SPEAKER_00: Friends, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: It is good to be with all of you here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I am so thankful and grateful for Pillar Church.
SPEAKER_00: You have been a wonderful partner with us at Western Theological Seminary.
SPEAKER_00: When I first came, I used to joke that this street, college, is the most Christian street in all of Holland.
SPEAKER_00: Between Pillar Church and Dimden Chapel and Western Theological Seminary occupying the same street.
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that you have been an incredible partner for our work at Western.
SPEAKER_00: You have hired many of our graduates.
SPEAKER_00: You have become a home for many of our faculty members and staff and our Board of Trustees members, some of whom I see in the congregation today.
SPEAKER_00: You have been a training place for so many of our students.
SPEAKER_00: You have taken them under your wings.
SPEAKER_00: You have given them a place, a church, where they can learn and be formed and be shaped.
SPEAKER_00: Truly, as a seminary, we exist for the sake of the church.
SPEAKER_00: And your hospitality to our students, giving them a home to belong to during their time here, is a gift to them and to us.
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that we do at Western is that we tell our students that when you're feeling anxious or you're feeling some deep emotions, that one of the ways that one of the best ways to uh get a hold of it is to name your emotion.
SPEAKER_00: And so I gotta tell you that preaching a pillar is probably one of the most daunting things that I encounter uh in my role uh as the president.
SPEAKER_00: Uh first of all, because you have John Brown uh as your as your pastor week in, week out.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's sometimes I pull up John Brown's sermon uh because he's just so good.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so when I was telling somebody a couple of weeks ago that I'm gonna be preaching a pillar uh on June 7th, I kid you not, their immediate reaction was, oh what?
SPEAKER_00: Is John Brown gonna be gone that Sunday?
SPEAKER_00: And then earlier this week I was telling our board chair Steve Spoolhoff, who also worships here with you, and I said, Steve, I'm gonna be at church on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want him to be surprised, you know.
SPEAKER_00: So I told him I'm gonna be at church on Sunday, and he kind of looked at me and said, You're preaching a pillar on Sunday?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Dude, you better bring it.
SPEAKER_00: I tell people that Steve and Valerie Spoolhoff are my you know my first friends, our family's first friends here in Holland, uh, and with a friend like Steve who need enemies, right?
SPEAKER_00: And then a few days ago, I uh I was telling Dr.
SPEAKER_00: David Kumline, who is sitting up here, I warned him, I'm gonna quote him this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So I told David, David, I'm gonna be preaching a pillar this Sunday, I'm totally nervous about it, you know, because there are so many people, you have pastors, you have retired pastors, you have faculty members, you have so many people, you're so incredibly rooted in your word and you know your theology well, and you know, if you flop a pillar, I mean you that's like that's really hard to recover from.
SPEAKER_00: And David, in his own way, he just he just kind of said, You're not gonna flop.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you, David, for the word of confidence.
SPEAKER_00: And then some of you may know Drew Brown, he's a director of missions, he's like a ball of enthusiasm, you know, and Drew Brown, you know, it's kind of like God's last word to me, last encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: Drew just, you know, when I told Drew Brown on Friday, he just said, You're preaching a pillar on Sunday?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be there.
SPEAKER_00: So here I am.
SPEAKER_00: And friend, uh, this morning I'm preaching as part of this series.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us as Christians to be present in the midst of a world that is wondering?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us to be present in this world that is wondering?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us to sit in the midst of the joy and the pain, of the conflict and the tension, both in the complexity and monotony of everyday life?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us to be present in this day and age and time that we find ourselves in?
SPEAKER_00: Friends, I believe that this is an urgent question, an important question that we must that we must ask ourselves today.
SPEAKER_00: But yet it is not a new question.
SPEAKER_00: It is a question that has been asked from the moment that Adam and Eve were banished from the garden.
SPEAKER_00: It is a question that the people of God have continually asked throughout our human history, and a question that will continue to be asked until, as Jan Waggenwell preached last Sunday, the Lord returns to establish the new heaven and the new earth, and all things are made new.
