The Sword of Peace

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is Matthew 10 and Jeremiah 28. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

By now, I am sure you have noticed some reoccurring patterns in my sermons including three points beginning with the same first letter, the importance of prayer, putting faith into practice, and context. Several weeks ago, I spoke of context and how it broadens our minds and hearts as we read, study, pray over and appropriate the teachings of Christ into our lives.

Using my home as an example, if you use Google maps to see where I live, it will offer a very limited view. In fact, a search of my home address shows overgrown trees. Scrolling east shows the orange brick house where we now live. Fortunately, the three pick-up trucks parked in the yard – not in the driveway – are not ours, but former renters.

If I told you that our house sits on 21 acres of land that borders Mowry Road and State Route 18, extending from Potter Township into Raccoon Township, you would have a broader understanding of where I live.

If I informed you that my father was given those 21 acres by his father, and that his two brothers also received equal plots and built next to us, that would tell you that the three of them owned 60 acres on one side of the road. If I also told you that my grandfather had a fourth son, the eldest, who was killed in WWII, and that he eventually decided to divide that land into many one acre lots now owned by various families, you’d surmise that my family owned 80-some acres nearly 80 years ago. My point is that context is important not only in one’s family history, but also in the Bible. So, to better understand our Gospel passage today, I will expand it into the greater context of the Bible.

We begin with Matthew where Jesus continues instructing his Twelve Apostles. Keep in mind that they are going to towns and villages where the lost sheep of Israel live to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They will be healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and expelling demons. They know that acceptance and rejection await them, and how to respond to both, and they are not afraid.

Today’s passage opens with Jesus’ words, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”[1] One would wonder why Jesus the Christ would utter such words. After all, is he not the Lamb of God? Did he not refer to Himself as the Good Shepherd? In next Sunday’s Gospel, he states that he is gentle and lowly in heart. In John, he says that he is the way, the truth and the life before he promises, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”[2] Why would this peaceful, humble, gentle man who embodied the Beatitudes say, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword”?[3] I answer that question with a question.

Did Jesus impose peace by kingly rule on anyone? On his Twelve Apostles or women disciples, on Jewish leaders or Roman rulers? On Israel or Egypt? On the Holy Roman Empire, the British Empire or the United States, the Soviet Union, Communist China or Nazi Germany? Jesus did not come to impose peace by kingly rule. On the contrary, his coming involved painful choices people must make, and He will not interfere with our freedom to choose. Yet, God’s love is so awesomely overpowering, how else could we choose? I mean, what are our options? And that brings us to the last few words of our opening verse.

Jesus is not bringing a simple peace but a sword. Jesus brings the sword and He is the one who divides. The sword is another word for war. Matthew’s reference to a sword is a “powerful metaphor for the way a community can be split by the preaching of the Gospel. The community here in question is the family. Acceptance of the Gospel pits children against parents in the bitterest of quarrels, as in Micah 7:6.”[4] There, we read, “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.” So, we see how the Word of God, the Incarnate Word of God Himself, divides families based not on sinful fear and hatred, but on loving kindness, compassionate mercy and divine forgiveness. Yet, as the Son of God knows men’s hearts, he forewarns his Apostles of people’s responses.

But they would also know that from their own history. In Exodus we read how Moses descended Mt. Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments from God and witnessed that the people fashioned a golden calf and proclaimed that it was not Yahweh and Moses who brought them out of Egypt, but these inanimate gods. When Moses saw that the people were completely out of control, he “stood in the gate of the camp and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go … throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses said, ‘Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.’”[5] The men that the Levites put to the sword were evil people committing idolatrous acts against God.

We heard such words from the Lord’s lips last Sunday. “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”[6]

Now, notice that Jesus never advocated acts of physical violence against others. Even when betrayed by Judas and seized by the mob in the Garden of Gethsemane, and one of his disciples struck the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”[7] So, if you’re thinking about taking up arms in the name of Jesus, think again. … (Not that anyone hearing these words would be thinking that.)

