Scripture – Matthew 10:32-42
Sermon – “Is He Safe?”
I heard some disturbing news this past week. There’s really nothing wrong with it, but I thought that I’d never see the day when what I’m about to say would happen. It seems that people have not learned from the past, and when we fail to learn from the past, we’re doomed to repeat history! The news came from one of those late night 24 hour news channels.
It has been reported that we’re now engaged in what this reporter called “World War III.” It seems that the world is at war, and there’s little if any peace to be found. There’s war everywhere. If ever there’s a time for the Prince of Peace to make his presence known, now would be a good time!
Yet how contradictory this morning’s passage seems to be when we see it in the light of the angels’ message to the shepherds on the hills outside Bethlehem; the message of “Peace on earth!” When Jesus tells us, “Do you think I came to bring peace? Boy, do you have it wrong! I’m not bringing peace. I’m bringing a sword that will divide, decide, determine, and discover the cost of discipleship!”
1. The Sword of Division – “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Drawing from prophecies such as Hosea 11:10, “They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion…” C.S. Lewis portrayed the Christ-figure in his “Chronicles of Narnia” as a lion with a horrific roar. As she was about to meet Aslan, the Lion of Narnia, Lucy asked Mr. Beaver, “Is he safe?” and Mr. Beaver replied, “’Course he isn’t safe. But he is good.”
But we’re having a problem with Christianity in the American church. Too many people want to hear of a “safe Jesus” and there are too many preachers ready and willing to preach it. In a church filled with pussy cat Christians a dangerous lion of a Christ doesn’t fit in the theology and it certainly won’t fill the pews on Sunday mornings! When a church wants to hear what their own itching ears want to hear and hear nothing else, a dangerous lion-Christ just doesn’t fit in.
Too much of the American church wants to cuddle up into the soft fur of Christ without paying attention to the fact that he brings a sword of division.
In our last church there was a young lady who was one of our members. She worked with another young lady of the Sikh religion from Punjab in India. Our young lady introduced the other to a life in Christ. The other lady had never heard such good news. While she had been taught that faith was a matter of strenuous works she was introduced to a faith based on grace. She loved the thought of that. There was one problem, though, she would have to tell her husband that she was ready to accept Christ’s free offer of grace but his family with whom she lived would never go for it. The division would be too great. She just couldn’t do it. Christ divides.
There will always be those who answer God’s call to repentance and there will always be those who refuse to accept his challenge. When people are confronted with the Gospel there is a necessity to either accept it or reject it and the world is divided between those who have and those who have not accepted the rule of Christ, the Lion of Judah.
With Christ we are thrown into the great spiritual battle and it is too often true that the fiercest foes are those within families! With the message of peace between God and his creatures Christ brings the sword of division.
The message of peace also brings with it: 2. The Sword of Decision – “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me…”
The matter of the involvement of decision within the life of the believer has long been a contested battle between Calvinists and the “it’s-all-up-to-God” Camp and Arminians and the “it’s-all-up-to-Man” camp.
I remember as a young boy when my mother who loved Billy Graham and all of his crusades sent for and received the “Decision” Magazine. She would read it from cover to cover. When she once brought up something that was written in “Decision” our pastor said, “Now, Gert, that’s not a very good magazine for Christian Reformed people to read! It’s not up to us to decide, it’s up to God to convict!” She still loved the magazine and she still read it from cover to cover!
But the question remains: “Do we choose God or does God choose us?” Jim Osterhouse in his booklet “FAITH Unfolded” tells it this way:
“Ultimately the answer is yes. A person who is not elect cannot come to faith in God because it is only the Holy Spirit who gives faith. The Bible says that we are ‘dead in our trespasses and sins.’ We are unable to believe unless the Holy Spirit transforms us…
“Imagine an old rural cemetery with brick pillars on either side of the entrance and metalwork arching over the top. Picture that as the gate of heaven. As you walk up to the gate you read the words on the iron arch: Whosoever Will May Come. You walk through the gate, turn around, and read what it says on the back: Chosen From All Eternity. Many people think, when they first put their faith in Jesus, that trusting him is a step they took on their own. Only afterward, looking deeper into the teaching of the Bible, do they realize that it was the Holy Spirit who enabled them to believe. Then it becomes clear that all the praise and all the glory go to God.” (Jim Osterhouse, “FAITH Unfolded,” Faith Alive Christian Resources, Grand Rapids, MI, © 1997, pg. 35-36)
It’s that sword of decision which Christ brings. Do we love him more than anything else? We must decide. True joy is described this way: JOY = putting Jesus first, Others next, and Yourself last. That’s the rule of law as laid out in the Ten Commandments: Love God, Love People!
Will we have to ultimately make the choice between God and our family? As commentator William Barclay has written: “…This terrible choice will come very seldom; in God’s mercy to many of us it may never come; but the fact remains that all loyalties must give place to loyalty to God.” (William Barclay, “Commentary on Matthew, Vol. 1,” The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, © 1975, pg. 395)
How do we make those choices? What tool do we use to make the right choices between God and family? By what authority do we come to the conclusion that God is the ultimate right choice?
The deciding sword is the Word of God. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
God is a jealous God. If we put anything or anyone in a higher place than God or his Christ we are not worthy to be his disciple. The Prince of Peace brings a sword which divides, but also a sword which helps us decide our loyalties between God and everything else, between God and our nearest and dearest possessions on earth.
With the message of peace between God and his creatures Christ brings the sword of division and the sword of decision. But he also brings 3. The Sword of Determination – “…anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Anything worthwhile costs something. Now this also seems like a contradiction in terms. Isn’t grace and eternal life free? Yes it is. But grace and eternal life do not give us the freedom to do nothing! Paul urged the Philippians to “work out their salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
There was once a career day assembly at a large city high school to which the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines were invited to speak. The first three took longer than their allotted time leaving only two minutes for the Marine recruiter to speak to the student body. He stood for a moment sizing up the crowd of young people that sat before him. Drawing a deep breath he said, “I doubt that there’s more than three of you who could even make it in the Marines, but I want to see those three at my table.” When the assembly ended it was his table that was surrounded by students.
There are many who find Jesus’ words to be very difficult. “Take up your cross and follow me…” “Sell everything you have and follow me…” “Turn the other cheek…” “Let the dead bury the dead, follow me…” “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in the danger of hell.” “Love your enemies…” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven.” “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” But these are his words, not mine! God’s words are not easy words. They were never intended to be!
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem Mary and Joseph went to the temple to offer the proper sacrifices after the birth of a first-born son. It was there that they met a prophet named Simeon who prophesied about the baby they held in their arms: “This child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and to be a sign that is spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-34)
We wear golden crosses around our necks. Perhaps there’s a cross or two under or maybe even on the Christmas tree at your home. But the cross is nothing pretty. It’s a sword of determination. Are we really ready to take up our own crosses and follow the one who went to the cross for us? The Prince of Peace brings a sword that divides, a sword that decides, and a sword that determines what kind of life we will live. But he also brings 4. The Sword of Discovery – “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus was fond of using hyperbolic statements. This one is no different. Finding life and losing it…losing life and finding it? These are odd statements at best! There were many young people in the 60’s and 70’s who left home to find themselves. I will never forget what Dr. Tony Campolo said to a young person who told him that he was going to leave home, peel layer after layer off until he found his real self. “What happens,” Tony said, “If after you peel layer after layer away and you find out that you’re an onion? There’ll be nothing left!”
Jesus is telling us that if we look for ourselves within ourselves we will lose ourselves, but if we lose ourselves in him it is there that we find our true identity. Much of self-help Christianity is to help struggling Christians find themselves. They say that we need a better devotional life, spend more time in the Word, go to this seminar, go to that program, do, do, and do some more. But the problem comes in the fact Christ says that when we try to find ourselves, we’ll lose ourselves. The only way to truly find ourselves is to lose ourselves in him! While many Christians only focus on what they’ve been saved from, and back their whole life away from hell, Jesus tells us to turn around and run toward him, hunger for him and want him to shine through their lives!
Christ has likened the life of the believer to be like a marriage. Many people see marriage as a ball and chain and as nature’s way to help us keep from fighting with strangers! These same people feel that there will be two lines at the entrance to heaven: the line for passive husbands and the line for those who are the dominant husbands. They think that the line in the passive side will extend far into the distance while there will be only one rather sheepish, timid looking man standing at the dominant husband line. When the angel arrives he will inquire why the lonely man is standing there all by himself, and he will tell the angel, “My wife told me to stand here!”
But marriage isn’t a ball and chain; it shouldn’t be one fight after another, nor a matter of who’s submissive or dominant. Marriage is one of those institutions that if done right will release and free us, not chain us down. It’s not a prison. It builds up love rather than takes it away. It’s about sharing all responsibilities so that there isn’t one who’s being walked on and submissive while the other is strong and dominant!
We discover our true identity and our true life when we lose it in Christ! The Prince of Peace shows us true peace when we are lost in him!
It’s true, Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword: A sword of division; a sword of decision; a sword of determination, and a sword of discovery. “Is he safe?” Oh, no, Christ is not in the least bit safe! But in the words of Mr. Beaver, “He is good!” Amen.
