When we come to church, deep down we want to lock out the world with its crime and wars and suffering. I know that I do. I’ve had difficulty with our passage today. Jesus tells his disciples they cannot be immune from these things; but he does show them a way through. He sends them out into the troubled world, because his has given them a message of hope for the world. The kingdom of heaven that Jesus came to inaugurate was distinctly different from the kingdoms that the world is used to. The Jews of Jesus’ day looked back longingly to the kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon. Then their nation had been a power to be reckoned with.

Since those days, they had experienced other nations and kingdoms dominating their land. King Nebuchadnezzar had stamped his authority on Jerusalem, and ruled them as part of the Babylonian kingdom. Following on from that they had been ruled in turn by the Persians, and Greeks and were now ruled by Rome. The great hope for many of the people was that the Messiah would once again make them a sovereign state.

They perceived the Messiah as a ruler as King David had been. Even John the Baptist had spoken of the Messiah as a ruler and judge. But Jesus had not come to rule in that way, his kingdom was not of this world. His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven was not something to be enforced upon people. He had a right to rule, but he had come to bring a kingdom of freedom and love. He had not come to dominate like the Romans, or any other conquering nation by the use of force.

The kingdom of heaven was not going to be imposed by an invading army; rather it would come about by the simple telling and living out of the gospel message. Jesus told his followers to tell people that ‘the kingdom of heaven is near.’ They were not to go equipped to fight. In fact they might well become victims of violence, but their general response in that event was to be to run away, to flee.

Jesus simply told his disciples to continue to do what he had been doing. They were to go out and preach just as he had done. Although we live in a different age to those first disciples, the principles that Jesus taught to them, the preparation and teaching he gave to them are still valid for us today, because we are still engaged in the work of preaching the kingdom of heaven.

The Christian church has not always heeded Jesus instruction. There have been times when Christians have tried to advance the kingdom of heaven through violence or coercion. But when that has happened, in reality the gospel has been hindered. Christ calls his church, and he calls each one of us to convey the message that the kingdom of heaven is near. The gospel is available for people to reach out and receive it. Let’s look then at the kingdom principles that are taught here in Matthew 10.

The first principle is that Jesus gives his followers his authority. He gave the disciples the same authority that he had both to heal and to cast out evil spirits. In some ways that was a special gift. It was given just to the twelve apostles on this occasion. Through these powers, the disciples were able to show that Jesus is sovereign over the powers of evil, sickness and death. Through these powers, the evidence was obvious to all that the kingdom of heaven was near. God is still able to give these gifts when in his wisdom he deems appropriate.

This was particularly appropriate among the Jewish people. As Paul wrote later, Jews seek signs. Their Old Testament scriptures contained prophesies that such signs would be evidence of the coming of the Messiah. It was appropriate that the Messiah and his ambassadors should display these promised signs.

There would be other ways too, in which the disciples would receive Christ’s authority. In his instructions here, Jesus was not just telling the disciples what they needed to know for their immediate task. He was also preparing them for the time when he would be leaving them, when they would be taking the gospel into the entire world. Some would face arrest and trial. Jesus tells them when that occurs, then the Holy Spirit will enable them to know what to say.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit would be given to all believers. By giving the Holy Spirit to you and me, God has given us Christ’s authority. There is another sense in which Christ gives his authority to his followers. He tells them that when they go in obedience to share the gospel, then they go as his representative, if a person, or community receives them, then in receiving them they are receiving Christ. When we go in Christ’s name, then we are Christ’s presence. We have Christ’s authority. Christ gives us his authority.

Secondly, Jesus gives his disciples a specific focus for the mission. He tells them not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans. They are to go to the people of Israel. Sometimes we can be too vague and general about what God is asking us to do. We need to be more focussed. You find as you read the bible that the early Christians always had specific guidance as to their task. As Jesus left the disciples to ascend to heaven, he told them that first they were to wait in Jerusalem and when the Spirit came on them they were to witness there. Then you find the Spirit guiding individuals to the people and places where the gospel must go. Although God may guide us as individuals to go to many other places, for us as a church our focus must be primarily on Southend.

You find Jesus telling the disciples as he sends them out in Matthew 10 that in each town they must first find a ‘worth person’, and use their home as a base for their operations. You find Paul on his missionary journeys in each new town he came to looked for the Jewish synagogue in order to find devout worshippers who may well be open to the gospel. Yes the gospel is for everyone, but the reality is that we spread it more effectively if we are focussed.

Most of us, unlike the apostles are not called to travel around as itinerant preachers. Most of us are called to be Christ’s presence in our daily place of work, or in our neighbourhood, or in our family. Maybe with our Sunday school class. Generally today people will take more notice of us if we are people whom they have come to respect and trust. We are called to focus on being faithful witnesses where we are. But we need to be focussed.

Thirdly, Jesus teaches the principle that the gospel is free. ‘Freely you have received, freely give.’ We live in a world where money dominates people’s thinking. If we get enough money, we will be able to buy anything we want. The gospel challenges our materialism and worship of money. Jesus came to bring a gospel of grace. Forgiveness is free. God’s love to us is free. Those who have freely received the benefits of the gospel must also pass them on freely. While the world may be the place where money is the thing that matters most, in the kingdom of heaven it is not money but love that counts.
Yes, we all have to pay our bills; yes, the worker is worthy of his hire, but our priority is love, love for God and our neighbour. Salvation is free.

Fourthly the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom that is based on faith, faith in God. Jesus tells his disciples not to worry or fear, but to put their trust in God. He sends them out on their mission with only minimal provision. They had no funds to support themselves. That was a different age from ours; their customs of hospitality were different to what we are used to. But God still calls his church today to be people who live by faith. He calls us as believers to invest our time and our money in the work of the kingdom of heaven.

He also calls us to trust his care and protection. We live in a society that tries to eliminate risk from our lives. Jesus called his disciples to risk hatred and persecution for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He knew that was what he faced, he knew that many of his followers would face it too.

The preaching of the gospel always has a tendency to cause division and persecution. The gospel is a call for people to repent, that involves people acknowledging their shortcomings and failures. Human pride makes that a difficult exercise, some people refuse to face up to the truth, they would rather destroy the person who brings the truth to them, than acknowledge their guilt. Jesus calls us to have faith.

Fifthly, Jesus calls his disciples to give him their loyalty, no matter what the cost.
Jesus warns that the preaching of the kingdom will be bound to provoke a hostile response from some. It will even cause division within families, between parents and children, between husband and wife. Jesus knows that there will be occasions when his followers will lose their lives on account of the gospel.

He knows that there will be the temptation for some to let fear take over; there will be the temptation to deny the gospel. In such situations, Jesus reminds them that people of faith look beyond the pain and death that tyrants can inflict. We should be thankful that we do not face the threat of persecution, but in some parts of the world our fellow Christians do today.

But Jesus does call each one of us to put him first. To put him before father, mother, son or daughter. It’s only as we put him first that we can offer the values of the kingdom of heaven to those who humanly are our nearest and dearest. You see Jesus came to enable us to see this life in the context of eternity.

Putting all our trust and hope into our earthly life which will inevitably be taken from us is very foolish, rather Jesus calls us to be willing to lose our life for his sake, in order that we might truly find life in abundance. Our passage this morning has not been a comfortable of easy one. But Jesus challenges us today to look beyond our immediate concerns and see life in the context of eternity. May we all have the wisdom and the faith to reach out and receive of that life of the kingdom of heaven that has come near to us through the preaching of the gospel.
 

Amen.

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