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Don Filcek; Matthew 10:34-42 Jesus vs My Jesus
This morning we're gonna be wrapping up a section in the gospel of Matthew. I chose to go into Matthew particularly in the month of December because I wanted to focus on Jesus's life and We didn't pre I didn't preach and we didn't hear necessarily about the Christmas story about the nativity scene.
But what we did here is about some of the things that Jesus did because I'm gonna know That by looking at a person's life. You can see some of their purposes some of the things that they value and we see the things that Jesus came to do.
We see the things that he came to do by the way that he acted and. So we looked through the gospel of Matthew and we saw some things like Jesus came to bring mercy. Remember that he healed people. He he cast out demons.
He had compassion on people. It says that he looked out on the crowds and he saw them as sheep without a shepherd as those who were harassed and helpless and in need of Salvation in need of being made whole and being made complete.
Have any of you experienced that in your life before. Have any of you ever felt broken like you couldn't meet your own standards or You weren't reaching your potential and anybody ever been there. Okay, anybody ever felt broken.
Yes a few hands there. And so Jesus came to bring compassion to us and then he came to send out workers into his harvest fields. We saw in the text and. Then this week we see that that one who came to bring mercy and came to bring compassion Equally is gonna tell us something crazy.
He came to bring a sword. Like what? Compassion mercy and a sword like Jesus doesn't often fit into our molds, right? Like he says some things anybody ever read the Gospels and go what? Like really. Have any of you ever wanted to correct Jesus?
Be honest. Okay. He says some pretty extreme things like this in our text this week. Do not think that I've come to bring peace to the earth. I have come to bring. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.
Does anybody besides me think come on Jesus? For real are aren't you overstating your case just a little bit here. No peace. You didn't come to bring. I thought your title was prince of Peace and You're gonna tell us that you didn't you didn't come to bring peace.
Don't think that Jesus came to bring peace. He came to bring a sword. But Jesus challenges us. Just when we think we haven't figured out he throws out something like this and rocks our world. You see Jesus didn't come to keep things status quo.
He didn't come to bring peace in the midst of our brokenness and what I mean by that you kind of like wait a minute. He didn't come to bring peace in our brokenness. I thought that was the point. Well, no, he didn't come to leave us broken and then give us peace on top of that.
Do you see what I'm saying? I mean how many of you know that it's possible like with the whole self-esteem movement and things like that that really it's you're just Okay, he didn't come to give us that kind of peace that says oh you're broken.
You're messed up. You've made a mess of your life and they're there feel good about yourself, too. You get it. That's not the kind of peace that Jesus came to give us as a matter of fact. He didn't really bring peace to the earth if we look at the world the way that is how many of you experience a significant level of peace peace being Shalom where everything is made right and correct and restored to the way it ought to be that Hebrew word is a significant word.
That does not just mean the absence of war the absence of difficulty. But it actually means the restoration of right the way that things ought to be. Do you experience that in your life right now is everything the way it ought to be?
No. So in that sense, he didn't come to bring peace this first time around. He came to cut and slice like a surgeon separating healthy tissue from unhealthy tissue. Kind of gross, huh? He literally came to earth to provide to basically divide people into two groups and our text will highlight those two groups.
Those who choose to follow him and those who love this world more than him two groups. So, let's go under the knife of Scripture and let the Word of God cut to the point in our lives this morning. Let's trust Jesus with what he has to say here and learn from him and try to understand him in deeper ways.
Because the most important thing about any one of us is our relationship to Jesus Christ. The most important thing about us is what we do with Jesus and That is the decision for where the knife falls in our life where the sword falls and where do we land on which side?
The question comes down to who is Jesus and what are we going to do with him and Jesus is gonna shamelessly state That that is reality that we are to love him above all else. So I want you to open your Bibles to Matthew 10 Matthew 10 and we're gonna be looking at verses 34 through 42.
