St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Reformation October 30, 2005 Matthew 10:16f

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by grace alone—faith alone—Scripture alone:

The essential problem is sin—our guilt—my personal responsibility for all that I have done that is wrong! My personal responsibility for all that is good and helpful and right—that I have left go painfully undone! Can we run away from our guilt? It’s been tried. The other day—a driver—41 years old—ran off the road and crashed into a house. Driving so fast—at 4:30 in the morning—they crashed into a little grandma fast asleep in her bed. The little grandma died! She was run over in her own bed and died! I wonder if she prayed—“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the LORD my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the LORD my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus’ sake!” Well, the driver who took the life of this little grandma drove away. Backed their car up—and drove home—and parked in their garage and hoped against hope that no one would know what they had done! And maybe—just maybe they would have gotten away with it—were it not for the fact that they left their front license plate at the scene of the crime. You see—the front license plate broke off—and was there in the bedroom of the little grandma! Run away from your guilt? It’s been tried—but it never really works—does it? It is precious good news again today—that all our guilt is washed away by Jesus’ innocent blood—shed on the cross to save us! It is reformation law and gospel that again reminds us:

We Are Jesus’ Little Lambs

1. Be as shrewd as snakes

2. Be as innocent as doves

At the end of Matthew chapter 9 we read, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” Jesus had compassion on the lost sheep. The Greek word for compassion is graphic. It means very literally to have your heart, liver and lungs move. Do you know what that feels like? When you feel a very powerful emotion of sympathy—when you share someone’s pain—you can feel it in your heart, liver and lungs. It’s a kind of tightness—an awareness of your insides! It’s hard to imagine how much Jesus must have hurt on the inside—when part of his life was like working in an emergency room. People came to him with the most painful and horrible physical hurts. And Jesus healed them. Only to know—going in that their physical hurts were the very least of their troubles. How sad to heal arms and legs only to know—ultimately they would spend forever in hell! How tragic is that? Jesus had compassion—felt pain in his heart and lungs and liver—for people because they were like sheep—harassed and helpless. The Greek word for harassed—paints a picture, too. It’s the picture of being flayed—flaying the skin. The picture is like sheep with their skin cut and bleeding from passing through a heavy patch of sharp thorns. Do you know how that feels—to be harassed? The devil has made it his hobby to give you a hard time. Things go painfully wrong. Frustrations abound. The harder you try to fix things—the worse they become! “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The disciples prayed—and Jesus made them part of the answer to their own prayers. Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” There is danger for sheep from wolves! A wolf in the middle of a flock of sheep would kill a bunch of sheep. A little sheep cornered by a pack of wolves would be in terrible danger, too. There is danger in Nigeria—for the missionaries who go there to teach. Once you fly from say New York or Atlanta—to London or Paris—you have to fly over the Sahara Dessert—to Lagos—the biggest city in Nigeria. The airport is a nightmare! There are pickpockets—robbers and thieves there. There are police officers that look like soldiers—with their automatic weapons. There are poor people—crippled people—people with physical disabilities that are painful to look at—who want your help. There are pushy people who almost wrestle your luggage from you—so they can carry it for you—then demanding money from you for carrying your luggage. There are taxi drivers who practically steal your luggage to throw it into your cab—so they can drive you in circles in town. From Lagos you have to go to Port Harcourt—hundreds of miles away. How do you get there? Do you take a domestic Nigerian air plane ride? If you do—you are in danger of crashing. One of their planes crashed just the other day! What is the alternative? To hire a driver—to get into a beater van and drive for hours and hours. The very real danger there—getting car jacked! You stand out—with your peach colored skin—your creamy Dockers and your golf shirt—you might as well hold up a sign and say—visiting American with cash, credit cards, lap top computers and nice clothes! If you were in charge what would you decide? Fly in rickety planes with practical no security—or take a chance of being carjacked—robbed, literally kicked and beaten and left for dead in a ditch? Which is more likely 7,000 miles from home? I am sending you out like sheep among wolves! Where Uncle Terry is—walking through barrios where there is the smell of poverty—where little children where a daddy size t-shirt for clothes—where there are puddles of sewage and rotting garbage—where people live literally in refrigerator cardboard boxes—there is danger from robbers and thieves. There is danger on the road when the sun is first coming up. There is danger in the early evening when the sun is going down. Danger from robbers who drop tree trunks on the road. And then before you can turn around—they rush your car with their guns drawn—stealing your money—maybe even kidnapping you for ransom! Armed with the scriptures—missionaries are like sheep among wolves!

