The Passage<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.\u00a0 I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And a person\u2019s enemies will be those of his own household.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.\u00a0 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life to my sake will find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.\u00a0 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet\u2019s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person\u2019s reward.\u00a0 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [English Standard Version]<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 6.22]<\/p>\n
In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord<\/p>\n
After the past four to five months nearly everyone in our community is tapped out.\u00a0 First we had to deal with the emergence of Covid-19 with its bewildering guidelines and responses.\u00a0 Second was the death of George Floyd (along with others) with the subsequent protests and destructive rioting.\u00a0 Third was the Supreme Court\u2019s decision about sex discrimination over a male employee who wanted to wear a dress to work.<\/p>\n
One is tempted to turn off the media that is addicted to chattering constantly about these things.\u00a0 Or one can wade into all these matters and attempt to bring out some clearer thinking and doing.\u00a0 Or one can go back to the basic posture as the Lord\u2019s baptized people who are struggling, as his sons and daughters, to reflect the Son\u2019s crucified and resurrected Life, carrying it into a world that is confused, lost and helpless.<\/p>\n
Because the Lord God is pulling us into his Scriptures and Sacraments this morning, it is clear we are first being led to the basics of his Life, basics that have been wrapped around our own.\u00a0 And, as we are drawn into the realities of his Life, we discover that he can steady us in our weariness while giving us renewed perspectives.<\/p>\n
Three weeks ago the Church observed the Festival of the Holy Trinity.\u00a0 It was noted then how the emergence of Covid-19 was stirring us to learn more of ourselves along with the people around us.\u00a0 Some of that learning has been stress-less; some of it has been stress-full.\u00a0 In either case it has revealed the huge discrepancies existing between the gods that drive the world\u2019s life and THE God who brought this world and its people into being while continuing to rescue and sustain them.<\/p>\n
In the three weeks since the Holy Trinity Festival, the Lord\u2019s people have been making their way through Matthew\u2019s tenth chapter.\u00a0 In the opening verses the Lord Jesus Christ calls the twelve disciples to him and gives them authority over the unclean spirits.\u00a0 He then sends them out to the Jewish community, proclaiming that the Lord\u2019s kingdom is at hand.\u00a0 Jesus reminds them that they are being sent out as sheep in the middle of wolves and that they will be persecuted for the work they are doing for him.\u00a0 Still he encourages them to have no fear of those who are reacting fiercely to their activity, noting that their lives and work are fully wrapped up in the Life running between him and the Father.<\/p>\n
[A parenthesis: While the Revised Common Lectionary details the last three verses of today\u2019s passage for the Gospel, I have included the verses in front of it to enlarge the context for a fuller understanding.]<\/p>\n
The work given to the disciples then and his followers now is hard and difficult.\u00a0 Baptized into the Life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are to proclaim, serve and teach of our rescue from the realities of sin, Satan and death to a people who are weary and confused, tapped out and lost.\u00a0 Many of the people we encounter may not even respond to the Life given them through the Son\u2019s dying and rising!<\/p>\n
Today the Lord continues to immerse us in the Life streaming from the Son\u2019s crucifixion and resurrection.\u00a0 He reminds us that his Life is well aware of what is going on in this world with its lostness and confusion, its harassment and helplessness.\u00a0 As he intensifies his instructions, he changes the ways in which we, his baptized people, look at realities and understand them.\u00a0 These changes reveal that Jesus\u2019 instructions are from eternity, they are unlike anything we initiate or receive from the world!<\/p>\n
Today reveals again how hard it is to impress on others the vitality and necessity of the Lord\u2019s crucified and resurrected Life.\u00a0 There are people who barely hear the invocation of the Holy Trinity recalling the words of their Baptism.\u00a0 They are too wrapped up in the life around them to pick up, listen to or study the Lord\u2019s holy Writings.\u00a0 It seldom occurs to them to confront their instinctive sins, confess them and be impacted by the Lord\u2019s Forgiveness.\u00a0 And, while many baptized people in these long months have been prevented from participating in the Lord\u2019s Supper, there are many more who give it little or no attention.<\/p>\n
At same time, though, we thankfully remember that there are people who cannot live apart from the Lord\u2019s Scriptures and Sacraments.\u00a0 Such people struggle to be in continual contact with the four holy places of the Lord\u2019s activity.\u00a0 Such people are also willing to be instructed by the Lord God so they can faithfully carry and reflect his Life as they make their way through this world\u2019s life.\u00a0 This passage from Matthew runs deeply and \u00a0concludes well the instructions Jesus has been giving us over the past two Sundays.\u00a0 Let us then dig into five words and phrases from today\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n
The first word is translated \u201cpeace.\u201d\u00a0 The word is \u201cshalom,\u201d a Hebrew word describing<\/p>\n
the Lord\u2019s calm from eternity (notice that this is not a word defined by the world as smoothing things over).\u00a0 In fact, our Lord makes it very clear that his peace breaks into the world\u2019s life and disrupts the gods we have created (that\u2019s why he likens his peace to a sword!).\u00a0 He runs such breaking close into family relationships as well, noting that those relationships are not to tower over or replace the relationship we have with him. \u00a0He reminds us that if we persist in grasping for this world\u2019s life, demonstrating we can move well through it, we will, in reality, lose it!\u00a0 However, if we let go of that life for his sake (not our own!), he will overwhelm us with his Life!<\/p>\n
