Matthew 10:24-39
“Do Not Be Afraid to Follow Christ”
By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
At Annual Conference this past week an interesting statistic was put forth.
It appears that, even in this day and age, the father in a household still plays a tremendous role in what direction the family will go.
If a father in a household is interested in the church and active in the church…
…93% of the time the rest of the family will participate in church as well.
If it is only the mother who is interested and active in church…
…32% of the time the family will participate in church as well.
If a child is the only member of the family who is interested and active in church…
…the chance that the rest of the family will get involved drops down to 2 %.
A New York Times columnist writes that what fathers want most for Father’s Day is not designer ties or polo shirts or new cell phones.
Fathers want their authority back.
The columnist argues that the proper role of the father is not that of friend, which seems to be the role so many parents take these days…
…No, a father is someone a child should look up to.
The columnist puts forth an idea that many would disagree with.
He says that “Motherpower is rooted in love, fatherpower in authority.”
It’s not that nurturing is necessarily foreign to men, some do it very well, but moms are more naturally skilled at it.
Dads are better suited at laying down the law.
At least this is the columnist’s opinion.
I can’t help but wonder if the lack of respect for all authority structures could be traced, in part, to the abandoning of authority by dads.
Could it be that some men lash out in violence and abuse against their family out of a misguided attempt to reclaim authority?
Has the proper respect for fatherly authority been replaced by a hellish fear?
Or, in many cases, a complete absence?
The role a father plays in a family’s life is so very important.
When I was growing up my mother would take us three children to Sunday school while dad would stay home for a little ‘down time.’
This was really his only chance to be by himself, as a father of 3 young children who worked hard all week long.
After Sunday school, my father would join us for worship.
At the ripe young age of five I decided that I did not want to go to Sunday school any longer.
“Dad doesn’t go to Sunday school,” I protested, “why should I have to go?”
From that time forward my father sacrificed his precious hour of freedom in order to set the right example for his son.
He started going to Sunday school, and has continued attending Sunday school ever since.
The easier way to go, for my father, would have been: “Fine, Kenny you can stay home with me because I am not going to attend Sunday school.”
Or he could have blasted: “Do what I say, not what I do! You will continue to go to Sunday school and I will continue to stay home!”
I am very thankful for the sacrificial love that my father has shown me and continues to show me…
…and as we see in our Gospel Lesson for this morning our Heavenly Father has shown us the Ultimate in sacrificial love, and we are called to follow in His footsteps.
This may not always be the easy way, but it is always the right way!
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus is telling His twelve disciples what they will face as they are sent out into the world to proclaim the Gospel to all kinds of strangers…all kinds of people.
Followers of Christ are going to be persecuted.
We are going to be bypassed, shunned, withdrawn from, isolated, talked about, ridiculed, mocked, considered strange, and joked about.
Some will even call us names.
Some called Jesus Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, and Jesus tells us: “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!”
If Christ—Who is to be the head of every Christian’s household—has been called the Prince of Demons—how much more should the members of His household expect to be called!
Wow! That statement alone should cause us to sit up a little higher in our seats.
As those who follow Christ, we are considered members of His household!!!
We are family…we are the family of Christ…of God!!!
You and I, we are brothers and sisters…
…in Christ…
…and God the Father is our Daddy!!!
If you are a parent, just think about how much you love your children.
You care for their safety.
You don’t want anything to harm them.
You love them unconditionally.
Think of that…and then, think of how much more than that God loves those who are members of His household or His Kingdom!!!
As you know Jeanne and I have a wonderful, one month old baby girl, Mary Ellen.
Now, Mary Ellen cries a lot.
When things aren’t going her way, that is, when she is hungry, or when she has a bit of gas, or when she has to be changed…
…quite often Mary Ellen will cry bloody murder.
As she is doing this, I will sometimes say to Mary Ellen: “Poor Mary Ellen, it must be so difficult to be loved so much!”
And this is how it may seem to be for us as well.
It is very difficult to be loved by God so very much!
God loves us so very much that God will not let go of us.
God loves us so very much that God became one of us and came to earth to teach us how to live and love…
…then died so that we may be redeemed, saved, born anew…
…so that we may become members of God’s household!
And because God loves us so very much, God does not give up on us.
