A Disciple's Cross

Genesis 21: 1-14
Matthew 10: 24-39

The passage we read today leaves us asking several questions because of the nature of what Jesus was telling the disciples. It doesn’t sound like the Jesus we have come to expect and that is what we will be looking at this morning.

What does it mean to be like Jesus? These words were directed at Jesus’ twelve disciples and now they are directed at us. A disciple is another word for a person who is willing to learn. A disciple is willing to ask the hard questions and to look inside as well as outside of oneself to become more like their teacher. Our teacher is Jesus and so first we must ask ourselves, what does it mean to be more like Jesus Christ?

Jesus normally appears to be a harmless man who is gentle and kind, but in today’s passage, Jesus blows this idea clear out of the water when he says, “I have come not to bring peace.. but a sword”. Why would Jesus say something so surprising? Apparently, there is peace and then there is true peace that God would like to give to us. Perhaps Jesus is telling us that the demands of being his disciple can sometimes feel like a sword that cuts through lesser loyalties and makes quick work of our flabby, commonsense morality that we have adopted to fit better into society.

Because let’s face it, if Jesus was truly the person we always try to portray him to be: kind, gentle, without a divisive bone in his body who merely wants to bring humanity closer to God then how did Jesus manage to always get into so much trouble during his three years of ministry? What made people call him such names like the prince of demons? Why would following Jesus wreck families as he implies in verse 36? And how, if Jesus was always kind and gentle and nonthreatening did he manage to get himself crucified?

We like to blame society for all of this. We like to think that the people back then were uneducated and ignorant and we would never have done anything like they had. WE would have seen that Jesus was God’s Son. WE would have known that Jesus came to save us. WE are nothing like THEM! But we are. We are exactly like them. Jesus is the one that is different. Jesus is the unexpected; he is the surprise ingredient that changes everything. Jesus was concerned about furthering God’s kingdom on earth and kingdom work, it turns out, is more controversial and subversive than the more conventional kindness we tend to associate with Jesus.

And if Jesus is controversial and offensive, how much more so will we as his students be? We are told to be more like Jesus and in doing so that means following in Jesus’s footsteps. Jesus was concerned about making God’s kingdom more visible to the world. As his disciples, our duty is to make the world see God more clearly and more often. True discipleship is the art of seeking the kingdom with a single-minded determination and letting the chips fall where they may. It means sometimes we WILL cause offense and we WILL say things that have people backing away from us. It means that sometimes we WILL suffer for the sake of the Kingdom just like Jesus did.

If we as a church and as Christians manage to walk through life without offending anyone or rubbing anyone the wrong way with our beliefs then we need to ask ourselves if we are truly following Jesus or are we following our own desires and that of the world? Jesus was not always peaceful and calming to the society. He got angry and he said things that made people upset and he even wielded a whip to get his point across to those that had corrupted the ways of God. Where should we be wielding a whip in today’s world?

The other question we have to ask ourselves about today’s text is what Jesus has against families? In the passage today, Jesus seems to want families to be against each other which seems at odds with Jesus’ own relationship to his Father in heaven! Well, the first people to read the book of Matthew were faced with enormous pressure to reject Jesus Christ as their savior. Perhaps these words were meant for them to bring them some comfort when their families turned their backs on them for their beliefs.

However, Jesus has more to say on families in other parts of the New Testament that are not favorable either! Jesus is not thinking about family values, but rather kingdom values and they are not always the same. There are many stories where Jesus is depicted as being in conflict with his own family such as when he tells the people around him that they are his mother and brother and sister when his family wants to speak with him.

Jesus insists that those that follow him put the Kingdom and kingdom values first above everything else. He is more concerned with the righteousness of God than keeping the peace between man and wife and parent and child. Transferring our loyalty only to God and God’s kingdom is going to cause friction between those we call our family and ourselves.

It’s not easy hearing criticism from your family about following God, but anyone who is a true disciple will hear these words from the ones that swear to know and love you the best. I didn’t realize the depth of truth in this passage until I became a pastor and my family suddenly realized my time was no longer theirs to command. I cannot even tell you how often I have had one of my sisters get angry with me and then mock my calling to make me feel bad that I’m not doing what they want me to do.

It’s not easy following Jesus and it’s not always easy to put aside our family loyalty and love to take up the cross that Jesus has asked us to carry. It requires sacrifice and it requires determination and it requires a willingness to be hurt and sometimes even abused by the ones that swear to love us unconditionally. The truth is that Jesus loves us more than anyone else ever will and our loyalty belongs to Him. We follow Jesus even to the places that we do not want to go and even when it might hurt to do so.

But in the doing we recognize that the one we call our Father in Heaven is helping us to become better people, and is trying to make the world a more peaceful place. When we keep our hearts focused on the ultimate outcome, we’re better able to accept the pain and heartache that the present offers us when being a disciple of Jesus gets tough. Because the truth is it will be tough sometimes, but Jesus promises that it will all be worth it. And a true disciple believes their teacher and through the doing of what our teacher says, we learn Jesus has spoken truthfully. When we stop trying to be what society tells us we should be and start being the person Jesus has called us to be – we have more peace and happiness and a lot less worry and doubt.

Take up your cross, the unique cross that Jesus has called you to and keep in mind that although the going will get rough at times, if you live true to your calling as Christ’s disciple – God’s Kingdom will be made visible to every person you come in contact with. You will be the instrument God uses to bring peace and hope and love into the darkest and most bitter parts of the world, and that is worth the sacrifices we make to have it happen!

Amen.