SPEAKER_00: It is the same question that have has confronted the heroes of our faith, be it Abraham or Jacob or Joseph or Moses, the people of Israel, Joshua, Ruth, David, Elijah, or Esther.
SPEAKER_00: Some like Daniel became exemplary models for us, while others like Saul became cautionary tales.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in his prayer for his disciples, Jesus asked the Father to protect them and to sanctify them with the truth as they live in the world.
SPEAKER_00: For they are in the world, but they are not of the world.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way, all of us who are followers of Jesus are also confronted with this question.
SPEAKER_00: People who are not of the world, but are in this world.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter chapter 2 picks up this theme, addressing God's elect as exiles, foreigners, and sojourners in the land.
SPEAKER_00: As God's elect, we are instructed to abstain from sinful desires and to live such good lives among the unbelievers that God receives all the glory.
SPEAKER_00: One of the neat things that I get to do at the seminary is that I get to pick a theme verse for our community to reflect on.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Drew Baer, who was here earlier, memorize the entire book of 1 Peter in response to the theme verse that I selected for the year.
SPEAKER_00: The theme verse was 1 Peter 3.15.
SPEAKER_00: In your heart revere Christ as Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks of you, to, or to everyone who demands of you for the hope that you have in you.
SPEAKER_00: And do this with gentleness and respect.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, can you imagine living such a hopeful life, living such hopeful lives as Christians that when people encounter us, they demand of us the reason for the hope that you have in you?
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't be living this way, not like this.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you live like this?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you have such hope and such joy?
SPEAKER_00: Tell us why you are living in this way to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: How shall we live as Christians in a wandering world?
SPEAKER_00: And to help us reflect on this question, I want to look together with you the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples when he first sent them out into the world.
SPEAKER_00: So if your Bibles with you, turn with me to Matthew chapter 10, where we'll be reading from verses 16 to 22.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 10, verses 16 to 22.
SPEAKER_00: And let us pray together as we come before God to read his word.
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, you are our refuge in the times of trouble, stronghold in the midst of the storm.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, as we come before you, we ask that you would speak to us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, fix our eyes upon you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, turn our ears so that we may hear your voice and incline our hearts towards you, Lord, so that we may live ever faithfully and to follow you ever more deeply in this wandering world.
SPEAKER_00: I pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 10, beginning from verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.
SPEAKER_00: Be on your guard, for you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_00: On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.
SPEAKER_00: At that time you will be given what to say.
SPEAKER_00: For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your father speaking through you.
SPEAKER_00: Brother will be betrayed, brother, to death, and the father, his child.
SPEAKER_00: Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
SPEAKER_00: You will be hated by everyone because of me.
SPEAKER_00: But the one who stands firm to the end will be safe.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_00: Our presence in this wandering world points people to the good news of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Our presence in this world is purposeful.
SPEAKER_00: It reminds us in this world that this world is not all there is, and that this world is not as it should be.
SPEAKER_00: Our presence here points to Jesus Christ Himself, who in obedience to the Father did not consider his divinity anything to be grasped onto, but instead he left his heavenly home, took on the form of humanity, and wandered in this world.
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus Himself said in Matthew chapter 8, verse 20 foxes have dance and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus wandered in this world to declare that the kingdom of God is here.
SPEAKER_00: And just as he did, so too we are called to point people to the good news of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: How do we do this?
SPEAKER_00: I want to suggest three ways in which we can point people to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: First, we do this by representing God faithfully.
SPEAKER_00: Second, we do this by relying on the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And third, we do this by rendering our allegiance to God and to God alone.
SPEAKER_00: We represent God faithfully.
SPEAKER_00: We do this by relying on the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And we do this by rendering our allegiance to God and God alone.
SPEAKER_00: We point people toward Jesus by representing God faithfully.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the passage before us is part of a larger set of instructions that Jesus was giving to his disciples as he sent them out.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 10 begins with the names of the 12 disciples, followed by specific instructions about what they are to do, the message that they are supposed to give, what they were supposed to carry, and where they are supposed to stay and what they were to do when they encounter rejections.
