Do Not Be Afraid

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s, Honey Brook, PA

by The Rev. Tom Pumphrey, June 22, 2008

Proper 7, year A: Matthew 10:24-39, (Genesis 21:8-21)

Matthew 10:24-39 (NRSV) “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.

Genesis 21:8-21 (NRSV) The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

These are tough words that we hear from Holy Scripture this morning. Sermons from these texts often sound a little sober, but that’s where these texts are this morning. So let’s hear what God has to say to us this morning, both the challenge and the good news.

I want to focus primarily on the Gospel reading, but first I must comment on the Old Testament reading. Hearing these two passages next to each other may create a false comparison. These two passages really describe two different situations of conflict and division. In this morning’s passage from Genesis, we hear the story of Hagar and Ishmael. God had promised descendants to Abraham and Sarah, but as they were old and childless, Sarah asked her servant Hagar to be a surrogate mother so that Abraham would have a son. So Hagar bore Ishmael as a son to Abraham. But when Sarah herself bore Isaac, she then looked with bitterness on her servant and her stepson, and cast them out.

Now, I don’t think that this was pleasing to God. I think that this passage shows how God can take such painful division and wring some blessing from it. God cares for Ishmael and Hagar, and God makes Ishmael’s descendants a great people as well—Jews reckon the Arabs as descendants of Ishamael.

But the Gospel reading speaks about a different kind of division, and Jesus seems to take a more active roll in the division in this case. “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword…I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother…and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.” How can the one who came to bring reconciliation speak of such division? How can we hear these words from the one we call the prince of peace?

There are a couple of things going on in this passage. I think I touched on one of these theses a couple of months ago. When God asks us to place him first in our lives—even above our families, this may seem shocking at first, but not when you think about how destructive human families can be.

There are parents who worship their kids more than God, and end up with spoiled and troubled children, rather than the healthy children God desires.

There are wives who worship their abusive husbands, rather than seeking the justice and mutuality and health that God wants for both of them.

Indeed, even our Bishop has recently been confronting the pain that was caused for so many by his loyalty to his abusive brother instead of speaking out against his brother’s crimes.

God wants loyalty and dedication and commitment in our families, but only God is to be worshipped, and if we love God above even our families, then we will learn how best to love our families—even when that provokes conflict.

Jesus is sending out his disciples into the world to preach the good news to the people, and to bring healing and wholeness and renewal of life. Very often, where the good news is preached, the good news is also opposed. So Jesus is preparing his disciples for this reality.

A child will often react angrily to discipline and boundaries set by loving parents. An alcoholic will react strongly and defensively when a family member speaks the truth about his addiction. In other relationships, when we bring good news, we will find opposition. Angry skeptics will react when God’s love begins to change someone else’s life. The society around us that trivializes Christian devotion scoffs when you spend Sundays in worship or when you refuse to buy into religious pluralism or spiritual counterfeits peddled to the public as health programs.

But these counterfeits do not have the power to bring renewal and reconciliation—or to change lives and relationships. Jesus does not want his disciples to have casual commitment to him that bends to the shifting winds of popularity or shrinks from injustice or intimidation. Jesus knows that in the face of the opposition of the world, we will need a steady focus on him, and a set of priorities that put him first in our lives.

That’s a tough message indeed, especially for those who aren’t perfect in their Christian devotion. And that includes me and you, of course. Jesus demands perseverance and endurance in bringing the good news to a world that calls it bad news. So where is the good news in this passage for us who have such a cross to bear? Are we really facing only division and pain and conflict?

Listen again to what Jesus is telling his disciples. Last week, we heard Jesus begin to prepare his disciples for a mission journey—Jesus is sending them out into the world to preach the good news, and to heal and cast out evil. This is a small commissioning speech, preparing them for the path ahead, reassuring them that they have the authority and power to accomplish their mission. Jesus is reassuring them that as they face challenges, they are not facing anything that Jesus has not faced. Three times in this passage, Jesus says “Do not be afraid.” This is the good news in this passage. Yes, if we are Christians, we will face conflict and division at times, but “Do not be afraid.” The grace of God in Jesus Christ is more powerful than human conflict, and more life changing than any strife.

Jesus tells them and us “So have no fear of them…Do not fear [those who may persecute you]… 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 counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

When we worship God and only him alone, we learn how to love those around us with a grace that the world does not understand. When we face the fear of conflict and division as we stay faithful to Jesus Christ and bear witness to his love, we hear Jesus saying “do not be afraid.” When we carry the light of Christ into the world, the darkness is dark indeed, but as the Bible says “the light was the light of the world, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The message of God’s grace will be opposed, but Jesus knows that God’s grace can free the skeptics from their cynicism. Jesus knows that God’s forgiveness and the renewal of the Holy Spirit can free those who are bound by anger or addiction or oppressed by violence. Jesus knows that the power of his love can stay strong through any conflict and bring reconciliation to relationships broken by strife and pain.

Jesus knows that, just as he lost his life only to be raised to new power and glory, those who lose their lives for his sake will gain their life back and help give life to those around them. Our fidelity to God in daily life and in our relationships has the power to change the world. So Jesus tells us “do not be afraid” of the world, or of the conflict and division we might find. Rather, trust in the power of God’s life-changing love in Jesus Christ—that same love that give us life—that same love that gives life to the world around us.