“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."—Matthew 10:24–39

Introduction

The Hard Grace of Speaking for Christ 

I want you to feel hopeful about outreach and evangelism. If I wanted you to feel guilty, I've probably already accomplished it just by you reading the title of this sermon. I can just say the word evangelism, and you will feel guilty. Added to that is how hard these words of Jesus are. As I look at his ministry, he regularly says hard things, and he does so unapologetically.

I'm discovering more and more that grace is not a synonym for easy. It is a synonym for undeserved. So if Jesus says something hard, we shouldn't cry foul. We should thank him for holding out to us the grace or the undeserved favor of being able to follow him, and then we should ask for more grace to follow him.

As I searched the Gospels for Jesus commissioning disciples for outreach, I kept seeing the topic of suffering crop up. In Matthew 10, Jesus commissions the twelve disciples, starting in verse 5. He gives them his authority, he tells them what to say, and he sends them to preach to Israel. But Jesus doesn't just tell them about their mission to Israel—he also describes what will happen to his followers once the gospel breaks out into the whole world (to you and me).

This sermon could have simply been called “The Cost of Discipleship” because everyone who follows Jesus is going to experience loss. But if you look at our passage, the thing that precipitates the cost that every disciple will experience is their talking to unbelievers about Jesus and his words.

He tells them, “So have no fear of them, for . . .” (v. 26). Now what follows is not a reason not to fear—that will come later. What Jesus is about to say is his reason for giving the command not to fear. He's actually telling them why they might think they have reason to fear. 

Here’s the reason he gives: “nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops”  (vv. 26–27). Sharing the gospel, which means speaking about Jesus, is what brings these potential reasons to fear on you. Look also at verse 32: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (v. 32). Talking about Jesus is what brings your suffering. Jesus is preparing us. He wants us to expect suffering when we talk about him.

Expectations

Expectations are important. They establish hope—what you are looking forward to. Disappointment is the negative emotional experience of our hopes (which are our desires or wants for the future) not being met. And if you experience disappointment long enough and severely enough, you will get angry and give up on whatever course you were on. If you expect steak and experience tofu, you will be disappointed. If you experience tofu and aren't disappointed, you are strange—or you were expecting something worse, like broccoli. Two men can experience the exact same circumstances—one with despair, and one with joy— with only one variable between them: one expected something better, and the other expected something worse. A man can sigh with relief upon hearing he will lose his leg if he was expecting to lose his life. Expectations can keep us from despair.

Expectations also enable us to assess whether or not a course of action is worth it. They help us forecast whether a course of action or a relationship is worth it. Every investor, every military general, every builder is constantly doing this.

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”—Luke 14:28–32

You can't help but do this. You are doing this all the time. Even right now, you are weighing the cost and benefits of listening to me or catching up on some sleep. And you will always decide to do what you think will bring you the most pleasure and the least amount of pain.

In these sixteen verses, Jesus is giving us grace by challenging and reshaping our expectations. They're hard words because they tell us to expect loss. I want to reiterate that Jesus doesn't say them because he's cruel. Preachers who promise your best life now are the cruel. That is a recipe for despair. Jesus tells us what to expect so that we don't fall away with disappointment and so that we can consider his worth as we follow him.

What I see here in this passage is predominately Jesus preparing us for hardship as we are witnesses to him. But that's not all he's doing. He also offers a reason not to fear and reasons that hardship is worth it. That's the outline. First, we will look at what Jesus is preparing us for. Second, we will look at his reason not to be afraid. Last, we will look at why a life like the one Jesus describes here is worth it.

What to Expect When We Speak (vv. 24–25)

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

We shouldn't expect to be treated better than Jesus was treated. If you expect everyone to like you and respect you because you're a friendly, upstanding Christian, your expectations are off. Jesus lived the most godly life possible, and he was rejected by his people and crucified. The kind of thinking that says, “Yeah, but Jesus suffered so we don't have to” is only half right. He suffered the wrath of God so that we don't have to. But as far as treatment from the world goes, you need to expect and settle it in your heart right now that you are going to be mistreated if you talk about Jesus.

For a long time while I was in school, I lived under the impression that if you could win the popular kids to Christ, people would flock to Jesus. The only problem with that is that if Jesus is right, as soon as the popular kids start witnessing for Christ, they won't be popular anymore. 

