“You Are of Great Value”
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Gospel of Matthew 10:26-39

Introduction: For those of you who know me, you know that I’m not a morning person. I like to stay up late, and sleep in. But those who are morning people have told me how beautiful the early morning can be. Those who are morning people talk about getting up early, grabbing a cup of coffee, maybe the morning paper, and enjoying the quiet and calm of the morning, with maybe just the noise of the birds to be heard.
Often, our lives can seem calm in this way, and yet can become chaotic quite quickly. Especially if we decide to truly be a disciple of the Lord, and seek to share the message of salvation with others, As we talked about last week, taking advantage of the opportunities God gives us to share our faith.
This morning, as we look at Matthew 10:26-39, we will not be looking at external adjustments like “dressing for success,” “power language,” or “popularity schemes.” We will be looking at attitudes…..godly attitudes…..a way of viewing our world as modeled by our Master, Jesus Christ. A look at what we should fear, and what should not cause us fear. A look at how valued we are in the context of this world. A look at where we will find peace, and where we will not.
I believe this sermon will help prepare us for our Lenten Season, which starts on Wednesday with our Ash Wednesday service. A time of the year where we are to make extra preparations and an extra effort to be right with God.


I. Whom to Fear- (Matthew 10:26-28)

a. What do you fear?- Example- Not too long ago, after I had written my
sermon, I deleted parts of my sermon that are not part of the outline so I could send the outline to Susan. After which it asked me, ‘Do you wish to save the changes?’ I said no because usually I have the sermon on one document, and then a copy of the sermon to make the outline. After I deleted it I discovered that I had not saved my sermon. I HAD ERASED MY WHO SERMON!!
My day quickly went from calm, to chaos in a split second. I was now going to have to re-write my sermon. Have you ever had something like that happen to you? Maybe you deleted something on your computer, or maybe you lost something of value, or maybe you irritated somebody and caused a great conflict.
These are some of the things that we fear in our life. And yet, are they really things to be feared? In Matthew 10, verse 26, Jesus says- “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” Two times in the first part of this passage Jesus encourages the disciples to not fear. Do not fear those who have persecuted you. Any suffering you encounter will one day be brought to light, and those who you have suffered by will be punished and because of your suffering you will receive blessing!
Now if I asked you the question “What do you fear?” we would all have different answers. Our answers would range from things like speaking in public, to heights, to snakes, to losing our health. But one that is shared by many, is having to talk to people who are not open to the Lord. There is something about rejection that causes us fear. There is something about persecution that causes us fear. Now I would have to go along with you that suffering, and persecution are not on my top 10 list of things to experience, but they are not something to be feared.
b. Understanding fear- EX. A couple of years ago, when I was the Vice
President of our small Townhouse complex, it came to my attention that the President of the complex had been overly aggressive, and maybe even somewhat abusive verbally to some of the homeowners. A conversation had to occur over this. And so at the board meeting immediately following this we had to discuss this issue along with some others. Now I could have worried all week long about this conversation, and I could have had some fear over how he was going to respond, but this is not really worthy of fear. (In the end we talked it over and worked it out)
Now the dictionary says that fear is: “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” And in hearing this definition you might say: “Yeah, see I should have fear for those things that cause in me an unpleasant emotion or anticipation of what will come to me.” But Jesus wants us to think of fear in different terms.
In verse 28, Jesus says- “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.” Jesus is saying that many situations that cause us fear, like potential conflict with another, is not serious enough to warrant fear. We should treat these things with a healthy respect, and be mature and responsible in how we approach them, but they should not cause us fear. We therefore should not fear what people think or say, for people can do us no real harm in this way, and ultimately the power of people ceases at death. The danger is not in the judgement of people upon us, but the judgement of God. The one thing that should cause us to fear is to spend eternity in hell!
Illus. Some kids were having a discussion about death one day, and Jim says: “When you die, they bury you in the ground and your soul goes to heaven, but your body can’t go to heaven because it’s too crowded up there already.” Judy then responds: “Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it’s hot all the time like in Florida.” Then John says: “Maybe I’ll die someday, but I hope I don’t die on my birthday because it’s no fun to celebrate your birthday if you’re dead.” Marsha joins the conversation and says: “When you die, you don’t have to do homework in heaven, unless your teacher is there too.” (1001 Humorous Illus., p. 100, # 233)
Hell does exist, and it will not be a fun place, for it will be a place where we are eternally separated from God and His love. We need to fear this, for it is eternal. And we need to fear this for those who do not know Jesus as well.

