Sheep & Wolves …Snakes & Doves … Sparrows
Matthew 10:1
CHCC: February 6, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
In this series on the Power of Jesus, we’ve seen some amazing miracles that prove His power over disease, demons, and even over the forces of nature. This week, we’ll see something more astounding than even those miracles. Jesus passed His supernatural power on to His followers. Matthew 10: 1 says, Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Later on, Luke records that Jesus sent 72 disciples out on a similar mission. (Luke 10) And Jesus last directive was to send all of us on the same mission: Go into all the world, … (Matthew 28:18-20)
Jesus made it clear that His followers would share His Mission AND His POWER. In Matthew 10:7 he told his disciples: As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
I can imagine the excited look on their faces … they were going to have the same supernatural POWER that Jesus had! They would share both His Power and His authority. And then I can imagine their faces falling when Jesus added this unexpected word of warning: 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
1. Sheep and Wolves
It was common for teachers of that day to use animals as analogies of human behavior, and this was a word picture that would definitely catch their attention! These guys lived in a sheep-herding part of the world. They had seen what happens when wolves get a hold of sheep.
Back in the 1970’s Dr. W. Phillip Keller wrote a book called A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23. Dr. Keller grew up on a ranch in British Columbia and observed sheep-herding first hand. He describes a scene of carnage when wolves attacked the sheep one night. “Some ewes were killed outright, their blood drained and livers eaten. Others were torn open and badly clawed. … Some had huge patches of wool torn from their fleeces. In their frightened stampede some had stumbled and broken bones or rushed over rough ground injuring legs and bodies.” According to Keller, “Two wild dogs have been known to kill as many as 292 sheep in a single night of unbridled slaughter.” (p.37) You can only imagine what a whole wolf pack could do!
The disciples had to be thinking, “No shepherd would deliberately send his sheep out into the middle of a pack of ferocious wolves!” But Jesus was describing an unavoidable reality. The only way to spread the Gospel is to deliberately go out into wolf territory.
As Christians, we can’t afford to be so idealistic that we lose touch with reality. That’s why Jesus warns us up front to be on guard. In verses 17-25 he spelled it out. He said His followers would be arrested, flogged, and put on trial by local councils and national governors. Even people in their own families would betray them and some would be put to death. Jesus explained that whatever people did to Him, they would also do to His followers.
About 45 million, or two-thirds of all Christian martyrs in the history of the church, actually died in the twentieth century, according to a new book, "The New Persecuted: Anti-Christian Intolerance in the New Century," by an Italian journalist named Antonio Socci. The author estimates that an average of 160,000 Christians have been killed every year since 1990 in a variety of nations such as Pakistan, Sudan, Algeria, and Nigeria. Preaching Now Newsletter. June 25, 2002
This is a reality most of us have never had to face. We live in the only nation on earth that was founded on the idea of Religious Liberty. Because of that, we can imagine the world is a nice, safe, pleasant place for Christians, but that’s just not reality in the rest of the world. For most of us, the wolves have been held at bay.
It’s common in America for people to be naïve about the existence of evil. Maybe the WOLVES out there are just misunderstood critters … and if we just feed them and pet them, they’ll come around and be nicer.
Which reminds me of a story I heard …
The State of Montana once offered a bounty of $5,000 for every wolf captured alive. So two hunters named Sam and Jed decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests searching for their valuable prey. After three days of hunting without any success, they both fell asleep and let their campfire burn out.
Sam suddenly woke up in the middle of the night to find that he and Jed were surrounded by a pack of fifty wolves, with flaming red eyes and bared teeth, snarling at the two hunters and preparing to pounce.
So Sam nudged Jed and said, "Hey, wake up! We’re gonna be rich!"
That guy had a positive attitude, but maybe not so smart. That might be the kind of naïve attitude that caused Jesus to bring in another animal analogy. He said, 16 …I’m sending you as sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves
2. Snakes and Doves
How many of you like snakes? We have at least one person in our church that appreciates the positive qualities in a snake. (picture of Elliot with his Christmas-gift snake on facebook)
When I think of snakes I think of someone who knows how to “keep a low profile.” It’s not un-Christian to be cautious and smart. The word Jesus used was “shrewd” which means perceptive, sharp-witted, and “on the ball.” Jesus wants His followers to understand that we live in “hostile territory.” Because of this, He warned us to be on our guard.
But how can anyone be shrewd as a snake but at the same time innocent as a dove? The word translated “innocent” is akeraios which means “unmixed, uncontaminated, pure.” This same word was used in Romans 16:19 where Paul warned us “be wise about what is good and innocent (akeraios) about what is evil. This doesn’t mean to be naïve because right after that Paul explained, “and the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.” (vs.20) In other words, our part is to recognize and AVOID evil. God’s job is to DEFEAT evil.
