Matthew 10:34-42 –Jesus calls upon his disciples to love him
above all others. Matthew continues in this lesson with the price of
discipleship. In verses 34-36, Jesus declares that His coming will cause
dissension in families because disciples will love Him more than any member of
the family. In verses 37-39, Jesus calls upon His disciples to take up the
cross and to lose themselves in His cause. To those who do this, Jesus promises
rewards (verses 40-42). In this passage, we have the cost and reward of
discipleship.
There are
many rewards — reward of a prophet, or a righteous man, of a spokesperson and
ambassador of Christ. “He who receives
you receives me.” To accept a follower of Christ is to accept Jesus; to
help a disciple is to help Christ. To reject a disciple is to reject Christ.
What a high honor to be a surrogate of Christ!
The pattern
of Christ’s suffering is the outline of ministry. Found in the words of John
the Baptizer who said, “He must increase
while I must decrease.”- John 3:30
In her book
“Generation Me” author Jean Twenge put it this way, “In many ways, there’s no better time to be alive than right now. Think
of all the advantages we have that earlier generations did not: television,
cell phones, better medical care, computers, more education, less physical
labor, the freedom to make our own choices, the ability to move to a more
desirable city. These last two, however, begin to hint at the underlying
problem. Our growing tendency to put the self-first leads to unparalleled
freedom, but it also creates an enormous amount of pressure on us to stand
alone.”
It really
isn’t about you. It’s always about Jesus.
All too often, we forget that the invisible God is working things out
according to His purpose. Not yours. God is free to do as He pleases. He owes
no one anything. And yet… And yet, He chose to redeem you. He chose to send
Jesus into your world. Into time and space. To become your substitute. To live
a perfect life for you. To bear your sin. To die your death. To rise again. To
make you His own. And place His Spirit inside of you. To endow you with gifts.
So you can be a sermon in shoes. So you can be His witness in this generation.
This tells
us that grace alone will make and keep you with Jesus. Your status in this life
is not dependent on what you do. It is decided by whose you are. You are in
Christ. Therefore, you can choose to do anything you want in this life. You are
free. You are free to be anything you want. You can be a butcher, a baker, a
candle maker. You are free to be cop a teacher or a farmer. You are free to be
a line cook at a greasy spoon or a garbage man. You are free to be a truck driver,
a plastic surgeon or stay at home mom. “Whatever your hand finds it to do…do it with
all your might.” - Ecclesiastes 9:10
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord.” - Colossians 3:17
Remember the
Service Master cleaning service. In all you do - you are rendering service to
the Master. What you do is a reflection of who you are.
Collect for Proper 8 –O
Almighty God, by the working of Your Holy Spirit grant that we may gladly hear
Your Word proclaimed among us and follow it’s directing; through Jesus Christ
Your Son, our Lord who lives and rules with You and the Holy Spirit, One God,
now and forever.
Heavenly Father, grant Your mercy
and grace to Your people in their many and various callings. Give them
patience, and strengthen them in their Christian vocation of witness to the
world and of service to their neighbor in Christ’s name; through Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
Image ‘With all your heart,’ copyright
© Ed Riojas, Higher Things
Generation Me by Jean Twenge, PhD
© 2006 Simon & Schuster
Prayers from Lutheran Service
Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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