The Bible in the seat back in front of you every seat back should have a Bible in it. That's page 694 in that Bible. And if you don't own a Bible, we want to encourage you to take that Bible with you.
It is a gift from us to you. Want everybody to have a Bible and if you don't own an English Standard Version of the Bible. There's nothing magical about this version. It just happens to be the one that I like to preach from but you can take one even if you don't own that Version go ahead and take that and we've got a box boxes full of those to replace those when they go.
But follow along as I read the very words of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ God himself. This is God's Word to us this morning. Matthew 10 34 through 42. Do not think that I've come to bring peace to the earth.
I've not come to bring peace but a sword where I've come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And. A person's enemies will be those of his own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophets reward and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.
And Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple. Truly I say to you he will by no means lose his reward. Thanks a lot to Dave and the band for leading us in worship.
I really appreciate all the work that you guys put in every week. When encouraging it to get comfortable there's more juice. There's more coffee and doughnuts back there. Feel free to get up at any time during the message if you need to use the restrooms.
They're located back here. You're not going to distract me if you need to get up. But whatever it takes to kind of keep your attention focused on God's Word this morning. That's kind of the point, but I want to start off by a question this morning.
What is your Jesus like? Think about that. And I say that because each one of us has a Jesus. Okay, and how much he lines up with the Word of God is how much we are accurate about who our Jesus is. But I would dare say that if you tend towards being a quiet More passive individual than your Jesus is probably a little bit more quiet.
Impassive. If you tend towards being a boisterous loud person, then your Jesus was is probably more loud and boisterous, right? Do you see what I'm saying? I'm gonna be a way would acknowledge that maybe you flavor Jesus a little bit according to the way that you.
The things that you value the way that you live. Anybody willing to admit that okay? I think all of us have a little bit of bias in the way that we view Jesus. But think about these questions. Is he meek.
Is your Jesus meek. Is he mild. Is he? Compassionate. Is he quiet and soft-spoken. Is he dangerous. Is he radical. Is he extreme. Is he in your face? Jesus states clearly that he came to earth to bring a sword.
How many think that's a pretty radical statement came not don't think that I came to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. Now we know that he doesn't literally mean a sword. It's not like he was born there in that stable and in the manger he pulled out a Sword and said ma look what I came to bring you know not not literal.
He didn't come to bring a literal sword so we got to deal with what does this mean? And I believe with good evidence that the word sword there is a figure of speech meant to be interpreted as as Excuse me as division.
The reason I interpret it that way is if you were to look over in Luke's account now Luke the gospel of Luke actually records The exact same setting exact same speech of Jesus in sending out the twelve.
Remember. That's the context of where we're at. Jesus is sending out his twelve on a local ministry. He's been for the last three weeks. We've been in this text. We've been looking at him commissioning them and sending out his twelve apostles into the region of Galilee to do a ministry and he's got this extended teaching that he's doing for them before they go out and Luke 1251 records this exact same statement that is recorded by Matthew now what Matthew is going to do is he's going to preserve the figure of speech.
What Luke is going to do is interpret that figure of speech for us and tell you I'll tell you what you're supposed to Understand of it. So where Matthew preserves the word sword Luke 20 or Luke 1251 if you're taking notes.
You don't need to turn over there, but you can jot that reference down and look it up later. It says this do you think Jesus's words? Do you think that I've come to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you but rather division.
So what is the sword in this text? Division. I've come to bring some semblance of division. Wow, that's comforting. Okay, great. What is that gonna be you see Jesus came to separate and divide and The reality is the human problem is not something that needs a simple band-aid to fix.
Right. Our problem is not a low self-esteem that you just need to think better about yourself. Or you need to tap some inner power or you need to have positive more positive thinking about yourself. In reality, we need to have real thinking about ourselves.
And when we really think Honestly with a genuine integrity internally, what do we see in our hearts? Rebellion. Darkness. A resistance towards God a reason anybody is that resonating with anybody? Do you see that in your own heart?
