Sermon Text: Matthew 9:35-10:8
Today’s Gospel text is termed by bible historians as the “suffering servants” text. We are called to go out into the world to serve Christ in the vocations, that is to say into the various roles & jobs in life, Our Lord calls us into. Since we have been given through the church the free gift of God’s mercy & forgiveness, our place in His new & eternal is forever secure. With our future now safely in God’s hands We are sent out into the world by Jesus to do two things: first, we are called to proclaim God’s peace & salvation to those whom He loves &, second, we are to work to preserve life & order in this world.
But it seems that we live in a world where nobody wants to serve anymore but be served. The people who want to be served even come up with all kinds of intellectual, even pious rationales for demanding that other bow down to them. We have seen pictures of the most wanton kind of destruction – arson, looting, stealing & violence – being done mainly by those who have done no work of service to others by peacefully producing a good or service that people need. It seems the less they have served, the more they want.
This refusal to serve is even rampant in the church too. When the President went to a church that looters had burned and said that it was evil to burn a place of God, the Pastor of the church attacked him for “not separating church and state”? Excuse me, but it is exactly the role of the state preserve life & order so that the Gospel can be heard!
It is ironic that this statement came from a person who refused to preach the gospel by closing the church on an Unconstitutional order of political authority more to her liking.
But should we be surprised at all by any of this? The essential nature of sin is self-preservation so that can only be done by having the power and control over others we desire. In short, sinners want to use God, all of creation, and our neighbors to preserve our lives. We do not want to be dependent at all upon God and His Word alone.
Note what happened in our Gospel: Jesus calls us out of our closed world of self. It says in our text that “He called the 12”. In short, we will always be self-serving sinners until God comes in His Word to free us. It’s only when God renders to us first His judgement, No to sin, then His forgiveness, yes to us. Then we are freed to become His servant.
This is how things work for now for us Christians in this old world: first Jesus gives then Jesus sends. There is a time of in-gathering of us His people, His flock, so that we can receive His gifts of grace and be renewed in life and experience the perfect peace of His Kingdom in faith, in the hearing once more of the promise of forgiveness & eternal life.
Then there is a time of gifting. There is a time of sending where we servants of the Lord are placed by Christ back out into this old & sinful world to both proclaim the truth of God’s peace to a lost & dying world but also to work to preserve good order & produce the goods that allows life to carry on. Let us be clear on this point also: the goal of our service in this is simply to allow the Holy Spirit to bring the Gospel of Christ to His children, so they maybe saved and transferred into His eternal kingdom. We don’t serve in order to “prove our faith” or to earn our salvation by works. Nor do we distort the gospel of Christ’s new and coming kingdom of grace into a message of the “social gospel” where we are somehow called to build an earthly utopian kingdom here on earth. We are not called to serve simply to make people more materially comfortable but yet leave them still dead in their sin because we refuse to speak the Words of the Gospel.
So ever since this first sending, this has been the primary movement of the church, to be breathed in and breathed out. The body of Jesus Christ has respiration: it inhales, and it exhales, the inspiration and expiration of the Holy Spirit which alone is life & salvation.
The New Testament recognizes this sending out into the world of Christians with two specific words: “ekklesia” and “apostello.” The first word is the word from which we get “church” and it simply means “the chosen ones”; we are “called-out” by name by Jesus personally in baptism just as we see the first disciples were in our Gospel. The second is the word is the one from which we get “apostle” & it simply means “the sent-out ones.”
This “in” and “out,” this cycle, of being called out of the world and being sent back into the world, is the regular movement of God’s people, the church. When the called-out ones have been assembled, the inhalation is finished. And let’s make no mistake about this either: the bringing you hear today is the Holy Spirit’s work; God brought you here.
It is only when the Lord gathers 2 or 3 of us together under the visible marks of the church (which are: the preached Word of the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Absolution of sins, and Prayer/Praise), the hidden church is revealed.
