PENTECOST 6, A – June 22, 2008

SCRIPTURES – Psalm 56; Jer. 20:7-13; Rom. 6:12-23; Matt. 10:5, 21-33

Did you ever see the movie, “Bruce Almighty” ? God appears to Bruce, a TV reporter, and gives him all His power. “This is great!” thinks Bruce. He uses his new power to impress his girlfriend, and to get great news stories and become wildly successful. But, life with God’s power turns out to be much harder than he thought it would be.

Last week we heard how Jesus actually did give His power to His disciples and sent them out to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and bring His peace. Great! But, lest they think everything will be wonderful, He then says to them:

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”

What’s going on here? What had Jesus done? What caused people to hate and persecute Him and His followers? What causes people today to hate and persecute Him, and us, His followers?

q   Jesus was not persecuted for seeking to overthrow Caesar, or any government, to establish His own earthly kingdom. He sought no earthly rule.

q   Jesus and His followers did lose the respect of some because they ate with sinners, but they were not harshly persecuted for this. He would never have been put to death for such practices.

Jesus and His disciples were hated and persecuted in His day – and this will continue to happen in our day – primarily because of what He claimed about Himself, claims which His disciples passed on. Jesus claimed:

1)    That the Bible is all about Him: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the [Scriptures]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17). More than this, He even claimed that His words are of equal worth with the Bible’s words, and that eternal life depends upon His words.

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-25)

2)    By claiming this, He was asserting that He is God, and that forgiveness here and eternal life in heaven are His, and His alone, to give.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven… many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' ” (Matthew 7:21-23)

            In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says: “Everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”  (Matt. 10:32-33) He says that He has the Father’s ear. God listens to and follows what He says. Jesus is one with God the Father, and life with the Father in heaven depends upon Him.

Today, just as 2,000 years ago, we are challenged with whether we do or do not believe what Jesus says about Himself. Now, I know that there are lots of different ways people, and churches, interpret what He says. Nowadays there are plenty of Bible scholars and churches who pick apart the Bible and say its words are untrustworthy, who say we really can’t even know for sure what Jesus said. But, when you die and stand before God for His judgment upon your life, you’re not going to be standing before any church or pastor. Your family and friends and neighbors will not determine your eternal destiny. You will be standing before Jesus. He will determine whether your eternal destiny is heaven or hell. Will He confess you before His Father in heaven?

 

I know, this is offensive to many. If you say that the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus – we don’t get to heaven by being good enough, but only by confessing Jesus as our Savior! – you will be opposed and hated by some, even by some who are churchgoers. This is offensive to many because it sounds restrictive and unloving. But, open your eyes to see what a good and kind and loving and gracious Savior we have in Jesus! Because He truly wants all to be in heaven, He comes down from heaven, sets aside His power and might and the praises of the hosts of heaven to become weak and lowly and endure the hatred of men. He offers Himself to all and serves us all! And, what is most important, He lives for all. He confesses for all. Thank goodness, for we are weak and we fail. Like Jeremiah, we don’t like to be laughed at by others, do we? We don’t like others to reject us and hate us because of our faith. And so, we don’t always speak up when we should. We don’t always confess Jesus before men. We are weak and sinful, and in our sin we have failed God, denied our Savior.

 

But, Jesus came down from heaven to confess faithfully, and then to bear the hatred and scorn of men and give His life as a ransom for sinners. “The wages of sin is death,” says Scripture; and this is true. Death is what we have earned. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6) Free gift. Eternal life in heaven is not ours because of anything we have done, not even because we confess Jesus to others. It is ours because of what Jesus has done. The Teacher became like His disciples, the Master like His servants, that He might “deliver our souls from death and our feet from falling” (Ps. 56:13, Introit). By His death for your sins He has done so!

 

So rejoice!, and gladly confess Jesus. The gift of eternal life in Jesus is what God shares with others as we confess Christ. If you are hated and opposed for doing so, then you are like your Teacher and Master. Have no fear, for He stands with you, numbering the very hairs on your head and speaking on your behalf to God the Father. May our response be that of the writer of Psalm 56: “In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” To the glory and honor of the One who endured for us hatred and persecution and, ultimately, the cross, Jesus Christ, our Lord.