JUNE 26, 2011  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for the Second Sunday of Pentecost, Matthew 10:34-42. There we read these words:

"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 a person’s enemies will be those of his 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 his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 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."

We begin in the name of Jesus, AMEN

Today’s Gospel is a terribly difficult Gospel. Most Christians want to think the only best about those people whom God has placed into their lives. Most Christians want to think of their homes as places of refuge and peace. Most Christians want to think of their families—no matter how near or far they live— most Christians want to think of their families as a source of strength and comfort, especially in times of difficulty and tumult.

Why should anyone be allowed to drive a wedge between your dearest loved ones and you? Human or divine, who would dare to disrupt that close connection between you and your family (or those whom you have come to love as though they are your family)? What kind of God would come to this earth with the expressed purpose and desire "to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law"?

Jesus is that God. YOUR Jesus—the One Whom you love and the One to Whom you pray—He is that God. Jesus does not want you to think that He came to bring peace to the earth. "I have not come to bring peace," He says, "but a sword… And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."

So much for "the little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay!."

King Herod the Great knew that, when the Baby Jesus grew up, the Man Jesus would create a problem (Matthew 22:13). The problem Jesus’ birth created for King Herod is essentially the same as the problem Jesus willfully creates for you in today’s Gospel. The only difference is the location of the throne: Herod did not want Jesus to sit on the throne in Jerusalem, King over Israel. As for you, do you really want Jesus to be Lord and King and God for you?

Certainly, part of each Christian does. That baptized, sanctified, fully cleansed part of each Christian wants nothing more than for Jesus to be Lord and King. You say that you love Jesus and I believe it because I love Him, too.

You say that you want to have no other God than Jesus and I know that what you say is true because you are hearers of God’s miraculous Word. Through the Word—the Word preached and the Word served in Communion—through the Word God the Holy Spirit has taken up His residence within you. God the Spirit has given you His miraculous gift of faith in this Jesus whose death has cleansed you of all your sins.

Without a doubt and beyond all question, part of each Christian loves Jesus and wants Him to be Lord and King and God for us. This part of you that Paul calls "a new creation." This is what the Small Catechism describes as the new person who emerges and arises from Baptism "to live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

However, that new creation is not the only part there is of you. Do you really want Jesus to be Lord and King and God for you? Admit it. Part of you most certainly does not! That part is the old evil flesh, "the body of sin" (Romans 6:6) still living and working within each of you.

Because of that body of sin, you actively search for idols to worship and adore. And Jesus knows you do this. Jesus also knows that there is no better place for you to select a another king and a new god than from among the ranks of those people in your lives whom you love the most.

Knowing who you are—knowing your natural tendencies and desires, Jesus says to you in today’s Gospel,

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 a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

With these terrible-sounding Words, Jesus is speaking to you with only the most tender of love and with the deepest affection. With these Words, Jesus is lovingly cutting away from you the objects of your idolatry: your family or those people whom you have come to regard as family.

Jesus does not want you to have any illusions about what must be most important to you when you have Jesus as your God. Jesus is not even asking you to choose between Him and your dearest loved ones, no matter how near or far they may be. Jesus is making the choice for you because He knows that you do notI have the ability to choose.

Perhaps you have one of your idols sitting with you today. Go ahead and take a look. Perhaps your favorite gods live somewhere across the state or the country. Inventory your memories. Think of the shoulders you laid your head upon as a child, or the hands that work endlessly yet today in order to care for you.

Consider the happiest moments of your life along with the people who created those happy moments with you and for you.

Give a tug on those ropes and cables that have bound your heart and mind to someone else—think about how secure and how comforted such connections have made you feel. "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Is that person going to save you? Can your father defy death for himself, much less for you?

Jesus can and Jesus has. It is on account of Jesus’ death and resurrection that you now shall rise from the dead, fully forgiven of every sin.

Are your dearest loved ones truly your greatest comfort? Then why do they go away? How dare they die and leave you here to face life alone?

Jesus does not and will not leave you alone. Jesus ascended into heaven so that He may fill all things—so that there is no place you can ever go where your Lord Jesus is not with you, your true God and your only worthy King.

Has anyone in your family ever treated you selfishly? Has anyone acted to care for himself or herself first, rather than keeping you first and foremost in all things?

Jesus has not done that and He will never do that. Everything Jesus does—from the dying to the rising to the saying harsh-sounding Words to you—EVERYTHING Jesus does is for you. Jesus has no capacity to act selfishly! He is only able to remain devoted to you.

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 a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

With these Words, Jesus is keeping your perspective clear. Love your family and your closest dear ones. Hold them and care for them and pour your life into them. You have nothing better to do with your seasons and your years than to devote yourself to those whom God has lovingly placed into your life. Jesus simply warns you today, that you not allow your dearest ones to destroy your life through your own idolatry.

With one and only one exception, every human relationship will eventually loosen and end. Death will see to it. One and only one connection remains eternal: Jesus made you His brother and sister in Baptism. God the Father adopted you to be His child forever.

God the Holy Spirit created for you an everlasting family, which extends far beyond the walls of your house and is now as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5) and the sands on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). You shall live and remain in this house with this dear family forever (Psalm 23:6).

Christ is Risen.