Are You Ready for Life With Christ?

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/16/17
Matthew 10:34-42


Are You Ready for Life With Christ?
I. It will arouse temporal strife.
II. It will bestow eternal rewards.


“I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.” Spoken or not, those words have launched countless people into the unexpected.

“I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.” So says the young woman of 18 as she heads off to college, not knowing exactly what to expect. She’ll be living away from home for the first time. How will that go? She’s not used to roommates or cafeteria food. And while she has become increasingly annoyed with her parents in the past couple years, the thought of not having them right there when she needs them is a little frightening.

“I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.” So says the young man as he makes his way to his first fulltime job. His formal education is complete, but that means the security blanket of the academic world has been ripped away from him. What will happen to him over the next 40 years of his life?

“I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.” So says the young couple who just found out that they are expecting their first child. They have been planning for this for months, but now that it’s really going to happen, they’re not so sure they’re ready.

“I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.” So says the man or woman who is leaving their place of employment for the last time and, simultaneously, is sailing off into the uncharted waters of retirement. He or she has always dreamed of retiring, but now that it’s finally here, they aren’t so sure they’re ready.

Changes in life. We’re not always sure we’re ready for them.

Whether you’re aware of it right now or not, a change of eternal proportions took place when you became a Christian. It might have occurred decades ago when your parents brought you to the baptismal font. There Jesus broke the devil’s chains on your life and held you in his loving arms. That’s a blessed relationship which he intends to last eternally, and, right now, so do you. But no matter how long you’ve been a Christian and will continue to be a Christian living in this sinful world, it never gets easier. That’s a nice way of saying it’s tough to remain a Christian.

In this morning’s text from Matthew 10, Jesus is preparing his disciples for a short mission trip. He wants them to be fully aware of what they’ll face. We wonder if they were ready. But a better question is, “Are you?” Are you ready for life with Christ? Keep that question before you as we take Jesus’ words of instruction to heart.

Part I.

Are you familiar with the term, “Theology of Glory”? It’s a term used to describe the type of Christian theology which tells you with divine certainty that, if you seek the Lord with all your heart, if you truly commit all your ways to him, if you try to find peace and truth within your heart, all will be well in this life. You’ll enjoy success and happiness in abundance. It’s an appealing teaching. After all, who doesn’t want success and happiness in this life? The problem? It’s not biblical. Jesus never said anything about the Theology of Glory in this life in any verse of the Bible.

In fact, Jesus states just the opposite in the word of God before us this morning. He states, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

When you first heard those words a minute ago, were they difficult to listen to? In fact, did you offer a mild, silent protest? Perhaps you were thinking, “But wait a minute! Jesus called himself the Prince of Peace. We frequently refer to the truth that he came to bring us peace. So what’s this contradiction? He speaks about strife and a sword between close family members. Just what does he mean?”

Let’s let Jesus explain himself. He states, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” We use that word “love” in many different ways. For instance, I love my wife and children. I love serving as your pastor. I love the Green Bay Packers and brats on the grill. And I love Jesus, too. I just used the word “love” to mean four different things. Let’s focus on loving Jesus. How do we love Jesus more than all others? I can’t hug Jesus and I may not get the same warm, fuzzy feeling about loving Jesus as I do my family members.

So what does it mean to love Jesus? It means that Jesus means more to you than everyone else. That’s the 1st Commandment. He demands that we put him before everyone and everything in our lives. What he means here in our text is that we will follow Jesus and uphold his holy and true word rather than compromise it to save our relationship with someone in our lives. Even if your father or mother try to obstruct your relationship with Jesus in some way, you are to love Jesus more than them by holding to what Jesus says.

That won’t be easy. For some of you it will cause constant hardship. It will be that ever-present rift in your relationship. They just don’t understand your commitment to Christ and they will encourage you to do what they want rather than what Jesus wants. But Jesus won’t settle for second place in your life. Your commitment to him will bring hardships. Jesus calls those hardships you suffer for him the cross that he asks you bear.

Are you ready? Are you ready for life with Christ? It will arouse temporal strife.

Are you ready? Many times you and I are. We take our stance against a godless world. We’re upset with the way our world confronts and opposes our Christian faith and we stand armed with the word of our God and shout, “Bring it on! We stand with the Lord Jesus!” But at other times our bravado isn’t so evident. In fact, we realize that standing with Jesus is going to dampen, damage or destroy our relationship with a loved one. So we decide to say nothing about their sinful choices or their sinful priorities. We allow the schedule they have determined for us to marginalize our time with our Lord. And we don’t dare say anything because, well, they might not speak with us for a long time. Worst of all, we give them the impression that Jesus matters to us as long as he lets us do as we please. “Anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” I know what he means. Do you? But that’s why Jesus left everything to be our Savior. He left behind eternal glory with his Father in heaven to be our Savior from sin. And he let go of everything that stood in the way of his work to be our Savior, even when that was his own mother and siblings who were opposing him. Jesus did what we don’t and can’t do perfectly. And then he died to forgive all those times when our allegiance to him was lacking, to say the least, and absent, to say the worst. He did all that so that we can have life with him. Are you ready for life with Christ? You are by the power of the Lord Jesus who lives in you.

Part II.

There are many positions of employment I would never want to fill. One of them is the press secretary for the president of the United States. Can you imagine trying to explain and defend what someone else is thinking, saying and doing? I have trouble keeping track of the things I think and say and do myself. Doing so for someone else? No thank-you!

But listen to Jesus speak to people who have life with him. “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 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.” Do you recall the context in which Jesus spoke these words? He was sending his twelve disciples out on a limited mission trip. In other words, they were to be his spokesmen and he gave them authority. If people receive them as they speak his word, they are really receiving Jesus. The opposite is also true. Rejecting them and what they say is rejecting Jesus.

Obviously, the twelve disciples are not doing that work any longer. Instead, you and I are the mouths of Jesus. He has called each one of us to speak his word. Will people receive you? If so, they are receiving Jesus. Will people reject you? If so, they are really rejecting Jesus. So don’t take things personally. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus. When you speak his word, he speaks through you and the results are his responsibility, not yours.

As his people we are also the finger of God. Jesus declared, “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.”

Have you ever done something for someone because you are a Christian, and no one, not even the recipient, seemed to notice? That can become very discouraging. But don’t look for recognition from others. The only One who matters knows. He knows you did it for him. And because you did it out of love for Jesus, your act of service will be rewarded. Jesus promises you heaven. Not that your good deed earns heaven. It’s a reward of grace—God’s love for you. So, serve Jesus and keep smiling! He knows what you do and he’s reserved a place in heaven for you because you trust in him.

Are you ready for life with Christ? I pray so, because it will bestow eternal rewards.

Do you realize, fellow Christian, how liberating that truth is? You don’t earn eternal life; it’s yours by faith in Jesus who earned it for you. And even when no other human being realizes what you did for someone because you love Jesus, Jesus sees. Jesus knows. Jesus is pleased. Even if it’s just a cup of cool water for a child. Jesus redeemed you with his death on the cross and rose again to empower that kind of service to him and others. Are you ready for life with Christ? With the power of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus living in you, you are absolutely. Serve him with joy! Amen.