Once we the chosen ones are assembled, then comes the time of gifting: Jesus Christ hands over His gifts of grace to those He chose & assembled. You receive Jesus’ forgiveness of sins. You receive His eternal life. And you receive his salvation. Jesus simply pours out these benefits upon you. They His gift of authority freely given to you.
When the time of gifting ends, the sending-out takes place. The “ekklesia” becomes “apostello.” The gathered & called-out ones become the sent-out ones. The people of God who had been revealed beneath the marks of the church now become hidden once again beneath a seventh mark, the holy cross— that is, suffering. We go out to serve as these first disciples did. We do the best we can in whatever role Christ calls us to do. We also don’t should the burden of results either. We may never see success as the world defines it but so what. As Jesus said, if the house is worthy, let your peace be upon it, if not leave. So we don’t give the gospel to rioters first but rather we first quell the riot.
It is not a popular opinion with at least half the country, may be even with many of you, that there is a Christian obligation to use the sword to preserve life and good order. That is why God gave us the institutions of the family & government. The family is to teach the children moral correctness, so they can be good servants & citizens of others. If the parents fail in this task and people do evil by threatening innocent life, liberty & property by resorting to the aggressive & selfish use or threat of violence to get what they want – whatever it may be (political, material, or personal) – then it is the obligation of those God places in the vocations of governance to use the sword in defense of social order. We live in two kingdoms as Christians not just one. We are fully sinners in the flesh, in this old creation, and the law, reason, & the sword are what God gives us and calls us into to preserve life & good order so the gospel can be heard. We are only fully saints in the spirit, in faith only, in the hearing of Christ’s spoken Words of Forgiveness of sins.
We must also always remember that the forgiveness of sins received from Jesus is hidden beneath the sins we sinners continue to commit in this world. The life received from Jesus is hidden beneath the death worked upon us by the devil, the world, and our sinful selves. The salvation received from Jesus is hidden beneath the condemnation and accusation of the law coming at them from every side— neighbors, families, job, officials, church, all clamoring for more love, more of our work and goods, more obedience to their selfish personal desires that are often couched as orders of the law.
The truth is the hidden church & you the Chosen Christian can barely suffer through the six days of sending. This is why Christ remains ever faithful to coming to call you out once more into that time of gathering with Him where in His gifting the hidden is revealed. When Jesus brings us here he uses His authority to serve you. He doesn’t demand you kneel and bow to Him and grovel for His forgiveness lest He use His power against you as we have seen this week that some shamelessly self-serving earthly political leaders have done. No, you are given first in humble service all His best gifts first: His very life on the cross, His victory over sin – death – the devil, & His personal and clearly spoken promises of adoption – forgiveness – eternal life – & peace with God forever are yours.
Truly my fellow saints, Christ’s coming to You brings a new Word that He will simply not allow you to ignore. He is the very embodiment of God’s promise to Abraham to save fulfilled. Jesus is Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant” given for you. He is David’s son who is strong to save for you. Christ comes to you today not only to reveal your sin but also to give to you the eternal kingdom of heaven He won for you. The Lord has brought you here to this place just so you can hear this promise spoken once more: “Peace be upon you. I have called you unto myself and you will have my life & my love forever.”
So, in the receiving of your salvation in the hearing of those Words of Gospel, you are coming close to the moment of exhaling; of the sending-out of you the Christian into a dark & often violent world of sin. But Jesus is with you. You have His authority too just like those disciples did. You are His good servant, and He will say to you someday: thank you for a job well done!
Truly, when Jesus comes again, everything will be revealed: not only the extent of sin, but especially the perfect fulfillment of His promises. Until that glorious day comes, our Suffering Servant Jesus Christ gives you His Holy Spirit & His peace to keep your hearts and minds in Him always – Amen!
This sermon theme is based on a devotional on Matthew CH 9 written by Pastor Tim Swenson.
Bethany Lutheran Church, Covington MI 