You do want to be winsome as a Christian. Rudeness is not a virtue. But if you think that people have to like everything about you before they will accept the gospel, you will always avoid sharing the gospel . . . so that at some later date they might like you enough for you to share the gospel. Do you see that trap? Confront this thinking in your mind. 

Jesus was called Beelzebul, which means Satan. What do you think they are going to call you? Hateful? A bigot? Annoying? Arrogant? Our country is being primed to hate you. But “woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).

We should expect that people are going to talk about us falsely (v. 25). We should expect that they might kill our bodies (v. 28). We should expect conflict (v. 34). Jesus didn't come in this life to bring peace. We should even expect being rejected by members of our own family (vv. 35–36). We should expect to live a life that is comparable to carrying a cross on our way to die, because as Jesus says, we must “lose our lives” for his sake (v. 39). These are heavy words. Christians are not glib. We have been called to die.

But Jesus doesn't just load us with reasons to fear. He lovingly resets our expectations and then gives us a precious reason not to fear.

A Reason Not to Fear (vv. 29–31)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

God has a big heart. He cares about little birds—birds that aren't even worth a penny. Not a single one of them dies without God willing it. He holds your life. You matter to God way more than birds.

God did not send his Son to die for birds. He's going to take care of you. You aren't floating through this world as a victim of the whims of people who don't like you. You won't die until God's ready for that to happen to you. Nothing hard that happens to you is outside of either his control over your life or his deep care for you. He knows all the hairs on your head. They matter to him.

Let this protect you. Fight your fear with this. When you face the prospect of sharing the gospel and you suddenly get seized with fear, take these verses and talk to your heart. God will not leave you. Even when the person you are talking with is getting irritated. Even when sharing the gospel changes the relationship you had with the person for the worse. God is caring for you, and he ordains even the hardship you could experience as a result of sharing Christ out of care for you. He cares for you and watches over you. Don't forget it.

Why It's Worth the Cost (vv. 28-39)

Jesus doesn't just promise that in the middle of hardship that he is sovereign and that he cares for us—he also gives us reasons why this kind of hard life witnessing to him is worth it.

If I promise you that if you walk across the desert, I'll drop water to you from a helicopter along the way so that you don't die of thirst, you might say, “Okay . . . but why would I want to go across the desert in the first place?” So even though God is going to take care of us, and even though he ordain all our hardships out of his care, why would we want to enter into those hardships in the first place?

The emphasis of this passage is on the hardships that are required of those who will follow Jesus and talk about his words to the lost world. But he's also showing us that the worth of it all dwarfs the cost:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.—Matthew 10:28

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.—Matthew 10:32–33

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.—Matthew 10:37–39 

Let me string together the motivation that Jesus provides us like this: The greatest risk you run in this life is not dying. Jesus sees reality as it really is. He affords us clarity about genuine value. Your being able to live through this afternoon is of relative unimportance compared to facing or not facing God's wrath.

That makes sense, right? You see, Jesus is giving us two options—the only two options. You can avoid being hated in this life by not talking about him. You can potentially manage a comfortable seventy or eighty years, avoiding being disliked by others. You can make sure that everyone in your family and all your acquaintances like you a lot for the whole seventy or eighty years. You can avoid carrying a cross like Jesus—just don't talk about him.

But be informed of all the risks and gain. Good investors, good builders, and good military generals know the risks and the gain. Jesus makes us understand that there is more at stake. If you acknowledge Jesus and face the consequences by trusting that God cares for you and watches over everything that happens to you, Jesus will acknowledge you. He will claim you as his own on the day of judgment.

But if in seeking to avoid the pain of discipleship, you don't acknowledge Jesus to the world around you, you will face the judgment of God on your own, without a substitute. 

You can try to save your life here and now. You can find it in seeking everyone's approval and avoiding being a weirdo. But you will lose the life that really matters. Only in losing your life in the world's eyes for Christ's sake can you really live.

Now here's one last question. What does it mean to be worthy of Jesus? He says that if you love your father or mother or your son or daughter more than him, you aren't “worthy” of him (v. 37). And later, he says that if you do not take up your cross and follow him in suffering, you are not worthy of him (v. 38). 

