Sermon “More Than Sparrows”  based on Matthew 10:24-33

 

At our bible study on Thursday morning we were talking about the teachers that had the most influence on us.  There were the teachers that just went through the motions, who were not very memorable.  But the ones that stuck for all of us tended to be those individuals that were not only passionate about their teaching, but also passionate that their students got the message.

 

The best teachers we surmised were interested in us, or challenged us to step up and they brought out the best in us.  I remember my English teacher, Mr. Corso.  He had a way of having fun with the guys, he was a coach, and he made reading literature fun.  I got so motivated I started reading stuff like Dante’s “Inferno” and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”.  I think I did it a little bit just to impress him.  In fact I almost went on to be an English teacher because of him.  If you know I love words and where they came from etc..and I owe a lot of that to his classes.

 

In our passage for today, Jesus has now moved from doing and teaching about the kingdom of God that he sought to bring, to passing on the torch to his disciples. In the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7, he gives the ethical teachings and interprets the Old Testament so they can see how it is applicable today.  Much like we interpret the bible for life in the 21^st century.

 

Then in chapters 8-9, Jesus does many miraculous healings including: raising someone from the dead, he casts out many who are demon possessed, and even calms a furious storm.  Then at an important junction in 10:1 he calls the twelve disciples and gives them the authority to do the same things as he was doing. 

 

The disciples must have been like “Whoa! It was great to see you doing these things and now you want us to do them?”   

 

It is sort of like when you are hearing a good talk or sales pitch and then it gets around to, now I am going to have to do something about this.  It makes us feel uncomfortable because it challenges our status quo and comfort zone. 

 

In verse 24 Jesus reminds his disciples, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” 

 

In those days teaching wasn’t so much for head knowledge but life transformation.  The teacher knew if they are doing their job, if their students began to look more like them.  That is where we get this term Christ-like maturity.  If we are students of Jesus it is not enough for us to just know about him, to become like him.

 

 

 

 

I remember in my own life that there was a big leap from knowing Jesus and being in a relationship with him, to actually living my life with Him as my Lord. I was trying to have it both ways.  I had one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom.  A friend of mine who I met in the life insurance business introduced me to a church that took the call to discipleship seriously. 

 

I got involved in the singles group and a small group, which supported and encouraged me to become more Christ-like.  At one point I still remember my friend saying, “It is like you have two feet in two different canoes.  At some point the river is going to part and you are going to have to choose which one you want to get into, or it is going to get painful.”

 

And then interestingly the passage moves to where Jesus starts letting the disciples know that following him would not be easy.  In fact this teaching is set in the context of the sending of disciples to the lost sheep of Israel.  Jesus realizes that there will be opposition to the message they bring, especially among the Jews, who were so bound to tradition that they were actually the most hostile to Jesus. 

 

And we do know now that it did get very tough for these first disciples. Foxe's Book of Martyrs reports that, of the eleven remaining apostles (Judas Iscariot having killed himself), only one- John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the younger brother of James and the writer of the Book of Revelation- died of natural causes in exile. The other ten were reportedly martyred by various means including beheading, by sword and spear and, in the case of Peter, crucifixion upside down following the execution of his wife.

 

How’s that for a cheery Sunday morning message.  I was remarking in my bible study that we/I tend to preach a lot of comforting messages.  We look to make people feel good and remind them of how much God loves them.  Don’t get me wrong this is certainly a message that we all need to hear, especially those who are new or seeking the faith.  But we also need to be challenged, especially as we mature in our faith.  You can see here Matthew doesn’t pull any punches.

 

In the recent Reveal Study that we did with our church and also as part of a national study of 5,000 churches and 150,000 they tried to figure out how to people move from being seekers to totally Christ Centered.  Out of all the data they found two factors that are most important in catalyzing growth.

 

First, people need to become self feeders and learn how to read the bible for themselves.  And secondly people need to be challenged to grow in their spiritual journey.  Jesus knew that if he were ever going to leave behind a group of guys that would carry on his mission, he would have to challenge them.

 

To be honest if we are going to grow this Northwood campus, I am going to have to challenge you a bit more to step up. 

 

The great thing is that as we are challenged to step out and step up in our faith we grow.  Just like muscles need to be torn in order to be built up.  Our faith muscles need to be stretched and worked out. 

 

As Jesus challenges these disciples he also reminds them of how much they are worth in the Father’s eyes.  Sparrows were common in Jesus’ day and sold cheaply.  Two for a penny and five for two pennies, what a bargain!  And yet it says that not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the Father’s will.  He concludes, “Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than sparrows.”  Matthew 10:31

 

He even says that God knows the very number of hairs on our heads! Now we know God is good at subtraction for many of us!  But the point is God will be there to protect us as we step out in faith!  With each step of faith we make in any area of our life, God meets us in that act and our relationship grows as we see that we can trust him.   

 

Some times as we begin to trust Him in little areas of our lives and we Him working in those areas, when big decisions come we know that He is faithful and can be trusted. 

 

Nowhere is this trust more needed than we step out to acknowledge Jesus before others.  This is so important to Jesus in fact that he says, “Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” 

 

I found that it is sometimes easy to talk about God in our society but not as easy to talk about Jesus.  There is just something about saying His name that gives one a little hesitation. 

 

I always found it interesting that often athletes or other performers when they win something big will say, “I want to thank or acknowledge my savior Jesus Christ”.  A little while ago people who wear the WWJD bracelets, as a way of acknowledging that they were trying to do what Jesus did.  Often times wearing a cross can be a public acknowledgment of Jesus. 

 

As we acknowledge Jesus publicly it is even more important to “walk the talk”.  In fact there is a DC Talk song that says, “The greatest cause of atheism is someone who acknowledges Jesus with their lips, but denies him by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable.” 

 

When I first became a Christian as a freshman in high school, I wrote a long letter to one of my friends who I didn’t think was a Christian.  In my zeal I warned him of what would happen if he did not become a Christian.  I was honestly trying to lead him to Christ, looking back now I might question my method. 

 

Well his brother, who was a senior, got the letter and showed to his friends who were on the wrestling team.  One day in school when I was walking by they all made fun of me saying, “Hey preacher Anderson can you preach us another sermon.” 

 

I was mortified.  I got my first taste of going public with my faith.  Later I learned that this brother became a Christian, so maybe it was a seed.

 

Where are you at in your Christian faith? Or maybe you are still seeking?  Just as Jesus invite his disciples to learn from him by doing what he did, he invites us to learn by trusting in Him with our lives?

 

Maybe there is a decision you need to make and you want to follow God’s leading.  Maybe there a relationship you need to take the first step to reconcile.  Maybe there is a friend you need to share a spiritual conversation with.  The greatest teacher of all time has given you a challenging task to become like him.  As you follow him remember you are worth more than sparrows! 

 

Amen.