Göttinger Predigten
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Second Sunday after Pentecost, 06/22/2014
Sermon on Matthew 10:24-39, by Brad Everett
Many of us are familiar with the well-worn admonition to "keep the main thing, the main thing"-a saying often raised during times of upheaval and confusion to try help everyone involved sort through the chaos by calling them to re-focus on what is truly important.
This is what we see Jesus doing in today's gospel. Having given the 12 the authority to drive out impure spirits, heal every sickness and disease, and the message to proclaim that ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near'; Jesus equips them with additional instruction before sending them out to the lost sheep of Israel.
At its root, our Lord's instruction is very much about "keeping the main thing the main thing". And the main thing is nothing more than the first commandment "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20.3) which Luther, in his Small Catechism, explained in this way "We should fear, love and trust in God above all things."
This is all well and good. No doubt, Jesus' disciples and those of us gathered here today would have no problem affirming this in principle. But life is not lived in the abstract, so Jesus gives concrete examples of those things, those ‘gods' that can hinder, harm, and tempt one to turn from the faith.
The examples Jesus gives in the text can be grouped into two categories: fear and family, and doing so, the Lord draws our attention to an important yet often overlooked fact-anything can be turned into a god. Not just those things we think of as "bad" like fear, but even those we often think of a good, as blessings from God himself, such as family can prevent us from fearing loving and trusting God above all else.
Jesus' initial encouragement to the disciples isn't terribly surprising. Of course they will have to confront fear-given the opposition Jesus faced from various quarters, including religious leaders and authorities, the healing and preaching Jesus authorized his disciples to do would doubtless, stir up the same sort of potentially violent opposition. And so he calls their attention to God and his faithfulness to keep them from succumbing to fear and turning aside from their task.
But the second half of his instruction is not expected. Here the warning isn't about enemies, but about those closest to the disciples-their families. The teaching of Holy Scripture is clear-family is a blessing from God. But sin is so insidious that it endeavors to pervert even the blessings of God, in an effort to turn people from Him.
This perversion takes a variety of forms. The familial conflict Jesus speaks of is not simply between one member who believes and one who is an atheist. But rather between members who, for what they think are good reasons, would try and dissuade another from the path to which God has called them. While there is no Scriptural evidence, it isn't implausible that certain of Jesus' disciples had conflict with family members over their decision to follow Jesus. After all, time spent following Jesus was time taken from their paying jobs. Being seen as a follower of Jesus, likely brought down the wrath of the authorities on the families as well as the disciples. Frankly, life probably would have been a lot easier for the families if the 12 had simply gone back to their previous lives. And so you can almost hear the comments "This Jesus is causing problems for everyone-for the sake of the family, just come back home".
And on some level it makes sense-honoring one's father and mother; trying to be at peace with everyone-but ultimately it is making something, even something as valued as family relationships, more important than God. There are no loopholes for the first commandment. No, "thou shall have no other gods...unless or except". Just simply no other gods.
We are to have no other gods, because there is no other god, who created, redeemed and sustains us. No other god in whom we find forgiveness of sin and eternal life. No other god who ‘so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.'
And so Jesus calls his disciples and us to remember to "keep the main thing the main thing". We are to have no other gods. We are to fear, love and trust God, above all things.
And when, by the grace of God we do so, the rest of the details of life can fall into place-perhaps not at the speed we'd like them to, but they do. When we fear, love and trust God above all things, we are free to focus out attention and energy on those things our Lord has called and commissioned us to do and say. When we fear, love and trust God above all things, our attention is on Him and his love for us, which places the cares and concerns of this life in the proper perspective. When we fear, love and trust God above all things we are free to rest in His grace and mercy and find our lives in Him.