Matthew 10:24-39

Pentecost 4A | June 25, 2023 | Mt 10:24-39 | Judson F Merrell, STS |

²⁴ „A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. ²⁶ „So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸ And 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. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³² So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. ³⁴ „Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mat 10:24-39 ESV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

“Do not be afraid.”  I can’t tell you how many times that line, or something similar, is used in the Bible.  Most often it is when the Word of the Lord is coming to his people through an angel, or prophet, or from God himself.  Fear is one of those emotions that can absolutely paralyze us.  Fear is stronger than just being scared of something.  A haunted house at Halloween may scare you.  A tall roller coaster or fast amusement park ride may scare you.  But fear is something much, much stronger.  For example:  I don’t do spiders or snakes.  Spiders…I can easily handle that with a shoe.  But snakes?  If a snake got in my house, you might as well call the fire department because I’m going to burn it down.  I have a genuine fear of snakes.  That is how fear can paralyze us and make us vulnerable.  Fear can and does take center stage, and it pushes out rational thought in the midst of an unknown situation.  It is no surprise then when God shows up and starts with “Do not be afraid.”

In our Gospel lesson today Jesus tells his disciples to not be afraid.  Our text today picks up where we left off last week.  Jesus is sending the disciples out like sheep to the wolves.  He is charging them to go and find the lost sheep of Israel, and to trust that God will provide along the way.  In this text today he gives us a reminder that even though the disciples will be able to do these things, they have to remember who they are and whose they are.  Before any of them get a big head about it, Jesus reminds them that their new found authority does not mean they are greater than him.  He tells them that they are not to be scared as they go on their journey, that God knows everything they are about to experience.  It may sound like this warning isn’t so much for them, but rather for the lost sheep of Israel that was mentioned last week.  But there is also a message for the disciples, and therefore a message for us.  Jesus assures his disciples that whoever welcomes them welcomes him.  Jesus has been sent to this earth by the Father, and so now he sends the disciples, those who follow him, out into the world.  Those who welcome Jesus’ disciples get rewarded as a righteous person in the eyes of God.  Whoever acknowledges Jesus before others gets acknowledged before God the Father.  The same can be said of those who deny Jesus…they get denied before God the Father. What we are afraid of then, is that we might betray Jesus.  And that is the greatest fear of all.

The word of comfort in all this, and yes, there is one, it that God is on our side.  As Jesus sent the twelve out, he did so by saying that the Spirit would give them words to speak, and that God has already counted the hairs of your head.  That is how much God intimately knows you.  In Romans 31 we find the famous words of St. Paul: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  As those disciples went out like sheep among the wolves, God went with them.  Even today, as we go out into the world to spread the Gospel, God goes with us.  In our baptisms God has made us his own, claimed us as his children, and charged us with leading a godly life.  Through the gift of the Spirit God helps us each and every day to live out this calling.  There are times where things are going to go great.  There are times when things are going to be scary.  There are times where we will have fear.  But in all these times, we have God on our side.

Being a disciple of Christ is in itself a very scary thing.  It is a calling that we should all fear, because one day we know that we will have to stand before God and be held accountable for everything.  It is not the pressures of this world that we should fear, it is not even death itself….instead, we fear the one who has made it possible to live courageously in the face of death.  But in the midst of our fear of God, we also love God, because it is God himself who has embraced this broken world with mercy and compassion.  We see this every time we see someone come to font.  We see this every time we dip the bread in the wine.  We hear it in our confession and forgiveness, and we do our best to live it out every day, as we strive to be a disciple who is not dependent on the things of this world, but dependent on God, who will indeed provide us with everything we need to live a fear-free life.    In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.