Things Your Christmas Cards Never Tell You


Sermon by Billy Dempsey on December 6, 2020 Matthew 10:34-42

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Our Scripture reading will be from Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 42. As you turn there and we get ready to pray and to read, this is the season for Christmas cards. Your mailbox may be brimming with all kinds of cards. Of course the ones we’re most excited about are the ones we receive from friends and family. All kinds of Christmas cards – sweet ones, soothing ones, sappy ones. My least favorite ones are the ones with glitter. Glitter gets everywhere and it seems like the sappier the message, the more the glitter! If they choose to start with glitter, they just never stop! So lots of glitter sometimes! My favorite cards, of course, and yours probably are too, are the ones with the family photographs. It’s always good to check in on how friends and loved ones have grown over the years. Everybody hasn’t grown up; some have grown out, as you well know!

Actually, the ones with crying children really kind of warm my heart! That’s not because I’m cruel and I love to see crying children, but how hard is it to get everybody all lined up and dressed and pressed just right for that perfect family photo? There’s always a child, isn’t there, who is just on the edge of breakdown and the meltdown comes as the shutter snaps. We’ve been that family who, after taking a bunch of photos, just have to go ahead and send out one that’s got the crying child because everybody else looks good! It’s the only photo where everybody else was kind of looking at the camera and everybody looks good and the crying child just has to live with the consequences! My heart goes out to mothers at that time because they work so hard to make that moment happen, to make that moment perfect and just right, and I feel like mom is either on the edge of tears herself or she’s contemplating murder when I see those cards!

I think I’ve kept – and maybe this says more about me than anybody else – I’ve kept, for 20 years, the card that has irritated me the most when I received it. I’ve got it right here. It came from a business when I was pastoring a church in Missouri. It came from a business. It came at Christmas. You would expect it to be a Christmas card, and it is a card for the birds of the states. And it just made me mad. It just made me mad! Why in the world not have something related to Jesus, the incarnation! I was mad enough to keep it all these years and every now and then I preach a sermon about Christmas cards! And as I prepared this passage it’s kind of made me think maybe my business friend wasn’t so far off the mark. As we read this passage here in just a second, you’ll see maybe that my business friend is thinking, “It’s too risky to talk about Jesus. He’s polarizing. He’s divisive. I don’t want to be divided from your business in the next year so let’s just talk about something else. Everybody likes birds! Here’s a nice card about birds!” Maybe that’s what he was thinking. Maybe that’s closer to what Jesus is saying than I gave him credit for, at least in this part of Jesus’ teaching ministry, for the last 20 years. So let’s pray and let’s read our passage.

Father, open our minds and open our hearts. We need to hear from You. We need to hear from You. Feed our souls. Shepherd Your flock. Lead us to, even this night as we hear Your Word and sit under Your Word, lead us to green pastures and still waters. Father, we love You. Thank You for the ultimate Shepherd, the ultimate Shepherd who has us in His sheepfold. Bless us now, Father, as we hear from Your Word. We make our prayer in His name. And all God’s people said, amen.

Matthew 10 verse 34, to the end of the chapter:

“‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.’”

The grass withers, the flower fades, the Word of our God stands forever.

Let’s understand something as we begin to walk through this passage. The baby of Bethlehem, the Lord Jesus, is a polarizing person. His Gospel is a polarizing Gospel message and it brings about division, even in our most intimate relationships. But He also creates connections with people that sustain and encourage. A two-point outline. So that will encourage you that you won’t be here all night! Costly separations – we find Jesus talking about in verses 34 to 39. Sustaining connections – He turns to, verses 40 to 42.

Let’s talk about the context of our passage, first of all. Jesus is preparing His disciples for their first missionary journey. They’ll preach in His name and they’ll heal diseases. They’ll cast our demons. He’s telling them that their message, even despite all these signs and wonders, their message will not be universally welcomed. It will be welcomed by some, but others will actively oppose them, even hate them. Eventually, they’ll be in imprisoned and beaten and eventually they will even be killed. It’s in that preparation that Jesus makes the comments we’re thinking about here tonight.

