Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
June 22, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
Dont Be Afraid to Confess Christ (Matthew 10:5a,
21-33)
What are you afraid of? I mean, what are you afraid
of, as far as being a Christian? Are there things to
be afraid of, that might happen to you because you are
a Christian? Lets think about that today. Thats
what Jesus talks to his disciples about in the Gospel
reading for today. He tells them, yes, there are
things that might scare you, there are some bad things
that might happen to you, precisely because you are my
disciples. But the bigger thing Jesus tells them is
what he will say to us now: Dont be afraid to be
known for being my disciples, and heres why. . . .
Thus our theme today: Dont Be Afraid to Confess
Christ.
Are there things that might scare us off from letting
people know we are disciples of Jesus? Yes, but first
I guess we should understand what is meant by this
term, disciples. It means those who follow and
learn from their teacher--in this case, Jesus. And we
can use the term disciples in both a narrower and a
broader sense. In the narrow sense, the disciples
means the twelve, those twelve men who personally,
physically, walked with Jesus back then. The twelve
disciples were Peter and Andrew, James and John,
Matthew and Thomas, and those guys. The twelve
apostles, whom Christ selected to establish his church
for all time in a foundational and unrepeatable way.
And so in the gospels some of what we see Jesus saying
to his disciples applies only to them and doesnt
apply to us today, at least not directly. For
example, this business about going through all the
towns of Israel. Well, that literally was the case
for the twelve apostles back in the first century.
But there is also a broader sense in which what Jesus
says to his disciples does apply to the church of all
ages, both to pastors and laypeople alike, according
to our respective vocations. We are all disciples of
Jesus in this sense, and thus we want to hear what our
Lord and Savior and Teacher tells us.
Disciples are all those who hear and respond to the
call of Jesus, Follow me. It starts with Jesus
finding us and calling us to himself. The initiative
lies with Jesus. He chooses us; we dont choose him.
We were off, doing our own thing, not knowing God,
lost and separated from God without knowing it, and
Jesus came and found us. He wants us to know God, he
wants us to know who God is for us, and that means
knowing Jesus. Jesus comes and makes God known to us
in a for you way. Jesus is the Way, and there is no
other way to know God and come into a right
relationship with him, other than through Jesus.
So he comes and calls us, Follow me. Come, get to
know me. Learn from me. I will teach you who God
really is, and you will know that by looking at me and
listening to me. My words and my works will reveal
God to you. I will teach you what Gods kingdom is
like, his gracious ruling activity, Gods end-time
salvation that I bring into your midst. Follow me in
faith, Jesus says, trust in me, learn from me, and
discover the new and different kind of life that comes
to my disciples. It will change who you are, it will
change your thinking, it will change what will happen
to you--in ways that might not seem so good right now,
but ultimately in a way that is unsurpassingly good.
Yeah, there are thing that can happen to you because
you are followers of Jesus, because you are
Christians, which will not be all that happy or
pleasant. Jesus will not have his disciples be
unaware of what lies in store for them. Listen to the
things he mentions:
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 names sake. Wow, thats not
good! Who wants to be hated? Even put to death? And
for my names sake, Jesus says. They will persecute
you, and this bad stuff will happen to you, precisely
because you bear my name, Christian.
But people will call you other names besides. If
they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more will they malign those of his
household. Beelzebul was a name they called Jesus.
Lord, prince, it means, but lord and prince of
demons. The Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus
by accusing him of being the ruler of demons. And if
they could say that about Jesus, who did only good,
how much worse names will they come up with for us his
disciples, who sometimes give our opponents room for
legitimate accusation. But we belong to Jesus, we are
members of his household, and so we can expect to be
rejected and maligned, spoken badly of, just as he
was.
How might people malign us today for being Christians?
Hypocrite, they might say. Those Christians are
all a bunch of hypocrites, and thats why I dont go
to church. Religious fanatics, thats what they
are, and I dont want to become a mind-numbed zombie
and get too much religion. Goody two-shoes,
prudes, intolerant bigots. Who do you think you
are? Dont impose your morality on me! The
maligning of Christians in our day, in our culture,
goes on full force. Some of it is based on
caricatures, stereotypes of the worst of what
church-people can be, and then it is extrapolated and
applied to us all. So be prepared to hear some of
this name-calling and verbal abuse, if you are going
to follow Jesus.
And dont be afraid of it, Jesus says. He tells us
not to fear. Three times, in fact, as we read it in
our text: In verse 26, So have no fear of them. In
verse 28, And do not fear. And in verse 31, Fear
not, therefore. But notice the therefore. What is
the therefore there for? The point is, Jesus gives
us reasons why we are not to fear. It isnt just a
cold command, Dont be afraid, buck up, and thats
an order. No, Jesus here gives us reasons for not
being afraid, and he does that each time he says, Do
not fear.
