Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-31
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the one
who continually gives us newness of life. Amen
As we continue our ordinary time exploration
of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus,
our lessons for today
highlight the fact that life with God has consequences.
A life with God should and will look different
than a life lived without God
and the big question is:
How do we live faithful lives?
On the one hand we have the good news from Paul in Romans
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
We have new life
because of what God has done for us,
God has done all the work
and if God has done all the work
then what are we supposed to do?
We humans like to have something to do.
On the other hand
we have Jesus in Matthew
telling the apostles not to be afraid
of those who can kill the body but not the soul.
Indicating that the apostles have faced such threats.
Leading up to this in the gospel
Jesus appointed 12 apostles,
disciples to whom he has given authority
to heal and cast out unclean spirits,
and giving them this authority
he then sends them out to proclaim
“the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
with very specific instructions
that they are to rely solely on the hospitality
of those they encounter,
and they should expect to encounter
hostility as much as hospitality
- I’m sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves- he tells them,
not a really positive image,
it’s like he’s telling them to expect to be attacked-
but don’t worry he tells them
the spirit will be with you,
and here we get to the portion we heard today-
he says don’t worry,
they won’t do anything to you that they won’t do to me,
the Father knows you intimately and values you,
so don’t be afraid.
Which is comforting
and causes us to realize
that the life of following Jesus
might very well demand our life,
and we wonder if God wants too much from us?
How many of us start squirming
when we hear the word “evangelism”
because it means we might have to go talk to strangers,
let alone going out
and depending completely on strangers for our needs
for the sake of the gospel.
Are we really supposed to do that Jesus? Really?
So on the one hand
it seems like we don’t have enough to do,
on the other hand it seems like too much
so what are we to do?
how are we to live faithful lives?
We live faithful lives
by trusting God
and listening to how God calls us to live,
as part of God’s working in the world.
And yes this is not a step by step guide for faithful living
Rather a call into relationship with God
that moves us to first ask: what is God doing in the world?
One commentator I read this week answered it this way:
God is working on a complete renovation of human beings
“justification provides the ground for God’s complete renovation of human beings—both legally (justification) and morally (sanctification and glorification).”[1]
So the work Jesus does,
the one hand in Romans,
is the foundation,
or the very beginning of the work
that leads to a change in life,
that leads to a life proclaiming to others
the gift of the good news that we have first experienced
and we invite others to experience as well.
On the other hand
This renovation of human beings is a work in progress,
if we doubt this all we have to do
is look at the world around us,
and God has chosen to work with us on this renovation
And God knows it will transform our lives
In good ways and in difficult ways
Look at the prophet Jeremiah
We hear from him earlier
lamenting how everyone around him mocks him
and are waiting for him to stumble
so that they can take revenge on him,
it sounds like a rather grim situation
and we might wonder why Jeremiah just doesn’t give up
in the face of this adversity,
but it seems that the word and way of God
has worked its way into Jeremiah’s very being
and if he tries not to speak the word of the Lord
the pressure builds in him
until he just has to let it out,
ultimately he trusts that his persecutors shall not prevail
because the work that God is doing through him
is for the sake of the whole community
and even as he is taking part in something greater than his individual self
he knows that God cares for him as an individual
so he ends with a word of praise: “Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.”
What God is doing is so much bigger than each of us as individuals
And yet God cares for us as individuals
God knows us down to the tiniest detail
God sent his son to die for us
So that we might experience forgiveness and newness of life
and yes we are human
and God knows that we are still under renovation,
which is why it is such good news
that in baptism we have been united to Christ,
and in Christ we are granted forgiveness and new life each day,
to continue living in relationship with God,
we do this by taking part in a community that gathers in Jesus’ name
a community that gathers around the Word, the Water, and the Table
a community that incorporates the God given gifts of each member
and works with God on the renovation of humanity
even as God is creating new life withing the community.
This fall we will embark on a time
of faithful listening as a congregation
and while I don’t know exactly
what we will discover from this process
I do know this, we will each have a role to play,
Some of us will go out like the apostles
proclaiming the good news,
others will be prophets who may have a hard word of truth burning within them,
others will pray and study scripture,
and in the midst of it all we will come together to worship
we will seek forgiveness and new life,
we will sing praises to the Lord,
and God will be with us. Amen
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