Rev. David Holwick ZD Matthew 10 series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 1, 2006
Matthew 10:24-27
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I. Who runs the asylum?
A. One teacher's experience.
Margaret Metzger has been a high school teacher for many years.
When she began, she had a hard time controlling her students.
After a while she became more confident, even to the point of
letting the students take over her class.
On these rare occasions she will let them decide what the
homework will be, or the topic of the next day's class.
Sometimes they would go even farther.
One class went on strike, refusing to work on Fridays.
The school administration wouldn't stand for this, so she
compromised by letting them play a 10-minute game at the end
of class on Fridays.
Another year, a class said to her, "We hope you don't mind,
but we've ordered Chinese food for the entire class tomorrow.
We're bringing it by your room for lunch. You're invited."
Another class wrote on the board on a glorious spring day,
"We're meeting at Friday's for ice cream today.
See you there." #33258
Were any of your classes like this?
Where any of your TEACHERS like this?
B. Teachers have a great impact on us.
1) Josiah had a favorite History teacher this year.
This made me feel pretty good because Josiah is not exactly
a scholar.
Unfortunately, the teacher became ill and left after two
weeks.
He's had nothing but substitutes since then, and he
ridicules them.
2) I fondly remember four or five dynamic teachers.
C. Jesus was defined by his role as a teacher.
1) Most people called him this. (Rabbi is an equivalent term)
2) We should be defined by our role as students.
3) In this passage, Jesus lays out some important principles
for us.
II. Students shouldn't rule.
A. Students are not above teachers, nor servants above masters.
1) Some distinctions in society should be maintained.
a) (I detest smart-alecky kids...)
b) The movie "Animal House" aside, we know that education
shouldn't be left to students alone.
2) All education involves submission.
a) We must submit to knowledge, and to a teacher.
b) Both images describe relationships of unequal power.
1> We need to recognize our place.
2> Jesus is not our buddy-buddy: he is our Lord,
master and instructor.
B. "Signs of contradiction."
1) It can be hard for us to bend to a master.
2) Those who do, display Christ in the clearest terms.
Christian historian Mark Noll notes that over the long course
of Christian history, the most depressing thing -- because
it has been repeated so often -- has been how tragically
far short of Christian ideals we ordinary Christians
so regularly fall.
But even more remarkable -- because it is such a miracle of
grace -- is how often believers have acted against the pride
of life to honor Christ.
Medieval Christians called this "signs of contradiction."
It is when a person does something because of their Christian
beliefs that you know must be due to God and not them,
because it is so uncharacteristic of them.
One of the most remarkable of those signs has been the ability
of some Christians to act against the normal ways of the
world in the exercise of power.
Power has always been a far more potent narcotic than all the
drugs or alcohol humans have used to get high.
Power feeds on itself.
It is never satisfied.
It is almost never relinquished voluntarily.
Think of all the examples in New Jersey politics alone!
It takes a real Christian to put God over power.
One example comes from the year 390.
The Roman Empire was at its height, but Emperor Theodosius
was frustrated at resistance to his rule.
So he ordered the massacre of a considerable number of citizens
in the Greek city of Thessalonica.
When he returned to Italy and went to church, his local pastor
publically denounced him as a notorious sinner and refused
to serve him the Lord's Supper.
How would YOU feel if the person next to you announced loudly,
"You're not worthy of communion today" and passed the bread
around you!
Theodosius' pastor was the famous Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who
only shortly before had played an influential role in the
conversion of Augustine.
Less than a century earlier, the Christian church had still
been illegal.
When Ambrose took his stand, most adults in his congregation
had personal memory of government attacks on Christians.
Theodosius, one of the last great Roman emperors, could have
blown Ambrose away with ease.
But he didn't.
Instead, he submitted to the public penance demanded by Ambrose
in order to be restored to church fellowship.
It seems to have occurred substantially because of Theodosius'
Christian convictions.
He had done wrong before God and needed to make a public
repentance, even though he was an emperor.
#5212
3) When is the last time you showed a sign of contradiction?
a) Humbly confessing a sin.
b) Apologizing to someone you hurt.
c) Doing something so good or loving that those who
know you best are startled?
