Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson, Matthew 10.
Last week, we heard Jesus speak of the difficulty of discipleship “out there” – out in the world. Today, Jesus takes discipleship and He brings it in the front door and into our living rooms, our dining rooms, and our bedrooms. He takes discipleship and the cross of discipleship and places it squarely in the family.
I have become a fan of the TV show BLUE BLOODS. The show follows four generations of the Regan family and their service to the city of New York as lawyers and police officers. I’ve had many people tell me they also like the show – not so much because it’s a cop drama, but because at the core of the show is a strong Christian family that sticks together through thick and thin. At least once each episode, the Regan family sits down together for a nine-person, four-generation family meal. Things happen, though, to the family – personal things, professional things, things that strain those family ties, stretching the almost to the breaking point. At times it’s the tension between policing the streets and the court of law; sometimes it’s the unease between the office of commissioner and street cop; occasionally it’s personal relationships and memories; often it’s sibling squabbles; every now and then, it’s the friction between generations. In that moment, tempers flare, words become fiery, and battle lines are drawn in the sand with slamming plates, shoved-back chairs, and people leaving the table before something irrevocable is said.
Perhaps you know that setting all too well. For you, though, it’s not how confessions are obtained from suspects that cause the troubles around the dinner table. For you, it’s because of your confession of faith in Jesus Christ, reading the Word of God, living a life of repentance and receiving the gifts given to you in your baptism. Someone in your family sees you as old-fashioned and out of touch. But it’s not just in your family – it’s Christian families across the globe. Someone in the family openly mocks those who bow their heads to pray over a meal. Someone in the family has embraced wicca, or Islam, or Scientology or some other religion says they are all viable ways to heaven. Someone in the family has embraced an alternative sexual lifestyle as being perfectly acceptable. Someone in the family denies their infant baptism. Someone in the family calls Christians judgmental hypocrites. Someone in the family has given up completely and says that there is no God and says you are wasting your time going to church.
For you, and for families like yours, your family dinner table is not so much divided by race or political party or whatever current topic is on the news - your family dinner table is divided because of Jesus. These are all relatively minor in our country – hurtful, yes, but there are places where Jesus’ warning about cross bearing isn’t just a metaphor. In some countries, these dinner table confessions of Jesus are much more serious. Someone in the family calls the local authorities because mom or dad, sister or brother, husband or wife, son or daughter is a Christian and in that place, Christianity is illegal. In places like that, there is no First Amendment, there is no balanced trial, there is no public defender. I don’t need to tell you how those trials often end.
We are used to hearing Jesus say that He comes to deliver peace. The angels’ song at His birth declared Christ’s birth would bring “Peace on earth and good will among men.” He instructed the Twelve that they would be deliver peace to houses that receive them as servants of Christ. He delivered His promise to His disciples, “My peace I live with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give.” We are used to hearing Him speak to frightened followers and to raging storm-tossed seas, “Peace.” In words and in actions, peace is delivered, peace is granted, peace is received. With Christ’s peace is restoration, wholeness, unity and harmony.
So when we hear Jesus speak, saying that He comes to bring not peace but a sword, it catches us off guard – it makes us stop and re-read. These are not the words we are used to hearing from Jesus. I’m sure it stunned the disciples, too. Not peace on earth, but a sword? Peace unites; swords separate. Peace heals; swords kill. Peace delivers harmony; swords bring punishment. A sword is not very Christ-like, is it? But He’s not done. Jesus says He will put man against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law – so much so that family will become enemy!
We’re left in a conundrum - Where is the Jesus we know? Where is the word of peace that we expect? But at the same time, we must nod our heads and agree, “yes – this is true.” We agree, first, because it’s Jesus’ own word, but also we see it; we experience it in our own lives, in our own homes, in our own families: with Jesus, there is separation.