Therefore be as shrewd as snakes! Christians need to be thinking all the time! Do you know what helps keep your mind sharp—so that when you grow older and older—your mind with remain nimble? Doing crossword puzzles. That’s supposed to help. Also being very careful what you eat. You are supposed to eat blueberries—sweet wild blueberries. Also dark leafy greens, sardines and herring, spinach, grape juice, brown rice, hot cocoa, almonds and walnuts—olive oil and garlic! Far more important than using your mind to do crossword and jigsaw puzzles and eating healthy foods—read your Bible! Read the Scriptures. Read what Jesus said. Read what the apostle Paul wrote. You will find the most practical advice if you want your marriage to be stronger—your children to be more respectful—your job more fulfilling—your country more safe and secure! Read the Scriptures if you are bothered by stress and depression. God’s Word that says, “Don’t be anxious about anything—but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus!”

Therefore be as shrewd as snakes! That means be smart! Be always and forever thinking for Jesus’ sake. I saw a bill board on the way to St. Luke’s Hospital the other day. It was the picture of a repair guy—a man who worked with his hands. I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of worker he was—but the message was simple. I couldn’t fix it—so I am not charging you! Imagine that! Imagine having an operation—like my friend who had kidney stones. They opened him up—dug around his kidney for an hour—didn’t find the stone and closed him up again. He woke up in excruciating pain. He said—it was worth it knowing they had removed the stone. They said—they couldn’t find the stone. And then they gave him the bill—more pain! Imagine—car mechanics that work on your car—and still it won’t start—no charge! Imagine the sweet and sour chicken—with the little piece of breaded metal. No charge! Imagine the worker who said—the repair was so minor—no charge! Wouldn’t you recommend them to your friends? Wouldn’t you ask—why are you being so kind, so good so generous? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to say I work the way I do—because Jesus’ love fills my heart? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the way we live our life would give us the opportunity again and again—to share the Gospel of Christ crucified and risen?

Be as innocent as doves. I read the other day about a guy named Stanley. Stanley is in prison in San Quentin. Stan was the leader of the LA gang called the Crips. Did you ever hear of the Crips—like the Crips and the Bloods? Crips? It started out—Cribs—like where they lived. Then it was Crips—because lots of the gang members carried canes—walking sticks—like they were crippled? Then it was crippin’ which is slang for robbing—like murdering people to steal their leather jackets! Well Stan was the leader of the LA gang—the Crips. He was convicted of murdering a convenience store owner—took his life in order to steal $120. He also murdered two motel owners and their daughter with a shotgun. Well, they say—Stan has turned his life around the past 20 years in prison. He has worked hard to get other young people out of gangs. He has written children’s books. He has been nominated 5 times for the Nobel Peace Prize and 4 times for the Nobel Prize for Literature. A movie was made about his life called Redemption! Now—Stan is supposed to be executed—put to death for a minimum of 4 murders. The question is—does Stanley deserve to die? Can you redeem yourself? Can 20 years of warning young people about gangs—about murder and robbery and drug pushing and prostitution? Can you make up for your violent youth by spending 20 years behind bars—working very hard every day to accomplish something good? It’s tempting to think so. There is a part of our sin corrupted heart and mind to think—you can balance out sins, crimes and mistakes by doing something profoundly helpful and good. You can’t! We all—we all deserve to die—on account of our sins. We all deserve the wages of sin—eternal destruction. Only Jesus can take our guilt away—and he did—when he sacrificed his innocent life on the cross—to forgive all our sins!

The essential problem is sin—our guilt—my personal responsibility for all that I have done that is wrong! My personal responsibility for all that is good and helpful and right—that I have left go painfully undone! Can we run away from our guilt? It’s been tried. There was a lady the other day—who tied her husband up in his desk chair. She tied his hands and feet to the chair with duct tape. Then she clobbered him with a steam iron and poked him with a big pair of scissors. Then she took the duct tape off—and rewrapped it on the roll. Then she took her husband’s body and rolled him down the stairs. She put the scissors at the bottom of the stairs, too. Then she called the police and said her husband fell down the stairs and poked himself with the scissors. There was still duct tape residue on his arms and legs and on the desk chair! Did she get away with it? I don’t think so! We are guilty, too, of countless sins, failures and mistakes. Only Jesus could wash those sins away. Jesus did. That means we are forgiven! We are heirs of heaven. In the meantime—during this time of grace we have on this earth—we need by the power of the Gospel—to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves—for the glory of the Lord Jesus—our Good Shepherd. Amen! To God alone all glory! Rev. Anthony E. Schultz