Author: missionspaul

Believing in anything disrupts nothing. But the moment you become serious about what you believe and start to follow the demands of those beliefs then that is when others become affected. The time you give, the finances you spend, your behaviours that change disrupt the status quo for others. Here are some of the most difficult verses to read and understand but a true experience for many today.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10 v 34-37)

Remember this verse: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5 v 9)? Five chapters later Jesus tells his mission-sent disciples that he didn’t come to bring peace. We are going to read eventually Matthew 26:52 when Jesus says: “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Yet here in our verses today Jesus says, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus is actually quoting from the prophet Micah, 7:5-6:

“Do not trust a neighbour; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips. For a son dishonours his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.”

The Jewish thought was that prior to the Messiah coming there would be family discord. This would come about by an attack from an outside enemy resulting in the very essence of society, the family, breaking down. Jesus alludes to this thought indicating he was that Messiah.

Jesus is not saying we must hate. However, he is saying that his presence means that the very fabric of society (the family) will fall apart when the Messiah comes. Relatives will be divided because some will break free from sinful family customs.

The sword is never physical but always a metaphor and is wielded in that following Jesus will disrupt others who choose not to, even the most secure of places, the family.

There are tremendous and powerful loyalties within family. However, Jesus commands even a higher price of loyalty to him. Some are paying a high price today in following Jesus.

I admit I had to do a little research for this idiom. You learn something every day!

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries naval ships going into battle would display their coloured flags so that they could be identified. During the battle if the captain lowered the flags it was a sign of submission. The battle would consist then of ships aiming fire at the opponents flags to hit them hoping the ship would then surrender. However, often what happened was the captain would hoist whatever remained of the flags back up the rigging or if the mast was broken a sailor was sent to climb it while still under fire to nail the flag to the top of the broken mast and this became known as ‘nailing the colours to the mast’. It became almost impossible to surrender when in battle because of this determination to keep the flags flying.

These instructions to his mission-sent disciples continue with words which are quite similar to this idiom.

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10 v 32-33)

1. Say what you really think about something openly.

The sin of Eli (1 Samuel 2) still exists. Eli didn’t speak up. When it came to his sons he rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders and lowered his flags.

• Let it be known you cannot be swayed on it.

Proverbs 29: 25 plagues many. The fear of not getting the vote or the applause means flags are lowered because people become more important than principles.

• Be prepared to lose for your beliefs.

In Dido’s love song she sings, “I will go down with this ship; And I won’t put my hands up and surrender”. Better to lose your ship through defeat than lose it through surrendering your flags.

It isn’t enough to simply believe in Jesus. To be a mission-sent disciple is to live within the kingdom which stands in stark contrast to the kingdom of this world.

In the words of the Message, “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?”

You’re on team heaven and whatever happens here happens there for you.

It will be tough and you might need to keep on nailing your colours to the mast during the fiercest of battles but you are doing so because you follow the captain of your ship, Jesus.

The Bible is full of instruction not to, yet it doesn’t seem like a command when we are concerned about something. Fear can seem responsible. It can make us feel like we care about what is going on in the world. But it deceives because fear is not that at all. Fear consumes, it can make a person slow down and it can even make a person ill. Here are more instructions from Jesus to his disciples who are embarking on the mission life.

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 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. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10 v 26-31)

1. Do not be afraid of what you do not know.

Yesterday, in a meeting I was attending a colleague said, “There’s nothing wrong but there’s something not right.” Have you ever thought that? You just can’t put your finger on something.  It may be too good to be true. There was no evidence but there was an atmosphere. We have an idiom we use, ‘I can smell trouble’. This intuitive sixth sense can be a gift. This pandemic has revealed that 86% of people who have Covid-19 lose some or all of their ability to smell. What if you cannot decipher what may happen next? What if you no longer can smell trouble? Don’t be afraid. That is what Jesus tells them. Here’s another idiom: it will all come out in the wash.

• Do not be afraid of the worst that people can do.

Maybe like me today you have something to do that you really don’t want to do. We have to make purposeful decisions not to fear people. We have to decide not to be bullied into silence. The Religious Pharisees and experts of the Law held the ordinary person in a vice of threat. Follow us, do what we say and all will be well for you. Jesus blows them out of the water. Jesus says there is only one to be feared, obeyed and followed directly. God. People have no eternal authority over your life. When we pass from this life we will not be facing that religious bully, we will face God.

• Do not be afraid of God not taking care of your situation.

God knows how much things cost. He knows the market value of things, even insignificant things. Does God know the value of a budgie? YES. Jesus is saying to these missionary disciples that God knows every detail of their life. He has weighed them and has decided they are of great value so He is going to take good care of them. This is our promise also.

Learning, Aligning and Suffering

“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” (Matthew 10 v 24-25)

Today is a day to learn. Let Him direct your paths. Grow. Mature. Be self-aware. Be better.