I'm not calling you that I'm not standing up here telling you I want you to search your own heart and see if you if it's not true that there is that Rebellion in you that you see it there. And so the problem is deep deep in each human heart and Jesus didn't come to just bring good feelings in the midst of our messes and our trials.
He came to provide a way. This is key. He came to provide a way for us to join him in righteousness through faith. He came to provide a way for us to join his team. He didn't come the first time to bring Shalom to the sin-cursed earth.
He came to make a way for things to be remade correctly. Shalom being that the the destiny of the human race. Shalom being that things will be restored Shalom being the Garden of Eden the way that things were meant to be in perfection without sin without brokenness without pain and suffering and all of those things that we experience in real life and that's where our destiny lies.
You grab that vision. Do you understand that? That's where the future lies for humanity is in a restored earth where Jesus Christ is going to return but he's gonna come back again and That's when this whole peace thing really kind of kicks off is on that second return.
I mean, you know, he came the first time and he's saying I came to bring a sword. He brings a figurative sword the first time. What does he bring the second time? He's literally gonna bring a sword. I mean he's literally gonna divide and conquer the nations and put down the rebellion and Usher in a time of complete peace and bring things to the way that they are meant to be.
How many of you look forward to that day when things are restored to the way that they were meant to be? There's reunions anybody looking forward to a reunion or two in that and that new place. Absolutely.
So Jesus came to bring a sword and this world will experience peace. Really ultimately only at a second coming. The result of Jesus is coming then is division among humanity. This sword divides and many in our current age want to get rid of all distinctions.
Have you ever I mean even that idea of dividing people? Does that sound a little bit? Anti-american. Do you know what I'm saying where we want to remove all distinctions? Don't we isn't that our culture isn't that the real push and the force behind our media behind our culture?
Everything is like everybody's on the same. Everything is equal and everybody's on the same playing field and there are no barriers. There are no walls. I said in a theology class up at corner up at cornerstone at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary up in Grand Rapids.
We had a big discussion going on with my theology professor who spoke in here a couple times Michael Whitmer excellent guy and The conversation was kind of going back and forth about this idea of division and what what kind of walls do you put up in?
The church and are there walls in the church and should there be any not literal walls? Obviously, but distinctions between people even talking about membership and not membership and all those kinds of things, but something came up.
There was a pastor that was taking the course. I'm sitting a couple rows over and he I'm raised his hand and began to I mean it almost kind of sound like boasting. I don't want to judge his motives, but he said at my church.
We've removed all the walls. There are no distinctions at all in my church between people everybody comes on an equal playing field. Everybody is has access to everything in the church. There are no barriers whatsoever.
No distinction everybody completely equal at every level and this might make some of you uncomfortable at first blush. But I ended up disagreeing with him. And we had a long discussion that class kind of went back and forth and the professor kind of guided this discussion and in this direction, but I Think there is such a thing as God-given walls now I agreed with that individual that when it comes to man-made walls of distinction how many think those are valuable to tear down?
Yes, but how many of you would agree with me that there are some God-given walls in? Reality and I think that there is one Primary wall that we need to discuss and one primary wall that talks that is the essential nature of this swords cutting.
Because where the sword cuts is significant you see I think that there's a short wall of distinction in every church. Among all people all down through history and the distinction is simply this there are those that believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and have asked him have acknowledged him as Lord and have asked him to save them and Then there are others who have rejected him.
And that's it. That is the wall of distinction that we're talking about here. That is the separation. That is where the sword cuts. That's it. There are those and how many of you know that that that sword cuts across many many different institutions in our in our culture.
You know what? I'm saying that sword cuts here. There are some in this room. I dare say who are on the fence I've not given their lives over to Jesus Christ and are not there yet. And then there are there those in this room that have.
You see even in the text it gets pretty intense. The division in verse 35 Jesus says the division may run right through households. That's intense. The divisions might run right between father and son.
