The gospel of our
Lord, Jesus Christ, according to the 10th chapter of Matthew; Let us hear what God is saying to us today in
verses 24-39.
"A disciple is
not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it 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! "So have no
fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing
secret that will not become known. What
I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered,
proclaim from the housetops. 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? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground
apart from your Father. And even the
hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value
than many sparrows. "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others,
I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me
before others, I also will deny before my Father 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 one's foes will be members of one's 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 up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
This is the word of the Lord
May all the people say...
Thanks be to
God.
As Bill and I were
talking about our plans for today, this day of joint celebration in our church,
we decided that he would address the Hebrew Scripture passage and that I would
preach from the New Testament. That
seemed like a great idea at the time until I actually read this passage in
Matthew. If I had
looked in a mirror as I was reading it I‘m sure that I would have seen my
expression change from expectation to “ugh.” I was sorely tempted to call him back and try
and pull the old switcheroo, but after a while I settled myself down and
decided that I could do it, but in the words of the great theologian Rick
Ricardo, I had some “splaining” to do.
Today’s text is full of all sorts
of good stuff from Jesus, each one worth its own sermon, I think. In the
first section, Jesus tells us: “it is enough for the disciple to be like
the teacher, and the slave like the Master.” Sometimes we get
confused, Jesus suggests – disciples thinking they are above their
master, or that they are the master. As Christians, we can get confused
too: we think that we have to be Christ, instead of seeking simply to be
Christ-like. We’d rather play God than serve God, and in the
process, we hurt others and ourselves. Seek to be like the Master, Jesus urges,
and so we should seek to be imitators of Jesus.
The second section is a jumble of
sayings isn’t it? The part that sticks most clearly in my mind,
though, is this: “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground apart from you Father. And even the hairs of your
head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many
sparrows.” These words are so comforting. They say to me that in a life
where we are defined by our numbers: ATM codes, Social Security Numbers, phone
numbers, bank account numbers, and many more, when who we are can be pared down
so simply, classified, categorized, and filed, these words remind me that the
one who created me still knows me better than I know myself and values me
beyond my imagination. And values you. And values every single created thing with such intensity,
that each part of us, each hair on our head is known to our God.
But finally we come to the hardest part
of the passage. It’s hard to
deal with it in light of the words we’ve just examined. It’s certainly hard to deal with after
spending last Sunday celebrating Father’s Day. It’s hard to deal with it even if it
was there standing on it’s own as a few lines. It is this part that made me go,
“ugh.” Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to bring
peace to the earth; I have come not 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 one’s foes will be members
of one’s 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 up the cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for
my sake will find it.”
These words serve as a shocking wake-up
call. We often hear the phrase “family values” tossed around
these days, or even “biblical family values,” and I always wonder
what people mean when they say that – the Bible is home to some of the
most dysfunctional families I know, from Joseph being sold into slavery by his
brothers, to Abraham trying to pass Sarah off as his sister instead of his
wife, to Rebekah scheming with her son to trick the
other son out of his birthright, to scandalous affairs like David and
Bathsheba. And things aren’t all that different in the gospels –
here we find Jesus once asking, “who is my
mother,” when he’s told Mary is asking for him. We hear Jesus urging people to drop everything
to follow him, and right here, in this morning’s reading, telling his
disciples they must turn against their closest relatives to be disciples. Family values indeed.
“I come not to bring peace, but a
sword,” Jesus says. What is Jesus really saying? Can he possibly mean
it? Is this the same person who talks
frequently of the peace that he brings into our lives and hearts when we are in
relationship with him? Later, when Jesus is being arrested in the
Jesus is speaking in a time when
discipleship carried greater risks than it does today, at least here in the
Does any of this make Jesus’ words
easier to hear? If we are looking for a way to be more comfortable with
Jesus’ words today, there aren’t any easy solutions. But we can
remember that the same Jesus who makes us squirm in our seats also speaks to us
with such compassion about God’s great love for us. Always challenging,
and always comforting because Jesus loves us and he does not want us to not
settle for what is less than the best for which God has called us.
Jesus takes the values and
presuppositions of this world and turns them upside down and inside out!
The way up with God, for instance, is down. Humility lifts one up while
arrogance puts one down! The first, he says, will be last. That is,
those who buy the line that "Looking Out for Number One," is the way
to success will ultimately discover that looking out for number one
actually delivers a person to last place. The world says that the one who
has lots of servants is great while Jesus says that the one who serves a lot is
great! The world says he who saves and invests a lot in the markets of this
world will be secure while Jesus says the one who gives up the treasure of this
world will have the ultimate security -- namely "treasure in heaven."
And because we are precious and counted
as loved, Jesus wants us to experience the life of discipleship that
promises rewards that nothing else offers. There is a profound promise
here and it confounds the world. When you surrender your life to Christ
you can not lose. For “those
who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for
Christ’s sake will find it.” Amen.
May we pray?
Gracious God, it's not easy doing what you've
asked us to do, but because you go with us, we dare to submit ourselves to your
work in our lives. We thank you for your Holy Spirit which allows us to have
courage to stand firm, to die to ourselves, to rise to you, and to do the work
you have called us to. In the name of Jesus, the living and resurrected Lord,
we pray. Amen.
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa