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Please be seated. Let me pray for us:

Lord help each of us hear the call of the kingdom tonight so that ultimately the nations will put their trust in you.

At 1:47 am on 21st September 1999 I was thrown out of bed. Not, I should add, by my wife but by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale located at a shallow depth just 30 kilometers away from our flat in central Taiwan. That started a fortnight of frenetic activity including several days driving relief supplies up into the worst affected areas. 100,000 people were made homeless, over 2,400 people died. One statistic that always haunts me is that very few Christians died in the quake. I don’t think this was a case of miraculous protection but rather the fact that, at the time, there were very few believers or churches in those mountainous villages and small towns that were worst affected. That’s over 2,000 people perishing without hearing the gospel of Jesus. Because few, if any, people had gone to tell them.

Last week we heard of Jesus gut wrenching emotion at seeing people without the leadership they needed in their lives. They were harassed and helpless – literally ‘torn and thrown down’. And we heard his comment to his disciples; The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few (Matthew 9.37). So, actually there are many who God has already prepared for the good news about Jesus they are just not hearing it because no one is taking it to them. That is the problem. And the solution: more labourers. And last week we heard that step one of solving the problem is to pray for just that – more labourers. Because the first thing we need to know is that the kind of labourers that can be effective are those that God chooses, calls and sends out (literally thrusts out) into that harvest.cThis week we begin to learn more about what it means to be a kingdom labourer. So please open the Bible with me to today’s passage, Matthew 10.1-15, it’s page 814 of the church Bibles (Matthew 10.1-5):

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out...

So what we have here is the very first batch of harvest labourers being sent out on their first assignment and three times Matthew stresses something about them – their number...twelve! And that’s really important because Israel is made up of twelve tribes. And what Jesus is doing by choosing twelve disciples is to say that the world changing movement that he is starting is very much a fulfilment of the plan of God revealed in the Old Testament, beginning with the promise he gave to Abram (Genesis 12.3):

In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

As we will learn later, in the book of Acts, the twelve had a unique role as eyewitnesses of all Jesus did and taught in the three years of his ministry leading up to, and including, his death and resurrection. So, some of the details in the passage we are looking at are specific to that first short term mission assignment of that particular first batch of labourers, the Twelve. This highlights for us the challenge of how we read and understand scripture, especially historical narrative passages like this one. Because the gospels are an account of real events that happened to specific people, at a specific time, and in a specific place, but at the same time, they are more than simply dry academic historical textbooks. Matthew, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote his account both for a specific group of believers in his day and for all believers through the ages. He wants to encourage them and us, in the face of opposition and opportunity, to not only hold on to the gospel but to hold out its message of hope to others. So, there are some details in the passage that are specific to this ministry assignment Jesus gives the Twelve but there are also some important principles and insights for all harvest labourers, including you and I today. So let’s take a look. I have three headings: The labourers, The labour, and the results that can be expected.

1. The Labourers:

First, they are disciples (Matthew 10.1) (called to follow and to learn, like apprentices) up to this point that had mainly been by observing and listening to Jesus, but you can only learn so much that way. A few weeks ago, I went for my first experience of sailing off the West Coast of Scotland. Now it seems to me that with some things like sailing and gospel ministry you can only get so far reading books and watching You Tube videos! On the boat, as a novice, you have got to literally, learn the ropes. You need to learn how to haul and which ones to haul and when. And it’s all really got to be learned by practice, by experience out on the waves. For me, it was a great illustration of being a disciple, a follower of, an apprentice of, Jesus. As disciples, they and we learn by listening to and observing Jesus, but also by taking part in the assignments he gives us. So, he sends them out (Matthew 10.5).

With these 12 Jesus is starting a movement, a first wave of what will ultimately be a tsunami of labourers, disciples spreading out around the world to gather in the harvest. But who are they, these labourers whom God is sending?
1. Not your typical superheroes! A rough but respectable group of self-employed fishermen. A couple of sceptics, a tax collecting collaborator with the hated Romans and a guy chomping at the bit to overthrow them, three average joes and Judas who would, in the end, betray him.
2. They were young, around the age of the students amongst us, maybe a few in their early to mid-twenties, and John might even have been a similar age to those of you who are CYFA youth group members.
3. They were quite immature and had lots of rough edges character wise! James and John wanted to call down fire to zap a village that rejected Jesus, the whole group would argue about who was the greatest, they all needed Jesus to give them extracurricular tutoring to understand what he was getting at and still often misunderstood. Indeed, Peter even tried to dissuade Jesus from fulfilling his mission. They fell asleep in prayer meetings at crucial times and deserted, even denied Jesus when the going got tough.

So even though none of us are one of the Twelve Apostles our first insight is this: You don’t have to be anyone special to become a labourer in God’s harvest. That’s because the authority for the task comes from Matthew 10.1. If God sends you out you don’t have to rely simply on your own ability and experience!

He also at this stage gives them a specific mission with a limited scope and a limited time frame. They are not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans but only to the Lost Sheep of the house of Israel. What’s that all about? Well, this is one of those commands that is specific to this particular ministry assignment. This is all happening before the cross and resurrection. At this point in God’s plan of salvation, Jesus is focusing his ministry among the Jewish people of Galilee. And he is bringing his disciples, both the Twelve and, as Luke tells us about another short-term mission trip a little later a further 72 disciples, into this task. But, later after his resurrection he is going to command them to (Matthew 28.19-20):

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Which, of course includes this command to make disciples of all nations. So, for that period of time, they were to limit themselves to ministry to the Jews in Galilee and not the Gentiles to the North and West or the Samaritans to the South. Now we are to set our sights on all people everywhere. So, next:

2. The Labour and how to go about it

The Labour - what are they to do? Proclaim the Kingdom (Matthew 10.7):

And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

You may remember that when Prince Charles became King Charles III, heralds had to go and make proclamations to that effect in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. That’s a tradition that dates back to before mass broadcasting and the internet. Indeed, that is the background to the word gospel. It is a specific kind of good news. It announced either a Ruler coming to the throne or his winning a great victory. So, the task was to proclaim, to announce ‘a king is coming, a reign is about to begin’. The problem is that people lack a shepherd, a true king. And so, they are harassed and helpless, torn and thrown down. And the good news, the gospel proclamation is that that is all about to change in Jesus. So, proclaim the kingdom. Demonstrate the Kingdom. In Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven is breaking in to this world and the Twelve as his Apostles or agents are part of that in this assignment. The kingdom will come in its fulness when Jesus returns. So, the function of miracles, as Ian helpfully pointed out a few weeks ago, is to be signposts pointing to what it will be like to experience the fulness of life then. What principles can we learn from the instructions Jesus gives?

i. Trust God for your need and be generous with the gospel

Matthew 10.8:

You received without paying; give without pay

They are not to look for monetary gain. Either from the gospel message or the miraculous works. This is against the background of some itinerant charlatans going around charging for their teaching and activity. The disciples had received freely from Jesus so they shouldn’t make people pay for either the gospel or its benefits. Serving God should never be with the aim of accumulating personal wealth. On this particular mission the disciples are not to even take money with them (Matthew 10.9):

Acquire, no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts

In other words, an empty wallet and no Apple Pay. They are even told not to take a change of clothes for this particular journey. They need to travel quickly and urgently and so they travel light. So, how are they going to survive? The answer is in Matthew 10.10:

The labourer deserves his food.

Whose labourers are they? The Lord of the harvest’s! He will provide. In this case it comes from generous hospitality of people who want to hear the gospel. Now, it is not the details here but the principle that we need to focus on. Later Jesus will say to the Twelve (Luke 22.35-36):

“When I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a money bag take it, and likewise a knapsack.”

So, it is not how you pack that is the point here but that we can and should rely on the Lord of the Harvest at all times for our needs.

ii. Enter Unreached Communities and find the people God is already at work in and focus the majority of your time there.

Matthew 10.11:

And whatever town or village you enter…

In Galilee that meant small towns and villages, in rural areas today that may still be the case. In sprawling modern cities, we may be looking at either neighbourhoods if there is a sense of community or networks, groups of people with similar interests and existing webs of relationship, who may be spread out over a city. When you have identified and contacted these (Matthew 10.11):

…find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.

Matthew 10.12-13:

As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

Worthy here doesn’t mean they are well known public figures or even of high moral character, though that doesn’t rule those folk out. No, the implication of worthy here is that they are receptive to the message and the messenger. So, you are looking for where God is already at work. The plentiful harvest. Find those people, those the households and focus there. And as Ian said last week, they don’t have an aura or a name tag on them saying “I am worthy”. You have to go and find out. And that means you have to share the gospel with people and observe who is responding. You keep on sharing the gospel with others, of course, but you focus on the ones who are responding. Bless them with God’s Shalom, God’s peace. This is a good principle. So often these households (that’s what is meant here, groups of people not buildings) will become the embryonic churches, the communities of disciples, who have the potential to soak the neighbourhood or network and ultimately the region with the gospel of peace. They become the people in their communities who open further doors for the gospel.

In the early days of the first church start-up that we were involved in central Taiwan we saw a number of businessmen respond to the gospel. Amongst them was the boss of a security firm. Some of his employees also came to faith and part of their business was to provide the concierges for large residential complexes. So, at Christmas they made sure that everyone in all their tower blocks had an opportunity to get an invite to the Church’s Christmas gospel outreach, which was one reason why we as a church of around 70 at the time, saw 1,000 people attend that event. From that fifty adults went on to attend our equivalent of Hope Explored, of whom about half were baptised and became members of the church. So, we need to pray for folk who come to faith, like Cameron and Nico, to be channels for the gospel into their relationship networks, their friends and family.

Find where God is at work and focus there. Before we move on to the result, we do need to remind ourselves of the fact that this short-term mission was a very specific task Jesus set. The goal was that in a short period of time everyone in Galilee would get to know that, in Jesus, God’s Kingdom was breaking in to the world. So, Jesus would send the disciples on what would be brief excursions into many villages. Elsewhere in Scripture we find both short stay and long stay entry into communities depending on how God directs. After the earthquake the Taiwan, Churches set up centres in the worst hit mountain areas. A number of these centres eventually became churches with a witness to those previously unreached areas that continues today. And that brings us to:

3. The Results that we can expect:

Some will respond positively to the gospel and gospel messengers, which is great. The harvest is plentiful. There will be worthy people, but sadly, some will reject the gospel and gospel messengers (Matthew 10.14):

If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town

And, as we will learn next week, some will aggressively attack the gospel and gospel messenger. Why is this the case? Well, the gospel is ultimately an announcement, a proclamation that The kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10.7). So, the message Jesus gives the 12, then the 72, and then right down to us today is this – Jesus, the rightful king of all, is taking his throne. And the implication is that everyone needs to submit to his reign in their lives. And there are lots of people who don’t want that at all, thank you very much. They do not want to let go of control. They want to go on running their own lives. That is a choice everyone has but it comes with a terrible cost. Shaking off the dust was a warning to the towns and households that rejected and remained outside God’s kingdom that they would eventually come under his judgement (Matthew 10.15):

Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Many like to talk about justice today but few are willing to think about the just verdict of God on all human evil because that hits too close to home. You see, your eternal destiny (whether you experience abundant life or the wrath of judgement depends not on your performance) we all deserve God’s wrath on that basis, but solely on how you respond to the good news of the kingdom. Will you enthrone Jesus as king of your life or not? For some here that is an issue you are wrestling with right now. What will it mean to let Jesus be King in my life? Is he a leader I can follow? We recently learned why my grandfather was awarded a medal in the First World War. Here’s the citation:

He was, together with his gun team, ordered forward to take up a position. He went forward by himself through heavy machine gun and artillery fire, selected a position for his gun, then returned and brought up his team. By his skill and initiative in getting his team through he undoubtedly saved his gunners, at the same time setting a splendid example of courage and leadership.

My grandfather risked his life for his men, they were his friends, and his actions saved their lives. But Jesus went so much further. The creator of all things laid down his life for his enemies, for you and for me when he took our place to die for our sinful rebellion on the cross. And then he rose again, defeating death for us, so that we could live with him as his friends, his band of brothers, for eternity. I don’t know about you but I’ll happily not only follow this Jesus as king of my life but commit myself to the task of proclaiming the good news of his kingdom to the harassed and helpless, the torn and thrown down, the leaderless, for the rest of my life. Let’s pray:

Go forth and tell, men still in darkness lie;In wealth or want, in sin they live and die: and so we pray…Give us, Oh Lord, concern of heart and mind,A love like yours, which cares for all mankind.