SPEAKER_00: They were sent with a clear mission.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 10, verse 6 tells us that they are to go and declare that the kingdom of heaven is near.
SPEAKER_00: Go and declare that the kingdom of heaven is near.
SPEAKER_00: Of all the gospels, Matthew uniquely emphasizes the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, which is the reign of God inaugurated by the presence of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, made visible through his words and deeds.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew uses the word kingdom more than any other gospel writer, and nearly three times more than the gospel of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: For Matthew declaring that the kingdom of heaven is here was the crux of Jesus' teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Just as it was for John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: It is also the message that was entrusted to the disciples and by extension to all of us who follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because while the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated by Jesus' first coming, it will not be fully consummated until the Parousia, till the return of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The mission is not yet complete.
SPEAKER_00: And as followers of Jesus, the mission is now ours.
SPEAKER_00: We see this transference clearly in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20, when the risen Jesus tells his disciples, as you are going, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
SPEAKER_00: We see the same theme picked up in 1 Peter 2, verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession.
SPEAKER_00: These are not merely labels, they have implications for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: God has extended to us his mercy so that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
SPEAKER_00: And perhaps the most explicit expression of this mission for us comes from Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20, when he said, We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
SPEAKER_00: We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
SPEAKER_00: Our presence in a wandering world points people toward God.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, the mission that Jesus gave to his disciples is also our mission.
SPEAKER_00: But it is also important to remember that we are being sent out into a world that is not friendly yet hostile.
SPEAKER_00: We see here in verse 16 that as Jesus sends his disciples out, he instructs them to be like sheep.
SPEAKER_00: He instructed them to be like sheep among wolves.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not envision his disciples to occupy positions of power, but on the contrary, they are the vulnerable ones, the powerless ones.
SPEAKER_00: Because the world is hostile, Jesus instructed his disciples to be as shrewd or cunning or crafty as serpents and innocent as doves.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, this is a striking image.
SPEAKER_00: For the word used that is translated as shrewd here is the same word that the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses to describe the serpent in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: But I think the serpent imagery carries more than one meaning, other than deceitful.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest with you, I don't like snakes.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody here like snakes?
SPEAKER_00: We have a couple of snake.
SPEAKER_00: Do we need snake owners?
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, can anybody keep uh snake as pets?
SPEAKER_00: I got uh does anybody has anyone held a snake before?
SPEAKER_00: You know, you go to one of those zoo exhibitions, they got they got a boa or whatever, and then you can hold them.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I've never done that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: We have two pets.
SPEAKER_00: We have a black lab and a golden retriever, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So that tells you the kind of family we are.
SPEAKER_00: But what I do know, so I don't know much about snakes, I don't really like them.
SPEAKER_00: But what I do know about snakes is that they are incredibly good at self-preservation.
SPEAKER_00: One of the reasons that a lot of people are often bitten by snakes as they go on hikes or as they're traipsing through the woods, is that snakes hide themselves really well.
SPEAKER_00: They blend in with their surroundings.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's uh people don't see them until it's too late.
SPEAKER_00: Their instinct is to slip away and to preserve themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the idea, the imagery of the snake that Jesus has in mind here as he encourages disciples to be as shrewd as snakes.
SPEAKER_00: And the image of the serpent is also balanced by the image of a dove.
SPEAKER_00: We are called to exercise our craftiness with innocence, never for evil.
SPEAKER_00: For some of us, the the dove, the image of a dove may call to mind the bird that Noah released to see whether the flood waters had receded from the earth.
SPEAKER_00: A dove returning with an olive branch has been a symbol of peace and a reconciliation that has endured to this day.
SPEAKER_00: In all four Gospels, the Holy Spirit has also been described as descending upon Jesus like a dove at his baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it is possible that the dove here is being purposefully used as a nod to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself associates the dove with innocence.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we are to combine the shrewdness of the serpent, but yet with none of its venom.
SPEAKER_00: As Bible scholar Richard France puts it, it is the balance of prudence and purity that will enable Christians both to survive and to fulfill their mission to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, our presence in this world points people to the good news of the gospel in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We do this by faithfully representing Jesus, but we also do this by relying on the Holy Spirit in our witness.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus describes in vivid detail the kind of dangers he is sending his disciples into.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 17, he warns them to be on guard because they will be handed over to local councils and flog in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_00: The local councils most likely referred to the Sanhedrin, the council of experts in Jewish law.
SPEAKER_00: Jewish law permitted flogging as means of discipline.
SPEAKER_00: But this persecution wasn't limited to just the Jewish authorities alone.
SPEAKER_00: The mentions of governors and king points also to the Roman authority structure, foreshadowing what the disciples would encounter in the years to come.
SPEAKER_00: When we read these verses, our attention is drawn naturally to the shock of the language, handed over, flogged, arrested.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to draw our attention to the small phrase that I believe carries enormous weight.
SPEAKER_00: On account of me.
SPEAKER_00: Or as the NRSV renders it, because of me.
SPEAKER_00: On my account, Jesus said, you will be brought before governors and kings.
SPEAKER_00: Because of me.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, the persecutions that the disciples encountered was not because of anything they had done wrong, but it was because of who they were witnessing about.
SPEAKER_00: They were confronting the world with the truth that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the one true King who reigns over the one true kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And it is because of that message, because of that testimony, that they were being arrested.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because as we know, the message of the cross is offensive and scandalous to the reasoning and the values of this world.
SPEAKER_00: As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 18, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
SPEAKER_00: But to those of us who are being safe, it is the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then again in verses 22 and 23, Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in verses 19 to 20, Jesus told his disciples to not worry.
SPEAKER_00: The word here that is translated as do not worry is the same word that Jesus uses in Matthew chapter 6 as he instructed us to not worry about what we will eat or what we wear.
SPEAKER_00: When you are brought before these people, Jesus tells us, do not worry about what you will say or how you will say it, for you will be given what to say.
SPEAKER_00: For it is the Spirit of the Father that will be speaking through you.
SPEAKER_00: Of the four Gospels, Matthew is the one who uniquely uses this phrase, Spirit of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this teaching is also found in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke.
SPEAKER_00: And Mark and Luke uses this more familiar phrase, the Holy Spirit, to describe the one who will be given, who will give us what we say.
SPEAKER_00: But by using this unique formulation, the spirit of your father, Matthew gives us a glimpse into the inner working of the Trinity.
SPEAKER_00: The Father is the one who gives us His Spirit, who in turn enables.
SPEAKER_00: us to give witness to Jesus the Son.
SPEAKER_00: The Father is the one who gives us his Spirit who in turn enables us to give a testimony to Jesus Christ the Son.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, our presence is to point people toward the good news of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We do this by representing God faithfully, by relying on the Holy Spirit, and by rendering our allegiance to God and God alone.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 21 to 22, Jesus said, brother will betray brother to death and a father, his child, children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm sure that these verses have been used throughout time by teenagers and adult children to justify rebelling against their parents.
SPEAKER_00: Well you know Jesus did say that you know he came to turn a man against his father and daughter against her mother.
SPEAKER_00: I would know because that's what I've done in the past.
SPEAKER_00: I like to say that I never dated a girl that my parents ever approved of.
SPEAKER_00: At least not initially.
SPEAKER_00: My wife Esther finally won them over.
SPEAKER_00: But before her I dated girls that who my parents disapprove my parents disapprove of all my dating choices.
SPEAKER_00: In college I dated a girl they did not approve of and I thought their reasons were unreasonable.
SPEAKER_00: I was convinced I was right that the girl I was dating with I was dating did not speak English did not speak Mandarin and which made communication with my parents difficult.
SPEAKER_00: So I assumed that they were just being stereotypically Chinese.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted me to marry someone who speaks Mandarin so that they can speak to the to the daughter in law can eventually communicate with their grandchildren as well.