Now, before moving forward with the rest of our Gospel, let’s step back and put the passage from Jeremiah into a wider context. Then, we’ll return to Matthew. … Think of this sermon as preparing a meal. You sauté vegetables or brown the onions and then set them aside until later.

Our passage from Jeremiah must be read within the context of chapters 27 and 28. Actually, we need to consider our passage within the entire book of Jeremiah, for we know that here too the Word of God divided people like a sword.

Israel’s rulers and many of its people embraced other inanimate gods and idols. Some outright rejected Yahweh and Mosaic Law. Others attempted to blend the two religions. This we call syncretism – attempting to blend Law and Gospel with alternative beliefs, lifestyles or practices in an attempt to please people and appease deities. But we don’t have time in a sermon to study all of Jeremiah; so, we begin in chapter 27.

In chapter 27, we read that the yoke of Babylon was imposed by God upon Judah and her neighbors. Judah’s plans for rebellion were against God’s will. Perhaps Zedekiah, King of Judah, heeded Jeremiah’s earlier warning and did not carry out a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who then spared Judah when he conducted his punitive campaign against his neighboring enemies.

Jeremiah repeated his warning: God did not send the court prophets who were advising King Zedekiah. Earlier in the book, we read, “The Lord said to [Jeremiah]: ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.’”[8]

Jeremiah also cautioned the priests and the people against believing the baseless assurances of these prophets that the temple equipment taken as booty several years earlier (in 597 BC) would soon be returned. Instead, Jeremiah told them that they should pray that what they have will not be taken to Babylon.

When we get to chapter 28, four and one-half years into Zedekiah’s rule, one of these prophets, Hananiah, assured the priests and all the people that total restoration of Judah would occur within two years because God had prophesied to him that God broke the yoke of Babylon. We read, “Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon.”[9]

That gets us to our passage, and Jeremiah’s response, which contradicts Hananiah’s words and concludes with, “As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”[10]

At this, Hananiah broke the wooden yoke Jeremiah had worn as a symbol, stating that the Lord would also do to Nebuchadnezzar within two years. How did Jeremiah respond? He went home.

Sometime later, God spoke to Jeremiah and instructed him to confront Hananiah with this message: “You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’ … [Jeremiah continued,] The Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’” The chapter ends by telling us that two months later, Hananiah died.[11]

The lesson learned is to be faithful to God alone. Jeremiah and Jesus were faithful. They did not teach disciples to choose or promise false peace – or the peace the world gives. They did not promise to unify all people. They were not delusional political candidates. They were faithful to the Kingdom of God for nothing else will bring life to the full and eternal life to the sinner.

Let’s return to our Gospel. In verses 35-37, it seems that Jesus’s words contradict the Fourth Commandment to honor one’s father and mother, but His words must be understood in relation to Matthew 8:22. “Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.’” For Jesus, faithfulness to the Kingdom of God and His call were more important than anything, including family duties. His words in these three verses echo the words of the Prophet Micah. In chapter seven, the Prophet cried, “Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for 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. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”[12]

In Micah’s prophecy the terrible conflict within families is symptomatic of the sinful condition of the people in the prophet’s day. In a tragically similar way, even though divine peace comes to those who are given faith to trust and follow Jesus, conflict will result between them and those family members who refuse to repent and believe in the Messiah.[13]

By their very unregenerate nature, unbelievers do not want the salvation that Christ accomplished and that Christian pastors and missionaries, together with the whole church, offer.[14]

Given the condition of the sinful human heart and the unchanging nature of Christ’s message, which calls for repentance and faith, the inevitable result of Christ’s coming will be conflict and strife.[15]

