Why Not Share the Gospel?

8th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/14/24 Mark 6:7-13 Why Not Share the Gospel? I. You have your Lord’s authority. II. You have your Lord’s promise. III. You know what to expect. Imagine that what I’m holding in my hand right now are two tickets for an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world for two weeks, and I’m offering them to you. It won’t cost you a penny. You can bring a loved one with you. You just need to choose a location, pack your luggage, and get to the airport. What’s your reaction? Before you answer that, let me add this important bit of information: You can take this trip any time in the next 24 months. Now, would you take these tickets if I offered them to you? I’m guessing you would. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Even if you aren’t ready now to take a trip, you can surely choose a destination and make the proper preparations in the next 24 months to do so. Two free tickets? You’re all in!! But now, let me change one small bit of information. The offer of two free tickets to anywhere in the world for two weeks is still valid. But here’s the change: You must take the tickets today, choose a location, and leave no later than noon tomorrow. Now, would you do it? Are you still in? Perhaps some of you are. But more than likely most of you would reply, “I’d like to, but I can’t.” Can’t? Why not? It’s free! What an opportunity! Why not take it? Because there are other factors to consider. You have a job, and you must be there tomorrow morning. Or, you have children, and you can’t arrange for their care at such short notice. Or, you have a very important function to attend next week, and you’re already committed to participate. Or, you’re having your kitchen remodeled starting tomorrow and you can’t reschedule it. Or, you’re recovering from surgery or an injury, or you’re helping someone else do so, and you just can’t up and leave. My point is this: With any opportunity, even tremendous opportunities, there are other factors to consider. In this morning’s worship theme, we’re reminded that Jesus prepares his disciples to share the gospel. We hear about how he sent the twelve out in pairs on a short mission journey as a way of preparing them for what he would call them to do after his death and resurrection, and that was to send them out into the world to share the gospel. And that’s something he’s still doing. He is still sending out his disciples, his followers, his people, you and me, to share the gospel, which is the good news that Jesus is the Savior of the world. He suffered and died and rose again to assure all people that their sins are forgiven and eternal life in heaven is theirs. That’s our message to share. You and I have that calling. You and I are the ones Jesus is sending out to share the gospel today. So why not do so? What an opportunity—to make an eternal difference in someone’s life, to be the means by which God gives that person eternal life with him! Why not share the gospel? Well, there are other considerations, aren’t there? Maybe the timing isn’t right. Maybe you have other obligations. Maybe you fear what might happen. Maybe you’re hoping someone else will do it for you. I get it. But the Lord answers each one of those reactions this morning here in this account from Mark 6. So, let’s keep the question before us, which is actually a personal challenge to you. Why not share the gospel? Let’s see how Jesus bolsters us to do that very thing. I. I’m not an attorney, but I know that your position in any legal situation is critical. Is your position strong? Do you have a preponderance of evidence, testimony, and legal precedence on your side? Or is your position weak? Can you only hope that the jury will be sympathetic and see things your way? It doesn’t matter how you want things to turn out for you. Your position now is what matters. Is it strong or weak? As a disciple of Jesus Christ, as one of his followers, you have a position of strength. You have the almighty God behind you, and you have his eternal truth on your side. Listen again to these words of our text, “[Jesus] sent them out and gave them authority.” And near the end of our text we hear, “They went out and preached that people should repent.” Jesus sent them out—the almighty Son of God. They didn’t go out on their own; they went when Jesus sent them, with his authority. And they went with his word. Mark doesn’t tell us that Jesus told them what to preach, but Matthew, in his relating this account, states that very thing. He told them to preach, “Repent!” That means to be convicted of your sins and your need for a Savior, and to believe the good news that Jesus is that Savior from sin. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached that same message earlier. The disciples of Jesus were directed to continue it. And that’s our message, too—calling people to recognize their sins and to trust in Jesus. And we do so because the Lord Jesus has told us to. So why not do so? Why not share the gospel? You have the Lord’s authority. Many of you know that I’ve had two knee replacement surgeries. Both successes. But what if my surgeon in the operating room handed me the surgical tools and told me to perform the surgery myself, assuring me that he would remain right there and coach me through it. Not a chance! No one would do so. But that’s what Jesus tells us to do. He no longer preaches his word to others. Instead, he has called each of us to do so. And that’s OK, because we go with his authority to share his gospel. None of it is our doing. It’s all his! So why not share the gospel? Give us a few minutes and we can think of a million reasons. It’s just what I shared with you at the beginning of this sermon. We’ll go, but only under our terms and conditions, when it suits us, as soon as we feel prepared. And while we delay, we secretly hope the opportunity will pass or someone will share the gospel in our place. It’s shameful, isn’t it? And I know that shame full well. It’s as if I’ve convinced myself that I don’t have what it takes now to share the gospel. And that’s telling Jesus his authority doesn’t mean much. But he’s heard that before. It’s what his enemies constantly used to attack him. And yet, on the cross, he spoke his words of forgiveness to them, to all the world, to me, to you. By the grace of God, we know and believe in that forgiveness. And that makes us just the right ones to share the gospel with others. Do it, with your Lord’s authority! II. Getting ready to take a trip can be stressful, especially if you’re the type of person who wants everything on your trip to be as wonderful as possible for you and everyone else involved. We’re not sure how long it took the disciples to get ready for this mission trip, but, if they followed the directions of Jesus, it wasn’t long. Jesus gives them a list of what to pack and what not to pack. “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.” Really? Just go out on a journey and barely take anything with you?! No food? No extra clothes? Isn’t that foolish? Jesus doesn’t do foolish. Never has. Never will. He would never call us into a foolish situation. Instead, he calls us to trust him. And that’s what he was calling his disciples to do. That’s the lesson he wanted them to learn and to remember for the time when they would go out into the world to share his gospel for the rest of their lives. To trust him, even if they were facing death for the gospel they were proclaiming. And he calls on you and me to do the same. Of course he’s telling us to use our God-given brains. He does so in other sections of his word. Be smart. Plan the work and then work the plan. But his main concern, his top concern, is that we trust him no matter what we face. He promises to take care of everything as he sees best. And he always does. So, why not share the gospel? You have your Savior’s promise. Why not? Why not share the gospel? Because we doubt our Lord’s promise. We need to be in control. We have to call the shots. We need to know exactly what will happen, when, and why. But that’s not the way our Lord operates. He doesn’t program our lives as if we were some massive computers, so that we do and say exactly what he wants when he wants. He could do that, but that would rip all love out of the equation of our relationship with him. He wants us to share the gospel because we trust him to be faithful to his promises and we love the One who loves us with a perfect love. Your greatest need cost him his life. Won’t he take care of everything else, even when we share the gospel? Of course he will! III. Why not share the gospel? I can think of one more concern you might have. You don’t know what to expect. Jesus takes care of that concern here in this text as well. He doesn’t give us a boatload of details, but he does imply one reaction to sharing the gospel and he explicitly refers to another. He tells his disciple to share the gospel and stay with the first person who offers them accommodations. That implies that they will encounter people who hear their preaching and, by the grace of God, believe in Jesus, and offer their homes to the disciples as a place to stay. But Jesus also explicitly states the opposite reaction, and it’s the one we fear the most when we share the gospel. There will be people who refuse to believe the good news that we share with them. In fact, they may attack the message and the messenger. In those sad circumstances, Jesus tells his followers to shake the dust off their feet and move on. There you have it. That’s what you can expect when you share the gospel. So why not share it? Jesus doesn’t minimize or hide the reality. He tells us how it will be when we share his gospel. Some will believe it. Others will reject it. The question is: which one will you hold before your eyes? Will you focus on the losses or the gains? Will you obsess about the negatives or rejoice over the positives? A very intelligent Christian once declared that the Chrisitan is on optimist. How can he not be? Everything turns out golden for Jesus and his people. You are an optimist by faith in Jesus. So, why not share the gospel? Go ahead! Share it! And see what eternal blessings Jesus has in store for others and for you. Amen.