Losing and Finding
Matthew 10:34-39[1]
As a person who has spent a
lifetime studying the Bible, it amazes me how we can “water down” what can be rather
“edgy.” Jesus calls us to follow him on a path that leads to a cross, and we “filter”
that message until it sounds more like “be a good person.” The measure of how
much we dilute Jesus’ teachings is that nobody “lynches” someone for telling
people to “be a good person.” Neither the Roman authorities nor the Jewish
religious leaders would have been so threatened by Jesus for just telling
people to “be good.” They used the shocking image of dying on a cross to send a
message: this is what happens to people who rock the boat.
When I think about it, I guess
it’s not all that surprising that we “filter” Jesus’ demands. I’ve spent a
lifetime teaching and preaching the Bible, and I do it myself! We all have a
“comfort level” with our lives, and we tend to stay safely within the confines
of what’s comfortable. And whenever anyone comes along and threatens our safety
or our comfort, we don’t typically respond very well. In fact, we don’t respond
well when something causes us to move beyond what is convenient! Think about
how we welcome it is when someone interrupts our leisure time. It’s certainly
not for me! We have a pattern to our lives, and we like to stay in that
pattern. We don’t respond well to having to change it in the least!
But Jesus called for those who
would follow him to leave behind their pattern of living—including not only
their leisure and convenience, but also their comfort and safety! Jesus made
some demands of his disciples that we like to “filter” to make them easier for
us to swallow. He told them “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,
cut it off and throw it away” (Matt. 18:8)! He said, it’s “easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the
kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23)! And one that may not sound hard, but in reality
is probably the hardest to swallow: “many who are first will be last, and the
last will be first” (Matt. 19:30)!
Our typical response to these
“hard sayings” of Jesus is that we’re not supposed to take them “literally,”
whatever that may mean. But when we look at our Gospel lesson for today in
light of this background, I would say that Jesus had something very important
to say to his disciples about the cost of following him. While I doubt he
envisioned them actually maiming themselves, Jesus definitely meant what he
said to them. Following him would require them to give up other aspects of
their lives. That’s a message that seems to have gotten “filtered” out of our
understanding of the Gospel.
In our lesson for today, Jesus
speaks to some of the basic parameters of our lives: things we take for granted,
like safety and family. It may be hard for us to grasp that Jesus said he came
not to bring peace, but a sword. On the other hand, it’s not hard to see the
division that results when someone actually dares to take Jesus at his word and
does something about it! It may be hard for us to grasp that Jesus said he came
to set the members of families against each other. While I don’t believe that
Jesus was intending to attack the family, I think he knew that those who were
serious about living out their commitment to him would find themselves
separated from their families, and perhaps even cut off from them.
And so it is that Jesus tells his
disciples one of the hardest things for us to comprehend: “Whoever loves father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). To say that our faith in Jesus
must take precedence over loving our parents or our children cuts against the
grain of everything we believe. Those are some of the closest, most precious
relationships we have. In some cases, we would sacrifice a great deal for those
relationships. And yet, I guess the question Jesus asks us all is whether we’re
willing to give up our lives and all that we cherish in them in order to follow
him. That’s a tough question I’m not sure many of us are prepared to answer!
Jesus made clear what following
him would mean: going to a cross.[2]
In our lesson he says, “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not
worthy of me” (Matt. 10:38). This may be difficult for us to hear when we use
the cross for decoration. But in that day, the cross was a brutal form of
“lynching,” meant to squelch opposition to the powers that be. When Jesus calls
all who would follow him to a cross, he’s not talking about inconveniences, or
the normal hardships of life. He’s calling us to follow his example of giving
our selves away in the “love that serves others no matter how much it costs.”[3]
I believe that’s what Jesus was
talking about when he said, “those who lose their life for my sake will find it”
(Matt. 10:39). We find our lives truly fulfilled when we give our “selves” away
in a love that serves others no matter what it costs, just as Jesus did.
Unfortunately, we tend to get that backwards. We like to think that we can
follow Jesus and have our lives, with all the safety and comfort, convenience
and leisure we’ve come to expect. But Jesus said that when we cling to those
things, we really “lose” our lives. It’s difficult to grasp, but we have to
reverse our thinking to do so. Finding life, true life, happens to those who
are willing to “lose” their lives in service to others.
[1] © 2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan
Brehm, Ph. D. on 6/21/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Cf.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, 84-89; esp. p. 87: “Whenever Christ
calls us, his call leads us to death.”
[3] David
Garland, Mark, 335.
No comments:
Post a Comment