2.20.24 5.11.2025 Matthew 10.34-39, Matthew 12.46-50 True Love Ways

Start:

Entice: I try to not become overly sentimental in my preaching, but it is Mother’s Day. I was fortunate to be raised in an active Christian home where ministry and service were expected. On Mother’s Day I celebrate mom’s faith as much as anything else, the same on Father’s Day.

Engage: I am thankful my Mother and Father taught me to be a disciple of Jesus first,  and to understand our family in light of the family of God.  Once we get our identity in Christ straight and understand the nature of discipleship we can exhibit true love ways to our own flesh and blood in ways otherwise not possible. This process can be difficult because every individual experiences grace and processes faith differently 

Expand: The beginning for how we as Christians should understand the family, is a proper subject for Mother’s Day and it begins with Jesus and His relationship with His physical kin. And it is not always pretty, it is not always easy. In the end James will lead the Jerusalem Church, Mary will be found among the disciples in Acts 1. 

Before that? They harbored confusion, doubt, even anger about the claims of Jesus.

You and I should be ready for pushback even as we hope for mutual engagement in the family of God. That is a part of the long history of Christian faith.

We are going to look at some texts from Matthew’s story of Jesus’ life that remind us of the hard choice we make when we choose to be a disciple of Jesus. 

Excite: It is always our hope and prayer that the family of God can incorporate our biological families. But it is not essential and it has clearly not been universal. A disciple is not truly loyal to their family if they are not truthful to the all-encompassing demands of discipleship.  Jesus offers us His Lordship, not some pleasant suggestions. Until we accept how hard it can be, we have not really understood how liberating is. 

Explore:

True family love requires embracing the true nature of discipleship. 

Expand: Jesus tells the hard truths about the family 

Body of Sermon: The truth means

1 Reshaping our Assumptions.

Matthew 10:34–39 ESV

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 a person’s enemies will be those of his 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 his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

1.1 Who really cares?

1.2 Who do I really love? 

v. 37

1.3 Who do I really serve? 

vv. 38-29

 Next, telling the truth means 

2 Reimagining our Associations.

Matthew 12:46–48 ESV

46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

2.1 Differing Expectations.

Family, tribe, and the nation are the building blocks of human society. Kinship in the kingdom is based not upon natural relationships but upon our shared faith in Christ. Trying to adhere to Kingdom principles without abandoning the expectations of the world will at best be awkward and at worst it will be heretical. 

Those differing expectations help to emphasize the 

2.2 Defining Question.

The world expects us to choose relatives over the redeemer. If we answer this question wrongly we will struggle in both our Christian walk and our human relationships. 

Finally, telling  the truth about the family means

3 Recognizing our Allegiance.

Matthew 12:49–50 ESV

49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

3.1 Recognizing  the family of Jesus.

For Jesus the family is defined by discipleship not descent. Conviction, not kinship. 

recognizing the family of Jesus means 

3.2 Recognizing the connection to Jesus.

And that connection is found in

Discerning God’s will.

Doing God’s will.

Shut Down

These stories have never been easy to read or hear. The nature of the difficulty shifts with time. In the 21st century there is a romantic longing for the past where, to paraphrase Garrison Keillor, “All the women are strong, all the men good looking, and all the children are above average.”

That world, of course, never existed. For Christian disciples it is even more difficult. We have all known someone whose life of discipleship was most lonely at home. Most of us know people whose faith was superficial and their following for show. We all have to decide which group will define us; our natural family or the family of God. If that choice never alienated you, I am pleased and happy. That was my experience. It is essential that we recognize that it is not everyone’s experience. It was once the exception and may well one day be again.

We must be the family for those who lack. We must provide nurture, love, and care for those whose Christian walk will always be limping, and the limp will come from those they truly love. We must learn to limp with those who choose Jesus. Someday we may need them to support us.