Some will hear Christ’s call to faith and discipleship, and by God’s gracious action through the Gospel they hear, they will repent and believe. Others will hear the same call, but due to their own ingrained sin and stubbornness, they will reject the Christ who summons them to salvation. Even the family … will become fundamentally separated from one another because one will confess Christ, and the other will deny him. Both confession and denial have eternal consequences.[16]

In these divided families the believer will sooner or later face this challenge from unbelieving loved ones: ‘Choose me and my ways rather than your Jesus and his ways.’ … To be sure, Christians will be more loving, more patient, more accepting of non-Christian family members than they otherwise would be, since the love they receive from Christ enables the Christians to display Christlike love, whether or not it is [returned]. At times God will use such a loving witness as part of his way of bringing unbelievers to faith. Other times, however, the non-believing [family member] … will demand allegiance and conformity in ways to which the Christian simply must not agree. Then, the disciple must love Jesus more than father or mother or son or daughter.[17]

In the days and years ahead, if our society remains on its present course, we may be required to give a defense of our faith that could lead to impoverishment, imprisonment, suffering and even death.  Although we hope these things won't come to pass, we need to be ready – armed with the weapons of spiritual battle – to strengthen us for every eventuality. In the meantime, let us pray for the grace to grow in faithfulness each day, and as we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Matthew 10:34.

[2] John 14:27.

[3] Matthew 10:34.

[4] Hare, 117.

[5] Exodus 32:25-29.

[6] Matthew 10:21-22.

[7] Matthew 26:52.

[8] Jeremiah 14:14.

[9] Jeremiah 28:3-4.

[10] Jeremiah 28:9.

[11] Jeremiah 28:14-17.

[12] Micah 7:5-7.

[13] Gibbs, 537.

[14] Gibbs, 538.

[15] Gibbs, 538.

[16] Gibbs, 538f.

[17] Gibbs, 539.

Values: Mine, Paul's, Matthew's

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My theme is Value, Pauline Values, Matthean Values. My focus is Romans 6 and Matthew 10:24-25. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

You got a happy dance? Several years ago, the singer Pharrell recorded a huge hit song called “Happy.” His “Happy” video features people dancing the 4-minute song for 24 hours. A 24-hour video!

Of course, Happy is not the first song to promote happiness. The list includes Don’t Worry, Be Happy; Happy Together; You’ve Made Me So Very Happy; The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA; Happy Days; and Oh Happy Day.

I begin a sermon on values with happy thoughts because many view happiness as a personal value. So, let us look at Value, Pauline Values, Matthean Values, and because we are planning summer vacations, I am going to refill your Prescription for Spiritual Laziness, which may be your key to happiness.

First, value. Although our founding fathers penned “pursuit of happiness” into the Declaration of Independence, they did not define it as we do. Definitions evolve. For example, the word nice comes from the Latin word nescius meaning “ignorant.” In the 14^th century, it meant “foolish,” then evolved to mean cowardice, and then shyness. Today, when someone says you are nice, you take it as a compliment.

In the context of the Declaration of Independence, happiness was about one’s contribution to society rather than pursuit of self-gratification. I contribute to society the personal values I learned and modeled as a child. These personal values provide an internal reference for what is good. In a society where people come from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, our cultural values emphasize those that people broadly share.

We derive our Christian values from the teachings of Jesus and from Christian teachers throughout the history of our religion. What we believe and practice as Lutherans is not exactly what Baptists, Methodists or other Christians believe and practice, but we share some basic Christian values.

To sort out Christian values, we return to our roots, and turn to my second point – Pauline values.

Paul came to believe, practice and hand on to Jesus’ early followers what the Holy Spirit revealed to him as essential. He was sophisticated enough to understand that the teachings of Jesus, like definitions, may not mean the same thing to all people.

Learned, practicing 1^st- century Jews in Jerusalem understood the deeper meaning of Jesus’ Last Supper differently than Gentile converts reared to worship other gods. Hence, Paul taught a new theology of baptism and communion that Jews and Gentiles alike understood and appropriated.