Does this mean different people have different worths? That some have a lot of worth, and some have a little worth, and if you meet a certain level of worth, Jesus will accept you? I don't think so. When you say something is not worthy of you, you are saying less about the worth of the thing and more about yourself. If a chef prepares a shoddy meal for the president and the president responds, “This isn't worthy of me. I'm the president!” He's saying something about the food to be sure, but he's saying that the quality of the food is not reflective of his worth. A life that thinks family is more desirable than Jesus doesn't reflect how worthy Jesus is. A life that considers suffering not worth it for the sake of enjoying Jesus does not reflect Jesus' worth. It's primarily about his worth.

These are shocking words. The world isn't shocked when it hears that Jesus loves them. The world is shocked when it hears Jesus saying he must be loved above all else. It’s easy to misconstrue his love for us as showing our great value, but no one can mistake that his demand for us to love him more than everything else shows his value, not ours. This passage says you have to talk that way, but more importantly you have to believe it, or you won’t talk that way.

If you aren't willing to feel uncomfortable in order to share the gospel, you aren't worthy of Jesus. If you aren't willing to lose your job to talk about Jesus, you aren't worthy of him. If you don't consider a life of hatred from the world worth it, you aren't worthy of Jesus. If you don't consider dying for the gospel worth it, you aren't worthy of Jesus. If you love your parents or your children more than Jesus, you are not worthy of him.

That's exactly what Jesus is saying. You must lay all of your ambitions and hopes about your future at Jesus' feet, or you are not worthy of him.

If that's you, then you're considering comfort, your job, or all the world more valuable than Jesus. We are not saved by trusting that Jesus died as a substitute for us and our sins. He is our substitute because we believe he is more valuable than anything and everything in this world. If we don't talk to the lost like he is, we show the true condition of our souls. We are lost.

I don't want you to hear that if you've backed down from sharing the gospel before, you are a goner. Jesus died to cover our sins. He died to cover the sins of those who consider him to be more valuable than all world and its love, and he died to help scared people like you and me trust that he is worth it all. 

Now see the flip side of all of this. What do Jesus's demands say about his worth—positively? They say that he genuinely believes that he is more valuable to you than a job, a reputation, a steady income, your family, or not dying. They say that he is more valuable than the whole world.

I mentioned at the beginning that Jesus is unapologetic when he makes his demands. If I were to offer you ten million dollars to give up your favorite TV show, I wouldn't apologize to you for the hardship. The worth so outweighs the cost that losing your favorite show doesn't compare. Jesus doesn't apologize because he's demanding that we exchange what we cannot keep for everything. He won't apologize for giving us grace.

He is the most precious treasure in all the world. He wants you to show how great his worth is by talking about him at the risk of losing everything. That's how you show his value. By being scared about talking to someone about him but then trusting that having him and saving your life in him is better than being disliked and losing your life here.

Application

First, don't wallow. Some of us have a crisis every time we hear the hard words of Jesus. “Am I Christian? Am I not? I haven't shared the gospel in a year!” Just answer this question: “Do I believe that the worth or the gain of following Jesus is worth the loss of everything?”  For those who are given to anxiety, don't go through scenarios of future suffering you could face and ask yourself if you've got enough to take it. You don't. It's a fruitless, godless exercise. Just ask, “Do I believe Jesus is worth everything?” “Do I believe he'll provide for whatever comes?” That's all.

Second, steel yourself. Be prepared. Don't get caught off guard. Rearrange your expectations and plans for the future. But don't just prepare yourself to suffer—prepare to share the gospel. That's what brings the suffering. We do not go looking for persecution. We look for opportunities to talk about Jesus. We expect to suffer, and we expect God to care for us in it. Prepare with somebody else—in your small group or with your family. Practice. Share your testimony. Share the gospel in two minutes. Be prepared. You exist to proclaim his worth.

Third, in the moment of temptation to speak or not to speak, remind yourself of what's real. The soul exists, and to lose it is a horror beyond any suffering. To gain it is worth all the world.

Fourth, remind yourself of God’s promises to care for you. Memorize Matthew 10: 29-31. Fight for faith. Jesus is holding out to you gain beyond compare, and he is promising to keep you safe as you pursue it in him.