Be Courageous
Matthew 10:24 -31
Dear ones welcome back into the fellowship with me in this hallowed place. The Pandemic has kept us apart for what seems like a longer time than it has been. But it is interesting on this Sunday as we come back together into worship for the first time in over three months, as we congregate, as we come back into the church buildings to worship our Father, that we continue to hear the words of Jesus through the Apostle Matthew, that Christians are a “sent” people, sent away from the church to do the continuing work started by Jesus Christ while he was on the.
Two weeks ago Jesus was telling the Disciples that all of God’s authority had been given to him. God had used that authority to send Jesus into the world to transform humanity and now Jesus is using that same authority to send the believers out into the world to continue the transformation of mankind.
“Therefore Go” Jesus says to his Disciples, both big D and little d. The big “D” Disciples that walked and talked with Jesus and the little “d” disciples, we the students, those learning from Jesus’ teaching and examples, Therefore Go into the world and make disciples, learners, of the whole world was the message..
Then last week Matthew told us that Jesus had spent His ministry doing for the lost and broken by teaching, proclaiming and healing these souls while the disciples watched and hopefully learned. Jesus knew that his time was short and it was time for the Disciples to transition into workers, Harvest workers in fact, rather than just being watchers.
They were Called to the Harvest to gather in the lost souls just as Jesus had taught them. Dear ones, as much as we appreciate being back within the walls of our churches today, Christians are sent and working people.
In our lesson this week once again Jesus is preparing the Disciples for what they will face as they go into the Harvest fields on their own. Three times in our lesson today, Jesus issues the repeated command; don’t be afraid of those who oppose your work.
Be Courageous he tells them in the face of opposition and trials. Do not fear the opposition of those that might not embrace the Gospel Truth found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. In our lesson today Jesus He gives us three reasons why we should Be Courageous.
First Jesus tells those first Disciples, and us the present day disciples, that we must be fearless followers. He was telling us to Be Courageous, by reminding us that there is Truth to be found in the telling of the Gospel. He says in our lesson “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
Jesus knew the opposition to his ministry by the Jewish leaders would ultimately be revealed as false. He knows that the truth will eventually come out when He completes His mission on the Cross. And it eventually did although some in their spiritual stubbornness, to borrow a movie line “can’t handle the Truth”.
Jesus tells us “what I tell you in the dark places, in the hidden rooms, you will speak in the daylight with all the light of day for all to see”. He says “what is whispered in your ear you now can proclaim from the roof tops for all to hear”.
This is a foreshadowing of Peter coming out on the flat roof of the Upper Room at Pentecost to proclaim the Truth that is found in the Good News of Jesus Christ’s coming, dying, resurrecting and ascending back to Heaven as Lord and Savior of all people!
This is a command for us as well, to be ready as the Spirit moves us to proclaim the Good News from the “rooftops”, out in the open for all to hear. We are commanded to speak forth with boldness and confidence what cannot be covered up or hidden by those that oppose and deny the Truth.
The second reason why we should Be Courageous is because ultimately as Believers, our eternal destiny is secure. “Do not be afraid”, he says, “of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” We must understand that those out there that are under the control of the Great Deceiver are going to ridicule and try to silence the truth. But in the context of Eternity, that is the worse that they can do to us.
Man is able to do what God is able to do that is, kill the body. But God is able to do what man cannot do which is, to destroy both body and soul in the place of eternal judgment. Only God has the power and authority to cast a soul into the Eternal Fire. As great as human authority may be to influence mankind, God’s authority is always infinitely greater. We are to Be Courageous, do not fear man, but respect God instead.
The third reason Jesus gives us that we should Be Courageous is the active and constant protection that he maintains over all His creations.
For those of you that have been coming to Bible Study know that there has been a constant theme running for most of the past three months and the theme is Baltimore Orioles. No not the baseball Orioles because there is no baseball being played but the backyard Orioles.