Paul did the same with sin and grace, redemption and sanctification. He conveyed to cultures that lacked Scripture the concept that humans are sinful by nature and by choice. Once he presented this, Paul could teach that because our loving God values us, He redeemed us through His Son.

Today, we take for granted Paul’s teaching on sin, redemption, baptism and Christian values. We even take for granted a brand-new term that Paul coined – sanctification.

Do we fully understand what Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans (6:16) to present yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification? … Probably not. So, let me tell you briefly about Minh Dang, a woman I met while I was working in Berkeley CA. She was a graduate student at UC Berkeley. Minh was enslaved by her parents until she broke free as an adult. Minh understands the concept of slavery quite differently than we do. Like other children whose parents have no values, Minh was literally used as a source of income by her parents. Most of us have no personal experience of what it means to be a slave.

I see myself as master of my own destiny. No one tells me how to live, how to think, how to behave. I am my own man. That makes it difficult to grasp the meaning of Paul’s words. We might understand the concept of presenting ourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification if we considered ourselves not as slaves but as addicts.

In the Roman Empire, addicts were bankrupt people given as slaves to their creditors. Addict comes from the Latin addictus, meaning “a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor.” In the 1600s, it meant giving yourself to someone or some practice. By the 1900s, addict became associated with dependency on drugs.

So, when Paul says we are slaves to sin, he means addicted to sin. This addiction extends beyond acts of murder, theft, adultery or gossip, and goes to the heart of sin – idolatry. … We are addicted to thinking that we control our own destiny. God is not my master. I have no master. I am my own master.

From his encounter with the Risen Christ, Paul knew better. As sinners whose debt was paid through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we, the baptized, should live as addicts of the Holy Trinity. That is what “present yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” means. You are addicted to God. As a drug controls the life of an addict, the Trinity controls the life of a Christian. Addiction to God leads me to my third point, Matthean values.

The kernel of today’s Gospel is that Christians resemble their Teacher and Master, Jesus Christ. When baptized, we put on Christ, but often fail to resemble Him. By grace, Christians become more like Christ by prayerfully reading God’s Word and receiving Holy Communion.

Paul pointed out that God favored the Jews over Gentiles because He chose them and remained faithfully present to them. We are favored because God remains faithfully present to us through Word and Sacrament. Word and Sacrament are essential to our worship and life. They are essential to other Christians as they too attempt to become more like Christ. However, other denominations interpret Word and Sacrament differently.

We should understand that although we agree with denominations whose personal and communal values are formed by the teachings of Christ, when it comes to the interpretation of Word and Sacrament, we view these quite differently. Some denominations, such as Methodists and Presbyterians, teach that Christ is only symbolically present in Holy Communion. They practice open Communion even for the unbaptized.

We have more than a symbolic presence. We have the true Body and Blood of Christ in, with and under the forms of bread and wine. Because that true Body and Blood of Christ is available to us and because God calls us to be like our Teacher and Master, think how deep our relationship with God could be if we made ourselves present to Him in Word and Sacrament?

Imagine how deep your relationships would be if you made yourself present to each member of your family. Now, imagine yourself as the hot water heater. Everyone takes for granted the hot water heater. No one notices it until something is wrong. We all have relationships like that. Family members take us for granted or never notice something is wrong until we break down.

How do we respond when faithful friends and family members treat us like the hot water heater? How does God respond when we treat Him like a hot water heater? Ponder that question this week.

Now that summer is officially here and many will soon observe Independence Day, consider that we take for granted the inalienable rights from God as we do God Himself. For some, Independence Day is just part of summer vacation – taking time away to relax. Unfortunately, for some relaxing means not only taking time away from work, but also from God, Word and Sacrament. Like our relationship with the hot water heater, we tend to become spiritual lazy.

Oswald Chambers once wrote, “We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints.” We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. So, let me tell you the story of a man who never became spiritually lazy.

