“This Is Risky Work But Don’t Be Afraid”

(Matthew 10:24-39)

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 by 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 scripture text challenges me personally and as your spiritual leader, to not only think like a disciple of Jesus Christ but to call all of you to do the same.  As you may have gathered from today’s lesson from the Gospel of Matthew, thinking and living like a disciple is a daunting task.

            Jesus is giving us the lowdown on what we disciples have committed to.  “It is enough,” he tells us, “for the disciple to be like the teacher.”  But don’t go thinking it’s going to be all sunshine and lollypops for you if you follow Jesus.  If you are truly a disciple, it’s going to be tough.  …And, there’s more to think about.

            Jesus said, “I have not come to bring peace, but, rather, a sword.  I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother….”  So, let’s take a minute to   deal with these harsh words. 

            These are two images, and they are equally hard to hear.  The first is Jesus saying that he comes not to bring peace but to bring a sword.  The thing is, he is not talking about a sword literally but, rather, about the courage it’s going to take to stand up for the Gospel message, to take up the cross and follow Jesus. 

            So this might raise some real challenges for us.  Take consumerism, for example.  It runs rampant in our world today; Christians who, instead of wondering, “Can I afford this?” when faced with a purchase, could better ask, “Am I being a faithful steward of God’s resources that have been entrusted to me?”

            Standing up for the Gospel message gives us the opportunity to witness to our neighbors about how God in Christ is transforming our lives right now rather than worrying about whether God is going to whack us at the time of our deaths.

            We really can imagine being Christians who vote our faith and not just our pocketbook or the latest wedge issue; Christians who know that our faith in Christ needs to be the absolute ground for every decision.  What would Jesus do about the children who are without health care or even enough food for the day?  What would Jesus do about African American young men who are being killed in our cities—and those who are killing them?  What would Jesus do about the lack of civility—even hatred–among God’s people?  What would Jesus do when immigrants are being grabbed and shipped out of the country or thrown into detention centers?  How would Jesus talk about the greed and gluttony that defines our culture? 

            The language that Jesus is using comes straight out of apocalyptic literature (that is, for example, the books of Daniel and Revelation).  He says, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.”  I remember a bumper sticker from the 70’s that went something like this:  Jesus is coming again and is he ever ticked (or something like that).  Now, I don’t spend too much time thinking about the second coming, but I do wonder what Jesus would think about the state of our world.  I imagine that he would be relentless in addressing the way that Americans have become self-centered, self-serving, self-involved haters and have forgotten to make God the center of our lives.

            Which brings me to the second of our difficult words from Jesus: “For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother…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.”   What in the world was he thinking?  Isn’t family sacred?  Isn’t the love in our families the best way to show our love for God?  Why would Jesus want us to be set against each other? 

            Well, the truth is that he didn’t.  He was using powerful and provocative language so that we will sit up and listen.  We need to listen carefully because we have forgotten that God must always come first in our lives, before country, before our homes, jobs, food, investments, hobbies, various substances including alcohol and drugs and the behavior that goes along with those, and, yes, even before the strong ties of family. 

Of course, family love is critical and natural for most of us, but Jesus only ends up using this language that turns our world upside down because we simply haven’t been listening.  We have allowed ourselves to become separated from God, to put other things, including the wants and desires of ourselves and our own little nuclear family units ahead of even God.  We’ve placed ourselves in an all-powerful position, and we’ve excluded God.  We have decided that the way our family does things is superior, and everyone else is somewhat wanting. 

This attitude bleeds over into everything.  This is how many of us think: not only is my family the best but my school must be the best.  My tribe (however we define that) is the best and, therefore, superior to all other people.  My nation is the strongest, the smartest and the best, superior to all others.  Anyone not like me is less than and therefore disposable. 

The natural, logical consequence of this attitude is that we have allowed our nation’s leaders to engage in wars because our “superior” nation and its leaders must show the rest of the world how great they are.  But, as always, wars these days are mostly fought by someone else’s children.  That allows the rest of us to forget about the folks whom we place in harm’s way. 

            Now, I know that what I have just said are hard words, but so are the words of Jesus.  He is taking no prisoners in today’s text.  There is no hand-wringing here or any letting off the hook.  He’s telling it like it is.  Can we do any less?

            The high cost of discipleship requires us to ask hard questions of ourselves.  Jesus holds our gaze steadily, refusing to back off as he tells us in no uncertain terms that loyalty to Jesus, to God, has priority over even the closest human relationship, over loyalty to beloved country and even to life itself. 

This sacrifice may seem too hard, yet a little earlier in the text we’re told, “Do not be afraid for God regards you this closely….  Even the hairs on your head are counted.”  Do not be afraid.  You will be given the courage to live such a spiritually sophisticated life because, ironically, as you make the sacrifice to put God first, you will find that your life is enriched.  You will find that your relationships with your family and friends become deeper and more meaningful.  You will find that your church family becomes more crucial to your well-being. 

As you make the choice to put God first, decisions become easier.  You will be more able to let go of that which is not of God, you will be better able to discern what belongs in your life and what doesn’t.  Most of us need spiritual partners in this venture.  We need to be supported as we walk this path.  We need to sit with others who are on this same journey. 

We need to be together for support, for study, for prayer so that we may live lives with God at the center, even when the most natural act for us is to make ourselves the center of the universe.  Jesus makes it clear for us, though: “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”  Again, this provocative, upside-down language is intended to make us sit up and listen.  It is counter intuitive.  Jesus, what do you mean: if I lose my life I’ll find it?

I think it means that when we stop focusing only on ourselves, our fears, our own little worlds, and look after others, look beyond ourselves, we will discover Life, as we have never known it.  When we lose our self-focus, our worlds will open up to the greater good. 

There are people who have modeled this for us.  The band of folks who joined in 1975 and 1976 to raise money for our steeple did not do it to gain money, power or attention.  They did it for the greater good. 

We know men who have sacrificed for their children, not to say, “Look at me.  Aren’t I great?”  But, rather, they are showing the children what it is to be a man who knows there is something bigger than their own little worlds.  Hence, we honor them on this Father’s Day.

Lindsay chaired a meeting that Rick and I attended last Thursday.  As I understand it, the mission of the group is for Family Support around communities in Akron.  It is a subgroup of the Akron Area Interfaith Council.  Its sole purpose is to provide for the needs of these often overlooked people.  As we sat there we heard about so many needs, and, yet, I gained confidence that those needs would be attended to because of the mission of this group. 

One takeaway for me was that they need tools, all the way from simple things like screw drivers and hammers to things like table saws and drills. 

Instead of us keeping a collection of tools in our homes that we may never use, we could donate these things to our organization.  The residents in the room told us what they needed.  See Rick or Lindsay or even me if you want more information.  We could gain so much from this work and all the other projects.  Sometimes we have to lose our comfortable lives to gain them.

Rick told you last Sunday about the project of feeding the immigrant kids going to a day camp.  It became this past week’s total focus for us.  Several of you helped Rick: Ruth Ann, Natalie, Lindsay, Steve, and Wesley, Calvin and Max Price.  This was a project that gave so much satisfaction and a real example of reaching out, not for personal gain but in answering a call for help.

You can see that all this and so much more is about being Jesus’ disciples.  Lest we forget, as Christian people, this is our primary role in this life.  May it be so.