Sermon for the week of Trinity 7
Jeremiah 31:23-25 + Matthew 10:24-31
Jeremiah’s words in tonight’s First Lesson echo the truth revealed in Sunday’s Gospel of the feeding of the four thousand. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. What beautiful words! What Jesus did physically for the crowds that day in providing freely for their bodies is a picture of how God promises to comfort and provide for His people., body and soul.
But Jeremiah’s words hardly seem to go together with Jesus’ first words in tonight’s Lesson from Matthew 10, where He warns His disciples about things to come as they carry out their mission in the world, about the hatred and mistreatment they would face at the hands of men. But both things are true, both God’s care and providence for His own, and the reality that the world will hate and mistreat God’s people, just for being God’s people. God will not step in to prevent it all, but, as we learn from Jesus, God’s care for His own does triumph over man’s abuse.
That shouldn’t surprise us at all. For whom did God the Father care more than for His beloved Son, in whom He was always perfectly well pleased? And yet, you know how men treated the Lord Jesus—and how God the Father exalted Him in the end. If you want to follow Jesus, if you want to be taught by Him as your Teacher, if you want to be like Him as your Master, then you should expect to be regarded as He was and treated as He was. As Jesus says, A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
Now, this is to be expected for those who are like Jesus in this world, who hold to His teachings, who reflect His demeanor, who live as He commands. Just be sure that your words and actions are actually like Jesus’ words and actions, that you are a student following in the footsteps of your Teacher. It’s a terrible tragedy when Christians get themselves in trouble with unbelievers for not speaking and acting like Jesus, for behaving sinfully, for teaching doctrines Jesus never taught. When the world mocks Christians for not speaking and acting like Jesus while claiming to be His disciples, we can take no comfort in that. So make every effort to be genuine disciples of your Teacher from day to day, which means you have to learn from Him from day to day, which means you have to know His Word better and better, because that’s where He teaches us about Himself, from Genesis through Revelation.
When you are like Jesus in the world, like students imitating their teacher, then the world will dismiss you like they dismissed Him, will think badly of you, like they thought badly of Him, will even put a target on your back, as they did with your Teacher.
But, Jesus says, do not fear them. Why? Because they won’t be able to do anything to you? No, often, they will. Don’t fear them, because there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. No matter what they do to you in this life or say about you in this life, you have a sure hope in the next, combined with the sure knowledge that God is watching and keeping track even now. Every insult you bear for Jesus’ sake, every betrayal, every secret slight will be revealed and made known in the end before the judgment seat of God. You may not receive justice in this life for the sins committed against you, but you will receive it in the end.
Whatever I tell you in the dark, Jesus says to the Twelve, speak in the light; and what you hear [whispered] in the ear, preach on the housetops. In other words, everything I’ve said to you in these private discussions, reveal it to the world. Don’t keep anything hidden or secret. Don’t be ashamed of any of My teachings. Even if the world doesn’t want to hear them, even if it would go better for you in the world if you kept quiet about certain things.
Today there are many who call themselves Christians who are ashamed of Jesus’ teachings, or who claim that the apostles taught differently than Jesus did. They’re ashamed of Jesus’ teaching that man is the head of woman, and that women shouldn’t be leaders in the Church. They’re ashamed of Jesus’ teaching about man and woman, marriage, fidelity, and the creation of the universe. Yes, they’re even ashamed of Jesus’ teaching that salvation is only through Him, and that every other religion is false and wicked. So they keep quiet about it and portray instead a Jesus who is a Leftist, Evolutionist, Socialist, Feminist, Universalist. But we will not be ashamed of or keep quiet about anything the Lord has revealed through His apostles. He wanted it all to be shouted from the rooftops, because man shall not live by bread alone but by *every* word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The worst man can do is kill your body. He has no say over your soul, or where you spend eternity once your body is raised back to life. And yet, out of fear, in order to save their lives, many people will compromise their faith in order to make certain people happy. The Romans, for example, in the second century demanded that Christians offer just a little bit of incense to the gods of Rome. Just a little. Just once. Just to prove their loyalty. And, for fear of what the Romans could do to their bodies, some gave in, out of fear. The same kinds of demands are made on Christians today, not to burn incense, but to use certain pronouns, to affirm certain sinful behaviors, to go along with certain “scientific” claims, or certain religious teachings. But Jesus says, don’t fear the Romans! Don’t fear the pagans! Don’t fear the scholars, or the priests, or the synodical officials, or the Inquisition! Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And who is that? It’s God. Fear God more than you fear the government, more than you fear your enemies, or your family, or your friends, more than you fear any man. Because if you fear man more than God, you put not only your body but the eternal state of your soul in jeopardy.
But at the same time as you have a healthy fear of defying God, you should also take great comfort in two things: (1) in your Father’s gracious governance over every aspect of your life, and (2) in your immense value to Him. Jesus says, Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Do not fear any man, because no man can touch you unless it fits into your Father’s will for you and for His Church. And His will for you is not sadistic, or disinterested. Every hair of every believer’s head is numbered by God. Everything about you is known to God, and everything that happens to you is within His fatherly care.
So, trust, and be bold. Be courageous in your profession and confession of the Christian faith. Because in spite of the hardships you will face from sinful men for being like Christ, for being a Christian, you have God’s own guarantee that He will work all of it together for good to those who love Him. God’s care for His own will surely triumph over man’s abuse. Amen.
