Loving God, you call us to love and to worship you above all else. Help us to know the surpassing value of your grace and salvation and to respond with lives of loving service, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Well, it's Father's Day, and isn't it a good gospel that we read today?! "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." "Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." "I have come to set a man against his father." "One's foes will be members of one's own household." All of this, spoken by Jesus (Mt. 10:35-37)! It is a challenge to us today to consider what really is the most important.

Is honouring father and mother important? - Yes! - But never more important than following Jesus. The gospel today is reminding us that doing the will of God is absolutely and eternally more important than the most important things that we have here on earth - even more important than family. One commentator puts it this way:

"One's identity can be so wrapped up in pleasing (or displeasing) the family that the person has no real self-identity - or real faith. It could be that Jesus doesn't want people just going along with the crowd or one's parents to follow him, but committed individuals who are aware of the costs of following." (http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt10x24.htm - Brian Stoffregen)

In fact, the same person asks, "When should costly following be taught to believers?" It's all through the Scriptures, and it's certainly there in today's gospel. We might be called to give up some of the best things in this life in order to follow Jesus. Are we really prepared for that? Are we prepared to say with Paul, "I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8)?

In Paul's case, he had a privileged and well-respected position within Judaism before he met Jesus. He was a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church, and considered blameless and righteous under the law (Phil. 3:5-6). Yet, he traded all of this in for a life of persecution and hardship and traveling to distant and hostile places in order to tell people about Jesus Christ. He did this, because once he had encountered Jesus, there was simply no other way. Paul knew that in Jesus he had found forgiveness, resurrection, and eternal life. Paul knew what a sacrifice had been made on his behalf, with Jesus giving his life for him. Knowing Jesus was more important to him than anything else in this world, for the life of Christ would flow through him, not only in this life, but in the next. Do we have this same sense of what really is most important?

Part of the message of today's gospel that may not be caught in an English translation is the connection between losing our life for Jesus' sake and the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna, or hell. At least one person likens this to the old Fram commercials where "you can pay me now, or pay me later" (Stoffregen). We can face God's judgment now through daily repentance (which is like losing our selves for Jesus' sake), or we can face God's judgment later. Just as in the commercial, the payment will be much greater later than it is now.

The part that might need some explanation, though, is the daily repentance. Repentance involves the recognition that we are sinners and that we can't do better. It's not, "I can do better, Lord," but, "I can't do better." Only when we come to this realization are we opened up to the promise that God can do better, through us. This is what daily repentance means, or daily dying to oneself, or daily recognizing God's judgment now. We can face it now, or we can face it later. However, choosing to face it later ignores Jesus' teaching about whom is really to be feared!

We can fear those who kill the body (in other words, other people), or we can fear the one "who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Mt. 10:28). God is the one with the power over life and death and over body and soul. The gospel teaches us that if we're going to fear somebody, we should fear the only one who is worth fearing. The gospel also teaches us that our actions need to be based upon faith rather than fear.

There is good reason that the disciples are told so many different times not to be afraid. They would be facing persecution, ridicule, imprisonment and even death, all because of their faith in Jesus Christ. They would be asked to step outside of their comfort zone and do things that they had never done before. If the disciples had allowed themselves to be motivated by fear, they probably wouldn't have done anything at all. They would have gone back to their lives as fishermen and tax collectors and left it at that. Yet, instead they allowed themselves to be motivated by faith. In Jesus, they learned about what is really most important, now and in eternity. And so, instead of doing nothing, they proclaimed the gospel. They proclaimed the gospel and experienced more life than they had ever known before.

We, too, can act based on fear or based on faith - both as individuals and as a congregation. We can say, "Well, we need more members because we might not be able to pay the bills." That is a statement based on fear. On the other hand, we can say, "Look at all the good things that God is doing here through us. What else is God calling us to do, and who can we invite to come and be part of this ministry?" This is a statement of faith.

In the same way, giving can be a matter of faith or a matter of fear. Fear says, "Well, I might not have enough for myself, so I won't give away anything to others." (And this statement can be made by congregations, too!) Fear says, "I think I can spare this much for an offering." On the other hand, faith says, "I only dare keep this much for myself out of what belongs to God anyway." Faith says, "The more I learn to be generous, the more I will see God's generosity in my life." Are we going to allow ourselves to be motivated by fear or live by our faith? What really is most important?

Certainly, we are reminded on Father's Day of the importance of family relationships and the blessing that is ours when we have a father who cares for us and loves us and provides for us. For those who experience this blessing, it is well worth celebrating! Fathers who are a blessing to their children need to know how much they are appreciated and loved. Yet, at the same time we are reminded today of how much more important our relationship with our heavenly Father is through Jesus Christ.

The ones who love father or mother or son or daughter more than Jesus are not worthy of him in the same way in which those invited to the banquet are not worthy. Do you remember the banquet, where everybody who was invited was far too busy with other things to come (Mt. 22:1-10)? We are found to be not worthy when anything else in our lives takes precedence over our faith in Jesus Christ. Discipleship is not optional. Sharing the gospel is not optional. Loving God above all else is not optional.

This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. If it sounds like too much, consider what God has first done for us: Created us and all that exists. Given us our bodies and souls and all that we have. Sent his only Son to live and die for our salvation. Made us his own in baptism and wiped out all memory of our sins. Loved and saved us even before we turned to God and repented. Saved us by grace, through faith, for lives of service (Eph. 2:8-10). We are saved through our faith in Jesus Christ and empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit. Let us live by faith, and not by fear. Amen.

Proper 7(A) Matthew 10:24-39
June 19, 2005 (Father's Day)
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

? 2005 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved