The passage we have just read is about the spreading of the gospel. It reminds me of a historical account of the Battle of Marathon. All the way back in 490 BC, the Greeks were afraid because the Persians were about to invade. Athens, the city of Athens, was terrified. There was panic. There were rumors of looting and rioting. So the Greeks went out to meet the Persians at the town of Marathon. Everyone thought they were going to lose, that the Greeks were going to lose, but in a surprising twist they won. The story goes like this, that they sent a single runner back to Athens, which was 22 and a half miles away. It's where we get the modern-day word for marathon or the length for a modern-day marathon. That runner ran all the way from Marathon back to Athens, and he announced, we have won. We have won the day. Rejoice. Then he fell over dead from the run. Now the reason I say that, it reminds me of this account, is because it's about the spreading of the gospel. And that historical account of the Battle of Marathon, many people think, or some people think, give us a context for the gospel, because the gospel is good news. that has to be announced. In fact, even in the Greek word for preach is the idea of a herald, someone who comes, perhaps even runs from town to town, and announces news, not advice about how to live, but an objective, history-changing news, much like the Battle of Marathon was news to the Athenians. I want us to ask three questions about this text. First, what is God up to in this age? Second, how's He doing it? And third, what's your role? So what is God up to first? How's He doing it? What's your role? Those three things. First, what is God up to? In this passage, Jesus calls Himself the Lord of the Harvest. He gives an analogy, an analogy about someone going out to gather a harvest. In fact, it's an analogy that began all the way at the beginning of Luke. Luke chapter 3 tells us, in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then he says later on about the Messiah, that same chapter, chapter 3, verse 12, his winnowing fork is in his hand, he will clear his threshing floor, gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. What is God up to? God is up to a harvest. He's harvesting the earth. He's making souls born again, to know Him. And that's part of His work. That is perhaps even the chief work that's going on. People are being brought from death to life. And that's an important thing that is happening in our age today. Now when He says in verse one, after this the Lord appointed 72 others, that amount of people, 72, is significant. It's symbolic. There are some manuscripts that say 70. There are other manuscripts that say He sent out 72. So there's a debate whether He sent out 70 or 72. I tend to believe that He sent out 72 for this reason, that in Genesis chapter 10, you can find a list of the nations. It's called the table of nations, and there are 72 nations listed there in Genesis 10. I think what's happening is that as the Lord of the harvest, Jesus is sending out laborers, ultimately who will go to every nation, every tribe, and every tongue. It's a symbolic number. They're also sent out two by two. Of course, there was an Old Testament requirement in Deuteronomy that there would be no trial that could be conducted except on two witnesses, no evidence conducted except under two witnesses. But also, I think, Jesus sends them out two by two because obviously, two hands are better than one. It's a practical thing. He says that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Why are there so few people today willing to go out and harvest? Perhaps there's a lot of answers to that question, but let me give you maybe one or two. We don't like to sacrifice. I don't think any of us really would desire, given our natural tendencies, to leave the land we're from and go to a distant land, perhaps that's poor or perhaps even persecuted, and proclaim the Word of God there. It's a sacrifice. And within that contemplation, there's a certain amount of self-love. We love the things of this world. We want to gather. the things of this world, money, other things, possessions. when we hear reports of missionaries, which I love to hear, but sometimes we even feel a certain amount of fear or guilt, thinking, wow, look what they're going through for the sake of the kingdom. What am I doing, you know? We can have a kind of fear and guilt. There's also an opposite tendency, one that I had when I was younger. I know that I took a number of short-term missionary trips, which, by the way, I think this mission here is a short-term assignment. The reason I say that is because Jesus gives them certain specific instructions, like in verse 4, to carry no money bag or knapsack or sandals. I don't think that's a blueprint for missions today. I think it's more of a specific instruction for that time. I think they were also given power to heal the sick, as it says in verse 9, specifically for that period of time. But anyways, I would go on a missions trip and I would come home thinking, a short-term mission trip, that was wonderful. It was like a mountaintop experience. In some ways, it was a spiritually nourishing time. I even came back one year and told my parents, I wanna be a missionary. I wanna drop what I'm doing now and go to be a missionary. And I think they wisely counseled me, you should finish college and finish what you're doing before you think about that. But we can pretend that missions is this mountaintop experience, but I think if you were to ask any missionary who's been in the field for more than a few years, they'd say it's not always a mountaintop experience. There is a certain amount of true sacrifice and perpetual sacrifice that you have to be willing to endure. That is what God is up to. God is up to harvesting His people, gathering a people to Himself, and He's sending people on a mission. That's the second thing. How is God going about this task? How is the Lord of the Harvest going about harvesting? He's doing it by sending out messengers of grace. Now, there are a few, I would say, qualities here about the people He sends out