'The good news of the kingdom of heaven, that in Christ God is reigning here and now, is bad news indeed for those who would reign instead of God. But more than that, it is bad news for us insofar as we want to control our own lives, make our own decisions without hearing God’s Word, and be satisfied with our own righteousness. There is a resistance we all have to God’s Word that simply can’t be discovered until we run up against the one thing that reveals to us how bitter the Word is for our old self.'
Sermon – Proper 7A (Third Sunday after Pentecost): Matthew 10:24-39
June 21, 2020
Link to broadcast of sermon, beginning with Gospel lesson
[Jesus said to the twelve:] 24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35For 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;
36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37Whoever 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; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
These days always remind me of my two wonderful summers as a counselor at Camp Nawakwa, a Lutheran church camp several miles north of Gettysburg. Sunday afternoon the campers would arrive and report to their cabin assignments. Some of them were regulars and were excited to get back to what had become a second home. Others, often but not always younger campers, were there for the first time, maybe a little anxious, a little scared.
It only takes a spark to get a fire going
And
soon all those around can warm up in its glowing
That’s
how it is with God’s love
Once
you’ve experienced it
You
spread his love to everyone
You
want to pass it on.
People who are anti-religious often point to the war and conflict religion causes. And you know what? They’re right. Jesus himself says in our Gospel lesson that his coming brings division – not peace, but a sword. It brings people of the same world, the same nation, in the same church, the same camp, the same family, into bitter conflict.
We might be forgiven if we say that given all this conflict, it is best to keep religion to the lowest common denominator. We could pat others on the head, and give them ice cream sandwiches, like we did at the camp store. The content of religion could be: sunsets are good. Purple mountain majesties are good. Apple orchards are good. No one’s going to get criticized for singing this:
What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding;
The
birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That’s
how it is with God’s love –
Once
you’ve experienced it,
You
want to sing, it’s fresh like spring,
You
want to pass it on.
I’m not saying that spring, trees, birds,
and flowers are bad. My point is that most people can agree on that. It’s not
particularly controversial. There’s no decision to be made for or against
spring, trees, birds, or flowers. But when Christ claims the kingship, we are
confronted with the decision for or against? And if we are announcing
Christ’s kingship, we are implicitly asking people the same question. No wonder
there’s often pushback.
Jesus is teaching his apostles that the pushback doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing something wrong. Since Jesus experienced it, they ought to experience it too. And Jesus is teaching his apostles that it does not mean that God has abandoned them or their ministry. Finally, they are to keep saying what they’re saying, even if it seems divisive, for Jesus didn’t come to pat others on the head and give them lollipops, he came to announce salvation from every power.
Of course, many Christian leaders can be divisive simply by being dismissive, by putting down those who disagree with them. That’s not the kind of divisiveness of which Jesus speaks. It is when the Word is spoken clearly and respectfully that it arouses the most opposition, for then it may be clearly seen that the Word is not the Word of person who is trying to manipulate you, but that in the Word God is claiming a human life for the kingdom.
The good news of the kingdom of heaven, that in Christ God is reigning here and now, is bad news indeed for those who would reign instead of God. But more than that, it is bad news for us insofar as we want to control our own lives, make our own decisions without hearing God’s Word, and be satisfied with our own righteousness. There is a resistance we all have to God’s Word that simply can’t be discovered until we run up against the one thing that reveals to us how bitter the Word is for our old self.
God’s Word says that we have no right to take revenge on those who have hurt us, or to nurse and feed our anger against those who do wrong to others. God’s Word says that we have no private right to those things that we call ‘our own,’ but are responsible to him for the use of our bodies, our words, our money and our time? God’s Word makes us responsible for others who don’t share our religious creed, national allegiance, family heritage or political beliefs. God’s Word talks about a God who has acted in and through a certain person and not in another way through another person.
To accept the claim means the pain of having to let go of the parts of your life which participate in the selfish being of the world. But then it also means the joy of being claimed for the kingdom, for God’s restoration of all things, for health and wholeness and forgiveness. One cannot have both, one must have either one or the other. Paul writes: How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. (Romans 6:2-4)
This happiness that I’ve found;
You can depend on him,
It matters not where you’re bound.
I’ll shout it from the mountaintop;
I want my world to know
The Lord of love has come to me;
I want to pass it on.
