Meditation - June 28, 2020
Pastor - Rev. Elroy Christopher: First Moravian Church of Georgia
A MEDITATION ON MATTHEW 10
June 28, 2020
When an ambassador is appointed to representative a country that person must understand what is required of them and be prepared to speak and act with the authority of the government he/she represents. Ambassadors become the face and voice of his or her country and government to another country.
In chapter 10 of the Gospel according to St Matthew, Jesus took time to prepare his disciples for the work of being His ambassadors before sending them out into the world He ensured that they knew what would be required of them and what they might expect as they set about their mission.
Jesus was not sending them on an impossible mission, but he warned of inherent difficulties. They had been with him, in training, so to speak. Now they were being prepared the real world outside of the ‘classroom’, which could be tough, sometimes unwelcoming and dangerous.
Jesus assured them that they had nothing to fear: Do not fear them (26): Do not be afraid of those who would kill the body but cannot kill the soul. (10:28). The point is that such a mission would take them beyond mere human interaction. St. Paul affirms this when he wrote from prison to the church at Ephesus “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. (Ephesians 6:12)
Today, we are called as followers of Jesus Christ, to be his ambassadors; called to be faithful to the Him who calls us and to the message he has entrusted to us to be proclaimed, beginning with our own. That is where he instructed his disciples to begin when he said was that he was not sending them to the gentiles, but to the lost sheep of Israel. This idea of beginning at home is also reflected when, before His ascension Jesus told his disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
The church today is called to minister in some of the most unusual and trying circumstances of our time, and we must begin with our own people, difficult though it may be at times. This is even more acute in an atmosphere of uncertainty, despair, caused by a pandemic which continues to cause serious illness and loss of the lives of loved ones, joblessness, tragic unnecessary senseless killings and such situations which have resulted in the tensions being experienced and the unrest among sectors of the population. These are things which contribute to a fear of the unknown and sometimes a rejection of the faith. Our mission as to bring hope to our people, a hope rooted in the love of God, manifested in the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. With that hope there is reassurance for us and for all people in the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid”.
That assurance enables the us, the church, to be faithful witnesses to the love and power of God to deliver through Christ Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, even in these very trying and troubling times.
Ultimately, Jesus is reassuring that all is not lost, the word will not return void.
He says any who receive the apostles and believe their message will also be receiving Him and the One who sent Him and will be rewarded accordingly.
The call on our lives to be ambassadors for Christ, our response to the call and the mission on which we are to be taken as an honour and privilege, because we are being sent on a mission to bring hope, a sense of purpose and newness of life to our people as God in Jesus Christ has vested in us the power and authority to witness in His name.
Today, God in Jesus Christ is seeking ambassadors to go into the world around - , "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" The response ought to be the same as that pf Isaiah: " Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)