Good Morning Children of God! Here is your Sunday’s Message.
June 21, 2020
3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Prayer of the Day
Teach us, good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
First Reading Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-18
Second Reading Romans 6:1b-11
Gospel Matthew 10:24-39
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
I would like to begin this message with a quote from Robert McKee, who is an author, lecturer, and story consultant:
“True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure – the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.”
We are living in a time of great pressure and as this quote wisely suggests, a time of individual character being revealed through one’s decision making. General George S. Patton, Jr., once said “Pressure makes diamonds.” It can also destroy.
With the pressure of the pandemic, the character of some has been revealed through meanness, intimidation, and bullying. Take what happened to Dr. Amy Acton, former Director of the Ohio Department of Health, for example. She was vilified for her efforts to stem the tide of Covid-19 in Ohio in order to save lives and prevent health systems from being overwhelmed. Some suggested that her decisions were Nazi-like. Others, some bearing arms, threatened her and her family and neighbors by protesting in front of her home. In my opinion, the pressure of the pandemic moment revealed her to be a diamond, but it also crushed her because the moment revealed some to be hateful and vengeful and she became the object of their ire.
This was the experience of the Biblical prophets of old. Today’s readings illustrate that in doing God’s work, in doing the right thing, they were mocked, detested, and denounced. (Jeremiah 20:7-10) They were shamed, ostracized, scorned and reproached. (Psalm 69:7-12) It is said that the job of the prophet is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Clearly, when the comfortable are afflicted, when they are pressured on moral grounds, some will repent and some will fight back. The latter is the price of being a prophet, the former is the reward.
In the tradition of the prophets, Jesus announced to his disciples that he would be a point of division among people. Some would love him and some would hate him. And the same would be true of his followers: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!” (Matthew 10:25b) Jesus also instructed the disciples to have no fear of the haters. He assured them of their value to their Father who upholds and sustains them.
Like Jesus, the embattled Jeremiah was confident in the Father’s love and salvation: “Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.” (Jeremiah 20:13) God’s character is revealed when his people are under pressure, for God’s love is kind and his compassion is great. (Psalm 69:16)
When Jesus was under tremendous pressure his impeccable character was revealed as he remained faithful unto death, even death on a cross. His faithfulness to the Father revealed the immense love God has for us. When pressured by the finality of the Son’s death, the Father’s righteous character was revealed through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus was vindicated following the wrongful death he endured.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has shown us that right is stronger than wrong, love is stronger than hate, life is stronger than death, and God is stronger than evil. You have been baptized into that reality! “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11) You must take up the cross and follow Jesus. (Matthew 10:38) You must strive to do the right thing. Pray that in this time of pressure that you will be revealed to have a character that honors Jesus.
He has told us that such a character comes with a price. Jesus paid the price with his life. The prophets paid the price by being maligned. We should expect no different result in our lives. But “[t]hose who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39) It is in paying the price for doing right, in sacrificing for the good of others, and in suffering because of obedience to God’s will and word, that we find our true purpose and meaning in life. When, in highly charged times, we reject the politics of personal destruction and instead opt for justice, kindness, and love, we shine like diamonds that have come under great pressure. It is then that we are displaying Christ-like character. It is then that we might also be paying the price because “haters gonna’ hate.”
In this time of pressure from the pandemic and the unrest due to social injustice, sparrows continue to fly and fall. “Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31) Suffering for doing what is right pales in comparison to the glory we have in God. (Romans 8:18) Jesus taught us that God values us, that he vindicates us when we suffer for doing right, and that he will deliver us. Therefore, in turbulent times, with honorable characters intact, we can, with Jeremiah, sing to the Lord and praise him, “For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.” Amen.
Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus (Sigismund vonBirken) ELW 802
Let us ever walk with Jesus, follow his example pure,
through a world that would deceive us and to sin our spirits lure.
Onward in his footsteps treading, trav’lers here, our home above,
full of faith and hope and love,
let us do our Savior’s bidding. Faithful Lord, with me abide;
I shall follow where you guide.
Let us suffer here with Jesus, and with patience bear our cross.
Joy will follow all our sadness; where he is there is no loss.
Though today we sow no laughter, we shall reap celestial joy;
all discomforts that annoy
shall give way to mirth hereafter. Jesus, here I share your woe;
help me there your joy to know.
Let us gladly die with Jesus. Since by death he conquered death,
he will free us from destruction, give to us immortal breath.
Let us mortify all passion that would lead us into sin;
and the grave that shuts us in
shall but prove the gate of heaven. Jesus, here with you I die,
there to live with you on high.
Let us also live with Jesus. He has risen from the dead
that to life we may awaken. Jesus, you are now our head,
we are your own living members; where you live, there we shall be
in your presence constantly,
living there with you forever. Jesus, let me faithful be;
life eternal grant to me.
Peace and blessings,
Pastor Bill
PS There will be no Wednesday’s Message next week. I will write to you next Sunday.