6th Sun after Pentecost A
Proper 8
Matthew 10:40-42
"A Life of Burdens"
38* and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
39* He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
40* "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
41* He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42* And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."RSV
Grace and peace to you from our Lord, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
I am combining two verses from last week’s text with the verses from this week’s text for my sermon this week!
In this section, Jesus is speaking about the "life of burdens" that a Christian lives.
He is talking about suffering and hardship.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his sister saying:
" It is good to learn early enough that suffering and God are not a contradiction but rather a unity, for the idea that God himself is suffering is one that has always been one of the most convincing teachings of Christianity. I think God is nearer to suffering than to happiness, and to find God in this way gives peace and rest and a strong and courageous heart."1
We live a life which is filled with the reality of living in a sinful and less than perfect world. Jesus is speaking about what has come to be called, " a theology of the cross"!! This theology says that through the brokenness of this world, through "crosses" life will be redeemed and renewed. Jesus is reminding the disciples and us that life is not easy. Living on this earth is very difficult. You and I will have "crosses" to bear. Life will not be easy. Living as a Christian, as a believer, in this world with the power of Satan to harness, to tempt, to drive one away from Christ means of life that is difficult, a "A Life of Burdens".
Sometimes, I think, Satan works extra hard to drive those away who are the most faithful to Christ. It seems that Satan is alive and well especially in the church. Jesus knew that. He knew life would be difficult for His followers especially after He ascended into heaven. Jesus speaks about this difficult life over and over again in the gospels.
In this text, in Matthew 16:24-28 He says, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Again in Mark 8: 34 Jesus says, "And he called to him the multitude with his disciples and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." And in Luke 9:23-27 and again in Luke 14:25-27, he says the same thing. This theme of a "rough road" is repeated again and again in the gospels.
Not only does this theme of cross bearing appear again and again, but the idea of division, of a sword appears all over the gospels, as in this text for today and in Matt. 10: 21 it says,"Brother will deliver up brother to death,and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;" and again in Mark 13:12, it says,"And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;" and we find similar text in Luke as well as John. Also in the Old Testament we find such texts as in Micah 7:1-7 and we could go on and on.
Do you see, do you get the point!!! Jesus is saying life will not be easy as you follow me. Don’t look for a life of roses, don’t look for the easy way, but the narrow road. Carry your cross, be ready to speak against even your father, your children, your parents and also be ready for them, your father, your children, your parents to speak up against you because of your faith, your belief in Me.
Not only did Jesus tell His disciples about the kind of life they would live for Him, but on Good Friday, He demonstrated that life by dying on a cross, by experiencing death, by facing pain, by being humiliated as He died a death of a criminal. This was not an easy life, this was a life of burdens for Jesus.
A pastor wrote:
I think that pain and suffering is the price we pay for being alive. Being alive means living with original sin and the mighty power of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we understand that, our question will change to, What do we do with our suffering and pain? Our pain and suffering must become meaningful. It must not become pointless and empty suffering? How can we turn all the painful experiences of our lives into personal growth within our selves and within our relationship with God? We may never understand the why or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering. But one thing is for sure. We can have a lot to say about what the suffering does to us. We can determine what sort of people we become because of it. Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate. It is the end result, not the cause, of pain that makes some experiences of pain meaningful and others empty and destructive. It is left up to us and our relationship with our God.3
So, I have a question. WHY IS IT TODAY, WE HEAR ON THE TV, FROM SO CALLED FUNDAMENTALISTS, FROM SELF PROCLAIMED BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS, THAT IF YOU ARE TRULY A BELIEVER YOUR LIFE WILL HAVE HEALTH, WEALTH AND PROSPERITY??? A THEOLOGY OF GLORY!!!!
Many today are making it a benchmark of a so called true believer that on the outside at least life has to look perfect. No suffering, no pain, no heartache, no struggles, no guilt, no illness, no disability, but a life that is filled with glory. Many are saying to you and me, that if you don’t have a so called perfect life then, then something is wrong with your faith, something is wrong with you personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you are not as good of a believer as I am.
I WILL NOT BUY THAT STUFF. I look to Jesus, He was perfect, righteous, obedient but yet He suffered.
A pastor says:
In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time, after a while I have had to look away. And in imagination I have turned instead to the lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering."2
As Christians, we have the only Lord who has suffered, so then he understands our suffering. He understands our burdens. He reaches out to help us carry those burdens in life. We do not have a saviour who closes his eyes to the pain of the world, but he reaches out from the cross with out stretched arms to embrace each of us in our live, with the burdens we carry.
And Jesus tells us that even in our own suffering, our own burden carrying, we need to reach out to others with hospitality.
That is what the last verse of our gospel lesson says;
And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."
Jesus is speaking about hospitality here. How do we interact with others. The word reward does not mean we earn heaven, but it is our promised result and outcome.
Jesus is telling us as we carry our burdens, we need to be hospital to others. We need to treat people as we would like to be treated. We need to show concern for the burdens they are carrying.
A pastor had gathered a selected group of workers to train them to witness for Jesus. A young worker was complaining to a veteran caller about one of the people he had visited. "I’ tried to tell him about Jesus, I tried to tell him about the love Jesus had for Him. I tried to tell him that Jesus was interested in helping him to live a life of grace, to help him with the burdens he was caring.
But the man replied in this manner, " I am a poor old man and must stagger under this load of firewood that I had so much trouble in cutting. I can feel nothing of the love of God. I can feel nothing of God caring for my burdens. I can feel nothing of his grace for me. "
The visitor turned to the young; depressed visitor and said, " My son, if you would have offered to carry his load of ’wood for him. He would have believed in your words because he would have not only have heard about ’the love of God for him, but he would have seen an illustration of it in you.’’
And I would like to close with another story of God loves shown through one and given to another.
I one of my churches, we had a group of Deacons who would go out to visit people. Some of the visits were to new members and some were to our own members.
Lorraine was one of the those who visited. She was a cancer survivor and knew about carrying one’s burden. She and another member visited Walt and Nancy. Walt and Nancy were charter members of the church. Our church was only 40 years old. Age had caught up with them.
When Lorraine arrived, Walt and Nancy asked at first what they wanted. Lorraine said nothing, just to visit, to share, to see how life was going.
Walt and Nancy sensed in Lorraine a touch of the Lord. they could sense she understood about the burdens of life for she had been there.
Then Walt and Nancy poured out their hearts to Lorraine. They told of the hurt, the heartache of growing old, of being forgetful, of being not able to do those things you once could do. They told of the sense of thankfulness for the church and its ministry, of the concern these people had for them, that they weren’t forgotten but really appreciated for the fine work they did many years ago. They visited and visited. Then Lorraine prayed for them. She asked that the Lord help them carry these burdens. She reached out to them as one who had been healed, she reached out as a wounded healer.
AMEN
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale June 20, 2005
1Citation: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a letter to his twin sister, Sabine. Christian History, no. 32 SermonCentral
2John Stott, The Cross of Christ, InterVarsity Press, 1986. SermonCentral
3 Roy Fowler SermonCentral
