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“The Twelve Apostles” Matthew 10:2-4 *Click for Audio* Pastor Kevin Vogts Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Second Sunday after Pentecost—June 14, 2020 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is today’s Gospel Reading, in which our Lord appoints “The Twelve Apostles” and sends them out to preach in his name. There’s a show on The History Channel called “History’s Mysteries,” about inexplicable but true events from our past. The commissioning of the 12 apostles presents us with one of history’s greatest mysteries: HOW and WHY did this particular group of 12 men have such an extraordinary impact on our world? In the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin, the same body that had condemned Jesus to death, and ordered to stop preaching in Jesus’ name. Scripture reports that the Sanhedrin considered them “unschooled, ordinary men,” and that the leader of the Sanhedrin thought that the new faith these men were preaching would come to nothing. If during the events of today’s Gospel Reading you had been a “fly on the wall” observing Jesus’ speech to this group of 12 as he sends them out to preach in his name, you probably would have thought same: it will all come to nothing. For they were indeed “unschooled, ordinary men,” mostly former fishermen. They came from a remote backwater of the Roman Empire called Palestine, and not even from one of Palestine’s larger cities, such as Jerusalem or Caesarea, but they were “hicks from the sticks” of Galilee. That’s why someone once said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for your ACCENT gives you away.” By all appearances they were country bumpkins, insignificant nobodies, who should have been long forgotten, and whose existence 2,000 years ago should have had ZERO impact on us, and our world today. In the book of Acts, when Paul and Silas begin preaching in Thessalonica the enemies of the Gospel declare, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here.” Whether or not you believe the message they proclaimed, it is an indisputable fact of history that this small group of mostly former fishermen from a backward corner of the world 2,000 years ago really did turn the whole world upside down and utterly alter human history. Actually, they probably had a greater, lasting impact on our world than any other group of people in all of human history. For, in the two millennia since their commissioning that day, as recorded in today’s Gospel Reading, THE central driving force in world history has been the message they went out and proclaimed. And that’s history’s mystery: HOW and WHY did they have such an extraordinary impact on our world, an impact that reaches down to us, gathered here 2,000 years later on the other side of the world to profess the same faith and proclaim the same message? The answer to this history’s mystery is found in the very word “apostle.” The Greek word “apostle” means “one who is sent forth,” especially an official representative, such as an ambassador. As Paul later wrote, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” The 12 apostles were ambassadors to the world from the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ambassadors with a two-part message for the world from King Jesus, as he told them just before he ascended into heaven: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [my] name to all nations.” And that right there is the answer to this history’s mystery, HOW and WHY this small group of mostly former fishermen from a backward corner of the world 2,000 years ago had such an extraordinary, lasting impact on our world, how they completely changed human history. Because, it wasn’t THEY who did it at all, as Paul wrote, “We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord.” The Lord promises in Isaiah, “My word will not return to me empty, but will ACCOMPLISH what I desire and ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE for which I sent it.” And Paul says in Romans, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the POWER OF GOD for the salvation of everyone who believes.” God’s Word has POWER, DIVINE power, far beyond any other force in human history, the power of GOD to accomplish what he desires. It was not the apostles themselves who turned the world upside down, but the message brought by these ambassadors from God, the two-part message of repentance and forgiveness of sins, Law and Gospel, the bad news of our sin and the Good News of our Savior. That message is what changed the course of human history, that message is why we’re here today. First of all REPENTANCE, because the whole world is a prisoner of sin, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is no one righteous, not even one. But, that message of Law, the bad news of our sin, is only part of God’s message for the world. Christ’s ambassadors not only diagnose the spiritual sickness of our sin, but also prescribe the only cure possible: “forgiveness of sins in his name.” The Gospel, the Good News that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins in his name. The Good News that the blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses YOU from every sin, so you are now holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Every other religion or philosophy or ethical system also all preach in one way or another the bad news of our sins. But, no other religion or philosophy in the world except Christianity GOES ON, from the bad news of our sins, to the Good News of our Savior. The very word “Gospel” means “Good News,” and that’s really what Christianity is all about: the Good News of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” This unique message from