Maximillian Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894. As a young man, he saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of his day. A missionary in Japan in the early 30’s, he returned to Poland to found a newspaper and radio station, tools to spread the Gospel and to speak out against Nazi atrocities.

In 1941, the Nazis arrested Kolbe and incarcerated him at Auschwitz. That July, a prisoner escaped. As punishment, the commandant announced 10 men would die. As the 10 were being marched away to the starvation bunkers, Kolbe, Prisoner Number 16670, stepped from the line, and requested, “I would like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.” The dumbfounded commandant kicked the doomed sergeant out of line and ordered Kolbe to go with the nine. They were stripped naked as their slow starvation began in darkness. … There was no screaming from the prisoners. Instead, they raised their spirits by singing. By August 14, the jailer came to finish off Kolbe as he sat in a corner praying. Kolbe lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the hypodermic needle filled with carbolic acid. The Nazis burned his body with all the others.

Kolbe could not have witnessed for Christ in Auschwitz if he had not formed a deep, full, rich intimate relationship with Him throughout his life. We may never find ourselves condemned to death by starvation or as slaves to cruel masters, but daily we have the opportunity to witness for Christ.

When faced with adversity – religious harassment, ethnic persecution, war, death, divorce, faithless family and friends, unemployment, poverty, sickness, incurable disease and impending death – we have the opportunity to witness for Christ, our Master and Teacher. In order to do so, experience tells me that at a certain point we need to return to those practices that strengthened us before we became spiritually lazy.

It's like a prescription. We reach appoint when we need it refilled. Several weeks ago, I offered you the prescription of five P’s of Prayer: Passage, Place, Posture, Presence and Passage. You can go back and re-read or watch the sermon if you need a refill.

Now, next month also means that Steelers training camp will begin, So, if you are satisfied with your present relationship with God and are living a respectable Christian life, consider these words of the late, great Chuck Noll, the only NFL coach to win four Super Bowls and lose none. Asked at his first news conference if his goal was to make the Steelers respectable, Noll said, “Respectability? Who wants to be respectable? That's spoken like a true loser.”

Friends, don’t settle for respectability. Be a champion for Christ. Step out of line and witness for Christ in the manner Maximillian Kolbe did. Like a true champion, witness for our Teacher and Master, Jesus Christ, and not Satan, sin and self. … We are more likely to witness for Christ if we are addicted to Him and not ourselves. When we step forward in faith and love, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Context, Compassion, Call - Matthew 9:35-10:8

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is our Gospel. The title of my sermon is Context, Compassion and Call. … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Cindy and I babysat two of our grandchildren for a week earlier this month, and like any grandparents, we taught them some table rules.

Before each meal we say our prayers.

During dinner, we sit on chairs.

While we eat, we dialogue.

And from our table we feed no dog.

We have other rules as well, such as no playing on stairs, outdoor voices belong outside and indoor voices inside and so on. Heads of households teach to maintain order and discipline, as well as respect and reverence for one another and God. As we teach grandchildren and children, our Gospel reminds us that Matthew portrayed Jesus as Teacher, Lord, Master and God. To appreciate Matthew’s portrayal, we focus on three points: Context, Compassion and Call.

First, context. We define context as the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, influencing its meaning or effect. It is the set of circumstances that surround an event or situation. It came into usage in the English language in the 15^th century and meant the weaving together of words. This developed logically from the word's source in Latin, contexere meaning to weave or join together. Today, context refers to the environment or setting in which something exists. We place words and actions in appropriate settings. Hence, when we read what Jesus said and did, the setting matters.

Our text opens with verse 35, “Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”[2] Several times in his Gospel, Matthew mentions Jesus teaching, proclaiming and healing. In 4:23, he wrote that Jesus “went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” And, as we heard last week, the Risen Lord instructed the Eleven to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He commanded.[3]

Apart from the Paschal Mystery, the most significant aspect of Jesus’ ministry was teaching. Teaching was more important than preaching or healing because Jesus came to establish a Church – a community – to usher in the Kingdom of God. For Jewish followers of Jesus, a messiah without a community was unthinkable.

