Allegiance to Jesus

As we’ve looked at Jesus sending out his 12 disciples, telling them to go through the land to the towns of Israel, we’ve heard him tell the 12 to heal the sick and to raise the dead. And then he tells them that if a town doesn’t receive them to shake off the dust from their feet, that it will be better on the day of judgment for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. So I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to hear Jesus say

Matthew 10:34 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.

but it’s still jarring. Because its a foretaste of Jesus building his kingdom when he sends the twelve. It’s odd to see him healing the sick and casting out demons and raising the dead through his disciples but then not bringing peace on earth. What do we make of this?

We can think of Jesus telling Pilate later that his kingdom is not of this world. And this is a piece of it. For us, in our time, Jesus is making kingdom outposts, but he’s not turning the whole earth into his visible kingdom. As Paul says later, not all Israel is Israel. And still later, the reformers show us that not all of the church is the church. To be a part of the group is not enough.

And that’s the dynamic at play with the towns and cities of Israel. Some towns receive Jesus’s kingdom as he builds it, and others don’t. So in this time after Pentecost as we see the expansion of the church, Jesus helps us understand what to expect.

Unity for the sake of unity is not what Jesus has in mind. The smallest pocket of Christians is not the world, or a country, or a region, a city, a neighborhood, a church, or even a household. It’s an individual person. Jesus says:

Matthew 10:35–39 ESV

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.

Jesus has come to bring a sword. That is, he’s come to divide. He’s come to call the faithful to himself and to call them to a greater allegiance with himself than they have with even the members of their households. Attempts at unity between the faithful and the unfaithful will not last, because ultimately the faithful will be with Jesus and the unfaithful will not. So family unity is an extraordinarily good thing. Christian unity is a wonderful thing. But if you’re looking for a unity that lasts, it has to come through a shared acceptance of the lordship of Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers. Notice too that an allegiance with Jesus that’s only for preserving yourself, isn’t good enough. The allegiance that Jesus demands is an allegiance for his sake. Not an allegiance for your own sake, but for his. Paul tells us, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price.”

And so, what is our goal as it pertains to Jesus? It’s not enough for your goal to be that you’ll be saved from hell and go to heaven. If we focus on that goal, we’re not focusing on Jesus. Jesus becomes some tool for us to get what we really want. But if Jesus himself is our goal, the good news is that we get him. And then a related benefit is that we get heaven thrown in. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We have to be careful here. I’m not normally drawn to claims that demand my devotion and allegiance over my allegiance to family and friends. It’s generally safer not to engage with those kinds of claims. But if Jesus is who he says he is, he is in a unique position to demand that kind of allegiance. If he’s God the Son, he can demand my first allegiance, over all others. Who he is demands my allegiance. But what he’s done awakens my allegiance. No one else has died for my sins. No one else has redeemed my soul or opened my eyes. There is a righteousness that comes from valuing what Jesus has done. It’s enough to rest in that moment of valuing what Jesus has done for you. That is called faith. And its enough to take us out of darkness and bring us into God’s family. But most importantly, it brings us closer to the Way, the Truth, and the Life: Jesus Christ himself, to see all that he is and all that he’s done, and grow in our love for him. And to walk in that love for him is to show up each day and do even the little things that bear witness to him. Look at verse 40:

Matthew 10:40–42 ESV

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

We can be a part of what God is doing by lightening the load of others in the smallest way, with a cup of cold water or some other act of hospitality for his saints. If you’re not called out to spread the news, you’re called to help the cause. And I have personally seen that at work here at New Creation in a thousand ways. From people stepping up to serve on the vestry, to helping take down after the service, to offering fellowship to the Lutherans, building a parade float, practicing music, making food, giving money, ironing altar linens, and literally bringing a cup of cold water before the service. This church is a microcosm of the supporting work that Christ calls us to. And if you’d like to be more involved, we have opportunities and needs. But as we build each other up in this ministry of going out into the world with the good news of Jesus, let us keep our unity focused on him, lest it slowly becomes just another way to occupy our time and stave off loneliness. Loneliness is the great and preventable tragedy of our cultural moment. But the antidote to even loneliness is Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us and wants us to be in relationship with him, for his glory and our great joy. If we make Jesus our prize, our goal, then we get heaven thrown in. And that means community as well. As we look to him and go where he sends us and do the acts of kindness he prepares for us to walk in, we will experience what community was truly meant to be. So let us look to Jesus that it might be so for us, for our families, for this town, until the saving gospel of Jesus goes forth to all places he sends it.