God is what gives Christianity its unique power from God. And this message from God also gives YOU divine power for YOUR life. Mother Teresa once said, “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that he didn’t trust me so much.” Like the apostles, who were assigned the task of bringing the Gospel to the whole world, do you sometimes feel confronted with overwhelming responsibilities, and maybe you wish God didn’t trust you so much? At your job, with your home and family, involvement at church, and with other groups and organizations? You have the same power the apostles had to conquer the world to meet the challenges of your life, the power of the Word, and Sacraments, and prayer. As Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” And you have the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” You won’t do it all, you can’t do it all; everything won’t be just right, everything won’t be perfect; you will make mistakes, you will fall short, you will fail. “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. . . . But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is your comfort when things don’t go like you want them to, when you fall short, when you fail, the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” And you have the comfort of knowing that the apostles were not some kind of supernatural supermen, but, as the Book of Acts tells us, in and of themselves they were “ordinary men.” The New Testament records in painful detail their many faults and failings. Peter, the head apostle, even while Jesus is on trial, calls down curses on himself and swears “I don’t know the man.” Matthew reports that fateful night “ALL the disciples deserted him and fled.” Thomas famously DOUBTS the Good News of the resurrection. Many times we see the 12 disciples arguing over who is the greatest among them; it seems that even at the Last Supper they were jockeying to get the best seat at the table. “Ordinary men” like you and me, with ordinary weaknesses, and faults, and failings, like you and me. In the same way, God wants to use YOU for his work in this world. YOU, despite your weaknesses, faults, and failings. Paul put it this way: “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” God has entrusted the treasure of his Gospel and task of his work in the world not to glorious, perfect treasure chests, not to supernatural supermen, but to “jars of clay,” “ordinary men” like the apostles, and you, and me. Perhaps more than ever our society and especially our marketing culture is geared toward making us feel inadequate, imperfect, unworthy. One teen magazine advised its readers not to try to actually look like the models in their magazine, because the secret is most of those photos are actually three separate models, the head of one, the torso of another, and the legs of another. The perfect people you see in their pages literally don’t exist. “Time” magazine had a cover story about women struggling to be the “supermom,” and how they feel guilty if they don’t do it all, and do it all perfectly. It’s also called the “Martha Stewart syndrome.” She makes it look easy, but the truth is she has a large professional staff of assistants and chefs and maids and gardeners. The Martha Stewart who does everything and does it perfectly really doesn’t exist either. Real people, like the men whom Jesus picked to be his apostles, have strengths, AND weaknesses; abilities AND limitations; successes AND failures too. Jesus knew that when he appointed these 12 “ordinary men” to be his apostles, his ambassadors to the world. And he knew about your weaknesses, faults and failures when he appointed YOU to the roles he has given you to serve him in this world, in your job, your family, your service in the church and community. In 1st Corinthians Paul says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Not that they must prove successful, but faithful. For, as Paul also explains in 1st Corinthians, “The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Peter puts it this way: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” If you had been a “fly on the wall” during the events of today’s Gospel Reading, observing our Lord’s speech to this group of 12 as he sends them out to preach in his name, you probably would have agreed with the leader of the Sanhedrin: it will all come to nothing. HOW and WHY did this particular group of 12 men have such an extraordinary impact on our world? Because it wasn’t THEY who did it at all, but the divine power of the message they proclaimed. You have the same power to meet the challenges of your life, the power of the Word, and Sacraments, and prayer. And when things don’t go like you want them to, when you fall short, when you fail, you have the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” The apostles were not some kind of supernatural supermen, but, as the Book of Acts tells us, in and of themselves they were “ordinary men.” Jesus knew that when he appointed them to be his apostles, and he knew about your weaknesses, faults and failures when he appointed YOU to the roles he has given you to serve him in this world, in your job, your family, your service in the church and community. We sometimes talk of seeing the world through “rose-colored glasses.” Well, God sees you and your acts of service to him through “red-colored glasses,” colored red with the blood of his Son. As God looks upon you and your efforts to serve him, Jesus’ blood filters out in God’s sight all your sins, and shortcomings, and deficiencies. The Good News is, Jesus’ blood makes both you and your service to him, “holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation.” “Therefore, my beloved,” Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

