Matthew 10:26-39 NRSVUE

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna). 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

 

32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father 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 one’s foes will be members of one’s 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 up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

 I told you last Sunday that I only know one thing about being a Christian right now.  That everything I’ve learned about being a Pastor and leading churches for the last 30 years no longer works since COVID.   

If you want to read the whole sermon, it’s on the Church website.

The only one thing that I know is:

My neighbor is the person who needs me to be a neighbor to them.

The person who is lonely, hungry, hopeless and harassed.

Because Jesus  “had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36)

Christ compels me to be a neighbor to the people who need me.

Clearly I cannot be a neighbor in the Biblical sense… in the tale of the Good Samaritan sense, where Jesus asks the young lawyer, who was a neighbor to the man who was left beaten by the roadside.

Quite frankly, there are too many people being left by the roadside right now, for one Pastor, one person, one church to help them all.  

I mean, the last point in time count I saw for SE Portland counted 2000 unhoused folks here in SE.

We can’t help them all.  But we can help the people whom God places in our path.   

And we do.  There’s a reason that I’m willing to go down to part time to stay here at Montavilla United Methodist. Church – you are good neighbors… in the Biblical sense!

But a funny thing happens when you decide to become a good neighbor.

Especially when you decide to become a good neighbor to “the hopeless and the harassed,” as Jesus described them.

The people who are doing the harassing, or benefiting from their hopelessness get mad.  And it’s not fun.

This is what Jesus is talking about in today’s reading.

So last week,  our reading was the story of Jesus sending the Apostles out 2 by 2 on their first mission without Jesus being right there with them.  They don’t know it yet, but Jesus is training them to be the Church without his physical presence.

After the initial directions from last week’s reading, Jesus just keeps talking, and talking, and talking.  And Jesus is STILL talking, still giving them directions… it’s a miracle that they remembered all those directions!  He goes on and on and on…  And Jesus is STILL talking when our reading for today starts with the instruction to have no fear.

And the reason Jesus says to have no fear is because in the previous 2 paragraphs… Jesus really talked A LOT!

…in the previous 2 paragraphs, in Verses 16 through 25, Jesus is telling them that helping the harassed and the hopeless is going to make people MAD.

Big mad.

Family members will turn on one another.

People will get arrested for speaking up for what’s right.

Some people will even be killed…

They’re going to call you names… like “Woke,” or “Demon-crat,” or “fake Christians.”

My Congresswoman, Maxine Dexter, who has attracted attention for trying to exercise her right as a member of congress to inspect ICE detention facilities.  The most common insult that I see for her, is that they call her a “man,” because she’s too busy trying to help people to wear makeup and skirts.

In verse 25 Jesus says, and I’m paraphrasing here…

Jesus says, “They called me Beelzebul, they’re going to call you worse names.”

So, have no fear of them.

Have no fear of them, Jesus?

So Jesus.  

You’re telling me, in Matthew 10, verses 21 and 22, that:

21 Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matt 10:21-22)

So, have no fear.

Now, I have a lot of faith.

But times like these scare me.

I don’t enjoy being called names, but I can handle it.

I’ve got my big girl pants on!

I don’t want to be arrested or killed, but I can’t live with myself, as a person of German ancestry, if I don’t stand up for those being kidnapped off the streets and placed in camps.

So have no fear… that’s a tall order, Jesus.

I can show up afraid.

I can speak up even when my voice shakes.

We’re willing to do things that we don’t know how to do yet, like build affordable housing!  Even though it’s scary.

But having no fear is next level stuff.

And honestly, I think what we fear the most is not arrest or knowing what to do or to say, or even death.

I think what we fear the most is loss of relationships.

I think what we fear the most is being perceived as mean or divisive.

*divisive* is a big word right now.

Because we Methodists are nice!

I used to say in my community organizing work,  “We’re Methodists, we play nice with everybody!”

And we are nice.

We’re nice enough to be kind and compassionate towards those who are harassed and hopeless.

But when we choose to be nice to those who are harassed and hopeless, the people who are doing the harassing, or benefiting from their hopelessness, or think that they will benefit, get mad.  

Even though nobody really benefits from oppression, not even the oppressors, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” as Jesus said in Mark 8:36.

And that brings us to verse 34 of today’s reading.  It’s in the middle of the reading in your bulletin.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” (Mt 10:34)

But Jesus, we totally think that you came to bring peace on earth and good will towards men!  We sing about that in Christmas carols!

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” (Mt 10:34)

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 one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

I think that this is what we are most afraid of.

This is what we are most afraid of.

Pastors are far more afraid that their congregations will hate them, then we are of being arrested.

Family members are far more afraid of ruining Christmas than we are of being turned in to Department of Homeland Security by our brother-in-law.

We want to keep the peace, because we want peace for ourselves.

We want peace in our families, peace in our neighborhoods, peace in our churches, peace in our country.

But peace that is bought at the cost of turning a blind eye to suffering is not peace.

Protecting our lives and our lifestyle at the cost of the lives and living conditions of the very people whom Jesus commanded us to care for – the least of these – the immigrant (because the word translated as stranger means a person not of your country),  The least of these whom Jesus says we are to care for as if they are HIM are:

• The hungry and thirsty
• Immigrants
• Those in need of clothing
• The sick
• And the imprisoned.

According to Matthew 25:35-36

And the intent of that list is obviously that the Least of These are whomever is harassed and hopeless under whatever administration happens to be in power at the time.

So Christ also calls us to care about:

• Autistic people
• Trans people
• Pregnant people
• Farmers
• Unhoused people

And the list of those suffering right now goes on and on

And as I’ve said several times already.

When we care.  When we do something to help.

When we follow Jesus.

The people doing the harassing or who think they benefit from the hopelessness of the Least of These, get mad.

And the opinions of some of those people matter to us.  A lot.

Take a look at verse 37 – 39.

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 up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

This is hard folks.

This teaching is just plain hard.

But Jesus calls us to be divisive.

But, not out of hate for those whom we disagree with.

Jesus calls us to be divisive out of love for those who are harassed and hopeless.

Jesus calls us to love God and love whatever neighbors God puts in front of us to love, even when people call us names.

But don’t be distracted by their hate.

And when we get distracted, because we will get distracted, because it sucks when people we love, who claim to be fellow Christians, are calling us names.

Remember that the cross that Jesus asks us to take up is love.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  (Matt 11:28-30)

That’s in the next chapter.

So we’ll stop here for today.