Matthew 10:34-39
Presented June 19th, 2005, by J.D. Kline
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Do you recall that powerful scene, portrayed in Luke’s Gospel, as Jesus stands ready to enter the city of Jerusalem on that day we have come to know as Palm Sunday? Jesus pauses, pondering the state of the people’s relationship with God and anticipating the troubling events soon to follow. Overcome with tears, Jesus cries out, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:42). Yet today, can you not imagine Jesus weeping over the continuing brokenness and suspicion and fear that characterize so much of life in our world? Can you not envision Jesus sobbing over a world willing to earmark hundreds of billions of dollars for warfare while poverty and hunger and disease abound?
In the fifteenth century Thomas a Kempis made the telling observation, “All men [and women] desire peace, but very few desire the things that make for peace.” Indeed, the biblical vision of peace and shalom runs counter to the images of peace commonly embraced by our society and world. When the world speaks of peace, it is a peace understood as an imposed condition—peace imposed through military might, peace imposed through power over others, peace imposed through the threat of force and destruction. The New Testament, on the other hand, envisions a peace that flows from the very heart of God, a peace beyond all human comprehension, a peace that breaks down barriers of misunderstanding, a peace that will not let us rest content until all hostility and injustice, all enmity and strife are eradicated.
Writing to the Ephesian Christians the apostle Paul asserts that Christ himself is our peace. “In his flesh he has made both groups [Jew and Gentile] into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” Continues Paul, it is a matter of creating “one new humanity” (Ephesians 2:14-15). In The Message Eugene Peterson paraphrases this section of Ephesians 2 this way:
[Christ] tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
Peace as a new beginning, a fresh start, a new creation. The New Testament literally throbs with this anticipation of a new creation, this promise that all of life shall be made new. And our calling is to live—here and now—as if that new creation were fully present among us. And so Jesus announces, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9), and he chastises those who would rely upon the sword. “All who take the sword,” cries Jesus, “will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus challenges us, “Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also . . . . Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:39, 44).
Given all that, what are we to make of this morning’s Gospel lesson, in which Jesus, at least at first glance, appears to be offering a contradictory message? What does Jesus have in mind when asserting, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Even more, continues Jesus, “I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother” (v. 35)—family member against family member. How does this fit together with the One whom we call the Prince of Peace? And why, you might be wondering, would I choose a passage about family divisions on this day set aside to honor fathers? What’s going on here?
Consider with me the context of this passage. Jesus is sending the disciples out, two by two, to go and announce the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand. And as they ready to go, Jesus seeks to prepare them for what may well lie ahead. Just as Jesus himself has encountered hostile reaction from those threatened by his alternative perspective about faith and life, so the disciples may also arouse the suspicion and fears of those who fear rather than embrace change. And there is no guarantee that one’s own family members will not be included among those who respond with hostility and defensiveness. Surely this is the sword of division Jesus is talking about—that some will embrace the gospel, while others do not.
Perhaps you remember the story of Francis of Assisi arousing the fury of his father, when he chose to leave behind the wealth and status of his upbringing in order to live a life of radical obedience to Christ. And in our own tradition, many of the first Brethren found themselves alienated from many—sometimes including family—because they had chosen allegiance to Christ as the foundation of their lives.
John Naas was an early leader among the Brethren who, because of his impressive physical stature, was captured and tortured, all in an effort to force his enlistment into an elite regiment of the Prussian army. Even when he appeared before the Prussian ruler, John Naas would not be persuaded to join the military. According to tradition, Naas told the ruler that he could not serve him because he had already given his loyalty to another captain—and that captain was Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Naas understood the truth at the heart of the gospel—that while Christian discipleship may set us apart from others, we are never to be in the business of tearing down or destroying life. Jesus never counsels his followers to adopt tactics that intentionally harm or cause division. What Jesus does insist upon is that you and I count the cost of discipleship, that we stand firm in obedience to Christ and Christ’s new way of living.