Costly Separations

Let’s think about the costly separations that Jesus refers to, verses 34 to 39. First of all, how shocking is it to hear, especially this time of the year, Jesus Himself say, “I’ve not come to bring peace, but a sword.” What about Isaiah chapter 9, one of our favorite Advent passages, that tells us that the Messiah will be the Prince of peace? What about Luke chapter 2 – that vision of the shepherds or that scene of the shepherds hearing from the angels? And as the birth of the Lord Jesus is announced to them, they say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased!” But also remember Simeon and his words through Joseph and Mary when they present their firstborn baby at the temple and they offer the sacrifices required for purification and for redemption of the firstborn. Simeon says, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed,” he says to Mary, “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts will be revealed.” That doesn’t sound very peaceful.

Certainly the preaching of John the Baptist wasn’t very peaceful. Just a sample from Matthew chapter 3 when the Pharisees and the Sadducees were coming to the baptism to hear what John was preaching. “You brood of vipers!” That’s not a very peace introduction to a sermon! “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” A little bit later he says to them, “Even now, the ax is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And his conclusion, his main conclusion to that sermon is, “His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” That doesn’t sound very peaceful. So Jesus isn’t really telling us anything new about Himself or about His Gospel, but He’s certainly reminding all His disciples then, as well as now, of realities we’d rather not think about or have to deal with – realities like costly separations.

Jesus illustrates here in His words of preparation to His disciples and us, Jesus illustrates with the close relationships even within the family. He’s saying that the Gospel will divide even parents from children. A person’s enemies, Jesus said, will be those of his own household. It’s not a very warm, happy thought. Jesus is quoting here from the prophet, Micah, and Micah is describing for his hearers the rampant wickedness and hardness of heart that will bring about the judgment of God. Micah preaching in a contemporaneous time with Isaiah about 150 years before God brought the Babylonians to decimate the people of Judah on account of their rampant wickedness and hardness of heart. Because of Jesus, even family, if they persist in hard-heartedness towards Him, becomes enemies. Even family becomes strangers. That’s painful any time of the year. That’s frightful. Who wants that nightmare? That’s costly. And we quail when we think about that price.

Jesus knows that. He knows that about His twelve disciples and He knows that about us, which is why He makes the next statement. He kind of doubles down on this idea. “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” Clearly, Jesus isn’t telling us that we can’t love our family or our friends; that we can only love Him. Of course He’s not saying that. But just as clearly He is telling us, “Don’t be deterred from following Me by family’s hatred or close one’s hatred. And don’t be drawn away from following Me by your love for them.” Matthew Henry says something interesting in his comments on this passage. He talks about putting such value on our interest in Christ “as to prefer Him above every other interest.” To prefer Him above every other interest. He goes on to say this. “If religion is worth anything, then it’s worth everything, and therefore all who believe the truth of it will soon come up to the price of it. And they who make it their business and their bliss,” that is, the Gospel, “they who make it their business and their bliss will make everything else yield to it.” They who make the Gospel their business and their bliss, they who make Jesus their business and their bliss, will make everything else yield to Him.

Those comments of Henry gets us into the territory where Jesus’ use of this concept of worthy and not worthy, in the passage we’re looking at tonight, Jesus uses that language three times. We always know that those uses, those three times, those repeated usages – Jesus is emphasizing something here. It’s a Biblical, stylistic usage. Three times – that tells you something; you’ve got to pay attention to that. So He uses that language three times in this passage and He uses the same language three times earlier in these preparatory remarks before He sends out the twelve. In verses 11 to 13, Jesus talks about finding the person, as they go from town to town, finding the person who is worthy in those towns that they will enter and preach in. And staying in that home and greeting that home with a greeting of peace; greeting the family of that home with a greeting of peace. If a family is worthy, He says, “Your peace will rest there. If they are not worthy, let your peace return to you.” We hear “worthy” and “not worthy” and we think merit. We hear Jesus talking about “he who loves father and mother more than Me, he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” We hear that language and we hear merit. Who merits the Gospel? The whole point of the Gospel is there is no merit among us. That’s why we need a Savior who has indeed got perfect righteousness, and by His righteousness He makes a place in His Father’s family for all who place their confidence in Him and His sacrifice on their behalf. That’s the Gospel. And there’s no merit for us there.

But merit is not what is being communicated by Jesus’ use of this word, “worthy.” The word actually communicates to Jesus’ hearers the notion of balance and compatibility. Jesus is talking about a response to Him, a response to the Gospel that is compatible with the message; one that’s commensurate with the message or the claim that’s presented. We hear that in what Matthew Henry just told us. He talks about a religion that is worth everything. And if we believe it, we come up to the price of it and we prefer Christ before any other love or lover. Jesus is telling us we can’t be deterred from following Him by the hatred of those we love. We can’t be drawn away from following Him by the love we bear, even our closest relations, or discouraged from following Him by suffering the cross that we will bear. What is that cross? That cross is any price, any price that we pay in order to do the will of God. If we follow Christ, we will bear a cross. Jesus will cost us and He will cost us everything. He will cost us everything.

