Matthew 10 21-33 2008
Pentecost 6
Matthew 10:21-33
June 22, 2008
“Stop Being Afraid”
Jesus' instructions to his disciples prior to their first mission continue in today's gospel reading. He has been telling them about all the dangers and hardships they may have to put up with and ends by saying (in effect), "What do you expect? A disciple is not greater than his teacher. If the world gives me a bad time, it will give you one too" (Matthew 10:24-25).
So what does Jesus do? Sell them life insurance? Give them bullet-proof vests? Teach them how to diffuse conflict? No! Instead he says, "Don't ever be afraid of your enemies and critics. Even though it's not obvious now, the truth will come out in the end. So, speak up; shout it out; stand and deliver" (10:26-27). “ So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roof tops.” Wow! So this is what Jesus tells us to do. It may not always set well with us. After all, most of us don't want to be heroes, especially not religious ones. Usually, it's all we can do to get to church on Sundays and we're supposed to be shouting the word of God from the housetops? No way.
But Jesus doesn't quit. He says, "Stop being afraid" (that's the force of the verb); "stop being afraid" -- not just once but always. "Stop being afraid of people who can kill the body but not the soul." The point is, people can hurt us only temporarily because life comes from God. Even if they kill us, God the author of life will raise us from the dead. "Don't fear people; fear God" (the one who can kill both body and soul) (10:28).
As human beings, we worry way too much about what other people say or think of us and far too little about what God thinks of us. Think about it, how we dress, what we say, how we say it, what we eat, how we eat it…even as families…what will other people say? We know this is true. Our God understands and our Lord Jesus understands. Our focus is on the things of this physical world and not on God. We focus on those things that are temporary, rather than on those things that are eternal.
So what's the solution? More advice? More instruction? No. He simply reveals and reminds us of who God is and what he does. He says, "Aren't sparrows the most common and cheapest bird around? Yet not one of them dies apart from God your Father" (10:29). Wow. "And what about you?" Jesus asks. "God even knows every hair on your head. So stop being afraid. You are of much more value than any sparrow" (10:30-31).
Isn't that amazing? God knows everything that we go through and nothing that happens to us escapes him. Even if we die, it doesn't happen apart from God. Even if we seem totally abandoned, even if our prayers don't seem to be answered, even if everything seems hopeless, God knows and God cares. If that's the case, we can stop being afraid.
Not being afraid isn't something that we can accomplish. As long as we think it is, we will still be afraid -- of other people, of death, of circumstances (real or imagined). But as Jesus reveals it, we can stop being afraid because of a promise -- a promise that God who watches over even the commonest of birds will take care of us.
When someone makes a promise to you, what do you have to do? If your grandparents write their will and say that when they die you will get the farm, what do you have to do? Be nice to them? Work really hard? Why? They have already promised you the farm. "What do I have to do?" is the wrong response to a promise. It doesn't make sense. If you find out you are going to inherit something, you say "Hooray! Wonderful! Thank you." Out of the blue you have a retirement plan. Suddenly the future doesn't seem so uncertain.
Most of our life is lived not according to "the celebration of the promise" but in asking and answering the question "What do I have to do to make sure the promise happens?" Of course, this too, is very human behavior. Why, because humans are way too fickle and uncertain when it comes to making promises. Our promises are conditional? We say, “I promise…if. We say I promise… but. In scholl they promise that I will graduate…but what must I do? In work they promise that I can get a promotion…but what will it take?
Unfortunately we look at life in our present world and then we try to fit the way that God works into the way this world works. What goes wrong is that we then try to put this kind of "logic" of "What do I have to do?" into our religious life. God has made me some very special promises…but. And then we think…what must I do? What must I do so that God will love me? What must I do to get to heaven? "What do I have to do to get God to care about me?" All of a sudden we think of the text for this morning when Jesus tells us to stop being afraid and we think…Ok…this is what I need to do…”Stop being afraid? No, no, no.
We get it all wrong. It's the other way around. God does care about you so you don't have to be afraid. The response to a demand -- to graduate from school, to get a promotion is to do something. The response to a promise is altogether different. The response to a promise is to celebrate, rejoice, and give thanks. This is especially true of the promises that God has made to us. God knows every hair on your head. God even cares about sparrows and you are of much more value than any sparrow. God will take care of you. That's a promise. You don't have to be afraid. Ever.
Yes, but .... Who can believe this? Who can live without fear? We are suspicious even of promises. We are always hearing promises that aren't kept. Our grandparents may promise to leave us the farm when they die, but…but…but. Husbands and wives promise to be faithful to each other until death, but half the time they can't keep those promises. Our life experience teaches us to be suspicious of promises, not because people who make promises don't have good intentions but because sinful human beings like us can't always keep our promises. You know this is true. I need not give you examples of how this is true or how this affects our lives. But obviously it makes are live more uncertain…in this world. We can't help it. It has nothing to do with bad intentions. It is the way we are. We cannot make promises without conditions, without "ifs."
Yet Jesus made many incredibly far-reaching promises. Not only about God knowing every hair on our heads and promising to care for us, but also remember some of the others: "Today, you will be with me in paradise." "I go to prepare a place for you." "Lo, I am with you always." "I tell you, your sins are forgiven." And the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12): those who mourn will be comforted, the meek will inherit the earth, the pure in heart will see God, and so forth. But when Jesus was crucified, these promises seemed to be all cancelled out. He had failed. He was just a dreamer, one more idealistic man making promises he couldn't keep. Even his disciples abandoned Him. "All of them deserted him and fled" (Mark 14:50).
The world tells us that we cannot live on promises alone. Rely on your self. Yet the gospel of good news in Jesus Christ is entirely different. The salvation we have in Jesus Christ is God’s promise, God’s promise to us. God promised to send a Savior from sin, death and the power of evil…He did. God allowed His only Son Jesus Christ to suffer the punishment of all of mans transgressions…Jesus did. God declared Christ’s sacrifice as the completely sufficient payment for all human sins…this is true as we know that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to declare us right with God our Father.
Today that same crucified and risen Lord is in our midst, allowing us to stop being afraid because of the powerful love of God on which the promise is based: "Even the hairs of your head are all counted; you are of more value than many sparrows." [The promise continues in the blessed sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as we hear Jesus say that "this bread is my body, given for you, and "this wine is my blood, shed for you." We receive Christ in the bread and wine because he promises to meet us there. In this sacrament the promise is visible and touchable and feel-able and taste able. "Take and eat; take and drink." As we do these things, as we hear God’s word of promise to us again this morning, our Lord and God gives us what he asks of us…and that is to stop being afraid. Amen.
After Marc Kolden