the apostles to heal the sick cleanse lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons. And there was a reason that Jesus told them to do these things. He told them to heal various diseases and afflictions as a means of authenticating and validating their message. In other words, Jesus wanted them to be able to demonstrate that what they proclaimed about the kingdom was in fact true. Think about it this way. Imagine that somebody walks up to you and claims to be a surgeon. How do you know they're legit? Well, you could ask to see their credentials, right?

14:02It has to see all those, those letters at the end of their name that may reveal something. Uh, you could also maybe do a Google search, a little investigation on them and see what kind of training they received. But the best way to know whether or not that person is a surgeon is to actually watch them perform a surgery, to actually see them in action, demonstrate the reality of their claim to be a surgeon. Well, in a similar way, when the apostles proclaimed the message of the kingdom, they were making some big claims, they were saying that God's king and his kingdom have arrived. And so in order to back up their message, Jesus granted his apostles, his authority.

14:50He literally gave them the ability to heal diseases and cleanse lepers and cast out demons. And he did that so that the people of Israel would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what the apostles were saying about the kingdom, it was in fact true. Alright? So we know that Jesus instructed the apostles to heal as a means of authenticating and demonstrating the reality and the truth of their proclamation. But how exactly does that apply to us? Because again, we're not apostles, right? Not only that, as Christians, we haven't collectively been given the gift of healing and casting out demons and doing all these things that they were being called to do.

15:39Well, even though we can't minister in the exact same ways that the Apostles did, there are ways that we can demonstrate the truth of the gospel. There are, for example, we demonstrate the truth of the gospel. By the way, we love one another. As Jesus shared with the disciples a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Another way that we demonstrate that the truth of the gospel is by speaking respectfully and graciously with unbelievers.

16:26That's why Paul encouraged the Colossians to walk in wisdom toward outsiders and let their speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. We can also demonstrate the truth of the gospel by living lives of integrity and holiness. That's why Peter encouraged believers to keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. And then of course, we can also demonstrate the truth of the gospel by engaging in good works as Jesus instructed in the Sermon on the Mount, let your light shine before others so they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.

17:17Again, brothers and sisters, there are a lot of ways that we today can demonstrate the truth of the gospel. There are a lot of ways that we can practically and tangibly help people to see that Jesus is real and Jesus transforms lives. So let's, let's get after that. Let's do that. Let's not only proclaim the gospel with our lips, but let's adorn it with our lives. That's what we're called to do as we join in Jesus's mission. Well, before we look at our next point, there's one other thing that Jesus mentioned in verse eight that's worth noting. After Jesus told the apostles what ministry he wanted them to do, he said, you received without paying give without pay.

18:07In other words, Jesus didn't want the apostles to charge people for their ministry. He didn't want their kingdom proclamation and their works of healing to be conditional upon some sort of payment. To do so would confuse the people and make them think that salvation's only for the rich or that it's something that has to be earned. Instead, Jesus wanted them to minister freely as they had freely received the kingdom and its blessings. And I would say what was true of the apostles in that time, in a sense, is true for us today. As Christians, we've received the greatest blessing of all, haven't we?

18:51We get to know God. We get to have a relationship with God, the maker and creator and savior of the world, and we get to enjoy his presence forever. That's not something that we earned. It's not something that we merited. It's not something that we deserve. That was a gift that was by God's grace. And so in the same way that we have freely received the kingdom, we are to freely share it and extend it to others.

19:27All right, well, so far we've looked at Jesus' instructions to the apostles about where they should go and what ministry they should do next, let's look at verses nine to 10 and consider Jesus's instructions to the apostles about what provisions they should take to begin with. Jesus told the apostles not to acquire gold or silver or copper for their belts. And it wasn't that they weren't allowed to take any money. They were, they just weren't supposed to obtain more along the way. Additionally, Jesus told the apostles not to take a traveler's bag. That meant they weren't supposed to take, uh, personal belongings and supplies.

20:12That probably also meant they weren't even supposed to take food. And then finally, Jesus told the apostles not to take two tunics or sandals or a staff for their journey. And there are a couple of ways to read those instructions. Uh, but based on the parallel passages and Mark and Luke, the emphasis seems to be on not taking extra items. So rather than taking a change of clothes or an extra pair of sandals, the apostles were to travel with what they were wearing. They were to travel with what they already had on their person in that moment. But again, this, this begs the question, why did Jesus give these instructions?

20:54Why did he make prohibitions against acquiring money or taking extra supplies? It could be that their mission was so urgent that he just wanted them to get going and kind of figure out those details later. That's a possibility. It's also possible that this was going to be a relatively quick journey, and he didn't want them wasting time on kind of procuring all these extra things. He just wanted them to go. He was gonna be a quick turnaround. But I think it's more likely that there was another reason Jesus gave them those instructions. And it has to do with Jesus's statement at the end of verse 10, where he said, the laborer deserves his food.

