Internship



Matthew 10:5-15
5These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
9Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts,
10no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
11And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.
12As you enter the house, greet it.
13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
14And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.
15Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

You have heard me before call the Book of Matthew “The Jesus Christ School of Discipleship”. Reading the book as a whole, you really get a sense that Jesus focus during His three years of ministry was to train and equip The Twelve to go out and spread the Gospel. In our reading for today, we find that He is sending them out on an “internship” as a part of their training. So far, they have witnessed (probably in wide-eyed wonder) the miracles of Jesus as He heals the sick, raises the dead, casts out the demons, and forgives sins. Now, it’s time for them to go and try it out! He fills their mouths with the right message (“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”) and gives them specific instructions as to what they are to accomplish while they are out on their own.

In reality, the disciples are not “on their own” while they are out preaching and working among the people. They go in the power and under the authority of Jesus Himself. But that is a lesson they have to learn. Luke records that when they get back from this little experiment, the disciples are amazed at the things that they were able to do! Imagine the debriefing that took place as Jesus asked them to recount their experiences and share what had happened to them while they were out doing the work that would in the near future become their entire lives.

In their first foray into the world of evangelism, Jesus instructs them to take nothing along with them. They are not to provide for themselves. Instead they are to accept the hospitality of those who believe their words. We must also assume that they are learning how to rely upon God to provide all that they need. Learning how to set aside trust in yourself takes time and practice.  Also, Jesus makes it easier for them in that He tells them to hang with their own people. They are not yet ready to share the Good News with the Gentiles. They don’t need to start with the hard stuff. Plus, going to the Jews first is in keeping with the instructions that Jesus will give them later (Acts 1:8 – first to Jerusalem, then to Judea, then to Samaria, and then to the whole world) as to how to go about spreading His story. So it is only right a proper that this first attempt is restricted to the Jews. There will be time to share with the rest of the world when the time comes. For now, they are in training.

We too can take a lesson from this time of internship. Whenever we practice allowing the Lord full control over all things is a fantastic learning experience. We can also help ourselves out by speaking of the Lord to those who are already a part of our lives. It might be more in keeping with the way evangelism works today to speak to your friends and family about Jesus rather than trying to knock on the door of someone who lives 3 blocks over and 2 houses down who you’ve never even met. If you’re new at sharing your faith, start with those you know and your success rate may go way up. Most importantly, if you are letting God empower your sharing rather than providing for yourself – well, you get the idea.

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