July 3, 2019
Matthew 10:16-25
by Jake Herron
Pastor of Apison UMC
Hiwassee District 

In that moment I was speechless. In that moment I could not formulate the words that I was supposed to say. My robed pastor friend, Jeff Wright was quietly waiting for me to repeat the words he was speaking. The suspense was intense. In that moment I stood frozen because I was so filled with joy and I was looking forward to the future Laura and I would spend together. Finally, I pulled myself together, quenched the tears of joy that were about to spring forth like a geyser and found myself able to repeat the words of my wedding vows my pastor was quietly waiting for me to repeat in our church sanctuary. Sometimes, we find ourselves in moments like this, moments in which we cannot find the words we know we are supposed to say. Moments in which we know what we are about to say will wonderfully impact the rest of our lives and the lives of those around us. Moments in which we know everyone is listening to us and waiting for what we will say next.

Thankfully, when this occurs in our spiritual lives, the book of Matthew teaches us we will not need to “worry about what to say or how to say it,” for we “will be given what to say.” This should give us confidence in knowing the Holy Spirit will always be there to lead our thoughts and actions. We need not fear how our evangelism will be received or if we are persecuted for our faith, for regardless of what happens, the Lord will give us the words to say as we spread the wonderful message of his grace and forgiveness! We can go boldly forth into the world knowing in all that we say and do for the Kingdom, we will be given the words and will never freeze through the power of Christ at work in us! Verse 20 tells us it will not be us speaking, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through us! We need then to never worry about how our message will be received, or about to whom we should spread the message, or about whether or not our friends will reject us. Instead, we must focus on how what we say will help impact not only their current life, but also their eternity. Thus, we can go forth with boldness proclaiming the message of the good news, knowing that even though what we say will have eternal consequences for those with whom we speak, that we will speak the proper words they need to hear and never freeze as I did on my wedding day! We will never freeze for we will have the Lord speaking through us; thus, we can go boldly forth proclaiming the life, death and resurrection of Christ to all whom will hear the words we speak!