First, So have no fear of them, for nothing is
covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will
not be known. Jesus is saying, what is covered up
and hidden now will one day come to light. What is
covered and hidden now? What is not apparent to the
eye? Well, look, Jesus says that the kingdom of God
is here among us, that we Christians are the ones who
are blessed. But then why are we suffering so? Where
is that end-time salvation? Where is that deliverance
from evil? We dont see it with our eyes. Not right
now. Why do the righteous suffer, while the wicked
prosper? That was the psalmists lament, and it is a
perennial perplexity and paradox.
But think about what else was hidden from sight.
Think about the suffering--and death, shameful
death--of Jesus. Did that look so wonderful, a man
dying, nailed to a cross, condemned as a criminal,
mocked by his own people? Something was covered up
there, something was hidden from sight. Did that man
dying on a cross look like the salvation of the world
and the destruction of death and the devil? No, it
looked like just the opposite.
But what was covered up and hidden from sight has been
revealed to faith, has been made known in the gospel.
That man Jesus dying on the cross was how Gods
end-time salvation, how Gods deliverance, came to be.
For it took the death of the holy Son of God, dying
in the place of sinful man, to take the judgment we
deserve and win for us forgiveness, righteousness,
eternal salvation. You couldnt see it, just looking
at that man bleeding and dying, but that was really
what was happening, nonetheless.
So it is for us. We walk by faith, not by sight. We
go by what Gods word tells us, not by what our
circumstances seem to look like. Nothing is covered
that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be
known. When you are suffering, even when you are
suffering because you belong to Christ, do not think
that God has abandoned you. Do not think that you
were wrong to believe this Christianity business, that
its all a bunch of fairy tales. No, what is hidden
and covered now will all be made known in the end.
Therefore, do not be afraid of the opponents of the
gospel, who would ridicule Christians and mock us and
say, Where is your God? Have no fear of them, but
instead go ahead and speak and act as Christs
disciples. Dont be afraid to confess Christ.
You see, Jesus tells us why we need not fear. And the
second reason is this: And do not fear those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Whats the
worst that can happen to you, if they persecute you
for being a Christian? They can kill you, but thats
it. They can strike down this mortal body, which is
going to die anyway, but they cannot touch your soul.
Actually, that would be the greater danger, that out
of fear you would fall away from the faith and thus
lose your salvation and end up in hell, both body and
soul, under Gods judgment, for eternity. If theres
something to be afraid of, thats it. Dont even go
there. Jesus warns his disciples of the greater
danger, which is unbelief.
But death, physical death, as bad as it is and as
terrifying as it can be--bodily death is not the worst
that can happen. For Christ has defeated death,
conquered the grave, by his saving death and
resurrection. What Jesus did for us on Good Friday
and Easter has taken the sting out of death. For we
know that, having the forgiveness of sins and through
faith in Christ, we will share in Christs
resurrection. At the last day, when Christ comes
again, he will raise up these mortal bodies, and we
will live forever, perfected and whole in both body
and soul, just as he is risen from the dead, lives and
reigns to all eternity. It is enough for the
disciple to be like his teacher, and we will be like
him also in his resurrection. So do not be afraid of
those who can kill the body. Do not be afraid to
confess Christ.
And third and last, here is another reason not to
fear: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And
not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value
than many sparrows.
Dear friends, you are dear children of the heavenly
Father. He loves you very much. He not only created
you, he also redeemed you, and at great price--not
with gold or silver, but with the holy precious blood
of Christ. And God has put his name on you in Holy
Baptism, claimed you as his own and given you his
Spirit. You are very dear to God. Realize his deep
care and love for you. Nothing will befall you that
does not come by permission of his fatherly hand.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus--not suffering, not persecution, not
being hated or maligned for being a Christian.
Therefore, do not be afraid, fear not, no matter what
the threat of what might come your way. Your heavenly
Father is watching over you. Trust in him and rest
assured. Nestling bird nor star in heaven such a
refuge eer was given. Therefore, do not be afraid
to confess Christ.
Jesus today gives us the reasons: So have no fear of
them, for nothing is covered that will not be
revealed, or hidden that will not be known. And do
not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Fear not, therefore; you are of more
value--to your heavenly Father--than many sparrows.
These are reasons why we are not afraid to confess
Christ in the way we live and in the things we say.
Yes, let it be known to your friends and neighbors,
let it be known to your family members and fellow
church members, let it be known to the town of Bonne
Terre and to the Parkland region: You and I, we
belong to Jesus. He is our Savior. He is their
Savior, too. Indeed, he is the Savior of the world,
the only one there is. You and I, we are not ashamed
of the gospel, neither are we afraid. The good news
that we hear here in church we also speak out to the
world. Proclaim it on the housetops: The kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
the living God and the Savior of the world. The
church is not afraid to confess Christ.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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