Ways to Acknowledge and to Deny

Matthew 10:26-33

Most of what we humans do seems to be motivated by fear.  Fear of death, fear of suffering. We want to protect what we have and those we love.

But Jesus says don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

So how do we respond to the big issues of the day not from a place of fear but from a place of confidence that God loves us intimately?  How do we respond to the situation in Gaza? How do we respond to the children coming to our country without their parents? How do we embody the Jesus Christ for the world in this place?

What does it mean to acknowledge Christ before People? What does it mean to deny him? This is an important question because according to our scripture today it’s the difference between Christ acknowledging or denying us before his Father in heaven.

This is what is painted on the doors
of Christian homes in Mosul Iraq. They are
given the choice to deny Christ, leave
Mosul or face execution. 

 Accepting

This is the gateway and the destination for a lot of Christians. Accepting Jesus Christ as the son of God and acknowledging that he died for our sins, for many, that’s the whole ball of wax.  This is indeed the first gateway. This is indeed a necessary first step. This is indeed our first acknowledgement of him and if you haven’t made that first step, If you don’t know that the Son of God came to offer you eternal life and his name was Jesus…stick around this crowd we have a wonderful story to tell you.  Many people cannot get past this first step. Many people cannot believe that God loves us in this way.  Many people deny that Jesus is who he and many witnesses say he is.  Jesus says “whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.”

The funny thing is Jesus never said to worship him. 

Don’t get me wrong Jesus is worthy of our worship.  To praise him and lift his name is a good and holy thing to do.  But he never said worship me he said what?  “Follow me.”

We have been talking about the Family of God over these last four weeks. We talked about what it means to be a family in Jesus eyes. Those who do the will of the Father in heaven are my brother and my mother and my sister.  We talked about the family around us where we live and being the presence of Jesus in this particular place for them.

Last week we talked about the great commission.  “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Expanding our idea of the family of God to the global level.

We’ve been developing this ever-expanding idea of the body of Christ but it all comes down to the individual.  It all comes down to you.  So we’ve baptized the whole world (we haven’t of course) are we done? By no means!

Then what?  What comes next? What did Jesus say?  “Teaching them everything I have commanded you.”

Learning

If Jesus sent his disciples out to teach then there must be something to learn.  We continue to acknowledge Christ by learning what he has to teach.  If we take our baptism certificate and call it good then we have denied what Jesus has for us.  This is not memorization of a couple of creeds and some Bible verses this is a life long journey of growing in Christ by deepening our understanding of who he is.

In the very next chapter of Matthew Jesus is inviting people to follow him he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Anybody tired from life?  Anybody have any burdens to bear? Jesus says he’s going to give you the rest you need.

He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentile and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my load is not hard to carry.”

Attaching ourselves to Jesus and his teaching will result in rest for our souls.  If we don’t learn it we cannot find rest for our souls.  It’s not that God will punish us for not learning but it’s that we will miss out on the good things that God wants for us.

Obeying

If I take my car to a mechanic and that mechanic listens to me and checks my car over and has a good understanding of the problem and how to fix it but does nothing. Am I in any better condition?

5 turtles are on a log and three decide to jump into the water. How many turtles are on the log? 5, because deciding to do something and doing it are two different things.

We can learn all about Jesus and what he would have us do, unless we do it, it is as if we are denying him. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”

You ever hear the phrase, “what you do is what you believe”?   None of us have perfected this Christian walk. But is your behavior pointing people toward the love of God or to something else?  We don’t have to have it all figured out to begin to help others along this journey of life. You can teach what Jesus taught even if it’s pointing people in the right direction.

Teaching

I’m going to admit something embarrassing.  I’m sure someone will react the way people react when they find this out about me. You may not even be able to restrain yourself after service you will say to me, “it’s easy” in response to what I am about to say.

I have never changed the oil in my car because I don’t know how.

It’s easy!

That is what I have always heard.  Unless specific knowledge is passed on I will never know.  I admit that I haven’t been zealous about learning because it is all too easy to pull into the oil change place and have them do it. Besides I wouldn’t know what to do with the waste oil even if I did do it myself.  

Knowledge has to be passed on. You teach by your words and your actions.  You can’t just stick someone in a garage and call them a mechanic just like you can’t stick someone in a church and call them a Christian.

Being a Christian is being something altogether new. We have a life that will not end when our bodies fail. We don’t have to fear anything is this world. So often we forget this and we fall in to protecting what is mine.  When we acknowledge Jesus before people we still want “me and mine” to be safe, but I want the division between me and you to disappear.  This is what Jesus taught.  

So when we are faced with the issues of the day we have to, as followers of Christ, ask ourselves how can I acknowledge Jesus? What did he teach? How can I obey? And what can I teach?

The family of God starts with God. God loves you and has called you to be his child.  So how is it with you today? How will you acknowledge Jesus in your life before people?