For several weeks we have had regular conversations among the attendees about who has Orioles in their backyard, what they like to eat and whose Orioles have left. There has been quite a bit of attention paid to the lives of these little creations of God. We too have birds that come to our yard but we have not been blessed with Orioles. We put food out for them but we don’t watch over every appearance and meals of every bird. But Matthew tells us today that God does!
Jesus asks the Disciples “are not two sparrows sold for a penny for food and sacrifice purposes? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s knowledge and will.”
What an amazing thought! That the Creator of the Universe, the Father that is from Eternity past to Eternity future, is with us in every moment and cares for even the smallest creatures. What a picture of the sovereign care of the Father this is!
And yet, the point is that if He cares that much about the birds; how much more does He care about what happens to you and me? We are much more valuable and precious to Him then they are.
Then Jesus gives us a metaphor that is one of John Wesley’s favorites. Jesus says, “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered“. Some of us may watch our hair pretty carefully; and we may be concerned about how much hair remains on our head in general. But we certainly don’t have figures on how many hairs there are although mine are getting increasingly easier to count! But Jesus promises us that our Father does!
Not only does He know the number of hairs but the verb that is used in the original transcript is a present tense verb meaning that God knows the number in real time! You can reach up and pull out a hair and realize that you just made something happen in Heaven, the count of your hair has just been updated. That’s how closely and continuously the Father watches over you and me.
Friends, there is nothing that can happen to you that will ever be outside of His constant care and protection for you. You are unspeakably precious to Him; and He will never allow anything to befall you that He doesn’t have previous knowledge and awareness of and is within His will for you. Be Courageous because God is constantly watching over you, is aware and in control, He knows about it and will protect you.
Now back to the original truth of being “sent” people. Have you ever had a time when you felt the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit to tell someone about Jesus’ love and how it has changed your life ……. but you let the opportunity slide by because you were afraid to say something? Why were you afraid?
Maybe it was because you didn’t want to give a theologically incorrect message? Maybe you didn’t know what to say? Maybe you were afraid that you wouldn’t say the right thing? Maybe you were afraid that what you might say could be offensive to them? I get all of those reasons ……. because I have used them all.
Since I have been at the Chatham Charge I have mentioned probably 8 – 10 times that each of us needs to remember and to witness to our “Altar Moment”, the time that we realized that we needed something more in our lives than what we had been living and we chose to accept Jesus Christ into our life. That point in time when we chose to follow him because He has loved us like no one else ever has.
It was a spiritual revelation that changed our outlook on the past, the present and the future because of what he had done for us. It was the redemptive and transformative moment in our life. Friends that is all we need to say to those that God brings to us in the Harvest field.
This is what Jesus is talking about when he tells the Disciples to Be Courageous; simply tell your story, your testimony. No matter how elaborate that it may or may not be it is your redemptive story and may be exactly what they need to hear to confirm what they are feeling. We can be sure that the same Holy Spirit, who prompts us to tell them, will also empower us to tell them in the right way and will lay your words on their heart just as they need them to be.
Hear the Good News my Friends……………..
Our Old Testament lesson in Joshua 1 today gave us great encouragement, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Dear Ones it is our privilege, not a burden, to be asked to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people that God brings to us. Despite the fact that we will have those that will oppose us in our mission, we have nothing to fear, God will give us everything that we need. All we need to do is Be Courageous!
The first step to Be Courageous is to remember who you are in Jesus Christ. To remember that in Christ you are strong, victorious, accepted, justified, redeemed, saved, and completely forgiven. You are to be seated with Jesus Christ in Eternity. You are justified, you are righteous.
There is an old saying that “Courage is fear that has said its’ prayers”. Dear ones this message is not about adding courage, you already have it you just need to use it. You received all the spiritual courage that you will ever need when you prayed to Jesus to come into your life and become your Lord and Savior.
As you are sent into the world, into the harvest fields, always remember that in Christ you have a story to tell, your story of how your life has been changed by Jesus Christ being a part of it. Dear ones tell your story to those that need to have their own story of redemption and renewal written into Eternity. You are sent into the world so Be Courageous in it. Amen.