II. You Are of Great Value- (Matthew 10:29-33; Psalm 136)

a. Our value expressed- So Jesus goes on to tell us why we are not to fear.
He tells us that God values the life of a sparrow. And if this is the case, won’t God care for us all the more, since we have been created in His image? And so as the Father is fully aware of what happens to the sparrow, so He will have all knowledge of what is to come to us. And God will make it all profitable.
Example- There is a story of a man who lived in West Texas, and one day during tornado season, a tornado came to their small town. The father hustled his kids indoors and had them lie on the floor, and laid a mattress over them. One of the boys peaked out from under the mattress, and saw how his father was not hiding under protection, but was standing by the open window, watching the funnel twist and churn across the prairie. As the boy saw his father standing there, he knew where he wanted to be. So he struggled out of his mother’s arms, and out from under the mattress, and ran to wrap his arms around his father’s legs. (In the Eye of the Storm, Lucado, p. 202)
We are in God’s hands, so we should not fear! The safest place to be in the time of a storm, or potential storm, is next to the Father. If we let ourselves follow the call and are faithful in living our lives as Jesus did, for the Father, then we will have nothing to fear, and all will be well in the end!!
Psalm 136 is a wonderful psalm that tells about God being the God of creation, who made the heavens and the earth, and the sun and the moon and the stars; then it goes on to tell the story about how God is the God of history, the God who rescued Israel from Egypt and who fought her battles for her; then finally it goes on to speak of God as the God “who gives food to all flesh.” The God who made the world and who controls all history is the God who gives us food and watches over us in our every need.
But even more, this God is the God who values us, for He created us as well. Jesus tells us that God knows us so well that He even knows the number of the hairs on our head. God has intimate and detailed knowledge of us. This is how much He cares!
b. Value returned- And yet, Jesus wants us to show that God has value to
us. So Jesus wants us to understand and acknowledge that it is through Christ and Christ alone that we have salvation. It is because we have value that Christ would die and make it possible for us to have this relationship and this eternal home in heaven.
Our time here on earth is relatively short, and the time in eternity is long.
Our time here on earth is a time for decision-making. Who will we follow? Will we value our relationship with Jesus Christ? Will we follow the call and speak for Him? Those who are true to the word and confess Jesus here on earth, will find Jesus Christ standing by their side in the hour of God’s judgment. Jesus will then acknowledge us and come to our aid when Satan comes to accuse us before God.
Jesus will then pronounce our name before the heavenly Father. If we have been true to Jesus in our life, Jesus will be true to us in eternity. But if we have been ashamed of our Lord and of his name, He will likewise be ashamed of us at the time of judgment. These are heavy words, but true.
So our courage to speak and live for the Lord is found on the conviction that whatever happens here on earth, we cannot drift from the love of God. He will not leave us or forsake us, but we will be forever in the care of God. If that is so, then why should we be afraid of anything?

III. Not Peace, But a Sword- (Matthew 10:34-39)

a. The choice- Kids come up with some amazing questions. Sometimes the questions are actually profound and thought provoking. Like the little girl who came up to her father one day and asked: “Why do I want to do bad?” Which is really the question: “If sin separates me from God by causing me to do the bad, why doesn’t God separate me from sin?”

Behind our actions is a choice, a choice to do the right thing, or a choice to do the wrong thing. And sometimes the wrong thing seems like the right thing, and sometimes the right things, seems like the wrong thing. Like Jesus’ statement in verse 34: “Do not come to 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…”

Now when you first read this, it seems wrong. Isn’t God a God of peace? Isn’t God loving? Then why would He want to cause conflict and dissension?

Well, the answer to this, is that the peace of Jesus is the cross. But the cross is the sword of God, and this sword creates division. And one of the places that it causes the greatest division is in the family. The hardest people to share God’s message of salvation with is your family. I know this from experience, as I have tried for years to share with my brother and my sister.

So we see that Jesus brings to us this call of the Christian that is most demanding and uncompromising. As messengers of Jesus, this rejection will even come from our family. It will divide us because our family members do not believe what we believe. The more committed we are to telling our family members about Jesus and salvation, often times the more division that is caused. You cannot have the conviction, that you know the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, and not offend people with this message.

b. The decision- Illus. You may have heard this story before, but whenever I come across it I am always amazed……….(“Steve Lyons Drops His Pants!” Lucado, Eye of the Storm, p. 247) Steve Lyons, who was a baseball playe,r who played in the 80’s and 90’s, had a very memorable game in Detroit in 1990. After sliding headfirst into first base to beat out a bunt hit, Lyons, maybe forgetting where he was, pulled down his pants to empty the dirt out and brush off his shirttail. After a few seconds (and a reaction from the crowd of over 14,000), he realized what he had just done and quickly pulled them up, humorously embarrassed.

Now the phrase “Don’t get caught with your pants down” usually refers to someone not getting caught by surprise. One of the things I love about Jesus is that He doesn’t want us to be unaware of anything. That is why He tells it to us straight. And so Jesus tells us that we must decide. As he says to us in vss. 37-38- “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 up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Jesus wanted people to know that God must be first in our lives over all other things. Being faithful to living for God each day must be equally as important. We cannot compromise this for anyone or anything. So Jesus says, if you and I don’t step up and answer the call to tell people about Jesus, and by doing this show how much we value God and God’s children, then who will? God’s love for us is shown in the cross, and in calling disciples who are willing to go out and tell others about God’s love and God’s plan.

Conclusion: We will not be able to live our lives to fulfillment unless we are living them for God. That is what Jesus meant when He said that “….those who lose their life will find it.” Too often we make choices with only ourselves in mind, and not God in mind. This is not the right choice, and ultimately will not bring us the fulfillment we desire. In this promise that Jesus speaks of, we hear the voice of Him who holds the keys of eternal life, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who goes to the cross and the resurrection, and with Him takes His own. May we choose to be faithful followers of Jesus, and show value to Jesus as He shows value to us. Amen.