I.Theme – Living in a new way
“Jesus and the Children”, Colgate Art Glass Co., 1907”
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Jeremiah 28:5-9 Psalm – Psalm 89:1-4,15-18 Page 713, BCP Epistle –Romans 6:12-23 Gospel – Matthew 10:40-42
Today’s readings bring us face to face with the intricate balance of God’s judgment and God’s mercy. Jeremiah challenges his hearers to confront the discomfort of God’s judgment. Paul reminds the Roman community that their baptism was a death to sin and they now have a choice to live for God. In the gospel, Jesus reminds us that the response given to his disciples is also a response to him.
Jeremiah 28:5-9
Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry to Judah about 627 BC and ended it about 580 BC. His career thus spanned the period of political turmoil that culminated in Judah’s final defeat by the Babylonians (587 BC) and with it the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and the exile of the major part of the population.
Prophets in Israel were not so much predictors of the future as promoters of God’s agenda in the political crises of the nation. They tried to call attention to what God wanted and what God was doing. But since all prophets claimed to be delivering God’s message, it was always difficult to tell whose message was the true one. Jeremiah argues that true prophets have always delivered the hard message of God’s judgment rather than the convenient message of God’s peace.
In today’s reading, dated approximately seven years after the exile has begun (c. 594 BC), Jeremiah and his opponents who are still in Jerusalem offer alternative versions of what God is doing. Hananiah, perhaps to inspire a sense of revolt against Babylon, has prophesied that the exiles will return in two years and God will once again grant peace to the nation. Jeremiah represents the minority opinion that God is requiring the people to be conquered and go into exile and consequently revolt is futile. To resist the Babylonians as God’s agent is to resist God–which only leads to one’s own destruction.
Psalm 89
Psalm 89 is a royal psalm comprised of a hymn praising God’s power and faithfulness (vv. 1-18), a recapitulation of the covenant between God and David’s descendants (vv. 19-37) and a lament praying for deliverance from enemies (vv. 38-52).
Romans 6:12-23
Paul defends himself against the charge (3:8; 6:1) that his emphasis upon grace as a free gift not dependent upon works was an encouragement to sin (5:20). He replies by pointing out the fact and nature of the Christian’s new relationship to God: in baptism the Christian has died to sin. The waters of baptism identify the believer with Christ, indeed with the very act of redemption–his death and resurrection. By Jesus’ act, the penalty for sin–death–has been paid; baptism credits us with that payment. The Christian has been justified, set right, by being united to Christ.
The Christian is no longer enslaved to sin, for Paul asserts that death in baptism frees one from sin. The image of slavery highlights the issue of loyalty. The fundamental question for a Christian is simply, “Who is your Lord or Master? Is it Christ Jesus, or someone else?”
Paul personifies the Law and Sin because, like earthly masters, they attempt to dominate (from the Latin word “dominus,” meaning master or Lord) every aspect of our lives. Paul encourages his community to think of themselves in the light of this basic choice that changes everything. Will they be “slaves of sin” (v. 20) and march to death or be “enslaved to God” (v. 23) and enter eternal life?
Matthew 10:40-42
Today’s readings focus on the rewards that come to those who undertake and who respond to the mission of disciples. Matthew here touches on a consistent theme of Jesus as “God with us (1:23, 28:20)” who hides himself in those whom we encounter (25:31-46).
As Jesus sends the disciples to continue his proclaiming and healing ministry, like every messenger they are invested with the power of the one who sent them. Christian disciples thus convey not only their message but the presence of Jesus and therefore of God. So people’s response to these “prophets” and “little ones” is at the same time a response to Christ himself.
While there are rewards for disciples and even for those who receive them, true “life” (Greek, “psyche,” self) is found only in losing it for Jesus’ sake (John 12:25). This section is addressed generally to “whoever,” recognizing that both those within the Church and those who have not yet heard or heeded the gospel message will be judged equally in God’s eyes on the quality of their response.
This week’s gospel presents us with a baffling paradox. After Jesus tells us that we must be able to sacrifice even the love of our parents–even the love of our beloved children–for the sake of God’s kingdom, he immediately adds, those who give as little as a cup of cold water to a disciple of Jesus will be rewarded. The latter teaching is the gospel we love; the first is the gospel we dread. Put God’s kingdom before our family? All our instinct is to cherish and protect children, spouses and parents. What are we being called to do?
We are being called to die to ordinary human life. Perhaps we can see the call more clearly in the life of a saint–Francis of Assisi. This rich young merchant’s son, fastidious with his dress and person, heard the call in many vague ways until the day it became loud and clear for him in the sight of a leper swinging a bell, warning the healthy to stay away. Francis knew what cup of water was being asked. He leapt from his horse, drew near to his fear and embraced it–he kissed the leper.
Or we can look at a man of our own times, Martin Luther King, Jr. When Rosa Parks made her decision to challenge the racist transportation system of Montgomery, Alabama, her associate, E.D. Nixon, telephoned pastor after pastor, looking for a church in which to hold organizational meetings. King gave the cup of cold water; he opened the doors of his church to a meeting that would change the South–and his own life–forever.
Yes, his own life, too, because for neither Francis nor King did the journey end with the cup of water. Francis’s father imprisoned him and took him to court, demanding that Church and city together prohibit his headstrong son from following his path of poverty and prayer. In a terrible renunciation Francis returned every piece of clothing he wore to his father and said, “I have no more father on earth, only my Father in heaven.”
King watched his sleeping children, knowing that he was endangering not only his own life but theirs, a danger that became concrete when his home was bombed.
Their journeys continued. On Mount La Verna, Francis cried out that he wanted to suffer even as much as Jesus for the sake of God’s people. For the rest of his life, he bore the stigmata on his body and a consuming love within his heart. The night before he died, King exulted that he had been to the top of God’s mountain and had seen the precious land of freedom that lay beyond, freedom for all God’s people.
Francis died naked, having given up home, family and wealth for the sake of the kingdom. King died from an assassin’s bullet before his 40th year.
So what are we being called to do? That which is hard or that which is easy? Well, to begin is easy. All you do is offer a cup of cold water, reach out with an unexpected kiss or open your door to a sister or brother in need. But then you climb the mountain, step by step, giving all to reach your journey’s end: the cross of Christ. The love of God.
Quietly consider: What part of Jesus’ invitation to me has been easy? What part has been hard? Where can I anticipate the easy and hard parts this coming week?