The sword might cut between daughter and mother daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. Yeah. Yeah. Like okay, Jesus. Tell me something I didn't know. What he's getting at here is there is no familial relationship that could be untouched by this sword.
All all relationships that we experience in this life are Eligible for the cut of the sword when one person is of faith and the other person isn't. Now a person's enemies will be those in there right in their own household.
Jesus says in verse 36 and how many of you think that sounds like a pretty strong statement? Does that seem like a strong statement. Your enemies will be those of your own household. And in 2012, like what does that have does that happen?
Is that real? Well, we'll just consider this for a moment. Reality is that some of you in this very room Have been mocked by your spouse for your faith. Right some of you in this room Have been mocked by your spouse because you are a person of faith and you have put your trust in Jesus Christ and they think.
That is laughable. They think it's pretty funny. Some of you have strained relationships with parents because of your faith. Some of you have strained relationships with grown children because of your faith.
Raise your hand if you can think of a family member who does not share your love for Jesus. Most of us most of us. I know I know I have that as a matter of fact an uncle I used to sit on his lap. He used to come over for Christmas every year.
He'd buy me just exorbitant presents. And he's very wealthy very wealthy individual. I remember one time in high school I worked for him and I would actually go live with him in the summers down in three rivers.
I detassel corn any of you ever detassel corn before detassel corn all the way basically through middle school through high school lived with him. Actually the after my senior year before I went off to college.
I worked helping him remodel a house doing drywall for him we had a great relationship. He has a Business where they rent trucks. We had to run a truck to Sturgis. I talked with him on the way out of I finally just got up the nerve and I said Where are you in regards to Jesus?
He just lashed out at me just anger vehemence. Well, you think I need church. That was his response. You think I need church. Didn't say another word. I mean this was just barely out of three rivers all the way to Sturgis.
Silence all the way there silence all the way back. We've had some conversations since then around the passing of my mother. He had a little bit of a spiritual experience there, but to this day He still is not open to talking about spiritual things anybody if you have that in your family you experience things like that.
This is reality. There is a sword that divides. It's a real sword. We're not a real sword, but I mean it's it's a real division. Gotta be watch it there. What's that? Oh, I get along with my uncle just fine.
Thanks Linda. Clarifying that as a matter of fact, we just saw him over the holidays and had a good time. But there is a mocking and there's a ridicule and there's a marginalization and There's a sidelining because of your faith that can happen in our culture.
Jesus said that this would happen. Does that make sense to all of you what he's talking about here? The sort of division also cuts through communities through families and even through churches. But I want to consider what is exactly the mechanism of the cutting like what is the distinction the division?
So if there's a division between us those who are believers and those who aren't like what does that mean? Is it the arrogance of believers? Is that our self-righteousness? Because how many of you know that can be divisive and I'm not convinced that that's what Jesus is dealing with here.
There is an unhealthy Division that Jesus did not come to bring. He doesn't want us to force division by being jerks to other people. And I fear that so much of that has happened so often the division between Christians and non-christians is our fault.
You agree with that? It's the way we act we promote our self-righteousness and we act like we've got it all together and they're like well My goodness look at them. They think we're snooty arrogant. We can tend to be judgmental legalistic wet blankets and then the world recoils from us.
No, the true division should be only this. This should be what the sword cut looks like this should be what divides us and them and it is simply this that we love Jesus. That we love Jesus and if you're going to have somebody offended at you let it be because you love Jesus.
Not because you tell them they have to dress up to come to church. Not because you tell them that their music is horrible. Not because you tell them that you that Sinners get tattoos or whatever it might be that would be your issue to people.
Do you know what I'm saying? Don't let your preferences be the offense. Let your love for Jesus be the offense. You getting that? Do you know the difference? There is a big difference between offending people by your lifestyle and by the.
