There is a tension many people carry today when it comes to faith. On the surface, spirituality is often welcomed, especially when it is private, gentle, and personally uplifting.
But when faith begins to shape decisions, challenge assumptions, or disrupt relationships, things become complicated. Our gospel reading speaks to this tension. the tension between true disciples of Jesus Christ, true to the teachings of Jesus and the pressures from society, friends, families about what it truly means to follow Jesus.
We hear Jesus preparing his apostles for mission work. He uses idiomatic hyperbole to encourage and caution them about what to expect. These have often been described as hard sayings by his disciples, a few of which as scattered across the gospels. Yet, this one specifically is closer to home for us as Christians.
So but one of the striking things of this gospel is Jesus's honesty to his apostles. He warns them the mission they were about to undertake will cause bother. It may ruin their reputations, cause divisions among families, perhaps even their own, and possibly be life threatening.
But before he sends them out, nonetheless, he encourages them, not with illusions of success or safety. Instead, he prepares them for resistance. He begins with a simple but profound statement. A disciple is not above the teacher nor a servant above the master.
In other words, if Jesus was misunderstood, rejected and opposed, his apostles should not expect a smoother path. However, he goes on to reassure them not to be afraid of what they encounter or of those who could harm them. He gave them authority to be fearless in their conviction because God had authority over their lives. Nothing about their lives was invisible to God.
So how does this gospel speak to us today?
We can agree that many of us in the West enjoy a level of freedom of religious expression. We may not experience overt persecution for our faith. However, we do experience subtle pressures in our society today. Christian conviction is not always understood in workplaces, in schools, families, and online spaces. People can feel pressure to soften what they believe in order to avoid conflict.
Some learn to separate church life from real life as if discipleship belongs only in certain aspects of life and not in every corner of our existence. At the same time, there are Christians who feel isolated because their commitment to Jesus's teachings has created distance from them between them and their loved ones. Some have experienced rejection or even hostility because of their faith.
Others carry a quiet burden. The fear of being perceived as intolerant, too extreme, too different, or too disruptive if they take Jesus's teachings fully as a way of life. Yet three times Jesus tells his apostles not to fear, not to fear rejection, failure, criticisms, or what others may think.
Recently I was encouraged to see some political leaders being open about their faith particularly on social media. At the same time there were there have been others who have used it not a force for good but for a force for manipulation inciting acts of violence or presenting a corrupted view of Jesus's teachings.
We see division based on the interpretation of scripture. Those who interpret scriptures broadly or literally or others who want nothing to do with it. Yet these are the scenarios Jesus speaks to. The new bishop of Durham, the right Reverend Rick Simpson.
He mentioned that many people today value Christianity when they want to. They are content to be what the buzz word now is cultural Christians. that is they enjoy the values of Christianity but would not wholly commit to the demands of it. He said Jesus calls us not to passivity but to be emboldened to share the truth of the gospel and that though the world applauds many things, it does not always applaud the truth.
If we are to authentically live the gospel, the cost of that discipleship could be significant. So how does one know what is right and what is truth? Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is our barometer, instructor and guard against untruths.
The Holy Spirit is the source of God's wisdom and how he clarifies what is right, what is truth and what we ought not to compromise. Our lives become mission work when we become disciples of Jesus.
The mission work Jesus calls us to is not based on our own abilities but on his authority. And with that he did not promise a discipleship of ease. He sends us out in the same way with the same uncomfortable words and authority as he did his apostles.
Words which make us twitch in our pew seats. Not soft and cuddly but upsetting for some whilst liberating for others. Words like I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother etc.
It is this message that refuses to let our faith and disciples remain private or comfortable. Jesus is telling us that discipleship is not an accessory to life but a total reorientation of our lives around him. However, Jesus's uncomfortable words are accompanied by words of encouragement as we saw in the gospel.
Like the apostles, we are equipped through the Holy Spirit with authority and courage. authority to share the good news of God's love first amongst our own, our families and friends and then the wider community.
We are to point to Jesus through how we live our lives. Jesus counsels us that the gospel mission amongst our own is not going to be comfortable. The truth and the requirements of living authentically may cause rifts among family members.
It may cause friends to distance themselves from us. Where the gospel is not welcome or the way we live our lives causes conflict. We are to carefully remove ourselves from such situations which may compromise us.
Dust your shoes off and exit. Jesus wants us to know as he did his apostles that opposition does not mean failure. Sometimes opposition is evidence that we are faithfully following him. He is suggesting he's not suggesting that we actively seek out conflict or suffering.
Rather, it is it is loyalty to him that redefines what we fear, what we value, and where we place our trust. Jesus's words invite us to honest self-examination to notice when fear is shaping our decisions more than our faith.
That when fear of rejection, failure or conflict becomes dominant in our lives, our authentic discipleship weakens. But when reverence for God becomes central, that is when we ask ourselves regularly, what would Jesus do?
Our courage begins to grow and so does our conviction of living out the gospel. We are called to undivided allegiance. There is no Switzerland in authentic discipleship. We are either all in or all out.
When Jesus asked us to take up our cross and follow him, it is about our willingness to surrender competing claims on ultimate loyalty.
Family, personal ambition, identity, culture, etc. These are all good gifts, but none of them rank above Jesus. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus encourages us to be courageous and fearless about our lives as Christians. Borrowing a phrase from the generation Z, we are called to stand with our full chest as Christians and not be cultural Christians. We are to be a beacon of light and hope and a reflection of God's character which stops people in their tracks. And when asked, "What makes you special?" Our response ought to be because I am a follower of Jesus and the love of God through Christ Jesus has made me special. Jesus was extraordinary. His earthly life and ministry was extraordinary.
It drew curiosity, questions, conversations, and ultimately conversion by those around him. If we are called to do the same, does our self-examination reveal this about our lives? If not, there is surely more work to be done. So as we leave here today, let us remember that we have been sent by Christ. The same Lord who commissioned the apostles commissions us today.
So may we trust him completely, serve him courageously, love him above all else, and may we faithfully carry his message to a world that desperately needs him.
