| First Reading |
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Genesis 21:8–21 |
Psalm 86:1–8 |
Romans 6:1b–11 |
Matthew 10:24–39
|
It is reputed that someone once asked John F. Kennedy how he became a war hero and it is said that he replied, "It was entirely voluntary. Someone sunk my PT boat." There are myriad things in life beyond our control and that test us. All we can do is reasonably prepare ourselves for their possibilities. It would be a wise, if we were going to be a boat owner to learn how to swim, take a life saving course and know how to help others who get in danger in the water. We would do this not because we want to land unexpectedly in the water, but because people who fall into the water and don't know how to swim are liable to drown.
The Gospel passage for today reflects the experience of the people of Matthew's faith community who faced challenges and sometimes bitter rejection within their own family for choosing to become followers of Jesus. As first generation followers began to be identified specifically as Christians, as opposed to being a sect within Judaism who followed the teaching of the rabbi Jesus, they were gradually isolated from the larger synagogue community, including formerly close friends and neighbors. Many lost the only family they ever knew and had to establish a new one. Traditional Jewish parents and later gentile parents could not understand why their children were attracted to the life of this new community called the church. In the midst of this painful situation, the words of Jesus were meant as encouragement for Christians.
Jesus understood what it was to be misunderstood by those one grows up with. He knew what it was to suffer scorn from those he might have expected support. Jesus was saying just as he faced real opposition, it stands to reason that if we are to faithfully follow him, we will likely experience opposition to. Disciples are not going to be exempt from implications of the Gospel that regularly challenge the prevailing powers and principalities of this world. The Gospel writer Matthew was in effect was giving all future would-be disciples a full disclosure statement.
We live in a conflicted if not even more complicated environment than those first Christians. Contemporary parents are dismayed that their children have chosen not to accept their baptismal vows and seem to forsake what their parents hold to be a very precious gift and source of strength. There are also children whose parents and neighbors ridicule them for embracing a Christian life. Far from condemning those who have experienced this heartbreak, Jesus is saying to those bearing the hurt, don't endlessly blame yourself. Some things are beyond our capacity to control.
We also live in an age where it is tempting to succumb to an easy pseudo Gospel way of life that claims if only we would focus on traditional values, the majority of our dilemmas and hurt would disappear. Inevitably this really means accepting narrowly defined cultural norms of a past era, usually an era not earlier than the twentieth century. Or we may be tempted to accept a pseudo Gospel that is "purpose driven" to make us successful and rise to the top in our current culture. In some sense all these pseudo Gospels place something else before the Gospel so to make us more comfortable. It is no accident with many who are enticed and fall for the call of pseudo Gospel, that their political convictions inevitably run much deeper than their religious convictions and their cultural habits are more tenacious than the transformation of their spiritual horizons. Many of the loves of the world all have a place in our lives, such as our love of family, heritage, country and our love of chocolate but Jesus us saying beware of giving these loves the primary space in your heart, for they can so easily lead to xenophobia, racism, political extremism and diabetes. Many have a real place in our heart, but all are second place to God.
In a story reminiscent of C. S. Lewis' “The Screwtape Letters” we can picture three apprentice devils suggesting to Satan how to populate hell. One suggested, tell them there is no God. No, said the wily Satin, It works for a while, but then they will begin to ask questions and search to make connections between themselves and the larger world. Often they begin to see a deeper and more expansive universe than the universe without God. Well, how about telling them to believe in God or they will all go to hell. No, said Satan, they may be scared for a while, but then they will notice to many people around them whom the world has been very generous in showering its benefits upon them but who are virtually immoral. They too may begin to search for a God who acts differently than the power brokers of the world, a loving God who seeks a relationship, not a simple adherence to rules tied to the promise of riches. Then a third devil spoke up, Ah, how about giving them a way to avoid suffering and ignoring difficult challenges, always providing easy answers and providing a path to bliss and contentment. Ah, yes, old Satan exclaimed, yes, that will do it, and the old devil began to smile.
But as today's Gospel bears witness, Jesus tells it straight as it is and gives us full disclosure: Do not think I came into the world to bring that sort of contentment.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