By the by the preferences that you have versus letting your love for Jesus. Be the offense. Jesus in verse 37 Doesn't encourage his followers to stop loving father or mother. Look at verse 37 with me for just a second.
He says whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is Not worthy of me. Strong statement. Now Jesus doesn't encourage his followers to stop loving father or mother.
He doesn't say stop loving your kids. He just says love me more than them. You hear what he's saying there? But let's stop there. I Think we have to stop there. Do you hear what Jesus just asked his father followers to do?
Did you just hear that? He said love him more than your mom and dad. Love him more than your kids. Like what? That's what he's calling people to do for real. Like that's radical either this guy was a complete egomaniac.
He's whack like think Jimmy Jones or David Koresh or someone like that or he's God. He's saying he's saying love you love me more than your mom and dad love me more than your kids. Is that radical? Does that seem extreme?
Does that seem crazy? Does that seem boisterous? Does that break the mold a little bit. Love me? Yeah, by the way, just make sure you love me more than everybody or you're not worthy. What? Wow. He's commanding that his followers give him unqualified love and allegiance that's significant above all other relationships hold Jesus Christ.
He says if you don't do that, you're not worthy. A good translation of that into modern English would be you don't have what it takes. If you don't understand who he is. If you understand who he is and you give your allegiance to him unfettered Access to every area of your life in your then then you're getting it.
But if you're if you're holding back and you're saying I love I love things more than I love Jesus. And he says you don't have what it takes. You're not getting this. But wait, there's more. He doesn't just say that we are at a place above replaced him above our relationships.
But we are to place him above our very lives above our lives. Verse 38 is a wonderful call for us to take up our cross and follow him. And it's important to remember in context that Jesus has not yet gone to the cross.
And so his followers might be a little bit confused by this statement. But one thing that they know for sure is they understand what a cross is. They've seen it. They know what it's used for as a matter of fact.
Roman historians refuse to speak of crucifixion and and some someone Roman historians have actually written about their refusal to talk about crucifixion if you literally say things like Crucifixion is so gruesome and so horrible that we don't talk about it in detail and then you get to the gospel writers and what do.
They say they the the Romans led Jesus to the hill and then they crucified him. They don't even go into the detail of what crucifixion looks like have you ever noticed that? Everything that we get we get from history and from documents and different things that eventually kind of leak out.
What crucifixion look like but we don't the gospel doesn't record that very well, right? And they any and they crucified him but here He's talking about a cross and they're getting it because they saw it.
They didn't have that literal sense that he was saying I'm gonna go and die on a cross and you're going to I'm gonna ask you to follow me in that. They would have interpreted this figuratively at the time and yet the full force of death by crucifixion was certainly in their minds as they Were hearing it.
They knew that he was asking them to give it all over to him even following him to death. And I want to note this that Jesus isn't calling his followers to a one-time event. He doesn't say come and die and then you're done.
Just come die with me. That's it. He says come grab a cross and walk with me. Come grab a cross and follow me and the cool thing about that journey is that it's not a journey alone. He's there with you.
Leading you guiding you walking with you carrying his cross come follow me he says. But to prove that this is figurative Jesus goes on in verse 39 to say that whoever finds his life though the word that's translated fine.
There could also be secure. It's actually the exact same Greek word that's used for secure at other places. So whoever secures his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for Jesus's sake will find it.
Does that seem a little bit cryptic to you. But the gist of the statement is that those who cling to this life and love this life too much Will be left out of the life to come. Why. Because they'll be so attentive to the things that are around them here and now.
But they won't pay attention to the life that is to come to give it enough thought to really come to understand him by faith. What he has done for them. Those who cling to this life and I mean, you know that this life can be kind of enamoring I mean dizzying and he can entrap us and ensnare us and there's things about this life that how many of you say there's things about your life that you like.
Things that kind of draw you in and you know. It's it's interesting if you think about what it is that the human heart longs for. Because we would be I think I dare say that many of us think that we would be satisfied with an eternity here like this.
