June 25, 2023: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 10:24-39
Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
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; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
There is so much here in this gospel passage it is difficult to settle upon one overarching theme. I am especially intrigued, however, by Jesus’ remark that he has “come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother . . . “ etc. What could this mean?
Perhaps it simply means that our relationship with God should be the central priority of our lives. Most of us live with conflicting priorities – work, family, friends, etc. How would we live if we truly believed that “in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17: 28)”?
To live with the knowledge that God is the ground of our being is to be aware that we are deeply dependent upon God as the source of our lives. God’s loving energy and compassion is the wellspring of goodness that we draw upon so that we can love others and be in right relationship with them. Relying on God’s grace rather than on our own strength requires self-surrender, or as Jesus put it, “[taking] up the cross (Mt: 10-38a).” This is how we “may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10: 10b).”