SPEAKER_00: So I reminded myself that they were wrong and I was justified in doing what I was doing because after all Jesus said he came to turn children against parents.
SPEAKER_00: So when I got to seminary I found this book written by a group of Asian Americans called Following Jesus without dishonoring your parents so I immediately picked up the book and read through it all cover to cover.
SPEAKER_00: There was even a chapter on what to do when you are dating somebody your parents did not approve.
SPEAKER_00: To my dismay the authors of the book did not let me off the hook easily.
SPEAKER_00: In fact their argument was quite the opposite to use this verse to justify rebellion against our parents is to take the verse out of context.
SPEAKER_00: Because we also have to take into account the full counsel of scripture we are to keep in mind that the fifth commandment instructed us to honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord is giving you here in this in Matthew chapter 10 Jesus was not simply addressing the relationship between children and their parents but he was actually raising the issue of ultimate allegiance.
SPEAKER_00: Our commitment to Christ as one Bible scholar puts it must be greater than to anyone else.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not counseling his followers to ride roughshod over family affection or responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: The point is that when a person pledges solidarity with Christ and his mission nothing not even the love of a family member must be allowed to come in the way friends representing God faithfully requires us to render our allegiance to God and God alone now you probably have heard many preachers say that as they prepare a sermon that one of the things that happened is that they preach the sermon to themselves first.
SPEAKER_00: I had a similar yet unique different kind of experience this week as I was preparing for this sermon I actually encountered a situation that required me to live out this text to point people toward Christ in the midst of our wandering world I want a story with you that in I want to share a story with you that involves a difficult moment.
SPEAKER_00: Just yesterday late in the afternoon someone from our church called my wife and I and told us that their son had overdose on his medication and they didn't know where he was.
SPEAKER_00: Thankfully in God's mercy they were able to find the son quickly and call 911 and the paramedics brought him to the hospital.
SPEAKER_00: And they said we would love for you to come along you always know what to do or say in these situations.
SPEAKER_00: So my wife and I jumped to the car and as we were driving there we were worried about whether or not we would know what to say and whether or not we would say the right things.
SPEAKER_00: We didn't want to make anything worse.
SPEAKER_00: At the same time as I was driving down I was reminded of this text do not worry about what you will say for the spirit of your father will tell you will give you what to say unless you're worrying about the time and whether or not how much time this will take as we're driving down to the hospital I was reminded that this is precisely why God has put us here.
SPEAKER_00: In the midst of everything that is going on the midst of the pain the midst of the struggle in the midst of the wandering in the midst of these friends of ours who are wondering about whether or not they have done anything wrong and what they could have done better and what they should be doing now that the least and the best thing that we can do is to simply point them to God.
SPEAKER_00: That God is with them that God walks with them that God's mercy and grace will continue to sustain them.
SPEAKER_00: Friend some of us this morning needs to be reminded that we have a mission from God to point people toward God.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us have been wrestling with people in our lives and we know that we're supposed to visit them and to call them but we're afraid of saying the wrong things or doing the wrong things and making things worse.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit of your Father will give you what to say and some of us today are kind of being confronted by the things in our lives and God wants us to look at them and decide once and for all that our allegiance is to God and to God alone.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the reminder that I want to leave with you today.
SPEAKER_00: Friends we do not wander in this world alone God is with us.
SPEAKER_00: And just as God gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness we too have been given a heavenly meal.
SPEAKER_00: Hannah Miller King in her book Feasting on Hope how God sets a table in the wilderness puts it beautifully quote the Lord's Supper doesn't fully ease the discomfort of this in-between place in which we live but it does nourish us with the life of the one who became homeless for our sake Jesus knows the ache of exile homelessness and loss he embraced these things so that we could ultimately be rescued from them.
SPEAKER_00: The table reminds us that God's provision here and now is not a finish line is the sustenance to keep putting one foot in front of the other on the trail that Jesus has placed friends in this wandering world we do not wander alone is with us.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God Amen