At times you're tempted to think that way, right? No, I see some people saying no awesome good. But but isn't that what I mean think about like all either that the health fields right now and all of that trying to drive towards Immortality trying to yeah immorality immortality same idea.
Um, I Guess there's a little bit of both in there. But um, you know what I'm saying trying to drive towards immortality. Boy, if we could just live a hundred and twenty years if we could live 150 years if we could expand the human life to 200 Years of good years, you know, man.
We could just maybe we can just find the gene that causes death get rid of that one and we'll be alright. Well a perpetual life in sin. With this crud in this mess and the things that we endure and the pain and the suffering that we go through now.
No, no, no. What God has in store for us is so much more than that. We can become satisfied with this life and that pushes aside the best that he has for us. But he says those who forfeit this life for the sake of Christ.
Puts that little proviso in there those who forfeit this life for the sake of Christ either through obedience and ongoing daily surrendering themselves an ongoing life of sacrifice or even Literal martyrdom dying in the cause of Christ will find their life in the end and it will be an eternal life.
Restored and complete without suffering and without sin. I look forward to that. Verse 38 and 39 really show the cut of the sword. There are those who will take up their cross and follow and there are those who won't.
There are those who secure life for themselves now and those who forsake this life for Christ's sake. And now verse 40 through 42 give one side of the cut in clarity. And that is how do we make the cut?
How do we get in? And in the reality of it is if you think about this I mean what we're talking about here should not should not be a Passionless thought in our mind about okay Jesus came to bring a sword and he's gonna divide people and there's gonna be those on this side and those on this side.
We should be moved. We should be moved as we consider that that sword cuts and that slices and and and I I share a story about my uncle. But if I believe that this is true, then my uncle has limited days.
And that what does that do for us when we when we realize where this sword slices and how we're limited in our time, but There's a reality that there's a judgment coming. You understand what I'm saying?
I mean the gravity of this. It's true. And are we moved by this or is this just a passionless notion that well Jesus came to bring a sword. We'll get down to the bottom of this. We'll figure it out academically.
Okay, he's saying he came to bring division great. Okay now I get it or We genuinely move to say let's get as many people on this side of the sword God as we can. Let's proclaim the truth and be bold and and as I talked about and at my first message in 2012 Let's let's make this a bold year for proclaiming the truth.
I mean, we've got a limited number limited amount of time and especially if the Mayan calendar is right, right? I mean we were limited and so we got a let's make this a bold year. Get out there and proclaim the truth.
That was a joke everybody. Okay. So one side of the cut in clarity here in verses 40 and 42. How do we make the cut? It really has something to do with faith and Jesus is going to illustrate this with a list of receiving now.
It's a little bit of a cultural difference the word receiving welcoming their culture was very much. What you welcomed you embraced what you allowed into your household you embraced and so this whole idea of hospitality and things that we don't Really understand in our culture so that Jesus uses this as an illustration that could be lost on the Western mind.
Because in Middle Eastern culture even to this day There's this notion of receiving someone receiving something and it's and there's a trust involved in that and all of this. And so Jesus is going to give us some illustrations.
Jesus says that whoever would receive his followers. So he's sending out his twelve and he says you're gonna go out village to village town to town and whoever receives you. That is the whole ball of wax.
What are they what were they sent out to do to? Proclaim the message and to prove the message that a kingdom is here and there's a king and his name is Jesus. This is the message that they were given and to back that up with miracles, right?
So that's what they're being told to do and they're actually in that context and in that day and age. They're given the power to do these miracles to back up exactly what Jesus is saying here that there's this message so to receive his followers is to receive his whole message to believe that there's a king who has arrived and he's here and his name is Jesus and So to receive him to receive his followers is to receive him.
He says anybody who receives you will receive Jesus and the one who receives Jesus is Receiving the one who sent him. Who's that? The father. Okay. This word receive has in it the notion of a wholehearted embrace and even a sense of belief in.
