Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

​Rev. Shemwell
Matt. 10:34–42
07/02/23

Homily for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “Do not think
that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For
I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own
household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his
cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever
loses his life for My sake will find it.” Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ: what a Gospel text for the first sermon from a new pastor. New to you and new to the
ministry. I reckon the phrase “trial by fire” might apply here. Now I’ve had a few weeks to
look over the reading, thankfully. But I have to admit, at first I was kinda petrified. This here
is one of those “hard sayings” of our Lord people always fret about. One of the hardest in the
New Testament. A difficult teaching. It’s not really one you’d eagerly volunteer to begin a
ministry with. But alas, this is what the lectionary has given us. And you know, the more I
thought about, the more I realized that this is in fact the perfect reading for this Sunday, for
my first Sunday in this pulpit, for our first Sunday together as congregation and pastor. It is
altogether fitting, and I pray you’ll soon see why.
Now the reading continues, of course. Verse forty: “Whoever receives you receives
Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” These words were spoken by our
Lord to the twelve disciples as He sent them out to the lost sheep of Israel, giving them the
authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal the sick. He sent them out with an authority
divinely instituted – and with a purpose bound to the will of the One Who sent Him, the will
of the Father. And as you’ll recall though, further along in our narrative a bit, following
Christ’s death and resurrection, our Lord visited His disciples once again when they were
locked behind those closed doors for fear of the Jews. Remember? In that locked room when
our Lord miraculously appeared to them after His resurrection, He breathed upon His
disciples, as St. John tells us, and said “Peace be with you.” It’s how He greeted them.

2
Our Lord did in fact come to bring peace – He did bring peace – He does bring peace to the
earth. Then and there in that room with His disciples our Lord instituted the office of the
Holy Ministry, handing over the keys, as it were, giving His disciples the authority now to
forgive sins. He brought them literal peace and then sent them out with that very peace, with
the Holy Spirit breathed upon them, to all nations, to forgive sins. You see, that peace which
surpasses all understanding we so often hear about, that peace is inseparably linked to the
forgiveness of sins, that forgiveness which was won at Calvary by our Lord’s painful passion
and death for the sake of an undeserving world. But in that locked room, when our Lord gave
His disciples the authority to proclaim His peace by forgiving sin, the wages of which is
death, Paul says, for which all sinners are fated, He also gave them the authority to retain it –
to withhold forgiveness from all who refuse to repent, who decline to believe. It is the same
office of forgiveness though. It is the same Gospel of redemption and reconciliation in both
cases. It is the same message and greeting of peace. But to the fallen world, to a world
steeped in idolatry, to those ruled by the unholy trinity of the devil, the world, and the sinful
flesh, to any and all who cling to what separates them from God, this peace does not seem
like peace at all, but rather a terrible sword.
Dear friends, when we hear this hard saying of our Lord, we must not forget its
context though. Our Lord was sending His disciples out into a world set deliberately against
them. He was warning them that the world would reject their message just as the world
would reject Him – as the world did reject Him. To the world, Christ’s message is a sword,
an instrument of undermining, upending, and destruction. It is the law which convicts and
accuses, which puts to death, as St. Paul tells us in our lesson from Romans. It is that which
divides people, even families. And brothers and sisters, things haven’t changed much in the
intervening few millennia. This message still divides today, centuries later. It is radical,
counter-cultural, always has been, it is the kind of thing that sooner or later will get you into
trouble with the world. And most unfortunately, chances are it is the kind of message that has
already caused division in your own families. What is a present peace to the faithful is a
severing sword to the unfaithful. The Word of God is absolute truth, it is enduring, it is
imperative.

3
But as St. Paul also tells us in the Epistle to the Hebrews, this Word of God is moreover a
double-edged sword, which cuts deep like a surgeon, down to the joints and marrow, he says,
opening us up, exposing our sin, our iniquity, our worthlessness. It discerns the very thoughts
and intentions of the heart, Paul explains. The Word does this. And for a sinner, like me and
you, those thoughts and intentions are more often petty and pitiable and impious than good.
So for a world which is fond of the petty and the impious, for a world that loves the self
above all else, which worships money, fame, perversion, and power, for such a world this
Word is an enemy, a threat, a double-edged sword and no peace at all.
And remember as well, to the Corinthian church, St. Paul further declared that “the
preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish.” But friends, for those who are
saved, he maintains that it is “the power of God.” It is foolishness and yet the very strength
of the God Who created and sustains all things. It is folly to the world and yet wisdom to the
church. It is a violent double-edged sword and yet a peace which surpasses all understanding.
It is both law and Gospel. Now this is a paradox, to be sure – a true mystery. But in such
things the faith consists. Our faith is based in mystery, in apparent contradiction – in what
surpasses understanding. In what appears ludicrous and even threatening to the world. Our
faith itself intimidates the world out there. As it should. And when threatened and
intimidated, the world, of course, pushes back. We know this all too well. The world
persecutes those who share the Gospel. The world seeks to silence those who preach the
cross. It is guaranteed, more so even than death and taxes: that the world pushes back against
the charisma of the church. But as the sainted author Flannery O’Conner once advised so
well: “you must push back against the age as hard as it pushes against you.” And that’s really
the message of our Gospel today in a nutshell. Our Lord brings a sword only insofar as the
world refuses His peace. When His peace divides families, it is only because loyalties are
already divided. The first commandment is the greatest, beloved. You are to fear, love, and
trust in God above all things, even yourself, even your loved ones, and most certainly this
fallen world. Our fidelity is to the faith, which must always come first. If anything else in
your life should precede it, should come first for you, that thing is, according to Dr. Luther,
no more than idolatry.