The second word is the one translated \u201creceives.\u201d\u00a0 This receiving is tied in with the salvation that comes only and ultimately through Jesus\u2019 dying and rising.\u00a0 Such receiving reminds us that when Jesus rescues the world\u2019s people from the destructive and deadly grip of the unholy trio, he is drawing them into the Life of the Holy Trinity!<\/p>\n
The third word in this passage grabbing our attention is the one translated \u201creward.\u201d\u00a0 We<\/p>\n
Lutherans tend to have a hard time discussing this word because our teachings always remind us that people cannot save themselves.\u00a0 That is true, but it is just as true that there are significant consequences to the salvation given us.\u00a0 Living in it yields dividends, not the ones that we generate, but the ones made possible by the Lord\u2019s grace, forgiveness and mercy!<\/p>\n
Not living in his salvation also yields significant dividends, but these are frightening and painful because they show us being separated from Life given us at Baptism (such separation is driven by ourselves, guided by what we want!).\u00a0 As we struggle to be obedient to the Lord God, Jesus reminds us that there is a reward for that struggle.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are constantly encouraging one another to let our lives be crossed steadily by the holy places of his Scriptures and Sacraments.\u00a0 These holy places continually drench us with the blessings that stream out from Jesus\u2019 crucifixion and resurrection.<\/p>\n
The fourth notation is the phrase translated \u201cgive a cup of cold water.\u201d\u00a0 This appears to be an abrupt shift from what the passage has been saying, a shift that leaves us scratching our heads.\u00a0 Are we supposed to get hold of bottled water and make it available to the people around us?\u00a0 Are we to volunteer for races or walks, serving those who run and those who walk?\u00a0 The phrase, however, literally means \u201cgiving someone water to drink\u201d (the addition of \u201ccold\u201d is from unknown sources or for unknown reasons).\u00a0 Thus, the phrase is really pointing to Jesus as the Water of Life!\u00a0 Such water pours onto world\u2019s people from Jesus\u2019 Baptism, saving them from the destructive and deadly grip of the unholy trio.\u00a0\u00a0 Having been baptized into the Life of Holy Trinity ourselves, we now give that cup of water to others!<\/p>\n
The fifth notation is translated \u201clittle ones,\u201d immediately suggesting children.\u00a0 But that phrase is not the usual Greek word for \u201cchildren.\u201d\u00a0 Instead, it is a word referring to Jesus\u2019 disciples, Jesus\u2019 followers, the ones being instructed by him.\u00a0 They are little (in the world\u2019s eyes) because their lives have been lost and confused, wearied and tapped, harassed and helpless.\u00a0 Such people are considered little by the world because they receive no recognition from the world\u2019s life.\u00a0 Because Jesus has stepped into their lives,<\/p>\n
though, these \u201clittle people\u201d are, in reality, carrying and reflecting the salvation he has brought to the world!\u00a0 Thus, when the world\u2019s people bump up against the lives of Jesus\u2019 \u201clittle children,\u201d they are actually bumping up against the Life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!<\/p>\n
While the virus, the deaths and the discriminations are wearying all of us, whether we\u2019re baptized or not, we cannot avoid these realities.\u00a0 We cannot hunker down and ride their storms out.\u00a0 Neither can we stand around and wait for these realities to return to normal.<\/p>\n
Instead we are to take seriously the Life wrapped around our own by the Holy Trinity, reminded that this is the most vital Life the world has ever seen.\u00a0 We are also to note how harsh the world\u2019s realities can be and that their intensity only increases when we take it upon ourselves to address them.<\/p>\n
The Lord God is attempting to get everyone\u2019s attention so they can be glimpsed with the realities of his Son\u2019s crucified, resurrected and ascended Life.\u00a0 It is this Life that can rescue the world\u2019s people from themselves and from the messes thrust upon them.<\/p>\n
Imbedded firmly in Lord\u2019s Life, then, through these instructions from Matthew\u2019s tenth chapter his people are freed from being tapped out by the powerful realities swirling through the world\u2019s life today.\u00a0 This glimpsing we are privileged to reflect and carry into the world\u2019s agony will be resisted significantly by those who are still wrapped up in themselves, by those who think the world\u2019s life is rather good, by those who don\u2019t believe they need any salvation.<\/p>\n
However, there will not be any resistance from those people whose lives are being crushed by the unholy trio of sin, Satan and death!\u00a0 For such people, the carrying and reflecting of the Lord\u2019s Life will be welcomed!\u00a0 The people whose lives are pulling apart or who have no purpose will not draw back from his Life.\u00a0 Such individuals will be looking for the Lord God who steps into agonized lives and rescues them!\u00a0 May the Spirit of the Lord\u2019s Son keep instructing us so we can faithfully and clearly glimpse the world\u2019s people with his rescuing and sustaining Life!<\/p>\n
Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our<\/p>\n
hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord<\/p>\n
Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pentecost Four (Revised Common Lectionary) – June 28, 2020 |\u00a0Matthew 10.34-42 | Carl A. Voges | The Passage \u201cDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.\u00a0 I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.\u00a0 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,157,173,108,110,412,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-2937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matthaeus","category-beitragende","category-carl-a-voges","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-10-chapter-10-matthaeus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2937"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2942,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937\/revisions\/2942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=2937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}