C. Learn submission to Jesus, and to his teachings.
III. Students should emulate.
A. Students should be like teachers, and servants like masters.
1) We learn best from those we admire.
Back during the first Iraq War when we liberated Kuwait,
a native of New Jersey was acclaimed as a hero.
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't actually fight, but his
press conferences and forceful personality got
everyone's attention.
One commentator said Schwarzkopf illustrated a modern
business principle called "the shadow of the leader."
It claims that an organization will, if properly trained
and motivated, adopt the characteristics and basic
personality of its leader.
Lots of majors and colonels wanted to be just like
Gen. Schwarzkopf.
Christians should seek to be like Jesus.
#1545
2) We must be formed by the Master.
Carl Sewell sells cars in Texas: Cadillacs, Hyundais,
Lexuses and Chevrolets.
He runs some of the best dealerships in the United States.
When a car salesman comes to work for him, Carl Sewell
sends him through a course.
It includes four sessions on how to ask the customer
exactly what he wants, one whole session on how the
restroom is maintained, two more sessions on customer
service, and so on.
In other words, Sewell wants his salespeople to forget
everything they knew about selling cars and learn it
from him.
When they come out, they live and breathe and love what
Carl Sewell loves.
They are just like their boss.
The measure of a church's candlepower is how many people
live and breathe and love what Jesus loves.
How well have we been trained to be just like Him?
#3072
B. Follow Jesus' lead.
1) We should believe what he believed.
Why do Christians believe the Bible?
It is certainly a controversial book.
Many wonder why modern people would accept it as divine.
It is not exactly an easy-to-understand textbook.
Christians regard the Bible as the revealed word of God
ultimately because we conclude that Jesus himself had
that view of Scripture.
Discipleship means intellectual as well as moral submission
to his kingly rule.
Jesus once said, "You call me Teacher and Lord. You are
right, for so I am." (John 13:13)
"No student is greater than his teacher" fits right in with
this.
Trusting the Bible is a proper consequence of submitting
ourselves to Jesus and becoming his disciples.
It is Jesus whom we are asking people to trust and obey,
not a book.
#33259
1) We should live the way he lived.
a) Jesus loved the little people - outcasts and sinners
especially.
b) He forgave people, even those who nailed him to a cross.
c) He practiced unwavering integrity in his lifestyle.
d) Jesus was devoted to God.
1> He attended religious services.
2> He studied and memorized the Bible.
3> He spent nights in solitary prayer.
4> He told everyone about his Father.
C. In what ways are you like Jesus?
1) Forgiveness...
2) Compassion and outreach...
3) Moral integrity...
4) Courage against opposition.
a) Students will get the same treatment as the teacher.
1> Jesus was even called Beelzebub.
A> The actual term derives the name of a Canaanite
god in 2 Kings 1:2.
It means "Lord of the flies."
This could have been a mocking Jewish reference
to their god, or it could have been literal.
B> Connected with Matthew 12:24 - Jesus' power to
cast out demons was attributed to Satan by
his enemies.
2> We may get rejected and called names, too.
IV. Your education is not a secret.
A. Don't be afraid.
1) We are to boldly proclaim the Good News about salvation.
2) It is nothing to be ashamed of.
B. No more secrets.
1) Everything will be revealed (or, exposed).
2) We are in the business of Truth until he returns.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1545 "The Shadow of the Leader," Tel-News (New Jersey Bell), July 1991.
#3072 "Just Like Their Boss," by Rev. Jim Pocock, from his sermon
"Salt And Light," September 17, 1995.
# 5212 "The Gift of Humility," by Mark Noll, Online Christianity Today,
Vol. 43, No. 14, December 6, 1999, page 56.
#33258 "Who Runs The Asylum?" by Margaret Metzger, edited by David Holwick,
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0209met.htm.
#33259 "Avoiding The Circular Argument: Why Christians Believe The Bible,"
author unknown, Christian Medical Fellowship;
http://www.cmf.org.uk/ literature/content.asp?context=article&id=1292.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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