Another reason Matthew valued Jesus as Teacher and presented his material in “five books” was to establish Him and his teaching as greater than Moses and Mosaic tradition. Hence, the Lord’s teaching started on a mountain – Sermon on the Mount – and ended on the Mount of Olives. In short, Matthew wrote a catechism for 1^st-century Christians with The Beatitudes as lesson one and The Great Judgment as the final exam.

Matthew wrote for a Church where believers needed instruction on how to handle life as Jesus did, which is why the Lord taught about anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love for enemies. He taught disciples how to pray, fast and care for the poor. He knew people needed instruction on trusting God, handling anxiety and avoiding judgment.

Yes, his proclamation of God’s Kingdom, love and forgiveness, his ability to walk on water, multiply loaves and fishes, heal the sick and raise the dead were essential, but “miracles do not certify teaching. It is the other way around! In themselves, miracles are ambiguous events. It is the authenticity of Jesus’ teaching that renders his miracles significant. He is Messiah of Word before he is Messiah of Deed.”[4] Through acceptance and openness to Christ and his message, healing follows.

And yet, this Teacher was not like stoic philosophers or the wanton shepherds of Israel. He was recognized by rabbis and Romans, Pharisees and Sadducees, but also rejected. He was unlike them in that this Teacher embodied his own teaching. In a word, Jesus was compassionate.

We move, then, from context to compassion, my second point. Compassion is the combination of two Latin words: com meaning with or together and pati meaning to suffer. As a noun, compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy or sorrow for another stricken by misfortune or a strong desire to alleviate suffering. There are many synonyms for compassion, including pity, commiseration, condolence and sympathy.

Our Gospel’s second verse reads, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”[5]

This image – sheep without a shepherd – is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers, Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”[6]

In the First Book of Kings, Micaiah prophesied against Ahab, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.”[7]Against the shepherds of Israel, Ezekiel proclaimed, “So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.”[8]

These verses speak of Israel being leaderless and vulnerable. For the people before him, Jesus had compassion. By showing compassion for the distressed flock and the lost sheep, he presented himself as the promised “David,” the shepherd chosen and anointed by God.[9]

Yet, notice that Jesus’ compassion is not actualized in his own activity but in the suggestion that others must become involved.[10] After writing about his compassion for the crowd, Matthew recorded that Jesus “said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”[11]

Up to this point Jesus had been the sole missionary. In chapter ten he makes his disciples partners in his work. The command to pray for laborers seems a bit out of place, since he is about to send out the Twelve. But, by placing the saying here, Matthew is concerned primarily not for the context of the story, but the significance of this prayer for his readers. Readers of Matthew – then and now, 1^st-century Jewish Christians and 21^st-century Christians of every denomination – are challenged to pray that the work delegated by Jesus to his followers may involve more and more of those who acknowledge him as Lord.

Hence, we move from my second point, Compassion, to my third, Call. Though we use the word, Call, to shout, it is also a command or request to come. We call our dogs or a cab or a witness. During this service, I call you to the altar. Sometimes, we don’t even use our voices to call people; we use a bugle, a whistle, a fire siren or a church bell. Interiorly, a call is a divine or strong prompting to a particular course of action.