“The Twelve Apostles”
Matthew 10:2-4

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Second Sunday after Pentecost—June 14, 2020

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is today’s Gospel Reading, in which our Lord appoints “The Twelve Apostles” and sends them out to preach in his name.

There’s a show on The History Channel called “History’s Mysteries,” about inexplicable but true events from our past. The commissioning of the 12 apostles presents us with one of history’s greatest mysteries: HOW and WHY did this particular group of 12 men have such an extraordinary impact on our world?

In the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin, the same body that had condemned Jesus to death, and ordered to stop preaching in Jesus’ name. Scripture reports that the Sanhedrin considered them “unschooled, ordinary men,” and that the leader of the Sanhedrin thought that the new faith these men were preaching would come to nothing.

If during the events of today’s Gospel Reading you had been a “fly on the wall” observing Jesus’ speech to this group of 12 as he sends them out to preach in his name, you probably would have thought same: it will all come to nothing.

For they were indeed “unschooled, ordinary men,” mostly former fishermen. They came from a remote backwater of the Roman Empire called Palestine, and not even from one of Palestine’s larger cities, such as Jerusalem or Caesarea, but they were “hicks from the sticks” of Galilee. That’s why someone once said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for your ACCENT gives you away.” By all appearances they were country bumpkins, insignificant nobodies, who should have been long forgotten, and whose existence 2,000 years ago should have had ZERO impact on us, and our world today.

In the book of Acts, when Paul and Silas begin preaching in Thessalonica the enemies of the Gospel declare, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here.” Whether or not you believe the message they proclaimed, it is an indisputable fact of history that this small group of mostly former fishermen from a backward corner of the world 2,000 years ago really did turn the whole world upside down and utterly alter human history. Actually, they probably had a greater, lasting impact on our world than any other group of people in all of human history. For, in the two millennia since their commissioning that day, as recorded in today’s Gospel Reading, THE central driving force in world history has been the message they went out and proclaimed. And that’s history’s mystery: HOW and WHY did they have such an extraordinary impact on our world, an impact that reaches down to us, gathered here 2,000 years later on the other side of the world to profess the same faith and proclaim the same message?

The answer to this history’s mystery is found in the very word “apostle.” The Greek word “apostle” means “one who is sent forth,” especially an official representative, such as an ambassador. As Paul later wrote, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” The 12 apostles were ambassadors to the world from the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ambassadors with a two-part message for the world from King Jesus, as he told them just before he ascended into heaven: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [my] name to all nations.”

And that right there is the answer to this history’s mystery, HOW and WHY this small group of mostly former fishermen from a backward corner of the world 2,000 years ago had such an extraordinary, lasting impact on our world, how they completely changed human history. Because, it wasn’t THEY who did it at all, as Paul wrote, “We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord.”

The Lord promises in Isaiah, “My word will not return to me empty, but will ACCOMPLISH what I desire and ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE for which I sent it.” And Paul says in Romans, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the POWER OF GOD for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

God’s Word has POWER, DIVINE power, far beyond any other force in human history, the power of GOD to accomplish what he desires. It was not the apostles themselves who turned the world upside down, but the message brought by these ambassadors from God, the two-part message of repentance and forgiveness of sins, Law and Gospel, the bad news of our sin and the Good News of our Savior. That message is what changed the course of human history, that message is why we’re here today.

First of all REPENTANCE, because the whole world is a prisoner of sin, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is no one righteous, not even one. But, that message of Law, the bad news of our sin, is only part of God’s message for the world.

Christ’s ambassadors not only diagnose the spiritual sickness of our sin, but also prescribe the only cure possible: “forgiveness of sins in his name.” The Gospel, the Good News that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins in his name. The Good News that the blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses YOU from every sin, so you are now holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Every other religion or philosophy or ethical system also all preach in one way or another the bad news of our sins. But, no other religion or philosophy in the world except Christianity GOES ON, from the bad news of our sins, to the Good News of our Savior. The very word “Gospel” means “Good News,” and that’s really what Christianity is all about: the Good News of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” This unique message from God is what gives Christianity its unique power from God. And this message from God also gives YOU divine power for YOUR life.