21:37And that language of labor should be very familiar to us. It should almost be kind of ringing in our ears. It's the same word that Jesus used in chapter nine when he said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. So again, what was Jesus getting at? What was he saying here? Well, he was saying that the apostles were laborers that God had sent out. They were laborers that God called to gather his harvest. And when God sends out his laborers, he makes sure that they get the reward and the blessing they deserve.

22:20He makes sure they're provided for and their needs are met. In fact, as we look at verses 11 and following, we see how God was going to do that. He did that through the hospitality of others. Now, at first glance, this seems to kind of contradict what we just talked about in terms of ministering freely, but I assure you there's no contradiction here. None whatsoever. In verse eight, Jesus was instructing the apostles not to do fee for service ministry. He was instructing them not to require payment for services rendered. But that didn't mean they were forbidden from receiving any sort of provision.

23:03It didn't mean they were prohibited from accepting housing or personal items or even money from those who generously gave. In fact, we see this principle that God provides for his laborers through his people throughout the rest of scripture. One key place where we see that is in the book of one Timothy. Listen to what Paul tells Timothy. He says, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching for the scripture says, now he's quoting the Old Testament, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the laborer deserves his wages.

23:49So coming back to our original question, why did Jesus make these prohibitions against acquiring money and getting extra supplies? Well, because he wanted the apostles to depend on God for their provision, right? He wanted them to rely on God for their housing and their food and their shelter. He wanted them to, to trust and have faith that God will meet their needs. That's what he was wanting. So again, as we consider these verses, we have to ask the question, how does this apply to us as we seek to join in Jesus's mission? How do these particular verses apply? Should we stop carrying backpacks and live solely off of other people's hospitality?

24:40I don't think so. Uh, if that's what Jesus wanted, he wouldn't have given the apostles completely different instructions later in his ministry. If you look later at Luke 22, you'll see that he told the apostles when they went out on that vision that they should take a money bag and they should take a nap sack. Not only that, if that's what Jesus wanted for us, he would've made that clear to us through some sort of teaching or command, either from himself or the apostles after he'd ascended. Again, these instructions about what to take here in verses nine to 10 were given for a specific mission at a specific point in redemptive history.

25:23But I do think there's still some application here for us. And what's that application? Well, just like the apostles we're called to trust in God, aren't we? We're called to rely on God, to provide for us as we follow him in mission, right? We're called to, to put our faith and our trust in the reality that he's big enough and great enough and sovereign enough and good enough that he will meet our needs. And brothers and sisters, we have every reason to believe that in light of scripture, our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Our God is, is rich in mercy and grace, our God scripture says it's able to do more than we could ask or imagine.

26:11So take heart, brothers and sisters. God will give you what you need to follow him on his mission. Second Corinthians nine says, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things and in all times, you may abound in every good work God will provide for you. That's his promise. Let's trust him. Let's rely and depend on our great God to do the very thing He promises to do.

26:49Well, finally, let's turn our attention to verses 11 to 15 and consider Jesus's instructions to the apostles about how to secure lodging and respond to rejection. And according to these verses, Jesus didn't want the apostles to go house hunting. So he didn't want them to look for the nicest house on the street or the wealthiest family in the neighborhood. Nor did he want them to kind of bounce from house to house seeking better accommodations, one after another. Instead, as verse 11 says, the apostles were to find those who were worthy and stand their home until they were ready to travel to the next town.

27:31Now, it's really important to understand that a worthy person in this passage is not someone who's deserving of salvation. After all, the only thing that any of us deserve for our rebellion and our sin against God is his punishment, his justice, his judgment. That's the only thing we deserve in this life. No, the worthy person here was a receptive person, a person who was welcome to both the apostles and their message. In fact, we see a similar use of the word worthy later in Matthew 22, in the parable of the wedding feast. In that parable, a king who most likely represents God, sent out all sorts of invitations to a town, and he invited them to come to his son's wedding feast, which represents in all likelihood, the kingdom of God.

28:28But sadly, many of those who invited rejected the offer. So they refused to attend that feast in response. This really saddened and angered the king. And so he said at one point, the wedding feast is ready. But those who invited were not worthy. Them being not worthy, it had nothing to do with their morality. It had nothing to do with their character. The reason they were deemed not worthy of the wedding feast and ultimately of the kingdom is because they didn't want it. They rejected the offer. They rejected the invitation. So again, here in our passage, a worthy person is actually somebody who responded positively, a person who was receptive to both the apostles and their message.

29:20While in verses 12 to 13, Jesus gave the apostles a specific method to use during this missionary journey to discern who those worthy people were. So it gives 'em a very, uh, specific method. Essentially. Here's what happened. They were to go house to house and offer the person who stayed there a greeting. And the kind of common greeting during that time among the people of Israel was shalom, which means peace. So in their greeting, they would offer peace to that house. If that house was worthy, meaning the owner, uh, received them, took care of them, uh, gave them food and shelter and welcomed their message, then their peace was to stay upon that home.

