A Gospel of Division? —Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 4A/Proper 7 (Matthew 10)

Matthew 10:24-39 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

                        ²⁴ “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; ²⁵ 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!

                        ²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. ²⁷ What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹ So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

                        ³² “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

                        ³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

³⁵ 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,

³⁶ and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

                        ³⁷ “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, ³⁸ and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

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                Is not the message of Jesus one of unity? If only that were true. The truth is that the gospel of Jesus can prove divisive, turning even family members against each other. This is especially true during times when society is polarized, times such as those we’re currently experiencing. It is said that Thanksgiving can be a rather tense time for families who disagree on so many matters, especially political ones. The question facing so many of us has to do with the implications of Jesus’ message. For example, how should we respond to those who call themselves Christian but engage in forms of Christian nationalism that many of us find contrary to the message of Jesus? While Jesus offered a message of inclusion, that didn’t mean all perspectives were considered godly. After all, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors and rejected the criticism of his actions. So, what should we make of this reading from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus declares that he came not to bring peace but the sword?

                I don’t know about you, but I prefer peace (shalom) to the sword. While I don’t believe Jesus was suggesting that his followers should take up the sword and impose the gospel on our neighbors, he did recognize that the gospel message might provoke the sword. More specifically, Jesus understood that his message might divide homes and families. Perhaps that would even include churches, depending on how we interpret his message. 

                Perhaps you are like me and prefer to avoid conflict whenever possible (that could be difficult when serving as a pastor). The question many of us face is how to remain true to the gospel message when our natural inclination is to go along to get along. That is why this passage is so challenging. To follow Jesus involves a cost, sometimes a cost of friendships or even family ties. Again, I confess to struggling with this truth. Our struggle may involve fear, but Jesus tells us not to fear those who kill the body (the persecutors?), but rather fear the one who can kill the soul and body in hell. That would, be God, the judge of all. Now, this word about hell can be and probably should be disconcerting, especially for those of us who have chosen to jettison this theological construct [see my contribution to the book Deconstructing Hell, which carries the title “To Hell and Back: The History of Hell”]. The good news though is this, God cares for the sparrows, so God will care for us as well (Mt. 10:26-31). The message here is that God will acknowledge those who acknowledge Jesus and reject those who deny him. As Sonia Waters points out: “While this may sound harsh to contemporary ears, for a community in crisis, images of the final judgment may have emboldened courage in the face of threat or pressure to deny Jesus as Lord. At least there would be justice at the end times for what they had suffered (e.g., Ps. 96: 13; Rev. 19: 1– 2)” [Connections:A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 250). Kindle Edition].

                While Jesus reminds us that God is watching out for us, discipleship, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminded us, is costly. However, as he reminded us in Discipleship, there is no need to fear humans.

Human beings should not be feared.  They cannot do much to the disciples of Jesus.  Their power stops with the disciples’ physical death.  The disciples are to overcome fear of death with fear of God.  Disciples are in danger, not from human judgment, but from God’s judgment, not from the decay of their bodies, but from the eternal decay of their bodies and souls. Anyone who is still afraid of people is not afraid of God.  Anyone who fears God is no longer afraid of people.  Daily reminders of this statement are valuable for preachers of the Gospel.  (Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 4) , 196). 

When Bonhoeffer wrote these words, the future was uncertain. He understood that resisting the Nazi regime, which he understood to be evil, might lead to imprisonment or death for him and his students who stood firm against Hitler. The cost for him was his life. Thus, being a disciple of Jesus can be costly. Of course, when we speak of the costly nature of this message, we need to make sure that opposition is due to the message of Jesus and not our own obnoxiousness!

                When it comes to our position in Jesus’ realm, he makes it clear that a disciple is not above the master (Jesus). Thus, if the master suffers, then the same will be true of the students. For early Christians that was true. Later, in the aftermath of Christendom, to be a Christian was foundational to one’s status in life. In many communities, especially in the past, if one wanted to run for political office or be successful in business, then church membership was required. Of course, not just any church would do. There has always been a hierarchy of churches, depending on the context! That might be less true today in a post-Christian world, but the push by some to impose Christianity (a particular version) on the larger society continues. When the larger society doesn’t give in to this push, Christian nationalists will complain that they’re being persecuted.

                In his own life and death, Jesus demonstrated for us the costliness of the gospel. As the closing scene in the movie The Last Temptation of Christ suggests, Jesus could have climbed down from the cross, got married, and had a family. But that is not the choice he made. Instead, he chose the way of the cross, and in doing so he demonstrated that the path of discipleship can be costly. Again, turning to Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship, we can see how this might work:

The peace of Jesus Christ is the cross.  The cross is God’s sword on this earth.  It creates division. The son against the father, the daughter against the mother, the household against its head, and all that for the sake of God’s kingdom and its peace—that is the work of Christ on earth!  No wonder the word accuses him, who brought the love of God to the people, of hatred toward human beings! Who dares to speak about a father’s love and a mother’s love to a son or daughter in such a way, if not either the destroyer of all life or the creator of a new life? . . . God’s love for the people brings the cross and discipleship, but these, in turn, mean life and resurrection. [Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 4),  p. 197].

When we read these words, we need to remember that the world faced mortal danger. The Second World War had yet to begin, but evil was afoot in Germany. Bonhoeffer understood that the path ahead would be costly if he remained true to the Gospel. Could we be in a similar situation today? Do we face choices that might prove divisive? Perhaps we won’t end up with another world war, but the Christian community is facing important choices. Will it follow Jesus, or will it embrace a different gospel? Will following Jesus mean resisting cultural trends that do not reflect Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves? Are we ready to face resistance and opposition to the message we believe Jesus has entrusted to us?

                Ultimately a divided house or nation won’t survive. That is a message that Abraham Lincoln delivered as a nation faced a divisive and deadly war that centered on slavery. He asked the nation whether a house divided could stand. He didn’t believe this to be true. The question for us is what does the future hold for our polarized nation and world? What are the causes that require our attention? I can think of many, from Black Lives Matter to the rights of Trans folk. Immigration and migration are important concerns. These are just a few of the concerns that lie before us as a nation and a world struggle with, and thus sometimes division is the only option. I prefer peace to the sword, but sometimes that’s not possible if we’re to follow Jesus.

                According to Matthew’s Jesus, ultimately, we face a choice. It’s either family and friends or Jesus. For those who choose Jesus, the path forward is defined by the cross. We must understand this in its context. Jesus isn’t speaking of suffering in general or forms of oppression or victimization. He has in mind the life of discipleship. Are we willing to give our all to the life of discipleship? As we ponder that question, we should take to heart the promise that God is faithful. May that faithfulness empower our faithfulness to the Gospel, especially in times such as these! 

Image Attribution: Edelfelt, Albert, 1854-1905. Christ Carries the Cross, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58123 [retrieved June 17, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Edelfelt_-_Kristus_kantaa_risti%C3%A4_-_A_II_1254-22_-_Finnish_National_Gallery.jpg.