And now we come to our last pericope, or section of scripture that gives us four very simple but difficult activities that carrying out Jesus' ministry consists of. The First is verbally acknowledging him to others.
Let's read verses 10.32-33:
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
The word "acknowledges" comes from the Greek word homologeo which implies a verbal confession. It is speaking about Jesus publicly, evangelism. Carrying out the ministry of Jesus consists simply with telling others his good news, telling your coworkers and neighbors about what Jesus has done for them. That is easier said than done is it not, yet it is very much needed. We need to live as if Jesus could come back at any moment, so that we will not put off telling others about him, but will just verbally confess the good news to a lost and dying world who is longing for the news we have for them.
If we knew that someone was dying of dehydration, and we found some water, wouldn't we tell that person where the water was? So why will we not tell others were the LIVING water is, the most important news that will save them from eternal damnation rather than eternal life? Here are some reasons: Fear, Comfort, maybe we don't think we know enough. But remember what Jesus says, the one that acknowledges his before men, he will acknowledge him before men, and then he will acknowledge us before the Father in heaven.
So first of all, carrying out Jesus' ministry consists of telling others about Jesus.
Second, carrying out Jesus' ministry consists of dividing people. Check out what Jesus says next:
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.
"What a paradox", said my professor in his commentary on the Life of Christ. The Prince of Peace brings division?! Yes. He brings peace, a whole relationship back with God, by telling the truth. Yet telling the truth always causes division.
The Truth of the matter is this, no one can get to the father except through Jesus. Not Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, Hindus, Atheists, or whatever else a person is. And this truth divides people. Yet...it is the truth. And we cannot and will not back down from it.
So carrying out the ministry of Jesus will always cause divisions, because truth causes divisions. Remember, our enemy is the Father of lies, and he seduces the world with words like tolerance. God is not a tolerant God, he is a loving God, and he came and died so that we could have peace with him. He has shown his love already through the cross, and the cross is the only thing that bridges that gap between us and him. So we cannot be tolerant, but we must be loving the same way.
So, Following Jesus consists of telling others about him, causing divisions and third, giving up everything.
This is what Jesus says in vs. 10.37-39:
As the famous theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, when Jesus calls us to follow him, to carry out his ministry, "he bids a man to come and die." What he means by those words is that he calls a man to give up everything, his family, his dreams, his passions and even his life. Now this is usually done in one of two ways.
The first is it is done all at once. This is what takes place when someone is martyred for their faith. I love the story of Polycarp, the disciple of the Apostle John in the early second century AD. He was the bishop (leader) of the church of Smyrna and was martyred for his faith. When he was arrested, he fed the soldiers so they would allow him to pray for two more hours, and then went willingly to the stadium to be burned alive. Yet they continued to try to get him to reject Jesus. Look at his story before he died:
But as Polycarp entered the stadium, there came a voice from heaven: “Be strong, Polycarp, and act like a man.” And no one saw the speaker, but those of our people who were present heard the voice. And then, as he was brought forward, there was a great tumult when they heard that Polycarp has been arrested. Therefore, when he was brought before him, the proconsul asked if he were Polycarp. And when he confessed that he was, the proconsul tried to persuade him to recant, saying, “Have
respect for your age,” and other such things as they are accustomed to say: “Swear by the Genius1 of Caesar; repent; say, ‘Away with the atheists!’” So Polycarp solemnly looked at the whole crowd of lawless heathen who were in the stadium, motioned toward them with his hand, and then (groaning as he looked up to heaven) said, “Away with the atheists!” But when the magistrate persisted and said, “Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile Christ,” Polycarp replied, “For eighty-six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
And they burned him alive.
This is one way to give up everything for the cause of Christ, you give it up all at once, you pay the ultimate price of martyrdom for Jesus. It's like if your life was a million dollars, you would lose it all at once. Not many of us will be martyred for our faith, so most of us will give up everything for christ the second way, one little bit at a time.
It's as if we took the million dollars that counted for our lives and exchanged it for a million dollars in quarters. And every day was giving up a quarter here and quarter there. Our lives consisted of slowly but methodically giving of ourselves every day for others. Think how long that would take, it is tough. it isn't a glamorous ending that comes to a climax, but it is a slow, methodical sacrifice that happens over a lifetime. This is how mush of us will give up everything for following Jesus. So give some quarters today.
Following Jesus, carrying out his ministry, consists of telling others about him, causing division, giving up everything and finally taking care of the poor and needy. This is what Jesus says in vs. 10.40-42:
40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
Yesterday I taught a class at school and I talked about the two most important things that are valued in our culture, Time and Money. We do an ok job at giving money to a world vision child or the church or a mission organization, but we do not do a good job of giving of our time to the weak and needy. Yet Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and he came to save the sinners, to spend time with children, and to hang out with fishermen. We are called to meet the needs of people, whether they are financial needs or emotional or physical needs.
This is what following Jesus, carrying out his ministry consists of: to tell others about him, to cause divisions with truth, to give up everything, and to meet people's needs.
Are you doing these? Are you carrying out his ministry? This is why you exist, so how are you doing with it?
Follow Jesus.
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