It's often used in the New Testament when in the book of Acts. We've encountered this word a lot. I haven't really highlighted it but whenever you see the word received it's often about the Word of God and it implies a belief a Putting your hope and your trust in it and this works out.
Apparently for those whose hearts are open to Jesus because Jesus says. And he's gonna take this a step deeper. And I'll wrap it up with the logic that he's gonna use here in a minute. But Jesus says if you receive a prophet's reward.
I mean if you receive a prophet because he is a prophet you get a prophet's reward. In other words, you've helped him along in his ministry. You've received him. You've helped him out. You've done something that demonstrates that you receive you believe.
You hold him in high esteem. If you received a righteous person because they are a righteous person you receive a righteous person's reward. Sounds like a pretty good gig, right? You don't have to be a prophet to get a prophet's reward.
Okay, you're you you're receiving them and that's getting the reward. If you give a little one who is a disciple even a cup of cold water. You'll be rewarded. Cool, that's that's good. But a couple of questions that'll make sense of what's the logic here in this.
Because it seems kind of foreign to us anybody a little bit confused right now kind of wish that Jesus would speak a little bit More plainly about the things that he's saying here. First of all who receives a prophet because that person is a prophet.
Think think in your mind what kind of person would receive a prophet just because they're a prophet. Doesn't that imply some faith on the part of the person receiving them? They have some trust there, right?
They have some belief that there's something about this prophecy. That's significant something that's valuable in this. Who receives a righteous person because they are righteous. Someone who loves righteousness, right?
If you how many of you have ever encountered somebody who would reject a righteous person because they're righteous. There's plenty of that, right? But this is a case where somebody would receive a righteous person because they're righteous because they're they're they're trying their best to honor God and Bring things under his authority.
Who gives a cup of cold water to a disciple who has little social standing the word little ones. There is about society about culture about the social standing of the individual not necessarily about being a child or tiny or small.
So who gives a cup of cold water to a disciple of Jesus that has little social standing? Somebody who loves God and his people, right? Not. Looking to gain anything. What are you gonna gain by giving somebody who is socially down-and-out a cup of cold water?
All these categories that involve some faith people don't truly receive God's people without first having received him and that's the gist here but lastly we should be left with this lingering question that flows through the logic of Jesus on this and that is if by welcoming a Prophet you get a prophets reward and if by welcoming a righteous man.
You get a righteous man's reward and if by giving water to the down-and-out disciple you get a reward. What do you get for welcoming? What do you get for welcoming the father? See the logic that he's going through here.
So if you receive my message you receive me and if you receive me you receive the father and those who you receive. You get a reward from. Wow. That's the invitation. The invitation is to come and receive the father through the son.
That's available to us available through the cross lastly we see. Well, not lastly hopefully. Is that is that confusing by the way, is any of that confusing to you guys? Or did you get the logic in that you get the flow?
Okay Jesus is saying in the end. Receiving his message and his messengers will result in receiving him and that results in reward and that reward is nothing less than eternal life. So Jesus came to bring a sword he came to divide humanity down the middle and the deciding factor ultimately is our reception of Jesus Christ.
And so the question for each of us to consider is a very serious question today. How important is Jesus Christ in your life? Is he something that you've tacked on to a pretty busy schedule? I'm gonna admit to being pretty busy in your lives right now.
And it's very easy to tack him on as one more thing. You know, I go to church now on Sunday and that's cool. And I've given him a little sliver of my time. Is he just one among many relationships and friendships that you have?
Is he just kind of one of many? Or does he take preeminence? All right, I I could and I was really challenged this week to try to think about how much did I want to get into. Explaining what does it mean to love Jesus more than your father and mother?
What does it mean to love Jesus more than your kids? Great how many of you think that's a little bit challenging to try to figure out? I want to leave that in your court. I'm with that. It's back at you.