It is God Who knocks on our door…
…it is God Who calls us in the night…
…it is God Who Jesus likens to a shepherd who leaves his sheep in order to find the one that is lost…
…it is God Who Jesus likens to a woman who has lost a coin and searches and searches until that coin is found…
…we are the sheep, we are the coin…
…we are the treasure of God’s heart!!!
And once, we, the treasure of God’s heart are found—we are called to take up our cross and follow Christ; we are called to lose our old selves and become something radically and beautifully new!!!
Yes, it may seem difficult to be loved by God so very much!
Sometimes it is downright scary!!!
In our Scripture passage for this morning, Jesus tells us over and over again: “Do not be afraid.”
Yes, there are those who can kill you, harm you, call you names…but… “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
We are greatly loved by the most Powerful Force in this universe, and because of this love…
…God, Who knows what is best for us is telling us “Trust Me.”
“I’m the One in charge of all things…Trust Me.
“I’m the One Who has the ultimate control of your destiny…Trust Me.
“I’m the One Who loves you…Trust Me and do not be afraid.”
In Colossians Chapter 1 we are told that Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and things on earth…”
Therefore Jesus is not only our Savior…Jesus is our father figure in the Kingdom of God.
And this carries a lot of weight in how we are known, and in how we are to divorce ourselves from all else in order to be with Him.
Christianity, indeed, surpasses all bloodlines.
Think of it this way.
The Israelites believed that because they were the natural descendants of Abraham, through whom God made His covenant, that they were the only ones who would be saved.
They were in the bloodline of Abraham.
But remember what John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Jewish religious rulers…
… “do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
And, in a sense, He has done this…
…for all who are born of God through faith in Jesus Christ are called the children of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise.
The spiritual runs much deeper than the flesh in God’s Kingdom.
Therefore we are not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul!
We are loved with a very intense love…
…and this intense love means that we are part of a new family…the family of Christ!!!
And, in being part of this new family, we are indeed no longer of this world!
In chapter 10 of Matthew Jesus has called His twelve disciples to Him and has given them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
They are to go and “preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’”
And Jesus tells them what they will encounter.
He tells them ahead of time that not all will like the message they bring.
Therefore, some of them will be arrested.
Some will be betrayed by their own parents and siblings.
He even goes so far as to tell them that “All men will hate you because of me….”
…but…
…but…
…He also says: “Do not be afraid of them.”
This is some radical stuff.
This is not child’s play.
God so loved the world that He came and died for it…
…and we are to have the same love that God has for us.
We are to love the world so much, we are to love God so much, that despite whatever human beings might do to us because of it…
…we are to proclaim the Gospel from the rooftops!!!
We are to lose our very lives for the sake of Christ, and in doing this we will actually find Real Life!
So don’t be afraid to follow Christ.
Be afraid not to follow Him!!!
Jesus loves us so much, that Jesus has paid the price for our redemption, our salvation by His very blood shed on the Cross at Calvary.
And what does Christ require in return?
We are required to trust Him, to follow Him, to give to Him our very lives.
But Christ does not demand this out of some kind of worldly power trip.
He demands this of us because we are so loved!
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
How exciting is that?
Life is the very thing people are searching for, but what the world calls life in not real life.
The flesh with all its goose bumps and butterflies, is not life…
…wealth, with all the things it can purchase, is not life…
…recognition and fame, with all the ego it can boost, is not life…
…power, with all the rights and privileges it can give, is not life…
…pride, with all the self-image it can build, is not life!
All this and everything else on the earth that fades and passes away…well…it just does not last.
How can life, real life, be something that ends so quickly and leaves a person so empty?
Real life is found only by giving one’s life to Jesus.
The person who refuses…who is scared…to let go of their life and give it to Jesus misses out on the life that the God of love has intended for them.
They never get to experience the fulfillment of completing their mission on this earth and going on to that special quality of life called eternal life.
So, those of us who believe are charged with the great commission…making disciples of all nations.
It is a big task, but there is no more important task imaginable…and we will never be alone in doing it.
So, my friends of Parkview United Methodist Church…
…let’s go…
…tell the world about Christ.
My friends who worship at 912 Briarfield Road in Newport News, Virginia….
…let’s go together…
…inviting our friends, family members, neighbors, and even strangers to come to church…
…Let’s go…
…and do not be afraid…
…Let’s go…
…not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of our Father…
…let’s go…
…even the very hairs on our heads are all numbered…
…let’s go…
…we are greatly loved and worth more than many sparrows!!!
