“Simple, but Dangerous”
Sermon, Year A, Proper 7, June 22, 2014
Plymouth United Church of Christ, Eau
Claire, WI
© Rev. David J. Huber
Focus Scripture: Matthew 10:24-39
These are some rather harsh sounding
words from Jesus. Words that we might often offer in public
discourse. Not that they are mean words, or vindictive, or insulting.
But they are certainly challenging words. “Whoever loves mother or
father more than me is not worthy of me,” and so on. “And I have
come to set a man against father, to set a daughter against mother,”
and so on.
Challenging words. And seemingly harsh
words. They sound almost anti-family values. As though we are not
supposed to like or love our family members. But I don’t think that
is quite what Jesus is saying. I don’t think he is saying “Don’t
love them”, and I don’t think he is saying, “My sole intent in
coming to you is to cause disruption and division and once I’ve
turned the world into chaos, then my job is finished.” That is not
his intent, to disrupt and cause division. I think what he’s
getting at here is just to offer some sense of reality. He is saying,
“My message of love, my message of radical inclusion of others, of
the outsiders, of the least of these... my message of love, if you
live that out, if you follow my way, that will cause some tension and
division in your families and in your community because not everyone
is going to want to do that. It will be challenging to some people.”
And those early Christians, those early
followers of Jesus before they were called Christians – they were
called Followers of the Way or Jesus Followers – there was division
in families and in the community. What they were doing did cause
disruption and some stress. Those first followers of Jesus, and Jesus
himself, were all Jewish. They came out of the Jewish tradition. And
later on down the line, non-Jewish people started coming into the
movement and being Jesus Followers as well. But those first ones were
all Jewish. They came out of Judaism, and for the first 50-60 years
or so after the resurrection, they were still worshiping in the
synagogues with their Jewish brothers and sisters and families as
well as gathering on Sundays for a meal and to remember the
resurrection and talk about Jesus. But they had stayed in the
synagogues for quite a while.
And that caused some tension. They
weren’t really sure, “Are we Jewish, not Jewish? If Gentiles come
in, do they need to become Jewish first and then become followers of
Jesus?” And those that weren’t following Jesus at all were
getting annoyed by the Jesus Followers coming into the synagogue. So
it caused some tension. We know also that it caused tension in
individual families in which some members became Jesus Followers
while others did not. So there was the regular tension that one gets
with family members holding to differing religious beliefs. There was
also persecution happening of followers of Jesus, coming from Rome
and also from some in the Jewish leadership. So there was some
tension also just around safety issues. Family members saying, “We
want you stop with this Jesus thing, because you are in danger. We
don’t want you to have problems.”
So there was religious tension, tension
about safety for the Jesus Followers, and caused tension in that
wider community of the Jewish family. Especially once the Jesus
Followers started bringing in Gentiles. Around the time that
Matthew’s Gospel was written, around the year 80 which is about 50
years after the resurrection, is also about the time that the Jesus
Movement started moving out of the synagogues and the split between
Judaism and Christianity started to happen. The Gospel here is also
reflecting some of that movement. That movement out of the synagogues
also caused rifts and tensions in the families.
So at some level, Jesus is simply being
realistic by warning that by following in his way, some people will
be annoyed, challenged, or others from one’s family and community
that don’t want one to do that.
It will cause some disruption. Not that
disruption is the intent, but a side effect. For whatever reason,
that message of “Love your neighbor” bothers some people. It will
bother, and it does bother, some people. Still does today.
I think also in these words about
loving mother or father or whoever more than Jesus not being worthy
of Jesus, is a larger message. Not to not-love the family, but a
warning about loving family more than one loves Jesus. Jesus will say
later in Matthew’s Gospel, “Whatever you do to the least of
these, you do to me.” We are to see Jesus in each other. Some of
what Jesus is saying here, then, is, “If you love your father or
mother more than you love the other people around you, then you are
not showing love to me. You are to love all people as much as you
love those in your family, or your tribe, or your friends.”
That is a challenging message to a
culture in which one’s first duty was to the family. Take care of
your family first, then maybe your tribe, and then work up and out
from there, eventually getting to neighbors. The commitment was to
biological family first. So it was a challenging message that your
non-biological neighbors are just as important.
Think of how God, in the Genesis story
we read about Hagar and Ishmael being cast out out of the community.
They were cast out by Abraham and Sarah, and yet God still includes
them in the circle of of God’s promise and God’s family. They are
still part of God’s world, even though others cast them out. Where
is God? With the cast out and cast off just as much as anyone else.
We have as much responsibility to our
neighbors as we do to our biological families. So love your mom and
dad, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. But also love Jesus just
as much, and show your love for Jesus by loving your neighbors: the
outsiders and all people. That’s how we show our love for Jesus, by
how we love others. Include ALL in this Realm of God, that we’ve
talked about a lot this year, especially during Lent. What is the
Realm of God? What is God’s vision? One vision is a world in which
all people are loved and respected.
I just spent a week at camp, and when I
think of “What does God’s realm look like?” To me it looks a
lot like a week of camp. The way that our camp is set up, the culture
and community we create. A community in which we are respectful of
one another. For the camp we had last week, we have had a couple
girls with Downs Syndrome who have been part of the camp for a number
of years as participants. And whenever we have group time, they are
included. And when they speak, even though sometimes they are
difficult to understand or might say something not related to what is
going on (and they are not the only ones who often say things not
related to what is happening), I am really impressed at how the other
kids and adults listen to what they have to say. No one talks over
them or tells them to be quiet, but they are listened to just as much
as anyone else. That’s a God’s Realm kind of way of living. Or
the way the older kids, in this camp with third through twelfth
grade, invite the younger kids to sit at table with them at meals, or
invite them to play games, take them on a canoe ride, be their buddy
for swimming... the older and younger mixing together so well. That,
I think, is what God envisions for us.
The camp is also a Music, Arts, Dance,
and Drama camp, so lots of performances and art happening. And
whenever someone performed, no matter how shaky or imperfect, or how
well done, whenever someone performed they received a full round of
applause and support and encouraged. A wonderful experience of
inclusion. There is no reason that life could not be like that
outside of camp or outside of church!
That is part of what Jesus is talking
about here.
Loving one another. Love your family,
and love everyone else just as much. Love your neighbor as you love
yourself, or as you love those who are your friends or your family.
Take the love for family and friends and expand that out beyond the
confines of biology or similarity or geography or whatever we invent
to separate. Expand it to include all of God’s creation.
Love Jesus by following in his way.
Follow in his way by loving his people.
I think it really is as simple as that.
Amen.
Now that you have read the sermon, I offer you a chance to respond: how do you hear Jesus' words about not loving mother or father more than him? Or his other words from that passage? And what do you think of the final phrase, "it really is as simple as that."? Please comment!
