Matthew 10:34–42

³⁴"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For 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. ³⁶And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ³⁷Whoever 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. ³⁸And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ⁴⁰"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ⁴¹The 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. ⁴²And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Another one of those hard sayings of Jesus: "Do not think I have come to cast peace on the earth. I have not come to cast peace but a sword."

Why is this a hard saying? Because it goes contrary to our preconceived ideas. It is contrary to what we have always believed. It is contrary to what we have always been taught. Just goes to show...we don't know as much as we think we know. We're not really as smart as we think we are. We are not the great disciples, the model Christians, or people of great faith that we imagine ourselves to be.

What Jesus is saying is that although his purpose in coming was to bring peace, the result of his coming and message is the sword. He came to bring peace with God as the angels sang: "Peace on earth and good will to men." He came to reconcile man and God: "in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself." "Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ." Christ binds himself to us in Word and Sacrament. In your baptism you were united with Christ in his death and resurrection. We like the part about resurrection; the resurrection is life, salvation, renewal. But we don't like the part about death. He also binds us to himself in his death, his suffering, his rejection, his pain and his sorrow.

Here we are a great irony: he came for the purpose of peace, but the result of his coming into this fallen and sinful world is a sword. His message, the gospel, causes divisions, strife, dissention and even hatred and killing. Yes, wars have been fought over the gospel of Christ. You are bound to Christ, not only in his resurrection but in his death. In his suffering, his rejection, his wounds, his pain. Therefore, bound to Jesus we will also suffer as Jesus suffered. The sword has been cast.

This is the fulfillment of prophecy. Our Old Testament reading talks of the prophet Jeremiah confronting false prophets; false prophets who prophesied peace. God says of the false prophets; "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying 'Peace, peace," when there is no peace." And in another place he says, "...the prophets...lead my people astray, who cry 'Peace'." And the prophet Micah prophesies, "...the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house." (Micah 7:6)

And so it is today. Many false prophets will arise in the last days. So test the spirits. Many false prophets today preach "peace, peace." People flock to the prophets who preach a gospel of success and prosperity. The message being preached today is one of a therapeutic god who's nice to have around when you're in a jam and who wants everyone to be good and play nice together. A god who wants us all to be happy, prosperous, and successful. A god who does not judge and does not punish sin. In the end, good people all go to heaven when they die. This is the message of the prophets on the radios and TVs. This is the religious climate in which we live today. This is the message people want to hear and so, just as Jeremiah and Ezekiel were rejected and persecuted and imprisoned and killed, so the true messengers of God today are ridiculed, persecuted, and laughed at. People don't want to hear about sin, judgment, or taking personal responsibility for their actions.

In this climate, God's message of law and gospel casts a sword. It causes divisions, strife, opposition, and persecution. Jesus is the cause of strife and division, even in families. The old taboo about talking politics and religion at family get-togethers still holds true. Faith in Christ divides even families; father against son, daughter against mother, brother against brother and sister against sister. Our union with Christ brings not only the blessing of resurrection but also suffering and a cross. Rejection by friends, ridicule at school, discrimination in the work place. All these are a fact of life in our American society today.

The disciple who is united to Christ begins to take on the life of Christ. He begins to act more and more like Christ, to live like Christ, to love his neighbor like Christ, to show compassion and mercy on the poor. But this union with Christ means that he will also suffer like Christ, be rejected like Christ, persecuted like Christ and in many places in our world, even put to death like Christ. This suffering is our badge of honor. St. Paul boasted that he "bore in his body the marks of Christ." It is our honor to suffer with Christ.

But many of us are afraid to testify about Jesus. We believers are too often afraid to speak about our faith. We fear reaction from friends and family members if we talk about Jesus or invite them to church. We don't want to look too religious, because we are afraid of being ridiculed. In essence, we love father and mother and brother and sister and friend and employer more that we love Jesus. As Jesus says, "We are not worthy of him."

We don't want to take up our cross and follow him. We don't want to speak out on behalf of Jesus. We want to tone down our message so people don't throw eggs at the front door of the church or smash the windows out of our car.

But Jesus says that those who try to save their life in this world, will lose their life. If we try to avoid our cross and save ourselves in this world; avoid suffering for the sake of Jesus, avoiding ridicule, division in our family, rejection by friends on account of our profession of faith, then we will ultimately lose our life. We will die and be cast out into utter darkness and torment for eternity.

But those who lose their lives of comfort and ease for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the gospel, will in the end gain eternal life. They will find true life. For Christ has bound himself to you and will raise you as he was raised. You will receive the reward of the prophet and righteous man. That reward is eternal life which comes through faith in the message. And that message is that in spite of the fact that we are unworthy of being his disciples he took up his cross to make us his disciples and he binds himself to you.

Whoever receives you receives me. Jesus binds himself to you in such an intimate way that whoever hears and believes you when you speak about Christ or testify to his name, really hears and believes Christ himself. Christ identifies himself with his disciples and empowers you for mission. He unites believers with his righteousness and his victory over sin and the enemies of the church. The goal is the offer of eternal life. Your message is Christ's message. Those who hear you hear Christ. And those who reject you, are really rejecting Christ. That is how tightly Jesus identifies himself with you. In spite of the fact that you have been unworthy of him, because he suffered the strife, the division, the rejection, the pain and even death in your place, he binds himself to you and he binds his forgiveness, salvation and eternal life to you.

Whoever, receives a prophet receives a prophet's reward. Whoever receives a righteous man receives a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives you a cup of cold water because you are a child of God, will not lose his reward. These are not three different things, but one thing said three ways. Jesus has bound himself to you so tightly that anyone who receives your message of Christ as a prophet from God, who receives you as a righteous man in Christ and who ministers to you because you are a child of God will share in the reward Christ gives to all who believe and have faith; that reward is salvation and eternal life. Whatever they do to you, they do to Christ. How much stronger can the bond between you and Christ be. Jesus identifies with you that much.

Even though we have been unworthy to be his disciples, because he suffered the suffering, rejection, pain, and death of the cross, he has had mercy on you and in word and sacrament binds himself to you and he empowers you for mission in spite of the opposition you will face. "Lo, I am with you always unto the end of the age." He came to give you his peace. Even though a sword is cast against you in this world, let not your hearts be troubled, because he gives you his peace. Peace that is greater than the sword. Peace that surpasses the conflict, the strife, the divisions between brothers and sisters. Peace that reigns in your hearts even as the world rages against you on the outside. That is the peace that passes understanding. The peace that binds your hearts in faith to the Lord, Jesus Christ and that is your eternal reward of a righteous man.

Amen.