Okay, cuz you guys have to have to have to figure that out on your own and figure out in your life. What is it that what is it that takes preeminence over Christ? What is it that that that saps at you and draws down your devotion and your love for him?
What is it that pulls you away? Now remember he's not saying that you don't love your kids that you don't love your parents. He's saying you love him more. What are the two greatest commandments? Jesus was asked to give the two.
He was asked one commandment a teacher of the law came to him and said good teacher. What is the greatest commandment and he couldn't just give one? He was one wasn't sufficient. He said these two are just just really locked tight and they're close together the first is love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and.
Second is like it love your neighbor as yourself. Which I think what I think what Jesus means in that context by the way. Is that you love God with all your heart soul mind and strength by loving your neighbor as yourself.
That's part of it. But which comes first, do you love your neighbor more? No, you love you love God first and foremost with all your heart soul mind and strength that takes preeminence. It's God worthy of your sacrifices.
Is there anything that you would yield up to him not as a not as a trying to grab his attention. The only way. The only way we can even make a sacrifice that matters to God is by ultimately first and foremost receiving the sacrifice he's made for us we love because what he first loved us and.
So if you're not if you're here and you're not in Christ, I'm not don't hear me saying that you need to do do do or you need to You. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and and work hard at salvation or anything like that or make sacrifices to get God's attention.
No, no. No, that's not it at all. It is that we come by by faith and that salvation is a gift. We just went through Christmas and probably a few of us received some gifts. We know what that's like, right?
You don't give money. You don't pay something back to somebody for giving you a gift. It's kind of rude, right? I'd pull out my wallet when my wife gave me a gift and said here's money for that. That's that's not the way that it works.
But out of gratitude and love we are. What are we willing to sacrifice for him? And he's actually calling us to lay down our lives. He doesn't ask. Jesus isn't isn't asking look look look at the text and you can go all the way down through it.
He isn't asking us to go to church more. It's not in here. He's not asking us to read our Bibles more to pray more to give more. That's not what the text is saying. Jesus is calling us to die. It's just saying die.
Take up your cross and die with me to die to ourselves to lose our lives to lose the The white knuckle grip that we put on this life. Lose that let it go. Don't just let it go trivially let it go for his sake.
Those are hard words. That's hard practice. It's gonna take us more than a week to get this one down. I think we should take a quiet moment before communion this morning and consider if there's anything in our lives that we are placing above him.
He is gracious. He's kind. He's loving. He's compassionate. He's demanding and he's seriously telling us to lay down our lives for him this morning. What do we need to leave at the altar for Jesus Christ this morning?
What is getting in the way of us receiving him as he is in his glory? Jesus is worthy of anything that we would lay at the altar for him. We come to communion to remember this morning that he who has asked us to take up our cross.
Led the way. He didn't say you go to the cross and I'll be watching and see how this whole thing works out. He led the way to the hill of the skull and there on that hill. They stretched out his arms and they nailed his hands to the rough wooden beams.
And he died for us. And now he's asked us to follow his lead. Bought our forgiveness. He bought our eternity. And so let's take a moment before Dave comes to play and quietly contemplate what Jesus has done for us at the cross Dave.
You can come up and kind of get ready but I want to leave just a moment like maybe a minute or two for people to Contemplate and consider then as you start playing the way that we do communion here. There's a table set up in the front and a table set up in the back.
And you can get up and kind of flow through form two lines up here at any time but after you've had time to contemplate and consider and to remember because this is a A time for us to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
It is because he died on the cross that we can be made whole. He stood in our place. We deserve to be punished and he took that punishment for us that we can be made whole and right. If you're here and you're not in Christ.
And there's nothing there's nothing wrong with you staying in your seat and just kind of taking this in and thinking about this and meditating. I would I would I would suggest that you do that if you're here and you're not quite decided on who Jesus Christ is yet.
And you haven't given your life over to him and you're not sure if he's Lord and King. You haven't asked him to save you. Let's pray.