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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – June 25, 2023
Matthew 10:24-39
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
What are some things you are afraid of? According to surveys, some of the most common things people are afraid of include spiders and snakes. People are also commonly afraid of heights and of needles. Some people are afraid of thunder and lightning, or enclosed spaces. These are all pretty common, everyday fears. Many of these are instinctual or primal. They help us survive as a species.
Other fears go deeper. There is the fear of rejection, the fear of not having enough money to get by, the fear of the safety or health of a loved one, the fear of being alone. These kinds of fears keep people’s minds racing and their hearts aching.
Another common fear, of course, is the fear of death. I was visiting with someone this week who was asking about the differences between a cremation and a casket burial. I gently inquired as to whether this person preferred one over the other. She furrowed her brow and said, “Actually, I’m not thrilled about either one of them.”
In our gospel reading for today we pick up right where we left off last week. Last week we heard how Jesus sent the disciples out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He sent them out to share the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near. As he sent them, Jesus warned them that not everyone would welcome them. He warned them that they would face hostility and rejection and persecution. He warned them that he was sending them out as sheep into the midst of wolves. He warned them that they would face hostility even from family members.
This had to have stirred up no small amount of anxiety among them. How could it not? As we pick up where we left off last week, Jesus addresses these fears. Jesus acknowledges the things that cause them to be afraid, and he alleviates those fears with perspective and with promises.
One of those fears is the fear of being maligned. To be maligned is to be thought of as evil. It is to be slandered. It is to be called derogatory names. It is, to use a modern phenomenon, to be cancelled. This is what people were doing to Jesus. Some called him “Beelzebul.” This term literally means, “Lord of the flies.” It was a derogatory term the Jewish people used for the false gods of their pagan neighbors. This term was being used by some to describe Jesus! Jesus was the farthest thing from a false foreign god, but this term was being used to malign and belittle him. And the disciples, Jesus says, can expect to be called even worse! “If they call the master of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they malign those of his household!”
The Latin root of “malign” literally means to align with something bad. This isn’t unlike our own unfortunate modern phenomenon of aligning people with whom we disagree about some political issue with Nazis or fascists or racists or commies. Those terms are thrown around awfully loosely these days. It is a quick and easy way to end debate and malign someone you disagree with. And it is very effective in shutting people up! A recent survey revealed that more than half of respondents were afraid to share an opinion or perspective on something because they were afraid of the potential backlash. They were afraid of being maligned in this way. That’s what they tried to do to Jesus, and that’s what they were going to try to do to his followers too.
But Jesus told his disciples to not be afraid. He addressed their fears with perspective and with a promise. “Have no fear of them,” Jesus said, “for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” In other words, what they were proclaiming about Jesus would be shown to be true in good time. The truth of God they were sharing would be vindicated in the end. And so didn’t need to be afraid! They could be brave! They could be bold! They could shout it from the rooftops, without fear!
What if one of these maligners got a hold of them? What if they became violent? What if they were killed for their faith? I’m sure the disciples weren’t thrilled about this possibility any more than any of us would be! It was a legitimate fear.
But here again Jesus addresses this fear with perspective and a promise. First comes the perspective: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;” Jesus says, “rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”
Does this mean we should be cowering in fear of God instead? No! Remember, Jesus is trying to encourage his disciples here. He is infusing them with courage, not fear. This is a matter of perspective. Jesus is pointing out that God is infinitely more powerful than any adversary we face. God is capable of inflicting the deeper death of eternal separation from God. Jesus isn’t giving us something different to be afraid of. Jesus has come to save us from this separation. His death and resurrection has saved us from it. As Paul writes in our second reading from Romans, “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” The point is not that we should be cowering before God, uncertain about our salvation. The point is to not be afraid at all! The point is that there are things worse than death. The point is to trust God and fear no one.
And with the perspective comes a promise: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Jesus asks them. “Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Sparrows were the food of the poor in Jesus’ time. They were netted and plucked and put on skewers and roasted. Think of Wingstop, but without all the delicious dipping sauces. As strange as it might sound to us to eat songbirds, they were plentiful, and so they were cheap. Two for a penny, Jesus says! This was a main source of protein for the poor. There were skewered sparrows roasting on grills all over the ancient near east, and yet, Jesus says, not one of them fell to the ground without the Father knowing about it. God has that intimate knowledge about all the living things in his creation.
In the same way, Jesus says, he knows about you. Even the hairs on your head are all counted by God the Father! He cares about you enough to know these most intimate details, to actually count each hair! So do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. You, as a human being, have more value than many sparrows. You are made in the image of God. When the Word became flesh, it didn’t come as a tweety bird but as a human being, as one of us! God loves the birds, yes, but we are of more value to God, Jesus says, than many sparrows! And so we do not need to be afraid.
Perhaps the deepest fear plaguing the disciples is one we touched on last week: “What are my parents going to think?” To go off and follow Jesus posed a grave threat to family relationships. We hear how James and John left their father to follow Jesus. Poor Zebedee was left to run the family fishing business without his sons. We don’t know how he felt about that, but it isn’t hard to imagine some strained relationships developing. When Martin Luther decided to quit law school to serve God as a monk, his father was furious!
Jesus tells his disciples they can expect this to happen. He tells them he has come not to bring peace, but a sword. This is absolutely not an invitation to take up arms in the name of Jesus. When Peter drew his sword on the night of Jesus’ arrest, Jesus promptly told him to put it away. This is a symbolic sword. What Jesus is saying is that he will bring divisions, even amongst family members.
As mentioned last week, this is not something God wants to see happen. The fourth commandment upholds the divine order of fathers and mothers being at the heart of family life and worthy of honor. But at the same time, Jesus knows that the call to follow him will sometimes result in divisions even between these most cherished relationships. The disciples aren’t to be afraid of this either. They are to put him first.
Some of the fears we have are helpful. They are supposed to be there. Being afraid of spiders or snakes or heights or lightning helps to keep us from harm. But there are other fears which are not helpful. There are fears which paralyze us. There are fears which prevent us from following Jesus. There are fears which keep our mouths shut, preventing his gospel from being shared.
Like the disciples, we fear being maligned. We want so badly to be liked by everyone. We fear rejection. We fear what harm might come to us if we are public about our faith in Christ. In our time and place we are not likely to be killed over it, thanks be to God, but it could mean other significant sacrifices for us, sacrifices that seem scary. Some might even fear what will come of their relationships with non-Christian family members if they get too serious about their faith. There is a fear that following Jesus too closely or fervently might mean alienating loved ones.
Speaking to these fears, Jesus gives us perspective and promises. For perspective, Jesus reminds us that all the truths we confess about God which are currently only accessible by faith will one day be shown to be true. He reminds us that God is more powerful than any adversary or challenge we face, and so we should trust God and fear no one and nothing. He reminds us that God alone is worthy of our deepest love and loyalty.
Jesus not only gives us perspective; he gives us a promise: We are more valuable to him than many, many sparrows. He has the hairs on our heads all counted! He loves us enough to keep that close of an eye on us! Not one of us will fall without our Father knowing about it. We are loved and we are his. And so we have nothing to fear.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church