4
Idolatry today may take the explicit form of pride parades, drag shows, and abortion clinics –
and true enough, these are without question cavalcades and temples of idol-worship and
narcissistic decadence. But there’s idolatry in our own lives as well. In our own hearts.
Idolatry is whatever we place before God in our daily lives. And our Lord’s message this
morning is straightforward: “When these things come before Me, you are not worthy of Me.”
Considering that, I urge you—I have to!: push back against the world, friends. Push back
against what gets between you and God, against whatever makes you unworthy. Push back
against whatever is of sin and contrary to the Word of God. Push back.
But know this, too. Know that you will ultimately fail in this. That doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t keep pushing against the age and the world as hard as it pushes against you. But
just know, you will fail. You will stumble. You will give in on occasion and act contrary to
God’s Word. You will unjustly anger your loved ones. You will resent your co-workers. You
will envy your friends. You will lose your temper. You will be greedy with your time. You
will miss an opportunity to stand up for your faith. You will likely skip a Sunday service.
You will be embittered behind the wheel. You will lust after a woman. You will take your
husband for granted. You will neglect your parents. You will let your children down. You
will hurt others. And worst of all, you will put yourself and your many concerns before your
God. In time, these things will happen. Because you are still a sinner. You are both sinner
and saint – redeemed and yet amid a battle under way against your corrupted nature. That is
the baptismal life this side of heaven. And you see, that right there is the other side of the
message this morning. This text is a text about persecution and priorities, about faith
confronting a broken world, it is about sad realities and carrying crosses. But it is just as
much about the office. The office of the ministry, of those sent by the Lord for the sake of
reconciliation. Jesus sent out His disciples and He still does so, He instituted this office for
good, He placed me in it three weeks ago, so that when you fail and fall, when you stumble
and sin, that you might nevertheless be forgiven – because He still loves you dearly, as much
as ever. It’s so that His grace might be delivered to you when you need it the most. When we
put anything else before God it makes us unworthy of Christ. But dear faithful, we were born
unworthy of Him, conceived in original sin. We have never been worthy by ourselves. Not a
day of our lives.

5
It is only on account of His bitter sufferings and sacrificial death that we are made worthy,
that we are washed clean by His blood. We are only worthy because He makes us worthy.
And that’s an ongoing reality, friends. It is continual. You were made worthy in your Holy
Baptism, when you died to sin and were raised to life in Christ. You are made worthy every
single time you confess your sins and receive absolution, spoken from the lips of a minister
of the Lord and as confident as from the Lord Himself, as Luther says. And most wondrous
of all perhaps, you will be made worthy when you feast on your Lord’s very Body and Blood
in the most blessed Sacrament of this Altar.
Jesus reminds us in our text that we are called to take up our crosses and follow Him
– that we are to be willing even to die for Him, to lose our lives for His sake. This altar rail
here. Do you see it? Brothers and sisters, never forget: in this communion, together, we are
family. To gather around this altar together is to be a family. That is what it means. It means
to love one another. Gathering here is not a mere routine, a nice symbol and gesture. No, to
commune from this altar rail is no different at all than professing to the world proudly that
we here are willing to die for one another. That we are willing to die for our Lord. That we
are willing to take whatever abuse and oppression the world throws at us for our Lord’s sake,
and for the sake of one another. That’s precisely how the early church interpreted Holy
Communion – how those understood it who were faced with the very real threat of pain and
death at every turn. At this rail, we are united with Christ and one another. We are His body.
The world rejected Him and it will most assuredly reject us too. But that is no cause for
concern, because we have our Lord’s Body and Blood for our strength. And we have one
another, for encouragement, for building up, for brotherhood, for sisterhood, for fellowship.
Our Lord makes us worthy at this altar. He does so individually and He does so communally.
He binds us together. We are forgiven together, we’re strengthened together, we are called to
carry our crosses together. And friends, we are called to push back against the world
together. It’s the only way we can.
Jesus Christ, through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, has placed me in this
office. To be with you, at your side, as one body, the church, together.

6
I beg you not to think of our relationship so much as pastor and congregation, because there
is only one undivided church, and we are equally a part of it. You and I are the church,
together. It’s that simple. Having said that, our Lord has so chosen to place me in this office
to hand over His grace, to preach His Word and administer His sacraments to you. And that’s
what I plan to do, in season and out of season. When it is welcome and when it is
unwelcome. I will preach the Word, the message of the cross, what is foolishness to that
world which is perishing. And sometimes you may not like what you hear. Frankly,
sometimes I don’t. But dear faithful, that’s that double-edged sword, that’s the law, still
laying bare sin and the death it alone can promise. But I will be right here. With you and for
you. I will baptize children, I will marry friends, I will bury loved ones. That’s what I’ve
been called to do. To walk alongside you in this Christian life, to equip you to be a faithful
witness to the world, and to prepare you each for a blessed Christian death. And I aim to do
just that, the Lord helping me every minute of every day. But know this, too. I will fail at
times. I will undoubtedly make mistakes. I may even sin against you. Because I’m no less a
sinner, and I’m perhaps even the chief of sinners, as St. Paul, too, once confessed. But if and
when I do, I’ll ask for your forgiveness and pray that you will offer it. And God helping me
always, I will be here day in and day out, sharing His forgiveness with you. Because we are a
family beyond division. We are a family brought together by the Holy Spirit and bound
together by the love of Christ and the peace He alone brings, that peace which surpasses all
understanding. Our Lord indeed brings peace to the earth, dear faithful. He is, after, all, the
Prince of Peace. And this is most certainly true. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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