Today is a day to align. Copy Him. Think and speak like Him. Walk with Him. Be Him.

Today is a day to suffer. People will slander you. You will be misunderstood and maligned.

This is discipleship. Our daily routine.

What happens when the pressure to conform becomes personal? Opposition from officials within one’s own nation is one thing but how do you cope when your family oppose your belief and message? Jesus says the decision is to become resilient whatever happens.

In the second half of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples prior to their short-term mission’s trip he has taken them beyond the here and now to what they will experience in years to come.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10 v 21-23)

This shocks us every time we read it but for many in the persecuted world it is their daily experience.

Jesus tells the Twelve that opposition will not only come from their own people and the Gentile authorities but mission-disciples will find that persecution will come from within their own family.

You might not be able to comprehend that happening in your beautiful family.

But it is happening right now around the world.

When you stand for what the Bible says is the standard for living it will provoke those who do not want to live to that standard.

Betrayal, rebellion and hate have broken many hearts of siblings, parents and children.

Maybe relationships in your own family have died today because you hold to positions of identity and sanctity that have become offensive to our world.

This becomes the test of all tests when the family are involved. Will you water down your beliefs? Compromise? Do you risk losing that family member as they threaten to walk away from you because you make their lifestyle uncomfortable?

This is the time for resilience and if you choose it then Jesus promises that God will step in and help you through the ordeal.

Jesus closes this part of his instruction by bringing them back to Israel. That’s where they started, going to the lost sheep of Israel, persecuted in the synagogues, before Gentile kings and then their own families but still going and that is the key. Keep going. Be resilient. Don’t let opposition stop you. Escape from one opposition and find a different place for the gospel. Don’t abandon Israel, your birth-place, this mission is everything, until Jesus comes again.

Jesus knows it will be tough and he is asking for resilience. He still does.

Jail isn’t a nice place to spend a couple of nights away from home. But in this certain place in Africa it was particularly tough for a Church leader this week accused of forgery and fraud. I know him and a few of us were able to help get him released. Someone who had walked with him on his team with an axe to grind had brought false allegations and though it seems crazy to our Western justice system he was locked up.

In this sobering account of the commissioning of the disciples into mission, Jesus is taking them beyond their short trip into the villages near them to the years ahead in order to give them instructions of what to do and how to be when it gets really tough for them. What Jesus says definitely helps anyone today who finds them in a situation like my African friend.

“Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 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, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10 v 17-20)

Are people speaking about you behind your back? Are they chewing you over? Casting doubt on your motives? Are they scrutinising your words? Are they questioning your credibility? Is your name being tarnished? All Pastors know these experiences. It comes with the role. It will happen. But it will also happen to every Christian whether a Church leader or not who is living out their faith in a mission setting to the world around them. Jesus says it can start in familiar places, in the places of worship before people of faith and it can end up even before the highest courts in the land.

If your greatest desire in these situations is to defend yourself then you have missed what Jesus is saying. If you want to be free and who doesn’t after being flogged in public then you haven’t heard the instructions properly. NO.

You have been taken into that situation to be a witness not only to those who are accusing you but to those watching. It is an opportunity to be a different man and woman in that arena. A moment to hold your head up high and know that you are a follower of Jesus and whatever happens you will not abandon your position.

So what are the instructions?

1. Do not worry about what is ahead of you in trying to determine the best defence.
2. Wait and receive wisdom at the time you need it.
3. Speak with assurance that the Holy Spirit of Father God, the highest authority, is the one speaking.

Three instructions that were applicable for my friend this week in the African jail. Three instructions for everyone who may wake knowing they face a day of scrutiny.

“God protect me today, get me through this ordeal, don’t let me fail you, don’t let me back down, turn back, give up, I will have succeeded today if I’ve not denied you.”

Christians who live out the gospel all over the world will pray this prayer and for some they pray it daily. In prison or in hiding, a refugee or spat at in the street, this is their prayer.

Four days ago a friend sent me the headlines of a newspaper in a Pakistan city I have preached in:

“Two Christian women face the death penalty in Pakistan for removing a sticker carrying a verse from the Koran from a Muslim colleague’s locker they were asked to clean.”

Can you imagine their prayer today?

Jesus is commissioning his disciples into a short mission’s trip but half-way through this account the vocabulary changes. It appears that Jesus has the great commission in mind when the Twelve will go so much further than the lost sheep of Israel.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10 v 16)

Sheep, wolves, snakes and doves, what is Jesus saying?

It will be tough.

Jesus tells them they are not going to lost sheep but that they are the sheep who are sent amongst a world of wolves. This is how we know Jesus is thinking longer term when they are reaching the world with the gospel.

