June 16, 2013 Practicing Discernment 2 Shrewd Innocence Matthew 10: 16-20

Scripture: ¹⁶ "Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. ¹⁹ When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. ²⁰ For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

Sermon:

- Chapter 10 in Matthew marks a change in the ministry of Jesus because this chapter begins with Jesus naming apostles meaning 'sent ones.' Jesus himself chose the 12 and he himself sends them out to carry out his mission.

- Jesus is sending them. They are not wandering around like lost sheep. They are sent, and according to Matthew, this sending by Jesus wasn't a one-time thing. It was an ongoing constant, continual thing.

- Before now, they had been with Jesus; they listened to his teaching; they watched him cast out demons, heal illness and cleanse leprosy, and preach the good news of the kingdom; and they assisted Jesus…

- But now Jesus sent out his disciples, saying, "Look, I, I apostle you, I am sending you like sheep into the middle of wolves."

- Last week, we looked at how Jesus said that false teachers and false prophets are like wolves in sheep's clothing, but this week, we are looking at how Jesus is sending the sheep out among the wolves.

- So Jesus tells them, "Because you are like sheep", the most notoriously the defenceless animal (Keener, Matthew, 321), "you must be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves."

- Genesis describes the serpent as craftier than all the other animals, and Jesus commanded the 12 to be shrewd like the serpent.

- What does it mean to be shrewd like a serpent?

- It means that we cannot be in the habit of going about our days with our minds on autopilot.

- It means being thoughtful, intentional, and alert toward the people around us.

- It means that we cannot speak or act carelessly or thoughtlessly, but be careful to consider all possible circumstances and consequences.

- It means the Christian will not use his/her faith to provoke people like a child poking at a hornet's nest with a stick.

- To put it in a few words, the shrewd person always considers consequences.

- Jesus told his disciples to be as shrewd as serpents, but the serpent in Genesis was a menace to others and that's why Jesus also told his disciples to be as harmless as doves.

- The serpent used his shrewd mind to deceive and cause harm.

- What does it mean to be harmless like a dove?

- It means that one is open to others.

- It means that one is honest with others.

- It means that one has pure motives in their relationships with others.

- It means that one is innocent.

- It means that one is simple, easy and uncomplicated rather than difficult or hard to get along with.

- It means that one sees others through the eyes of love.

- How do we know that?

- You may recall that at the baptism of Jesus, Luke described the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus bodily as a dove.

- The physical presence of the Holy Spirit as a dove at Jesus' baptism represents the love of God, specifically the love of God for his only Son.

- God affirmed his love for Christ by physically sending the Holy Spirit to be with him at his baptism in the form of a dove.

- To be harmless like a dove is to love others like God loves.

- In short, the harmless person always considers others first.

- To be shrewd, without being harmless is to cause harm.

- To be harmless, without being shrewd is to be helpless.

- For Christians who wish to practice discernment, they must be willing to become both shrewd and harmless.

- Why? Take a moment to consider the rest of what Jesus said to his sent ones, the apostles.

- ¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. ¹⁹ When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. ²⁰ For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

- We must be both shrewd and harmless so that we do not do anything to unnecessarily bring persecution upon ourselves because, sooner or later, persecution will come and it is earned.

- As it was for the apostles, so shall it be for the church for we also are sent by God to continue the mission of Jesus, announcing the kingdom of God and doing kingdom deeds.

- Something about that idea scares me, if Christians are not experiencing persecution, then they haven't earned it.

- But as scary is that is, when the time comes, just as the apostles trusted Jesus so also we can trust Jesus for the Spirit of God will give us the words to say in defense of the gospel.

- The rejection of Jesus and his message is as common today as it was 2000 years ago.

- Always people will oppose the message of good news about Jesus, but some will believe.

- That is why we must become both shrewd and harmless. If we are to be shrewd, then we must consider the consequences, and if we are to be harmless, then we must consider others first.

- First Peter 3:15b-16 best summarizes what we've been talking about this morning: "Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. ¹⁶ However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:15b-16, HCSB)

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.

- How should this workout in our day-to-day lives?

- If the Christian is to be alert and aware and able to consider consequences, then shrewd innocence begins in the mind.

- From reading Paul's letter to the Romans we see that we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world any longer, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

- A renewed mind requires new habits and new disciplines to strengthen the mind and encourage the growth of commonsense thinking, which honors God because God is a God of order, not chaos.

- A renewed mind is a mind which understands that God is also a God of love and therefore we must learn to act and speak from a place of love.

- I think one of the most significant things that we can do individually is to limit the amount of time that we spend watching movies and TV shows or playing video games.

- People who watch moderate to heavy amounts of television (only one to four hours per day) display classic signs of behavioral addiction.

- If you plan your life around the TV schedule or someone in your life does, that is a warning sign.

- If you are inactive and have poor diet because of screen time, that is also a warning sign.

- Instead of having real experiences, we trade them for virtual experiences and virtual experiences require almost no thought, no activity, no relationships.

- The screen can easily become an idol in our lives and we have to choose to replace it with other things: physical activity, board games, relationships, conversations, audio books, audio dramas, exercise, hobbies, etc.

- Now, I used the TV or the screen as an example because it is the key contender against God in the battle for the ownership of our minds.

- In order to have renewed minds, we must learn to think God's thoughts after him. How can we do that if we are training our minds to be screen/TV dependant? The short answer is, we can’t.

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.

- And no matter how you slice it, there's only one way to do that: discipline ourselves to read the Bible, understand the Bible, meditate upon God's word, and allow the Scriptures to impact our prayer life and apply them to our daily lives.

- That's really the only way to cultivate shrewd innocence in our lives.

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.