The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
‘The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.’
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‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.’
This verse should rightly be numbered among the most abused verses of the Bible, for everyone seems to find in it an excuse for their own personal predilections. I have seen it used among conservatives to argue that Jesus was a strong manly sort, who wasn’t scared of a fight, a model for today’s effeminate men. I have seen it used by Socialists to justify their political agitation and rioting, to show that Jesus was set against the system. And perhaps most commonly, I have seen it used by jerks to justify their bad manners, claiming that Jesus wasn’t a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy, so therefore they need not get along with anyone at all. Clearly, by showing themselves to be a cantankerous, belligerent cynic, they are merely being more perfectly conformed to the image of Christ; or so they think.
Yet I think we are all aware that it is not our Lord’s purpose in speaking such a dark saying to justify our own worldly minds. He must mean something else. Perhaps He is speaking of Himself; what He will bring into the world, a sword.
Some of us do not like to think of Christ bringing a sword to this earth and to our lives. Yet on the other hand, some of us gleefully giggle at the idea a bit too much. We like the idea that our God is a man of war, and not without a bit of violence. But how can we understand Him as being such, when it is written:
‘He has come to reconcile those things which are in heaven and those which are on earth.’
And,
‘Peace is upon those who receive him.’
And again,
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’
And when St. Paul commands:
‘If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.’
If He has come to grant us peace and reconciliation, then what do we make of this sword?
The Fathers, whom I am more often than not inclined to obey with little questioning, almost without exception offer a mystical explanation of our Gospel reading this morning, and some of these are indeed beautiful, and well applied to our lives.
St. Hilary of Poitiers tells us that the sword is the word of God, which shall sever our sins and lusts from our souls, that we might be made pure.
St. Ephraim speaks of the sword of God’s love, which shall pierce the hearts of sinners and bring them to repentance.
St. Augustine speaks of it as a sword that shall set son against father, that is, the Christian who has left the house of Satan, his father according to sin.
Yet though these interpretations are edifying, they seem to ignore the very purpose of Christ’s speaking to us: to prepare us for the persecution that Christians will face in the world on account of the name of Christ.
‘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 a person’s enemies will be those of his 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 his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’
It is not that Christ is bringing a sword, that He may use it to purify us, or save us, or to slay our enemies. Rather, it is as if He is bringing a sword, that He may throw it in a middle of opposing parties, that they might fight over it, and one grab it to use against another. What Jesus is saying is that He is bringing with Him strife, for no one who follows Him will not be hated for doing so.
So it is with those who follow Jesus, and never more so than when they speak the words of Jesus.
We may not think that this is the case. Our friends all know we are Christians, whether at work or at the park, and, hey, they never get mad at me about it at all. Most of them are Christian as well! Here in Mississippi, we are all Church-going followers of the good Lord; or if we haven’t been to church in a while, well, that is only a temporary pause.
Yet listen to your coworker mock their wife or husband, and tell them, ‘whosoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, ‘Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.’
Hear your friends gather around to vent about their lackluster friends and lazy coworkers, and tell them, ‘do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.’
Speak to a lawyer, and tell him, ‘Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another.’
Speak to a divorcé, and tell him, ‘whoever divorces his wife, makes her an adulterer, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.’
Say these things, and you will quickly find that the number of those who truly claim Christ is a few; God be praised that He still claims them.
Say these things, and you will quickly find that not very many approve of your Christianity, but Christianity is greatest when it is hated by the world.
A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. If they crucified the Lord, would they not persecute you, if you even resembled Him but a little?
It is with this that we can understand the verse with which we began:
‘The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward’
What is a prophet’s reward for speaking the word of God? Was not Isaiah sawn in two, Jeremiah stoned to death? So too will those who speak God’s word be rewarded.
What is the righteous person’s reward? There is none good but God; and see even upon the altar of this Church, He still hangs upon the cross. So too will those who keep God’s word be rewarded.
The reward spoken of is the suffering of this world. It is the persecution which last week we were told not to be afraid of.
But is that all? Is that really it? Is to take up our cross nothing more than to be crucified again and again?
Of course not, dear Christian.
For the one who crucified will then be raised. The one who is stoned and slaughtered will then be approved.
For whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Who are these, who attack us and mock us and revile us, but those who can destroy the body, but cannot destroy the soul? I tell you, the Good Shepherd will restore your soul, the God of Job will raise your flesh.
We have spoken much recently of hell, both that which awaits the rebellious, and the living hell which greets the Christian in the marketplace now. But little we have spoken of the reward, and of heaven.
The reason is simple: heaven is not something that the mind can know, until it has become the mind of Christ. It is not something the body can know, until it becomes like his glorious body. It is not something the will can know, until all things are put under the Lord’s feet. How would a pastor speak of the joys of heaven? It is a sapphire pavement, and a walled city. It is an everlasting Sabbath, and an endless day. Yet even these are but to look through a glass darkly, for to speak of heaven is nothing but to speak of the infinite fulfillment of God; for the one thing we know of heaven is this: that we will see him face to face.
We will see him face to face. We will see him as he is.
Follow in the path of our Lord, and you will suffer. Follow in the way of Christ, and you will feel the sword. But think only of the face of Christ, of Him who loved you, and died for you, and no man will take from you that which has been given, a cup of cold water with which you have been washed, and which now springs up unto everlasting life.
For three weeks now, our Lord has taught us, that we might remain strong against all anxiety, against all fear, against all revilement and hatred; and this, that we might sing:
‘Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
I look at the faithless with disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.
Consider how I love your precepts!
Give me life, O Lord, according to your steadfast love.’
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Preached by Pastor Fields
Sermon Texts: Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 7:1-13; Matthew 10:34-42.