30:12But if the owners refused them in their message, then they were to allow that peace to come back to them and then go on to the next house. So does this mean that we should go house to house and offer a greeting of peace and only stay at certain people's homes like the apostles did? Well, no, because we're not apostles and we're not on their missionary journey. We're not called to follow this specific method for lodging. And yet these verses do provide a helpful reminder for us, like the apostles. When we tell people about Jesus, we're offering something. We're actually offering the same thing.

30:52We're offering the gift of salvation. And the reality is, when we make that offer, it's absolutely outside of our control how they're going to respond. Some people are gonna receive it, right? Some people are going to accept that gift, but others are going to reject it. Others are going to actually hand it back to us because they don't want it. So what's our job? Our job is to go, our job is to share our j Our job is to extend that offer, to make that invitation and faithfully proclaim the gospel.

31:35Well, given this reality that the apostles would face rejection, Jesus concluded them concluded by giving them instructions on how to respond. He said, if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that town, truly, I say to you, it'll be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gamora than for that town. Now, in these days, uh, the Jewish people often held to a belief that the lands of the Gentiles were somehow impure and defiled just like the Gentiles themselves. So when they returned home from visiting a gentile country, they would shake off the dust from their feet.

32:22And by doing so, they were symbolically communicating something. They were communicating their separation from the Gentiles and God's judgment on them. And so when Jesus told the apostles to shake off the dust from their feet, he was telling them to treat these unbelieving Jews in the same way that many of them had often treated Gentiles. He was telling them when they shake off the dust from their feet to communicate something, to communicate that these unbelieving Jews were now separated from God and under his judgment.

33:00In fact, according to Jesus, if they continued to reject the kingdom, it would be worse for them. It would be worse for them on the day of judgment than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, that's, that's pretty bad, isn't it? If you remember the story of Sodom de Moore, you remember that God reigned sulfur and fire down on them. That was a extremely severe judgment, extremely. And yet, there's a reason why God's judgment on those unbelieving Jews would be even greater. Unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, those unbelieving Jews weren't just rejecting God's order or moral standard. They were rejecting God's kingdom.

33:51In fact, to be more precise, they were rejecting God's king. That's who they were rejecting. Think about that. Those unbelieving Jews didn't want Jesus to usher in God's saving reign. They didn't want Jesus to go to the cross and die in their place for their sins. They didn't want Jesus to offer them the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life. They didn't want those things because they didn't want Jesus. They rejected him. And you need to know that rejecting Jesus is the worst thing you could ever do. It's the worst thing. In fact, if you're here this morning and you've been rejecting Jesus, I'm gonna be brutally honest with you, if you continue to reject Jesus, you will face God's judgment.

34:46You will. It's, it's not a matter of if it's a, when it's going to happen. In fact, scripture makes it crystal, crystal clear that if you continue to reject Jesus, you will end up in hell. And scripture describes hell. It's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and torment. It's a horrible place. If you reject Jesus, that's where you will go. That's the truth. That's what God says.

35:17But hear me on this. It doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way. The Bible's also crystal clear that if you turn from your sins and you trust in Jesus, then you can be forgiven. You can be welcomed into God's kingdom. You can be saved and rescued. You don't have to remain lost. You can actually participate in the wedding feast. So if there's anyone here today, if there's anyone here today who's in that place, you've been rejecting Jesus, you don't want him in your life, you don't wanna come under his authority, you don't wanna obey his commands, you don't wanna be part of his people.

36:00You don't wanna live for God's glory. I beg you, I, I, I plead with you. Please, today is the day of salvation. You can be saved. So don't leave this place today if that's you, without going to the Lord, without turning from your sins, without placing your faith in Jesus. He alone can save. He alone can rescue. So put your faith in him. And if you'd like to talk more about that, I would be happy to do so after the service. And I know there'll be others up front, uh, with lanyards on. They would be happy to speak with you as well.

36:47Well, brothers and sisters, as we wrap up this morning, I hope the application from these final verses is clear, even though we no longer shake the dust off from our sandals or leave a town after we've witnessed there once, we are to warn people about the consequences of rejecting Jesus. And we are, after all, rejecting Jesus is the worst thing you could ever do. So let's love people enough. Let's love people enough to be honest with them about that, and then let's pray for them. Let's persevere and praying for them. It may just be that God uses your warning about them rejecting Jesus to turn them from rejecting Him, to accepting Him.

37:39May it be, let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that you've called us to join in your mission. We want nothing more than to exalt the name of King Jesus and make him known. So cause us Father to be faithful to go where you call us to go and do what you call us to do. Give us everything we need to advance your kingdom from our neighborhoods to the nations. Oh, father, please do this for your glory and for our joy. Father, we love you. We praise you, and we pray all these things in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

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