SALUTE NO ONE ON THE ROAD
After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road." Luke 10:1-4
What does he mean "salute no one on the road"? After all, Jesus himself stopped and talked to the woman at the well. The good Samaritan stopped and helped a wounded man by the side of the road......
Jesus stopped and talked to the woman at the well because he was sent to her. The Samaritan stopped and took care of this wounded man because he knew in his heart that this was exactly what he was appointed to do. But as Jesus went about doing the will of his Father he was extremely careful not to let himself ever get sidetracked — no entanglements, no compromise.
This was his power.
At the beginning of his ministry there was one who came to him and sought to get him off the track.
"If you're the Son of God let's see you
come down from the pinnacle of the temple... Jump!"
"Oh, you came to get the kingdoms of the world; well they're mine. But I'll give them to you without a fight. All you have to do is compromise. Just bow down and worship me and they're yours!"
But Jesus saluted no one on the road. He never let himself get sucked in. He kept himself clearly and firmly in the will of his Father. He was free from compromise and this was his strength.
Now by comparison, we are so naive that half the time we don't know the difference between showing kindness in the name of God to somebody who is in need, and getting too friendly with one who comes to us dressed as an angel of light but who is, in fact, the Enemy, who has come for no other purpose than to get us off the track.
"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road."
To salute no one on the road means that we go where we're sent, do what we're sent to do, and steer clear of the Prince of Compromise who calls to us all along the road urging us to turn aside into his false comfort, his false peace and his false rest or his false battles.
And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam, the king, was standing by the altar to burn incense. And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, "0 altar, altar, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you.'" And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: 'Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.'" And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar saying, "Lay hold of him." And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
And the king said to the man of God, "Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me that my hand may be restored to me." And the man of God entreated the Lord; and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. And the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." And the man of God said to the king, "If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place; for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'You shall neither eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.'" So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
I Kings 13:1-10
This man was filled with the power of God. It burned through his words and sprang into action as he spoke, because he saluted no one on the road. He didn't let himself get compromised. He went to Jeroboam and said what he was told to say without fear. When Jeroboam asked him to pray for him, he prayed for him. But, when Jeroboam said, "Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward," he answers, "No way! I'm neither going to eat bread nor drink water in this place. If you gave me half your house, I wouldn't do it."...... No compromise. And this was his strength.
Jesus says, "Salute no one on the road." And while this younger prophet from Judah had enough sense to stay clear of all compromises that approached him through King Jeroboam, he didn't know how to stay clear of the Prince of Compromise when he approached him in the guise of a prophet. And when the Prince of Compromise comes to this younger prophet in the guise of another prophet like himself, he stumbles.
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also which he had spoken to the king, they told to their father. And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. And he said to his sons, "Saddle the ass for me." So they saddled the ass for him and he mounted it. And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." And he said, "I may not return with you, or go in with you; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place; for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'"
And he said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandments which the Lord your God commanded you, but have come back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, "Eat no bread, and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers." And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the ass for the prophet whom he had brought back. And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the ass stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. And behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
I Kings 13;11-25
So when the Prince of Compromise approached this prophet as a king, he knew how to hold him at a distance .... he didn't get involved. But this old prophet sucked him in. He was told to salute no one on the road....
"Don't eat bread, don't drink water with anybody here."
He shouldn't have been sitting under that oak tree. He should have kept going until he got back to Judah. And when the old prophet came to him and tried to lure him back, he should have run as fast as he could to get away. The old prophet was jealous. The old prophet knew that he was the one who should have spoken those words to Jeroboam, but he didn't have the guts. And so a younger prophet, from the southern kingdom, had to be brought in to do the job.
And so it is with us. The greatest danger of compromising our lives does not come from Jeroboam the evil king. The greatest danger of compromising our lives comes from that old prophet .... that man who knows his Bible, knows all about God, knows about the ways of God, and yet urges us to turn aside. Watch out for him!
We are weak and we are dead and we are ineffective so much of the time because we are eating bread and drinking water with that old prophet when we should be setting our faces like flint to speak and live the kingdom of God in the place where God has sent us. We're compromised all over the place. If you think I'm exaggerating, go along with me this week on a little homework. Let's all read the Sermon on the Mount every day this week ... three short chapters, Matthew 5, 6 and 7. Let's read these three chapters every day. And you'll notice that in the Sermon on the Mount after Jesus speaks the first sixteen verses of chapter 5, in which Jesus tells us what a blessed thing it is to be radically committed to the Kingdom and what an awesome thing it is to be the light of the world and what an essential thing it is that the light get out from under the bushel and shine, the rest of chapter 5, all of 6 and all of 7 are devoted to a warning about that old prophet. Watch out for that old prophet!
"Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 5:20
And the scribes and Pharisees in our day are good,
learned,
respectable,
upstanding Christians ... the "establishment", whatever the establishment happens to be for you. Watch out for the old prophet!
Jesus warns us, first of all, to watch out for that old prophet as he urges us to compromise with
resentment,
bitterness,
revenge.
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire."