The call of Jesus to offer our ultimate allegiance to the kingdom of God would no doubt have offered a certain comfort to the first readers of Matthew’s Gospel, who found themselves living in a time of growing alienation from the synagogue and their fellow Jews. No doubt some of them experienced the painful reality of family member pitted against family member. Many knew firsthand the cost of discipleship; at the same time, they knew the joy of life with Christ at the center. They knew well the meaning of Christ’s words, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).
There are some who would suggest that the only way to live faithfully with Christ is to distance ourselves from the world around us. But is not our calling to find a new way of relating to and with the world? In his brief book entitled Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life, Henri Nouwen affirms that life with Christ does not lead us away from the world and all its struggles; instead, our faith is that which empowers us to live creatively and fully in the world. Speaking of the stress and worry that lead to a fragmentation of so much of modern living, Nouwen asserts,
Jesus’ response to our worry-filled lives is quite different. He asks us to shift the point of gravity, to relocate the center of our attention, to change our priorities . . . . It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. Rather, Jesus wants to live in it, firmly rooted in the center of all things. Jesus does not speak about a change of activities, a change in contacts, or even a change of pace. Jesus speaks about a change of heart.
A change of heart, leading us to live out a new identity as the people of God. In Christ we embrace a new center, a new purpose, a new loyalty, a new set of values and priorities, a new direction for our living, as our attention now focuses on life in the kingdom of God. This change of heart is not a once-and-done kind of thing, but an ongoing process, a life journey that impacts the lives of those around us.
Rufus Bucher was a Church of the Brethren preacher in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania who, in the course of his ministry, preached at more than 200 series of evangelistic services, encouraging nearly 3000 persons to commit their lives to the way of Christ. On his return home from one such meeting, Rufus encountered a young man at the train station who handed him a tract entitled “Brother, Are you Saved?” When the young man then asked Rufus the same question, Rufus replied,
That’s a good question and deserves an answer. I think, however, that I might be prejudiced on my own behalf. You better go down to Quarryville and ask George Hensel, the hardware merchant, what he thinks about it. Or you might go to the Mechanic Grove grocer or to one of my neighbors in Unicorn. While there, you might ask my wife and children. I’ll be ready to let their answers stand as my own.
With Rufus Bucher, you and I are called to so center our lives in Christ that others will know of our deep connectedness with God our Creator. Our calling is to be salt for the earth, light on the hill, sowers of seeds of justice and mercy and compassion and peace. Our calling is to join with Christ in bringing forth God’s kingdom. May we find the courage and grace to serve as Christ’s ambassadors, peacemakers, and witnesses.
Pastoral Prayer
Holy breath of God, breathe upon us. Fill us with your grace and your peace. Form us into new creations, that we might love as you love, embody compassion as you are all compassion, walk in the ways of peace as you are the God of peace.
Gracious Creator, whose creation continues to unfold, how blessed we are as we experience gifts of beauty and wonder. We express special appreciation this day for the gift of music, and for the musicians who enrich our times of worship. We are grateful, O God, for the song of joy and hope you plant in each of our hearts—for the breath of peace and wholeness your Spirit breathes upon us.
Gracious Redeemer, thank you for our church family—for the gifts of young and old, long-time members and new participants in our church community, male and female, community activists and searching mystics, peacemakers and servants. O God, continue to bind us together in your love, as we seek to live out the vision of life in Christ Jesus. Breathe on us, breath of God, until we are wholly yours.
Loving God, we pray your blessing this day upon the fathers in our congregation, and give thanks for those who offer hands of guidance and hearts of love. We also pray this day for those experiencing brokenness in family relationships, those who are estranged from one another, and those who are mourning the loss or lack of a loving relationship. Breathe of God, breathe your healing Spirit upon each one of us.
Hear us now, holy God, as we hold in your presence those in special need of your healing mercies. We pray for . . . .
God of peace, breathe your reconciliation upon our troubled and divided world. Forgive our foolish ways. Tear down those barriers we create, and form us into one new humanity in Christ. Breathe on us anew, O holy breath of God. Amen.