Sent Out! – Sermon – 18 June, 2017

Sent Out!

Matthew 3:9:35-10:23

This is the first commissioning of the disciples to go out and minister in Jesus’ name.

One of the things we see here is that Jesus chose ordinary people, such as social outcasts and people who were not successful. The reason is that God can use these types of people. If you or I were Jesus, we probably wouldn’t choose the people Jesus chose. We would go look for more prominent type people if we were going to build a worldwide mission.

Now the people Jesus called had their identity in their relationship with Him.

The first thing that Jesus calls us to is a relationship with Him, not good works which are just a by-product of a relationship with God. We should draw our identity in Jesus Christ and it is this relationship which defines who we are and unites us with other followers of Jesus.

Now the word ‘sent’ in Greek is the same root word as apostle. So, apostle means ‘one who is sent out in the name of Jesus.’ That means every disciple makes a life commitment to do the mission given by Jesus. Every Christian has within himself or herself the potential for a change through the Holy Spirit. And so every believer in Jesus if signs up for this mission, he Spirit will give the power needed to accomplish.

But what are we sent to do?

The first verse of Jesus’ sermon answers that question when it says Jesus “gave them authority to drive out impure spirits.” This is the mission God has engaged us in and in verse 8 He says they have to drive out demons. They are not to be bystanders or spectators in the faith, but to be partners in the ministry of Jesus.

Who’s going to stand up for people who are sick, hurting, despised and taken advantage of?

God never does anything without sending a person as an answer to prayer.

We are not bystanders waiting for God to come and take us to heaven, we are participants in His plan of salvation. This is what Jesus meant when he said: “So as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And more than that, Jesus said that they were going to do even more greater works through the power of the Holy Spirit. This was their life mission.

Our place in history is not our story but His story and so we are to give ourselves to His mission. We are not here to make a living but to build the kingdom of God here. What is the kingdom of God? It’s the will of God being fulfilled. That’s why the most important thing we can do is to figure out our role in God’s plan of salvation and each of us are going to have to give an accounting of what we did and accomplished for Him.

Every Christian is a missionary. A missionary is someone who goes to minister in a culture or people different from their own. But that’s not how it started with Jesus and the disciples. “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The Gentiles were non-Jews and the Samaritans were Jews who violating God’s commands, intermarried with the Gentiles and thus were excluded from Jewish life. Now for most of His ministry, Jesus left the Gentiles out while he focused on the lost sheep of Israel. In fact, one day a Gentile woman came to Jesus and asked Him to help her child who was demon-possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus told her He had come for the children of Israel. The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Up to His death, Jesus focused primarily on the Jews, but after the resurrection, He expanded His mission to the Gentiles when He said: “Go into all the world and make disciples.”

Now why did Jesus focus only on the Jews? Because that was His house, the people where He had greatest influence. Now the disciples will spend the rest of their life and ministry focused on the culture and the people they grew up in, the Jewish people, all except one, Peter who God showed that the Gentiles were to be the focus of his ministry.

How do you discover God’s will for your life?

First, you have to be in a faith community. You need a small group of people who are challenging you to becoming the disciple God has called you to be.

Second, find a need and meet it. Don’t wait until you can define your mission, just find a need and meet it. There are needs all around us. God has placed people in your life who he expects you to be the hands and feet of Jesus. If you don’t someone’s need, then ask them. Ask, ‘How can I serve you?’

Third, identify your spiritual gifts and use them. My spiritual gifts are leadership and teaching. What are yours? God has given your spiritual gifts to do His work and we are all going to have to give an accounting of what we did with them.

Fourth, identify your passion and serve out of it. All of us in this room have a passion. There are certain things that energize us and other things that don’t.

What’s your passion?

What would you rather do for God than anything else?

Discover it and then begin serving out in it.

Every believer is someone who is “Sent Out”, as were the disciples.

They went out and did their part. They were the members of the body of Jesus, called to go and do a special mission.