Matthew 10:38-42
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – 16 July 2017
Rev. John Derme
One of the most beloved portions of the Bible is chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke. It is the Gospel for Christmas Eve, the account of the Savior's birth. The words of the angels, who came to announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, are so memorable: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." On the night of his birth, the heavenly messengers announced that their God had come to bring peace.
But as we follow the rest of Jesus' life through the four Gospels, what do we see? We see Jesus expressing anger when he confronts his enemies. We see Jesus' enemies expressing their hatred against him. As we follow the Christian church through the rest of the New Testament, what do we see? We see Jesus' apostles condemning false teachers. We see the enemies of the church attacking the apostles. As we look at the lives of Christians today, what do we see? We see Christians pointing out sin in the world around them. We see the world condemning Christians for what we believe. What's with all this discord? Wasn't Jesus supposed to bring peace?
Jesus spoke the words of our Gospel as he was commissioning his twelve disciples to be his apostles, the men whom he personally sent out as his spokesmen. As he was telling them about their work, he flat out told them that their job would not be a peaceful one. It would be difficult. They were going to make enemies. They would lose their lives in service to him. Since it was going to be such a big part of their lives from here on out, he needed to prepare his apostles for the rejection that they were soon to face.
Perhaps you've noticed that, even though you aren't an apostle that Jesus has personally sent out into the world, his words also apply to your life. Jesus says, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man's enemies will be the members of his own household."
Perhaps you've noticed the truth of Jesus' words, that even though you'd like to get along with everybody, the fact that you are a Christian makes that impossible. I'm not talking about how people don't get along with you because you've been rude to them in the past or because you have a prickly personality. Jesus is talking about the fact that people do not like you because you are a Christian. They don't believe what you believe, and so they oppose you for being a follower of Jesus. They don't appreciate it when you make it clear that you don't agree with their sin. They don't like it when you tell them about the forgiveness that Jesus won for them. And these aren't just your acquaintances or distant relatives. The people who oppose you are your close family members and your friends – people whom you like and people whom you want to like you.
Then again, maybe you haven't noticed that Jesus' words are true. You may be thinking, "No, actually, I get along great with everybody. Nobody dislikes me for being a Christian." It might be possible that you don't encounter any opposition, because everyone you know is a Christian and believes exactly the same things that you do. Perhaps when you talk about your faith, everyone agrees with you, and when you point out people's sin, they say, "You're right. I'm sorry." If that is the reason that you've never experienced opposition for being a follower of Jesus, rejoice, because God has given you a rare blessing.
If there are any of you who have not been opposed for being a Christian, there is one other possible reason that Jesus wants us to consider. Could it be that nobody gets upset with you, because you don't love Jesus enough to speak up for him? Could it be that your relationships with your friends and family members are more important to you than your relationship to Jesus? Is that why you aren't willing to talk to your brother or sister who hasn't been to church in a while about how important it is to hear God's Word and receive his Sacrament regularly? Is that why you haven't talked to your son or daughter about the sinful choices that they are making in their lives, which have taken them away from Jesus? Is that why you haven't been willing to tell your friend why it is that you are a Christian, and that Jesus is also his or her Savior?
It can be scary to speak Jesus' words to the people we like, because we don't know how they are going to react. Jesus tells us ahead of time that at least some of them aren't going to appreciate it at all. They might say some hurtful things about you. They might even begin to hate you. But if you care more about your good relationship with your family and friends than you care about your relationship with Jesus, he tells you, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
Jesus is asking us to pick sides, isn't he? It's him or them. If you'd rather be well-regarded by the unbelievers in this world than a brother or sister of Jesus, then you've made your choice. But we're supposed to love our families and get along with them, right? If we use "love" as an excuse to go along with their sin and unbelief, we aren't actually showing them any love at all. And if we aren't willing to speak up for Jesus in front of them, we're telling Jesus that he just isn't that important to us, and we'll lose him. That's why he says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." When our relationship with Jesus is strong, we have true life with him. But if we'd rather be considered popular and tolerant and successful by our family and friends and the world, then we've traded eternal life for death.
Jesus clearly didn't come to bring peace on earth between his disciples and his enemies. If you have peace with this world, you really have no peace at all. But if you have no peace with this unbelieving world, you have peace with Jesus. That's the real peace that Jesus came to bring. It's not some superficial peace that says, "I won't talk about what I believe and you won't talk about what you believe so that we can all get along." This is real, meaningful, eternal peace between God and you.
This is the peace that the angels announced on the night that Jesus was born. God became man to bring peace to humankind. This is the peace that Jesus earned when he went up against and defeated the powers of this unbelieving world in his life. This is the peace that Jesus sealed with his death on the cross that removed the sins that had made us enemies with God. This was the peace that Jesus guaranteed for all people when he rose from the dead. And now he has delivered this peace to you through the good news of peace in his gospel message.
This peace is yours, because Jesus gave it to you for free. You are at peace with him! Now Jesus asks you to bring the good news of this peace to others. That's why we are willing to point out to our friends and family what God says is wrong, because we want them to leave behind the sin separates them from him. That's why we are willing to tell them about what Jesus has done for them, so that they too can experience his peace.
When you proclaim this peace to others, it won't always bring peace between you and them. Oftentimes it will, because God will work in people so that they appreciate that you have loved them enough to tell them about the Savior who has brought them peace. But sometimes you will be called a fool for what you believe. You will be called intolerant, because people won't understand that you are speaking out of love. People in our society assume that since Christianity is a religion of peace, Christians are supposed to be at peace with everyone, no matter what they believe or do. They don't understand how it is actually loving for us to point out when people think or do things that are wrong, since it is our goal to show them the true peace that our Savior gives.
We shouldn't expect the world to like us for what we believe and teach, because we are just teaching what Jesus teaches, and the world didn't like him, either. When you look at his life, you see that he had no peace with the unbelieving world. You and I won't have peace with them either. But that doesn't matter; we don't need peace with the world, because we have peace with God. That's the peace that Jesus came to bring. In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus won that peace for us all.