that we are to take note of. So in verse 2, He tells them, pray, pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers into the harvest field, to pray. Now, we pray every week, every week from this pulpit we pray for missionaries to be sent out. But do you pray in your prayers personally that men and women and boys and girls would be brought to faith? Do you pray for that on a regular basis? They are also to have a message of peace. If you look in verse 5, it tells them when you enter a house, first say, peace to this house. I think it is more than just a greeting of shalom, which was a common greeting. They are to have a message of peace, peace between God and man. That's at the core of the gospel, that at the core of the gospel we are sinners who deserve damnation. We are afraid of God's judgment. We are afraid in our guilt and shame to stand before the Lord, but the message of the gospel is one of peace, one that makes sons and daughters of peace. And that's at the core of what we are to say to people as we present the gospel. We are also to have an attitude of peace. I think one of the challenges in This mission and really every mission is a spirit of judgmentalism, and here's what I mean by that. It's very easy to look out and see the wickedness that's going on in someone's life and think they could never be a part of God's kingdom. In fact, some people may even appeal to this verse in 1 Corinthians 6, Verse nine through 10, do not be deceived, says Paul, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Some Christians look at a verse like that and say, how could any of these people ever belong to God's kingdom? But if you read that very verse in context, the next verse says, and such were some of you. And such were some of you. He's writing to the Corinthians and He's saying, some of you were sexually immoral. Some of you were adulterers and idolaters. Even when Jesus enters into Jerusalem, and He's talking with the chief priests, and He's talking with the elders, one of the things that He says in Matthew 21 is this, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, You did not afterward change your minds and believe Him." The question is when missionaries are sent out and when pastors preach, and even when you are interacting with non-believers, the question shouldn't be, What kind of sins are they currently doing? You should take note of those sins. But really, the ultimate question is, are they willing to change their mind and repent for what they have done? That's the question. And that's really the message that they are to bring, a message of repentance. And if they repent, then it's a message of peace between God and man. They're given other specific instructions in verse seven and eight, verses seven and eight, to stay in one place, not to go from house to house. I think the point of that is to build a relationship, at least that's what I think. They're meant to build a relationship with the people that they meet along the way. They're also not to cause needless offense. That's what I think is happening when Jesus says, eat whatever is set before you. Perhaps they're to do whatever they can not to cause offense. I remember when I was in Papua New Guinea for six weeks, at the very end the villagers threw us a feast. And it wasn't a feast that I would naturally want to take part of. You had to get down on your hands and knees. They didn't serve it on a table, they served it on the ground. And so everyone was expected to get down on their hands and knees and eat with their hands, not forks. It was local, they had slaughtered local animals and you were to eat what they had been cooking all day. So we did, so as not to cause offense. Another reason that Jesus says is because a worker deserves his wages. Now, Paul will later use that, that same verse, to talk about paying your pastor. So it does get used again by Paul. But I think that the context here is you're to have a love for people. And in your interactions with them, you're to seek to tell them the truth, but also not to offend them needlessly. especially if you're accepting their hospitality. Now, one of the verses that came to mind is verse 24 of John chapter 12 that says, Jesus says, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. I think that there was probably a lot about this mission that maybe Jesus' followers didn't necessarily want to do. Maybe they wanted to take a knapsack and sandals and things along with them, but Jesus told them not to. Maybe they didn't want to eat everything that was set before them, but Jesus told them to eat. Maybe they wanted to go from house to house, but Jesus said to stay in one place. They had to die to self. That's part of what we all are to do in our lives. Now, they are given a message to communicate if they are rejected. So after verse 9 and verse 11, it says, even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet, we wipe off against you. Now that's not a license to hate or harm people if they don't accept the gospel message, but it is a solemn warning. The gospel comes as an offense to people, and if the messengers of God's grace are going to offend people, let them offend them with the gospel. With the idea that we serve a holy God who will rightly and justly punish sin and throw people in hell if they do not repent, that is a part of the message. It's not a fun part that we like to say sometimes, especially in our culture that really prizes individual rights, but it is a part of the gospel because God is just and holy. But all of that message comes in the context of prayer, of peace, and a love for people. That's the context in which we are to share the gospel. So if God is up to harvesting people in this age, and if he sends out messengers of grace, what's the final, the answer to the final question, what is your role? I think we have an implication of what your role is to be in verses 12 through 16. Because in verses 12 through 16, it talks about the response people are to have to the revelation that they're given. Let me just come out right clearly and say it. Your role is to study God's Word, to repent of sin, and to bear witness to His grace. In all of your life, in every context that you find yourself, in every role that you're to play, whether that's a father or a mother, a husband, a wife, a worker at a local hospital, whatever role that you find yourself in, you are to bear witness through word and deed to the grace of God. Jesus mentions a number of cities here. What is his point? So, he mentions in verse 12 that it will be more bearable for Sodom than for you. Sodom was that wicked city back in Genesis that Jesus…excuse me, that God poured out His wrath upon. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities, wicked cities that the Old Testament prophets condemned for their Baal worship in the Old Testament. But Jesus is saying this, that even those wicked cities, their judgment will be less severe than that for Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum. Why? Well, because in Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum, they witnessed the revelation of Jesus Christ, close and personal, up front, with their eyes. And they still didn't repent. That's the key word, repent, in verse 13. He says, woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida, if the miracles that were performed on you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago. What have you done with the revelation that you have received? Lest anyone think otherwise, this is the revelation that you have received. People don't think about that when someone gives you a Bible, especially people who are non-believers, somebody gives them a Bible, they're not thinking this is the full and complete revelation of God. Everything that you need for doctrine in life, everything that you could ever possibly need is given to you here in God's word, and you're going to be held accountable for that. Have you read it? Do you know what it says about Jesus? Do you know what it says about the coming judgment? Do you know what it says about His life and death and resurrection, His ascension into heaven and pouring out His Spirit? Do you know the story? Because you're going to be held accountable for that. We have, even in our criminal justice system, a certain amount of responsibility that's given for people who have information, right? Perhaps this is helpful, I hope. If you are the only witness to a crime and somebody else is on trial, accused, and you stay silent, somebody else is convicted, then you're responsible for that. You're responsible to speak up if you have information. Now imagine that you are one of the handful of people, or I don't know, hundreds of people, maybe a thousand people, living in one of these cities, and you had witnessed firsthand, not something horrible or tragic like a crime, but you witnessed something miraculous. You witnessed Jesus Christ healing the sick, making blind people see. Wouldn't you have a responsibility to tell others about what you had seen and heard? That's what you have in the Bible. You have the apostolic witness of Jesus Christ, those who had been with Jesus, those who had witnessed His miracles, those who had been with Him, maybe His entire ministry, and it's handed to you, it's delivered to you. So what will you do with it? Will you stay silent? or will you witness with your words and deeds to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? Finally, let me leave you with this, that Jesus Christ was the ultimate one who was sent on a mission, the ultimate apostle. Sent not to a town or two, but he was sent from heaven to earth so that his message could be proclaimed to every tongue and tribe and nation. He was sent on that mission not out of fear or guilt or shame. He had no fear or guilt or shame. He was sent on that mission because of the great love that He had for the lost, for the glory of His name, for the spreading of His fame and glory and honor and worship to the Gentiles. He died so that you could live, right? He was like that seed that fell to the ground and died in order that you could be harvested, so that you could bear much fruit. So what will you do with that message that you have been given? I don't think that many of us will be called to be full-time missionaries. I hope that maybe one or two of us might be. But you are going to be held accountable for the revelation given to you. So do you know it? My hope is that through knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, you wouldn't feel guilty or shamed, but that you would be drawn out of love to bear witness to what He has done in your life to other people. That you would be like that seed that falls to the ground and dies, and through that death would bear much fruit for His kingdom, for His glory. May that be your testimony. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Almighty God, we thank You that You have given us in Your Son the ultimate apostle who was sent on a mission. At the cost of his life, he knew what it was like to be abandoned by those he loved. He knew what it was like for the harvest to be plentiful, but the workers few. We thank You that You did not spare Your own Son, but You delivered Him up for us all. We confess before you that because of our self-love, of our self-absorption, we don't want to sacrifice the things of this world. We pray that the gospel would transform our hearts, that we would be drawn to Christ out of love and through that transformation that others would be drawn to you because they see it in our lives. We pray for the victory of your kingdom throughout the world. We pray that you would use our church for the proclamation of your good news to those who are lost here in Tyler, but also throughout the world. We long for that day when the nations will be gathered to you and that we will be before your throne, and that there will no longer be sin, that there will no longer be suffering and pain. We long for that day. May we be faithful with the revelation that you've given to us. May we not cast it aside, but may we be faithful witnesses to what you have done in history, in Jesus Christ, but also in our life. We pray this all for the glory and fame and honor of Jesus Christ by your spirit, in whose name we pray, amen.