This Isn't Peace

Matthew 10:24-39

“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."

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I want everyone to close their eyes. (If you’re reading this, read these first few parts slowly. Really think about what I’m asking you.)  I want you to imagine a place that gives you peace. Go ahead, close your eyes, relax; find that peaceful bliss. Find that place where nothing can go wrong. You are away from your troubles. Your worries are gone; your fears no longer consume you. There’s no yelling, no arguing, and no fighting. You’re not in a hurry and you finally have time to catch your breath. This a place where you’re just away from it all. Isn’t this nice? Taking a moment of your day just to be at peace. Keep your eyes closed; remain in this peaceful place.

In your imagined place, who are you surrounded by? Where are you? What’s going on around you? And what are you doing? What did you sacrifice to get to this place of peace?

Where are your family and friends? Your spouse? Your parents or children? Your siblings? Or even your mother-in-law?  Are you at work? Or at home? Are you still even in this church? When you think of this imagined place, what’s missing? What have you given up to be here? What have you removed yourself from?

You can go ahead and open your eyes now.

Hopefully, these questions helped you realize that to achieve this sense of peace, we removed ourselves from the things that we love. We may have removed ourselves from our family. Our friends. Our job. Our house. We might have even removed ourselves from the very life each of us live. I see this as a fake sense of peace because we have removed ourselves from the things we love most in this world. Now, this place of peace is a nice place to occasionally go, but there’s a reason we don’t always live in this place. God never created this peaceful place as a place to stay. We live busy lives, and stress often overwhelms even the best of us. But that’s the life we were destined to live. And I if had to choose between a life of peace away from everything I love or a life filled troubles, worries, and fears caused by the things I love, I would hope I would choose the latter every time. Because that “peace” just isn’t worth it.

The problem in humankind is we lose ourselves when we become submissive to our worries, troubles, and fears and no longer remain submissive to God. We see this as a type of peace because it’s easier to let human problems control us. But this isn’t peace. It’s complacency. It’s the easy road.  There are times when we all no longer stand up for what we believe in and times we no longer remain true to ourselves or to our creator God. And that is exactly what this passage is telling us what NOT to do.

You see, in this passage, Jesus is telling his disciples to go out and spread the good news of Christ. But he is also giving them a warning. He tells the disciples they will face turmoil and they will have problems. He tells them life will be hard, especially when living a life of faith. But when they experience all of these hardships, Jesus also tells them throughout this passage to “Do not fear…” and “Do not be afraid…” because these disciples have great value in the eyes of God.

And then, Jesus says something weird, even for him. Now that saying something because let’s just be honest, Jesus said a lot of weird things in Scripture. But this one is weird because it seems to contradict almost everything he has taught up to this point. He says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Now let’s think about this… the prince of peace is, in fact, not bringing peace to our world? He’s bringing a sword? Really Jesus, really?! A sword?! But it isn’t a sword; this is Jesus’s way of giving his disciples an option. They can turn away from everything they love and know. They can escape from their problems and go back to their old peaceful, submissive lives. Or they can defend what they believe – what they serve and what they love – and they take up a sword. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Jesus also tells his disciples to be worthy, they must also take up a cross.

But in our lives today, what does the sword represent? And what does the cross represent? They both represent strength given by God. In those moments when we feel weak or alone or afraid, when our troubles, worries, and fears control us. God will equip us with a mighty sword. A sword to give us strength to do what is needed. Strength to stand up for what is right. To defend what we love and serve. To show that human problems will not control us. But sometimes God will equip us with something different; God will tell us to take up a humbling cross. Here, God still gives us strength but a different kind of strength. Strength to have mercy. To carry not only our own burdens, but also the burdens of our neighbors. Strength to continue to move forward in life, even in our darkest days. By giving all that we are to the Lord, God’s will give us the strength to take up our cross.

The message here is God is telling humankind to lay out our lives for Christ. When we try to live true Christian lives, God will equip us with the strength we need. Do not be submissive to human problems; be submissive to our divine God. And then announce for all to hear. Announce it in the light and announce it in the dark; announce it silently and announce it loudly. One of my favorite contemporary Christian songs – “Rooftops” by Jesus Culture – has the lyrics, “I shout out your name. From the rooftops I proclaim. I am yours. And all that I am. I place into your loving hands. I am yours. I am yours.” Troubles will not control us. Worries will not control us. Fears will not control us. Human problems will not control us.

