"Don't Be Afraid to Confess Christ" (Sermon on Matthew 10:5a, 21-33)

What are you afraid of? I mean, what are you afraid of, as far as being a Christian? Are there things to be afraid of, that might happen to you because you are a Christian? Let’s think about that today. That’s what Jesus talks to his disciples about in the Gospel reading for today. He tells them, yes, there are things that might scare you, there are some bad things that might happen to you, precisely because you are my disciples. But the bigger thing Jesus tells them is what he will say to us now: Don’t be afraid to be known for being my disciples, and here’s why. . . . Thus our theme today: “Don’t Be Afraid to Confess Christ.”

Are there things that might scare us off from letting people know we are disciples of Jesus? Yes, but first I guess we should understand what is meant by this term, “disciples.” It means those who follow and learn from their teacher--in this case, Jesus. And we can use the term “disciples” in both a narrower and a broader sense. In the narrow sense, “the disciples” means “the twelve,” those twelve men who personally, physically, walked with Jesus “back then.” The twelve disciples were Peter and Andrew, James and John, Matthew and Thomas, and those guys. The twelve apostles, whom Christ selected to establish his church for all time in a foundational and unrepeatable way. And so in the gospels some of what we see Jesus saying to his disciples applies only to them and doesn’t apply to us today, at least not directly. For example, this business about “going through all the towns of Israel.” Well, that literally was the case for the twelve apostles back in the first century. But there is also a broader sense in which what Jesus says to his disciples does apply to the church of all ages, both to pastors and laypeople alike, according to our respective vocations. We are all disciples of Jesus in this sense, and thus we want to hear what our Lord and Savior and Teacher tells us.

Disciples are all those who hear and respond to the call of Jesus, “Follow me.” It starts with Jesus finding us and calling us to himself. The initiative lies with Jesus. He chooses us; we don’t choose him. We were off, doing our own thing, not knowing God, lost and separated from God without knowing it, and Jesus came and found us. He wants us to know God, he wants us to know who God is for us, and that means knowing Jesus. Jesus comes and makes God known to us in a “for you” way. Jesus is the Way, and there is no other way to know God and come into a right relationship with him, other than through Jesus.

So he comes and calls us, “Follow me.” Come, get to know me. Learn from me. I will teach you who God really is, and you will know that by looking at me and listening to me. My words and my works will reveal God to you. I will teach you what God’s kingdom is like, his gracious ruling activity, God’s end-time salvation that I bring into your midst. Follow me in faith, Jesus says, trust in me, learn from me, and discover the new and different kind of life that comes to my disciples. It will change who you are, it will change your thinking, it will change what will happen to you--in ways that might not seem so good right now, but ultimately in a way that is unsurpassingly good.

Yeah, there are thing that can happen to you because you are followers of Jesus, because you are Christians, which will not be all that happy or pleasant. Jesus will not have his disciples be unaware of what lies in store for them. Listen to the things he mentions:

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Wow, that’s not good! Who wants to be hated? Even put to death? And “for my name’s sake,” Jesus says. They will persecute you, and this bad stuff will happen to you, precisely because you bear my name, “Christian.”

But people will call you other names besides. “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” “Beelzebul” was a name they called Jesus. “Lord, prince,” it means, but lord and prince of demons. The Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus by accusing him of being the ruler of demons. And if they could say that about Jesus, who did only good, how much worse names will they come up with for us his disciples, who sometimes give our opponents room for legitimate accusation. But we belong to Jesus, we are members of his household, and so we can expect to be rejected and maligned, spoken badly of, just as he was.

How might people malign us today for being Christians? “Hypocrite,” they might say. “Those Christians are all a bunch of hypocrites, and that’s why I don’t go to church.” “Religious fanatics, that’s what they are, and I don’t want to become a mind-numbed zombie and get too much religion.” “Goody two-shoes,” “prudes,” “intolerant bigots.” “Who do you think you are?” “Don’t impose your morality on me!” The maligning of Christians in our day, in our culture, goes on full force. Some of it is based on caricatures, stereotypes of the worst of what church-people can be, and then it is extrapolated and applied to us all. So be prepared to hear some of this name-calling and verbal abuse, if you are going to follow Jesus.

And don’t be afraid of it, Jesus says. He tells us not to fear. Three times, in fact, as we read it in our text: In verse 26, “So have no fear of them.” In verse 28, “And do not fear.” And in verse 31, “Fear not, therefore.” But notice the “therefore.” What is the “therefore” there for? The point is, Jesus gives us reasons why we are not to fear. It isn’t just a cold command, “Don’t be afraid,” buck up, and that’s an order. No, Jesus here gives us reasons for not being afraid, and he does that each time he says, “Do not fear.”

First, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Jesus is saying, what is covered up and hidden now will one day come to light. What is covered and hidden now? What is not apparent to the eye? Well, look, Jesus says that the kingdom of God is here among us, that we Christians are the ones who are blessed. But then why are we suffering so? Where is that end-time salvation? Where is that deliverance from evil? We don’t see it with our eyes. Not right now. Why do the righteous suffer, while the wicked prosper? That was the psalmist’s lament, and it is a perennial perplexity and paradox.

But think about what else was hidden from sight. Think about the suffering--and death, shameful death--of Jesus. Did that look so wonderful, a man dying, nailed to a cross, condemned as a criminal, mocked by his own people? Something was covered up there, something was hidden from sight. Did that man dying on a cross look like the salvation of the world and the destruction of death and the devil? No, it looked like just the opposite.

But what was covered up and hidden from sight has been revealed to faith, has been made known in the gospel. That man Jesus dying on the cross was how God’s end-time salvation, how God’s deliverance, came to be. For it took the death of the holy Son of God, dying in the place of sinful man, to take the judgment we deserve and win for us forgiveness, righteousness, eternal salvation. You couldn’t see it, just looking at that man bleeding and dying, but that was really what was happening, nonetheless.

So it is for us. We walk by faith, not by sight. We go by what God’s word tells us, not by what our circumstances seem to look like. “Nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” When you are suffering, even when you are suffering because you belong to Christ, do not think that God has abandoned you. Do not think that you were wrong to believe this Christianity business, that it’s all a bunch of fairy tales. No, what is hidden and covered now will all be made known in the end.

Therefore, do not be afraid of the opponents of the gospel, who would ridicule Christians and mock us and say, “Where is your God?” Have no fear of them, but instead go ahead and speak and act as Christ’s disciples. Don’t be afraid to confess Christ.

You see, Jesus tells us why we need not fear. And the second reason is this: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” What’s the worst that can happen to you, if they persecute you for being a Christian? They can kill you, but that’s it. They can strike down this mortal body, which is going to die anyway, but they cannot touch your soul.

Actually, that would be the greater danger, that out of fear you would fall away from the faith and thus lose your salvation and end up in hell, both body and soul, under God’s judgment, for eternity. If there’s something to be afraid of, that’s it. Don’t even go there. Jesus warns his disciples of the greater danger, which is unbelief.

But death, physical death, as bad as it is and as terrifying as it can be--bodily death is not the worst that can happen. For Christ has defeated death, conquered the grave, by his saving death and resurrection. What Jesus did for us on Good Friday and Easter has taken the sting out of death. For we know that, having the forgiveness of sins and through faith in Christ, we will share in Christ’s resurrection. At the last day, when Christ comes again, he will raise up these mortal bodies, and we will live forever, perfected and whole in both body and soul, just as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher,” and we will be like him also in his resurrection. So do not be afraid of those who can kill the body. Do not be afraid to confess Christ.

And third and last, here is another reason not to fear: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Dear friends, you are dear children of the heavenly Father. He loves you very much. He not only created you, he also redeemed you, and at great price--not with gold or silver, but with the holy precious blood of Christ. And God has put his name on you in Holy Baptism, claimed you as his own and given you his Spirit. You are very dear to God. Realize his deep care and love for you. Nothing will befall you that does not come by permission of his fatherly hand. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus--not suffering, not persecution, not being hated or maligned for being a Christian. Therefore, do not be afraid, fear not, no matter what the threat of what might come your way. Your heavenly Father is watching over you. Trust in him and rest assured. “Nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.” Therefore, do not be afraid to confess Christ.

Jesus today gives us the reasons: “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value”--to your heavenly Father--“than many sparrows.” These are reasons why we are not afraid to confess Christ in the way we live and in the things we say.

Yes, let it be known to your friends and neighbors, let it be known to your family members and fellow church members, let it be known to the town of Bonne Terre and to the Parkland region: You and I, we belong to Jesus. He is our Savior. He is their Savior, too. Indeed, he is the Savior of the world, the only one there is. You and I, we are not ashamed of the gospel, neither are we afraid. The good news that we hear here in church we also speak out to the world. Proclaim it on the housetops: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and the Savior of the world. The church is not afraid to confess Christ.

Matthew 10:5a, 21-33 (ESV)

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them. . . .

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Great post! “We walk by faith, not by sight. We go by what God’s word tells us, not by what our circumstances seem to look like.” This point, as mundane as it is, is a major one that many have not learned. It’s far too common for those who claim Christ to interpret life and Scripture by experience or circumstances rather than submit our lives and circumstances to the authority of God’s Word.

Press on!

Did you actually preach this message ???

Yes, this morning. Did I do something wrong ???
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Oh, Nooooooooooooooooo

It’s great....

I read it once—

and reread it several more times.

Absorbing and delighting in the sparkling and dizzying beauty of what is.

That a Divine plan was revealed so simply and majestically for those that choose to look openly and honestly toward the Prince of Peace.

Thank you for this Sunday message.

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