Jesus offers a statement that kind of summarizes this point in pithier language. And I believe as we think about it, it gives us a glimpse into the very heart of His Father. Listen to this. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Think of finding as keeping, holding, grasping, and losing as the opposite – losing as letting go; in this case, letting go of our lives for Jesus’ sake. And let’s ask the question, “What is precious to us? What is precious enough to hold onto at all costs?” Let me stop right here and note that I am avoiding the obvious Lord of the Rings illustration at this point! And if you stop once there – I’m not going to go into The Lord of the Rings illustration at this point! What is precious? And what is precious enough to hold onto at all costs? These words, “Whoever finds his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” are the words that help us understand what following Jesus really is at its most basic level. And if we look beyond them, we can see into the very heart of God.

Didn’t the Father let go? Didn’t the Father lose what was precious to Him – His only begotten Son – that He might redeem what sin had ruined? Didn’t the Lord Jesus let go of what was precious to Him – that intimate, immediate fellowship of equality with His Father to become the agent of that redemption? Paul says, “He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself and made Himself nothing.” Wasn’t the invasion of the incarnation, the arrival of the seed of the woman come to crush the serpent’s head, the Redeemer come to extend the blessing of redemption as far as the curse is found, to roll back the effects of Adam’s fall? The most basic truth of our discipleship, the truth of losing our life to find it, that letting go, that costliest separation, is rooted in the very heart of God. It’s the engine of the incarnation. It’s the engine of our own redemption. If Jesus and His message are polarizing, even to dear ones, creating costly separations as we love Him before all others, making enemies even in our own households, then He also crates family of strangers.

Sustaining Connections

Look again at verses 40 to 42. “Whoever receives you, receives Me. And whoever receives Me, receives Him who sent Me The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. The one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, truly I say to you he will by no means lose his reward.”

Jesus offers His summary statement first and then He fleshes it out in the following two statements. What is it to receive? At its most basic, it means to accept. In this case, accept the message of the messengers that Jesus is sending out, doesn’t it, to believe what they’re saying and to believe on Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah sent from God, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. In the context of the rest of the chapter, though, “receive” also means “help.” Remember, these are disciples who are leaving with no extra clothing, with no extra staff, with no extra food, with no extra shoes, with no extra money. They’re leaving barehanded to do move from town to town, from village to village, to proclaim Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and heal diseases, cast our demons. People will open their homes to these messengers that Jesus has sent and they’ll make their food available to them. If they need clothing or shoes or anything for their journey, those who receive the message of the Gospel will provide it. That’s what Jesus is telling them and that’s what happens in this missionary journey. Jesus is telling His twelve, and us, that if He creates these costly separations for His disciples, even among their closest relations, He brings others who will sustain us. He brings others who will sustain us. Others will be family, made so by our common union in Him.

Note Jesus’ remark about “those who receive Me and Him who sent Me.” He’s talking about the ultimate goal of faithful discipleship – fellowship with the Father. “If you receive Me, you receive Him who sent Me. I bring the Father with Me, and you receive the Father as you receive Me.” Think of the fellowship around the table with the family housing the messengers of Jesus and understand that it mimics and foreshadows the glorious, intimate fellowship with the Lamb and with God the Father that’s the very promise of the new heavens and the new earth. You’ve had that experience; I’ve had that experience. Haven’t we? Our union in the Gospel brings strangers close in and we know a fellowship and a sweetness and a nearness of heart that’s beyond description. And maybe you’ve said in those times, I’ve said in those times – “Heaven is going to be like this! This is a little taste of heaven!” And that’s exactly what Jesus is telling us here. There’s a taste of heaven involved in these sustaining connections that He brings; those whose hearts are in parallel with the message of the Gospel and the message, the messenger that brings it. And there’s a partnership, there is a communion, there is a closeness, there is a nearness that can’t be manufactured and it can’t be created. It’s created in the moment the Gospel is clearly communicated and understood, when spiritual realities are embraced by those who were strangers yesterday and are brothers and sisters today. There’s a fellowship, a wonder, a wonder. “I feel like I know you better than I know my own family.” Have you said? I’ve said that! “I feel like you understand me. You understand what’s important to me. You understand why Jesus means so much to me and I’ve never been able to get my family to understand that.” You’ve said that perhaps. I have.