Matthew 5:21-22
The old prophet says, "Come on. Sit down and eat bread and drink water with me at this table of bitterness."
The old prophet says, "It's okay to walk around with your head full of grudges ... most Christians do."
The old prophet says, "It's okay if the guy hits you, just hit him twice as hard .... get him back.... teach him a lesson."
Jesus says,
"If you're offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there and go and get reconciled with your brother."
First, get reconciled with your brother, then come and offer your gift. We can't compromise with that spirit of bitterness and resentment, it has to go.
Then Jesus warns us about that old prophet as he urges us to turn aside and compromise in the area of man and woman.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28
We leave our past under the blood. Thank God it's under the blood! Let's not get all messed up over things that have been forgiven, the mistakes and the sins that have been committed in the past. But as of this moment, from this point on, if we're committed to the life of the Kingdom of God this means that every one of us is either called to a life of celibacy or we're going to be married, or we are married. Whichever it happens to be, it's essential that in the area of man/woman that we're pure. Every time we open a magazine, turn on the T.V., every time we walk down the street the Prince of Compromise beckons to us in the person of an attractive woman, or an attractive man. And the implication is that it's okay.... that's the way we all are ... it doesn't matter.... compromise!
Jesus says,
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."
Matthew 5:29
Then Jesus goes on to warn us about the Prince of Compromise as he urges us to compromise with the lie.
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all..... Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."
Matthew 5:33-37
And yet it's accepted among us all ... the old prophet has told us that it's okay to exaggerate a little,
to leave a few things out,
to water it down,
to twist it somewhat,
to make it more interesting .... to cover ourselves or add to our own advantage. But Jesus says, no. If we compromise with the lie (and we are tempted to do it all the time) we put ourselves under the power of the Father of Lies, Satan himself, and the power of the Lord drains right out of us.
Then Jesus goes on to warn us to watch out for this old prophet as he urges us to compromise with vanity.
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 6:1
You've got a good prayer life going .... wouldn't it be encouraging for everybody to see how many hours you spend every day in prayer? And, you're extremely generous with your giving .... wouldn't it be a help to get other people to do the same if they could see how generous you are? And you're disciplined... you know how to fast. Wouldn't it be a help and encouragement if they knew ... if they saw you walking around with those blurry eyes and realize what a saint you are.
And all of us have this craving to get some mileage for our ego.... put our name up with Jesus' name. So we've got two names up there now. But what we fail to realize is that when Jesus was here in flesh and blood he didn't have a name. He made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. It was only after he went down into that grave and came out of it again that the Father exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name. And if we're going to have any kind of voice before men and any kind of authority in the name of the Kingdom of God in this world, our name has to be lost .... hidden with Christ in God. You want a name before men? Your voice before men is gone. You want a voice before men? Let your name be hidden.
Then Jesus warns us to watch out for that old prophet as he urges us to compromise with money.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also ..... No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Matthew 6:19-24
But the old prophet (he's really busy with this one today in Christendom) tells you that you can serve God and money. Don't misunderstand, we have to deal with it, Jesus makes that clear. We have to be faithful to the Lord in the way we handle the unrighteous mammon. If you're not faithful in the way you handle the unrighteous mammon who's going to entrust to you the true riches? But, he makes clear that the money better be serving us as we serve God; we'd better not be serving it. He'll help us, he'll show us how to handle money if we're willing to be taught, so that there's no compromise in the way we deal with money and so that money doesn't corrupt us.
Then Jesus goes on to warn us to watch out for that old prophet as he urges us to compromise with a critical spirit. A very frequent characteristic of people who are religious. We are inclined to walk around like the Pharisee who picks everybody else apart.
"God I thank thee that I am not as other men are.
God I thank thee that I really understand the scriptures."
We judge and criticize far more freely than we like to admit. Jesus says,
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Matthew 7:1-3
Jesus says to get the log out first. And the log in our own eye is that critical, negative, sour, cynical, judgmental spirit which characterizes Christians more than we like to admit.
Finally, Jesus warns us to look out for that old prophet as he urges us to compromise our deeds of obedience into nothing but talk. Talk, talk, talk. To talk about it soon becomes a substitute for doing it.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits."
Matthew 7:15-16
....their fruits are talk. They may do supernatural things. They may even cast out demons, but their deeds are not the deeds of the heavenly Father .... they do not manifest the mercy of God.
"Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21
And how easily we slip into this. We get an insight. God has shown me something. Now I talk about it and there it dies. Instead of getting down into my heart and becoming action, it flies out of my mouth. The old Hassidic masters used to say, "You get a message from God. Carry it in you like a woman carrying a child for nine months. Then let it come to birth and action. But if it falls out of your mouth it dies."
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; .... every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon sand;...." Matthew 7:24-27
Watch out for that old prophet.
"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road."
We are being sent to proclaim a clear, powerful, understandable and divinely confirmed message to the world. We're to drive all compromise out of our lives.
We all know we have a long way to go but the Lord will help us. And as we let him help us and as we work with him, the power of the Spirit of the Lord will move in our bodies and on our tongues and through our hands as never before.