Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, work through these words. Help us understand your call to follow you and proclaim your Kingdom. In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God. Amen.
“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.”)
WHAT? Let me just double check. Is this really Jesus talking here? Because it sure doesn’t sound like the Prince of Peace to me. Is this the time when I start looking around for the rector to come back, or someone, ANYONE else to preach? Anyone? No? Alright, well, here we go together to try and make some sense of this lectionary selection from Matthew for this Sunday.
WOW! This is a lot, a whole lot. What is going on here? What is Jesus saying? What does he mean? Couldn’t we just skip this one? That’d sure be a lot easier.
No. Whether we like it or not, we’ve got to take everything, the good AND the bad, everything we find in Scriptures and try to understand what the message is for us.
Let’s start with context, ALL important. Just prior to this section, Jesus has summoned his disciples and sent them out to proclaim the Good News. At the start of chapter 10 he says this:
“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me… Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name.”
Jesus knows what’s coming for his disciples and he’s trying to prepare them. Jesus’ message is not accepted or welcomed by all, especially not in Jesus’ time. Jesus knew that the disciples would be persecuted, arrested, beaten, spit on, chased out, their lives endangered. Indeed, all of them would be killed for their allegiance to Jesus and their proclamation of his message. The Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims is a radical, completely new way of living and being, a whole new system that proposes turning everything upside down. People don’t like change. People in power, people with wealth, don’t like to hear about a new system that threatens their position and status. Those who are at the top will go to any lengths to stay there, whatever it takes to stamp out, hold down, and silence any new teaching, teacher, or leader whose message offers equity and dignity, a reordering, equal distribution, sharing and caring, beloved community. The message of Jesus shatters the Roman system of power, it breaks the hold of the emperor, and turns the empire on its head. And for this, Jesus knew that he would eventually be killed. And so, he is sending his disciples out with the harsh reality of what they are going to face.
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Swords cut, slice, separate, as a butcher separating meat from the joints of bones. In Paul’ s letter to the Hebrews he tells them: “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (4:12).
The Gospel message about the radical love of the Kingdom of God cuts, divides, and separates. Today’s words from Jesus are challenging. What might we need to cut out of our lives? What thoughts, words, or actions do we need to separate from our lives so the Kingdom of God can shine through us? Where are OUR hearts? Where do OUR allegiances lay? Are we denying Jesus by what we have done or left undone? The evil we have committed or the evil done in our name? Are we leaving the cross or Christ, our cross, on the side of the road?
One of the commentaries I read about this passage asks a sharp question:
If we never upset anyone, never offend, if what we say and do never causes controversy or leads to confrontation, then are we really following Jesus’ lead? If all we ever do is come together and pray and take care of our friends and go about our way, then are we even the church, Christ’s body on this earth?
Seeking to follow Christ is not easy. It will cause divisions, maybe even within our own families, we certainly see how divided our world is today. AND…with Christ as our priority, our focus, the first and last giver and receiver of our love, we need fear NOTHING this world can throw at us. God knows us. God loves us, right down to the hairs on our heads. God knows exactly when one tiny sparrow falls out of the sky and dies, one little bird, we are worth SO much more than millions of sparrows. God loves us unconditionally, freely offering grace to us all. As our collect says we have been set on the sure foundation of God’s loving kindness. AND…we have to make a choice, we have to decide whether or not to accept this free gift, we have to decide whether or not we want to open that door and see if God really is there waiting, calling us, wanting to come in, to welcome us home. When we decide to live our lives for Jesus, we have to give things us, we have to give up control, in fact, we have to give up our lives. We lose them and at the same time we REALLY gain them back again. Our lives are buried with Christ in death, and our new lives rise with him from the grave, resurrected. IF we want to take seriously the call of the Gospel, we must be prepared for division, discomfort, even death. Where do our values and our hearts lay? NOTHING, NOTHING, is more important than following Jesus working to bring God’s dream for all people and all creation into reality. Amen.