When Jesus speaks of these things happening, of bringing a sword, we must consider this word carefully lest we misunderstand Him. First, Jesus doesn’t mean a literal sword. Swords are left to governments to wield with God’s blessing as His representatives. Nor is Jesus starting a revolution, an insurrection, or a coup against Rome. Nor is He instructing the disciples – or the church for that matter – to take up arms and execute their 2nd Amendment rights of personal defense. He is speaking of the effect that the Gospel can have on those who reject the Good News of Jesus as Savior, the proclamation that the Kingdom is near.
It’s the wonderful juxtaposition of the truths of Jesus: on the one hand, His Word does exactly what it proclaims for sinful people. When the Word is spoken, it creates faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Word speaks of peace, there is peace. When it speaks of forgiveness, sins are released. When it speaks of hope, there is future. When it speaks of grace, and mercy and compassion, these gifts abound and hearts overflow. When it the word proclaims life, death flees. When the word tells satan to go away, he runs in terror. The Word works. People hear Christ’s word that the Kingdom is near and, by God’s grace, they repent and believe.
On the other hand, the Word is completely resistible by sinful people. Others hear the very same word of Jesus but due to their own ingrained sin and sinful stubbornness, reject the Word that leads to salvation. When the Word speaks peace, a man can insist on continued separation. When the Word declares sins are forgiven, a woman can refuse to believe it is true - both for herself and for those who hurt her. When the Word speaks of hope, a daughter sees only gloom; when the Word speaks grace, mercy, and compassion, a son can insist on feeding anger, hurt, and revenge. When the word proclaims life, a dying fool laughs in mockery.
And, so, what was true in the Old Testament days of Micah when he proclaimed, “A son dishonors his father, a daughter will rise up against her mother, a bride against her mother-in-law, and the enemies of a man will be the members of his own house,” remain true still to this day. The conflict that arises within families over the name of Jesus is a tragically sad commentary on the sinful condition of people of all times. And even though Jesus’ word delivers faith, hope, and trust to those who love and follow Him, that same word results in conflict with those who refuse to repent and follow Christ alone. Jesus’ intent isn’t to divide, but division is the result, the effect, of the coming of Jesus and our following Him.
In those divided families, sooner or later, faithful people of God face the wrath and anger of the unfaithful. The message, whether literally stated or implied, is turn away from Jesus and do what I say instead. It’s exactly what Jesus warned would happen. And, sometimes in those moments, your faith-filled witness, even in the face of adversity, will win the brother, or sister, or mother-in-law, or father over for the sake of Jesus. At other times, the demands of the non-believing spouse or the faithless child will demand your conformity in ways that you simply, and sadly, must not comply. You are called to love Jesus more than your own flesh and blood.
The Good News is that Jesus knows what it is to carry a cross. Remember: He took up His own cross for you. He, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and scorned its shame. He carried the cross when your son laughed at you for praying before eating a bologna sandwich. He carried the cross when your parents thought you going to church was a waste of your valuable time. He carried the cross when your stepbrother called you a Jesus Freak for not reading porn magazines. Jesus carried the cross when your own cousin reported you to HR as being too preachy in the breakroom. He carried it all for you, for the sins committed against you, for those who sought to hurt you in spirit, in mind, in body, in your life. This is the cross Jesus speaks of, the cross of following Christ even when unpopular with family. It might not be a cross that leads to your own death, but it will lead to heartache and pain. Yet, if you were to cave in and surrender to the demands of the faith-less family members, then you reject Christ and His word. In that, you also surrender the one true life that you are guaranteed. His resurrection victory shows you that what you endure this side of heaven, with your own crosses, is but temporary. In Christ’s resurrection, delivered to you in Baptismal water, and sealed with the sign of the cross, you have the promise of eternity with God through Christ.
You heard it last week in the words of Jesus. Hear it again – this time, not for “out there,” but for in your own home, at your own family dinner table. Have no fear; do not fear; fear not. Speak boldly and confidently, but also lovingly and winsomely, of Jesus with your father and mother, sister and brother, son and daughter, and even mother in law and daughter in law, father in law and son in law. Speak of Jesus. Carry the cross. In those moments of cross-carrying, Jesus carries you. Amen.
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