The DOVE is a significant symbol in scripture. In the Old Testament, Doves were suitable as a sin-offering for people who were too poor to sacrifice a lamb. This fits the context of this conversation where Jesus was explaining that His followers might have to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of spreading His message.
The Dove is also a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit. At His baptism, the Holy Spirit came down upon Jesus in the form of a Dove. This is significant because there is only one way that we can keep ourselves from being contaminated by the evil that surrounds us. The presence of God’s Spirit in our lives can give us wisdom to recognize and avoid evil, and at the same time, keep evil from infiltrating our lives.
At the end of Matthew 10, Jesus used one more animal analogy when he said, 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.
3. Sparrows
This is a favorite verse for a lot of people. Joni Earickson Tada wrote about this verse: " I glanced at the bird feeder and smiled. I could understand Jesus noticing if an eagle or falcon or hawk fell to the ground. Those are the important birds He created, the kind worth attending to. But a scrappy sparrow? They're a dime a dozen—Jesus said so Himself.
Yet from thousands of bird species, the Lord chose the most insignificant, least-noticed, scruffiest bird of all. A pint-sized thing that even dedicated bird-watchers ignore. That thought alone calmed my fears. I felt significant and noticed. Because if God takes note of each humble sparrow—who they are, where they are, and what they are doing—I know He keeps tabs on me." (cf: Matthew 10:29-31)—Joni Eareckson Tada—
This verse inspired a hymn that many of you probably remember:
Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is he:
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me. (C.D. Martin)
It seems like a gentle promise. But the context is anything but gentle! Jesus made this promise in the middle of describing the terrible suffering and persecution that His followers were going to face. And notice, it doesn’t promise the sparrow will be protected. Jesus said, not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. That implies that the sparrow WILL fall.
* Since the death of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago, 43 million Christians have become martyrs
* Over 50% of these were in the last century alone
* More than 200 million Christians face persecution each day, 60% of whom are children, ( World Evangelical Encyclopedia)
The promise is not that we won’t face hardship, persecution, or even death. The promise is that no matter what happens, we will always be safe in the care of our Father in Heaven. And this promise applies to all of us. Everyone will eventually fall to the ground … whether it’s sickness, old age, accident, or martyrdom – no one lives forever here on earth.
The message is that we don’t have to live in fear. Even DEATH itself loses its power over us when we learn to live by faith. Watchman Nee was a Chinese Christian who was imprisoned for many years because of his faith. He said “It seems we fear loss of material possessions even more than loss of life.” If that was true in the 1950’s in China, I’m sure it’s true with Christians in 2011 America.
“financial independence” Security can’t be found in material possessions. With this economic downturn, we’ve been reminded that there is no such thing as “financial independence.”
Everything in this world WILL fall to the ground one day. So, don’t count on things of this world for security. Not your own strength, your health, your intellect, your friends and family, your job and savings. It’s a mistake to put confidence in any of these. Instead, put all your confidence in God who watches over every insignificant little sparrow … and will surely watch over you.
CONCLUSION:
I want to close with an example of the POWER we have because Jesus freed us from all fear --- even fear of death.
Joseph Ton was pastor of Second Baptist Church, Oradea, Rumania, until he was exiled by the Rumanian government in 1981. In Pastoral Renewal, he writes of his experience:
"Years ago I ran away from my country to study theology at Oxford. In 1972, when I was ready to go back to Rumania, I discussed my plans with some fellow students. They pointed out that I might be arrested at the border. One student asked, ’Jospeh, what chances do you have of successfully implementing your plans?’"
He asked God about it, and God brought to mind Matthew 10:16 -- "I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves" -- and seemed to say, "Tell me, what chance does a sheep surrounded by wolves have of surviving five minutes, let alone of converting the wolves? Joseph, that’s how I send you: totally defenseless and without a reasonable hope of success. If you are willing to go like that, go. If you are not willing to be in that position, don’t go."
Ton writes: "After our return, as I preached uninhibitedly, harassment and arrests came. One day during interrogation an officer threatened to kill me. Then I said, ’Sir, your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Sir, you know my sermons are all over the country on tapes now. If you kill me, I will be sprinkling them with my blood. Whoever listens to them after that will say, "I’d better listen. This man sealed it with his blood." They will speak ten times louder than before. So, go on and kill me. I win the supreme victory then.’"
The officer sent him home. "That gave me pause. For years I was a Christian who was cautious because I wanted to survive. I had accepted all the restrictions the authorities put on me because I wanted to live. Now I wanted to die, and they wouldn’t oblige. Now I could do whatever I wanted in Rumania. For years I wanted to save my life, and I was losing it. Now that I wanted to lose it, I was winning it."
