June 15th, 2008 - Scripture Focus: Matthew 9:35-10:8

Our text for June 15th is Matthew 9:35-10:8.

Our place in the church calendar: Today is the 5th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday. Today we will also celebrate our graduates from middle school, high school, and college, and celebrate the end of our Sunday School year, with the children participating in worship.

Text Summary:
The passage opens with Jesus on a preaching and teaching tour, where he is healing people and talking about the good news of the kingdom. He has compassion on the people, literally with his stomach turning over with empathy for them because they are lost and leaderless. He tells the disciples to ask God for more laborers to work for the kingdom. Jesus summons the twelve, gives them authority, and sends them out. He tells them to keep only to the house of Israel, not to the Gentiles. He tells them to proclaim good news: The kingdom of heaven has come near. He tells them to heal and cure, and to give without payment, as they have received without payment.

Sermon Thoughts:
-The sermon title for today is "On Fire: Called," and will look at how Jesus calls us, what we're called to do, and how we're meant to respond to God's call. This sermon is part of our On Fire series that looks at how the church was born and how we can catch some of that fire that ignited the apostles. The disciples are sent and resent by Jesus by degrees throughout his ministry and beyond. First they are called to follow Jesus. Now, this is the first time they are being sent on a mission on their own.

-Jesus gave the disciples authority. When I was ordained, and my bishop laid hands on me, she said, "Take thou authority." You have to have authority to lead. We have all kinds of authority figures in our world, but the authority comes from different places. Jesus was constantly questioned about where his authority came from, because he didn't get it from the usual places, but directly from God.

-Right here, in this text, Matthew emphasis that Jesus sent the disciples only to other Jews, not yet to Gentiles. Matthew takes particular pains among the gospel-writers to show how Jesus' message is for Gentiles too, not just Jews. But here, he's clear that the good news was first brought to those of the house of Israel. This is consistent with the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible, and with the theology that the apostle Paul expresses in his letters.

-For Jesus, the good news was: "The kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God has come near/is at hand." That's it! Today, when we speak of good news, we often say the good news is that Christ has died for our sins so that we might have eternal life. But that's not what Jesus meant when he talked about good news. His good news was that God's kingdom was here, now and already.

-This passage makes frequent mention of leadership/shepherding and the need for people to fill this role. Jesus has compassion for the people because they seem shepherdless. He advises the disciples to pray that God would send more workers out into the proverbial fields. He sends the disciples out and gives them authority. All of these things are meant to provide a kind of leadership that Jesus sees as otherwise lacking in peoples' lives.

Questions for Discussion:
-Who has authority in your life? What authority do you have? Where did you get your authority? Has God given you authority? To do what? Have you ever refused taking authority? Have you refused authority from God?

-"You received without payment. Give without payment." That's the motto of Drew Theological School, where I went to seminary. What do you think Jesus is referring to that the disciples have received freely? What have you received? What are you giving? Do you require payment for what you give to others? How do we sometimes require payment from others even if we don't say out loud that we are doing so?

-Why do you think Jesus only sends the disciples to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel," and not to the Gentiles?

-Today we're pretty skeptical of healing in the way that we read about in the Bible. Have you ever experienced healing? Witnessed healing? How do you think God heals and cures today?

-How would you define the "good news" of the gospels?

For further reading:
Read Chris Haslam's comments and clippings on our text.

What are your questions about this text? Comments?