Rather, give your life to God. We will run into problems; we all have troubles, worries, and fears – this passage warns us of that. But don’t lose your life being controlled by them. Don’t try to live in peace ignoring them. Embrace them; take them in and then give them up to God, along with every part of you. Lose your life for Christ and be submissive to God. God will equip us with that mighty sword and that humbling cross. God will give us strength. Because God created each of us to live full lives; abundant lives. And to do this, we just need to give all that we are to Christ.

Let the Creator God love us; let the grace of Christ save us; and let the Holy Spirit move us.

Amen.

In Remembrance of Her

Mark 14:1-11

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

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“For what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

In remembrance of her…

This passage is interesting. It is a few days before the Passover dinner. The passage opens with the dark plot to kill Jesus and it ends just as dim with Judas’ agreement to the betrayal. And because of this surrounding darkness, the tensions were high and their tempers were short. Jesus is in Bethany surrounded by his disciples and his other followers at a table, probably for conversation and a meal. But then, an unknown woman comes in carrying an expensive jar of oil. I’m sure the conversation subsided pretty quickly as the disciples stared at her waiting for her next move. When the woman breaks the jar and pours the oil onto Jesus’ head – oil that cost an entire year’s wages - the conversation quickly resumed as the people surrounding Jesus became angry. Like I said, the tensions were high and their tempers were short.  They argue that the oil could have been sold and that the profits could have been given to the poor. They scolded and rebuked the woman – thinking this act of hers was nothing but a waste. That this was no great act. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

But as always, Jesus takes this opportunity as one to teach his followers a new lesson – one on risk and compassion. He kindly but firmly tells his disciples to leave the woman alone. He explains, while yes, she could have given the money to the poor, she chose to anoint Jesus instead. She gave what little that she had – in this case, one expensive Jar of oil – to Jesus. She took a risk – a new approach – to glorify her Holy Teacher.

And so, because of this great act, whenever this story is read and “wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

When I first read this passage, the line “in remembrance of her” stuck out to me. I instantly made the connection to the Lord’s Supper. When we eat the bread and drink the wine, Jesus told us to do so in remembrance of him. But here, Jesus takes the focus off himself – he doesn’t tell a parable or he doesn’t perform a miracle – instead, he lets a woman anoint him and then he says that act will be done in remembrance of her. Yes, even this unnamed woman has made a name for herself. And she did this by pouring a jar of oil – probably the most expensive item she owned; maybe even all she has ever owned – onto the head of Jesus.

Now I started thinking that if I were in this woman’s shoes, what could I give to Jesus that would best glorify God? Unfortunately I don’t think my $10 cologne would suffice.

So I thought harder – what is the most expensive thing I have in my life? And then it hit me and it’s one I’m sure we can all relate to – the cost of attending Princeton Theological Seminary. Our future Master of Divinity degree is our jar of oil.  It is what God has called us to give.

Here at seminary, we have all sorts of different gifts and talents. We have seminarians whose lives are rooted in scripture. We have those filled abundantly with kindness, compassion, and love.  We have the charismatic preachers and we have the theologically intelligent. We have it all here at Princeton Theological Seminary.

However, the problem, once we find our place – once we find our calling here at seminary – we stick to that and only that. And by doing so, it’s like we are only giving to the poor. Yes, it’s great and all, but it’s not always what God has called us to do. As we see in the passage, Jesus says we will always have the poor to give to – or in our case, we will always have our gifts to excel in. But if we don’t get out and explore what else God has given us, then we have doing nothing in the name of Jesus.

As Christians – as true followers of Christ – we need to give our time and our talents. And the nice thing is, God has gifted us each of us with both. God wants us to succeed – to push hard and to push forward. God wants us to take risks in the ways that serve. God has called us here to seminary – to this point in our lives – and God will continue to lead us where to do. So go out there; cradle and nurture your gifts and watch them flourish, but also, go out and take risks and explore your weaknesses; do all that you can to glorify God.

So what will you give up to God? 

What will be done in remembrance of you?

Amen.