The cost of separation is the cost of divisions that Jesus makes. They’re painful. They’re still painful. They hurt. They still hurt. But how sweet those sustaining connections that He also makes as our discipleship, our discipleship, our walking and living as disciples, is shared by another who’s walking and living as a disciple. We sustain one another, don’t we? We build one another up. We help one another out. We receive one another. “He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet, he who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person” – Jesus is talking about that help, that comfort, that sustenance, that support. It mimics the fellowship of the marriage supper of the Lamb. It foreshadows what is the heart of the new heavens and the new earth. Intimate fellowship with God the Father and with the Lamb.

Note, as we move toward a conclusion here, that Jesus makes three references – another repetition here – three references to reward. And let’s just be honest. Just us chickens here; let’s just be honest, that makes us uncomfortable. Why did He have to go and talk about reward? We are supposed to be living at a higher level, a higher plane, and we don’t need reward. We don’t need that kind of motivation. We want to be the ones doing the right thing because it’s the right thing. We want to be faithful disciples because that’s what He wants us to do to be faithful disciples. So don’t sully this up, Jesus, with talk about reward! That’s demeaning! No. If you read through the Gospels you find that Jesus is not bashful, ever, to talk about reward. He talks about reward a lot. There’s a reason for that. He’s motivating us. He’s motivating us. He’s putting out there something for us to look for, to aim toward, to remember. Remember what I said just a moment ago. We can be discouraged from bearing the cross, from paying the price to do God’s will. Jesus costs us everything. He really does. That’s not just preacher talk. He costs us everything. But He’s also telling us that’s not all the story. That’s not all the story. There’s more than you can guess at ahead of you. There’s more than you can even imagine that’s waiting for you if you’ll be My faithful disciple. There’s more than the eye of man could measure and the thought of man could conceive.

There’s a reward. There’s a reward. A faithful disciple is rewarded. Three times Jesus talks about a reward in terms of the prophet’s reward, the righteous person’s reward, the assurance that reward, even for the simplest act of kindness to a disciple, will not be lost. Jesus is motivating us, and let’s allow ourselves to be motivated. Let’s allow ourselves to be motivated. Maybe let’s come down from our high horse, our spiritual high horse just a little bit, and let Jesus talk to us about where we really are. He’s motivating us and telling us, “There is something beautiful for you. There is something wonderful beyond words for you as you faithfully follow Me.”

He’s told us how costly it is to follow Him. He’s telling us now that there are sustaining connections with others who become family to us. Now He tells us if we will extend ourselves – he who receives the prophet, he who receives the righteous person, he who gives that cup of cold water – if we will extend ourselves that way to other disciples who are also paying great cost because of Jesus, there’s reward. There’s blessing. Jesus is wanting to lift our eyes beyond the pain of our own discipleship. Our own discipleship hurts. Cross-bearing hurts. Costly separations hurt. He’s wanting to lift our eyes beyond our own pain, the pain of our own cross, to see that others are bearing crosses too and that we can be part of sustaining them in their cross-bearing just as others have helped sustain us in our cross-bearing. Other people need the same help that we need. Other people bear the same burden that we bear. Other people cry the same tears that we cry. Other people need that encouragement and that sustaining connection, that family of strangers as it were, that Jesus makes of us. He calls us to give them the gift of family. By Christ and the Gospel, strangers become family. And He calls us to make it so. He calls us to look for strangers that we might family them. Disciples who need support. That’s what He calls us to do. And He tells us, even for the simplest of kindnesses, reward is not lost. Even for the simplest of kindnesses, reward is not lost.

A Christmas card never told you that. A costly separation. A sustaining connection that helps us see a glorious, a glorious future in the Father’s house. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we thank You. We don’t want to pay prices, and yet we find the Lord Jesus calling to us, wooing us, drawing us and telling us, “There’s a cross with your name on it and you’ve got to bear it to follow Me.’ And along the way, you give strangers who sustain and help and comfort. And we have such sweet, sweet, sweet fellowship together and it does make us hungry for heaven. So Father, make us hungrier still for that great reward. Father help us do what You call us to do and help us remember Your kindness and Your faithfulness to us. Hear us. We thank You especially for the Lord Jesus, the greatest gift that ever was. And we make our prayer in His name, amen.

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