The picture is easy to imagine: wolves don’t eat nicely or moderately, they are savage, messy and greedy, they will eat their prey even while it still has breath.

So flee or fight but whatever you do then make sure you know the intention is not to spare you anything.

The Apostle Paul warned the Ephesus Church that ‘wolves’ would come among them (Acts 20:29). He knew that wolves exist not only outside the church but they also deceive with wearing the clothing of the sheep they have just killed to cause more damage from within (Matthew 7:15).

It will be tough.

Jesus changes the language again. So not only are we the sheep but we are also to be the snakes. Throughout the Bible the snake is seen as evil, deceptive and dangerous. In the same breath he says we are also to be like doves and we understand perfectly that image, peace, stillness, beauty and of course the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying we should be like both the snake and the dove.

We need to be wary of what we walk into, don’t be blinkered, be wise. However, be innocent, harmless, otherwise your wariness will turn into cynicism and you will become devious.

We need to walk with purity of intent, peacefully, calmly. However, have your wits about you, be wise, don’t be fooled otherwise you will become naïve.

What amazing truths Jesus taught the Twelve which are still applicable in our day.

What are you facing today?

If you as a Christian do have a difficult time because of your faith in Jesus and perhaps you do get some form of persecution then under that kind of attack remind yourself that there are people in your family of God where leaving is not an option. Maybe you are a Pastor and you cannot see it but you know something is wrong with your Church, hidden wolves have appeared and the sheep are hurting. One day you’ll stand in heaven with those who had to lay their life down for the gospel and they’ll say to you. ‘It was tough down there wasn’t it? It was tough’. And they’ll ask you a question, ‘How was it for you?’

I want to be able to respond and say ‘well, I don’t understand why I didn’t have the same persecution, but like you I never backed down when it got tough’.

After telling the Twelve to stay in whatever house welcomes them until they leave that town, Jesus now tells them what to do if they can find no one to welcome them.

The Jews on returning home from Gentile territory would before they entered the borders of their Holy Land would shake the Gentile dust from their feet so as not to contaminate their sacred space.

“Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” (Matthew 10 v 11-15)

Today you may want to move on and yet you believe God wants you to stay and that is right that you be obedient. Jesus is not saying that today wherever you are you must not persevere.

But Jesus has said they must travel light and now must keep going and if they get hurt by not receiving a warm welcome then to do what is culturally the practice at that time and remove the dust. Don’t contaminate your future by the rejection you are now receiving.

However, if you are not being made welcome and you are unable to stay then move on so long as you can move on without taking hurt with you.

So before they go they know that they will experience failure with some people and towns that they take the gospel to. Some places fail and it isn’t anything to do with the minister.

The problem is many move on carrying hurts and bitter memories with them. They never shook the dust off and as a result make a mess for the people they meet ahead of their path.

Some go through life having the same arguments but with different people simply because of the dust on their feet.

This was a unique short term mission’s trip by Jesus sending his disciples to proclaim and do what they had seen him do. This chapter is not a rule book for missionaries but at the heart of what Jesus said are principles for every one of us who try to live as Christians in our world.

“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.” (Matthew 10 v 9-10)

Get going – stop delaying by talking and planning what you are going to do. Jesus doesn’t seem concerned over a lot of details rather he is very keen to get them going.

Stay focused on the mission – no money, no bag, no extra shirt, no extra sandals and no staff. There isn’t much left to be distracted from the mission. This is not about you. Jesus doesn’t seem concerned whether they will have enough resources to share the gospel.

Interact with as many people as possible – depend on others for food and accommodation, don’t be independent. Jesus wants them to make decisions that mean they continually meet people.

This is a unique mission’s trip but there are wonderful truths still for us today.

GO – IMMEDIATELY, actions not words.

FOCUS – NO DISTRACTIONS, there will be provision.

INTERACT – PEOPLE need the Lord!

Jesus is sending his disciples out on a mini-mission.

As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10 v 7-8)

They are to proclaim the famous message stemming from John the Baptist. He began to preach at a time when the Roman kingdom was all over the land. The thought that the prophesied kingdom of David would come again was fading. ‘Will we ever see the kingdom?’ The message was and still is, ‘Yes, it is near.’

But what kind of kingdom is coming? More to the point will they receive it? Matthew tell us as do the other gospel writers that the generation of Jesus missed it.

So a similar but hidden question is now posed throughout his gospel, will the readers of this gospel miss the kingdom again? In 2021 will the kingdom be missed?

They were to heal, raise, cleanse and drive out. They were to do what they had seen Jesus do. How?

When they came to Jesus they had left businesses and lifestyles to do so. They didn’t bring anything that would help them with such supernatural abilities. They didn’t have these abilities to bring but they had received from their Master his authority to do what he did.

They had to discover how to take the presence and power of Jesus into hopeless situations.

We still do.