Often, it is God or Christ who calls. When Joseph rose from his sleep and took Jesus and Mary and departed to Egypt until the death of Herod, this fulfilled what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[12] Jesus called James and John away from their father and their fishing boats.[13] He called people to repentance when he said to the Pharisees, Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”[14]

In writing to the Romans, Paul wrote, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”[15] He reminded the Corinthians that they were “were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”[16] He was astonished that the Galatians so quickly deserted “him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.”[17] And that their call to freedom was not an opportunity for the flesh, but to serve one another through love.[18]

By the time the reader of Matthew reaches chapter ten, he is already familiar with the names of the apostles. They are called by the Lord to be Jesus for others through their teaching, proclaiming and healing. And, as he always ties Christology to ecclesiology – or his understanding of Christ and his understanding of Church – Matthew reminds his audience that “Not only is the mission of the disciples the same as that of Jesus; their mission has the same serious consequences for others.”[19]

The Apostles played a unique role in salvation history. The reign of God in Jesus had broken into history, fulfilled the Old Testament promises to Israel, and saved all in faith to follow Jesus as his disciples. God did a new thing in Jesus, and as He shepherded God’s people and gathered the lost sheep of Israel back to himself, through Christ and the Apostles, He reconstituted the true Israel.

While the apostles were to give absolute priority to those villages where there were Jewish settlements familiar with the Messianic message, we know that their mission – as well as the Church’s – would continue after the resurrection to the entire world.

Having told how Jesus saw his own work, he also showed how that work was to continue in the future through the Church. Whenever the Apostles exercised their ministry, it was empowered by Jesus, shaped like His, and centered in the message about the reign of heaven. So, it would be for the Church.[20]

When they taught, preached or healed, they were empowered by the Spirit of the Father working in them. Such was their call.

So, there you have it – an understanding of context, compassion and call in today’s Gospel passage. But I would be remiss if I sent you from here with only an understanding and not a challenge to put understanding into practice. Therefore, I ask: What does this all have to do with us? What is our call? How do we practice compassion? In what context do we live both?

As Christians, we live in the world, but as St. John reminds us, we do not belong to the world. In the early Church, Jews and gentiles abandoned their former lives and lifestyles and embraced Christianity when faced with choosing professions and political parties or their faith in Jesus as Lord and Master. Soldiers and politicians who pledged loyalty to the Roman emperor as a god resigned their posts to follow Christ and His teachings, to embrace the Trinity and Church. Others, heeding the words of Jesus, put relationship with fellow disciples before family and friends. As the Evangelists remind us, “Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, [Jesus] said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”[21] And “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”[22]

Our call is to put first our relationship with Christ and Church. My relationship is not only with Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, but with Church as well. In the short time, I’ve been here I see that this is a church community that values people’s lives beyond our walls. The food pantry and your relationships with other Christian churches demonstrate the compassion of Jesus. As a Synod, we value human life at all stages and uphold traditional marriage while other denominations have abandoned divine law.

As church members, as community members, as responsible citizens and parents and grandparents, we know that many people in our world are lost sheep following the calls of movements that advocate destruction and death rather than respect and reverence for God, human life, humanity and creation. As people of Law and Gospel, we know well that “the wage of sin is death, but [more importantly] the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[23]

Friends, our call is to be Christ for others and pray to the Harvest Master to send our Church and world more men and women with compassionate hearts to be pastors and teachers so that within the context of their worlds, we all might draw all people closer to Christ as Lord and God. May our embrace of the Gospel be evident in our compassionate teaching of others seeking answers, justice and happiness. When you do that, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.[24]

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[1] Psalm 122.

[2] Matthew 9:35.

[3] Matthew 28:19-20.

[4] Hare, 32.

[5] Matthew 9:36.

[6] Numbers 27:15-17.

[7] 1 Kings 22:17.

[8] Ezekiel 34:5-6.

[9] Hare, 109.

[10] Hare, 108.

[11] Matthew 10:37-38.

[12] Matthew 2:14-15.

[13] Matthew 4:21.

[14] Matthew 9:13.

[15] Romans 8:30.

[16] 1 Corinthians 1:9.

[17] Galatians 1:6.

[18] Galatians 5:13.

[19] Meier, 73.

[20] Gibbs, 499.

[21] Matthew 12:49-50.

[22] John 15:14.

[23] Romans 6:23.

[24] Philippians 4:7.