Mother Teresa once said, “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that he didn’t trust me so much.” Like the apostles, who were assigned the task of bringing the Gospel to the whole world, do you sometimes feel confronted with overwhelming responsibilities, and maybe you wish God didn’t trust you so much? At your job, with your home and family, involvement at church, and with other groups and organizations? You have the same power the apostles had to conquer the world to meet the challenges of your life, the power of the Word, and Sacraments, and prayer. As Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

And you have the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” You won’t do it all, you can’t do it all; everything won’t be just right, everything won’t be perfect; you will make mistakes, you will fall short, you will fail. “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. . . . But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is your comfort when things don’t go like you want them to, when you fall short, when you fail, the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.”

And you have the comfort of knowing that the apostles were not some kind of supernatural supermen, but, as the Book of Acts tells us, in and of themselves they were “ordinary men.” The New Testament records in painful detail their many faults and failings. Peter, the head apostle, even while Jesus is on trial, calls down curses on himself and swears “I don’t know the man.” Matthew reports that fateful night “ALL the disciples deserted him and fled.” Thomas famously DOUBTS the Good News of the resurrection. Many times we see the 12 disciples arguing over who is the greatest among them; it seems that even at the Last Supper they were jockeying to get the best seat at the table. “Ordinary men” like you and me, with ordinary weaknesses, and faults, and failings, like you and me.

In the same way, God wants to use YOU for his work in this world. YOU, despite your weaknesses, faults, and failings. Paul put it this way: “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” God has entrusted the treasure of his Gospel and task of his work in the world not to glorious, perfect treasure chests, not to supernatural supermen, but to “jars of clay,” “ordinary men” like the apostles, and you, and me.

Perhaps more than ever our society and especially our marketing culture is geared toward making us feel inadequate, imperfect, unworthy. One teen magazine advised its readers not to try to actually look like the models in their magazine, because the secret is most of those photos are actually three separate models, the head of one, the torso of another, and the legs of another. The perfect people you see in their pages literally don’t exist.

“Time” magazine had a cover story about women struggling to be the “supermom,” and how they feel guilty if they don’t do it all, and do it all perfectly. It’s also called the “Martha Stewart syndrome.” She makes it look easy, but the truth is she has a large professional staff of assistants and chefs and maids and gardeners. The Martha Stewart who does everything and does it perfectly really doesn’t exist either.

Real people, like the men whom Jesus picked to be his apostles, have strengths, AND weaknesses; abilities AND limitations; successes AND failures too. Jesus knew that when he appointed these 12 “ordinary men” to be his apostles, his ambassadors to the world. And he knew about your weaknesses, faults and failures when he appointed YOU to the roles he has given you to serve him in this world, in your job, your family, your service in the church and community.

In 1st Corinthians Paul says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Not that they must prove successful, but faithful. For, as Paul also explains in 1st Corinthians, “The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Peter puts it this way: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

If you had been a “fly on the wall” during the events of today’s Gospel Reading, observing our Lord’s speech to this group of 12 as he sends them out to preach in his name, you probably would have agreed with the leader of the Sanhedrin: it will all come to nothing. HOW and WHY did this particular group of 12 men have such an extraordinary impact on our world? Because it wasn’t THEY who did it at all, but the divine power of the message they proclaimed.

You have the same power to meet the challenges of your life, the power of the Word, and Sacraments, and prayer. And when things don’t go like you want them to, when you fall short, when you fail, you have the comfort of “forgiveness of sins in his name.” The apostles were not some kind of supernatural supermen, but, as the Book of Acts tells us, in and of themselves they were “ordinary men.” Jesus knew that when he appointed them to be his apostles, and he knew about your weaknesses, faults and failures when he appointed YOU to the roles he has given you to serve him in this world, in your job, your family, your service in the church and community.

We sometimes talk of seeing the world through “rose-colored glasses.” Well, God sees you and your acts of service to him through “red-colored glasses,” colored red with the blood of his Son. As God looks upon you and your efforts to serve him, Jesus’ blood filters out in God’s sight all your sins, and shortcomings, and deficiencies. The Good News is, Jesus’ blood makes both you and your service to him, “holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation.” “Therefore, my beloved,” Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Amen.

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