St. Matthew 10:34-42 “When the Lord urges us to love Him, He begins by mentioning those persons whom we are quite right, indeed obliged, to love,” says St. Augustine, early church father in the year 398AD. There is a proper and godly sort of love and then there is love that is wrong and misleads us. There is a love of the things of this world that is spiritually blinding. We become so accustomed to our material possessions that we cannot imagine our lives without these things.
There is love that leads to fornication. There is a love for things that leads us to envy. There is a love for ourselves that leads us to hate. Jesus is telling us to watch out for the objects of our love. If the objects of our love are the things of this world, then what is happening is we are slowly being led away from Christ. This is what Jesus is getting at when He says, “He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”(vs. 37). This is almost taboo to say something like this in our culture, but those whom we love could mislead and be slowly pulling us away from Christ. Notice that Jesus is not saying that we shouldn’t love these people. Rather, He is putting first things first. Love God more than all of these. In times of conflict, it is Jesus whom we are to put first in our lives. As much as we love our parents, our children, our siblings, etc., they cannot save us from hell. Only Christ is the Savior. But, then, Jesus as he teaches us to love Him, goes on to tell us whom we should love. “He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever shall give a drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall in no way lose his reward”(vv. 41-42). Striking words. Jesus is telling the church that she is to love God’s ordained servants. The church is also to love those who are the righteous, which is another way of saying that we are to love the baptized--those who are clothed with Jesus and our fellow saints in the faith. Furthermore, we are to love the poor. What Jesus is trying to tell us is that we are not to be focused on this world and its “things” but, rather, we are to give attention to the spiritual things. The love that flows out of us is the love of Christ that first comes to us. All of this is meant to inform us as to the Christian life. St. Paul warns us about thinking carnally instead of spiritually. St. Paul even goes so far as to chastise the Corinthian church because they were so carnally minded that he was unable to move on to the meat of Christian teaching. He tells them that because of their constant envying, strife, divisions, etc. he was unable to continue to teach them further and they were being hindered as a church. They were unable to love and serve as humble people of faith and this was hurting them as a greater body. Individuals and their sins do affect the greater body, the church. If you live your life as one who is always taking from others, then you cannot be a very good servant of Christ. If you live for yourself and for the things of this world that have been given you, then your soul is divided. If your soul is divided, then you are hindered from growing in the faith. You hinder the Holy Spirit who works in you. St. Paul warns the Corinthians of this elsewhere when he says if you are at home in the body, then you are absent from the Lord(2 Cor. 5:5-8). The church’s character and distinctiveness is to come from Christ--His wounds and His love, but oftentimes we find the church’s character is not all that distinct, but looks more like the world. This is not how God would have it be. As the body of Christ we must look at ourselves and see what shows forth more, the ways of the world or the ways of the Spirit. Without doubt, there will be sin. This cannot be helped because of the flesh and the world, but the character of the church becomes a sweet smelling fragrance when the proper love that Jesus is talking about is exhibited. When there is repentance, mercy and a desire to live in the way of Christ, then you will find the church is a wonderful place led by the Holy Spirit. The repentance is you repenting of your sins. Mercy is the willingness to forgive the sins of others. Hidden in both of these dispositions of heart is the love of Christ. St. Paul even tells the church in Corinth that Jesus died for all, that they which live should not live for themselves, but for Him which died for them and rose again(2 Cor. 5:15). All of this means a couple of things. First, Christ’s church here will continue to develop her character. The character which is developed within her is largely determined by whether or not the people live in the mercy and love of Christ or if they let attitudes of this world and the flesh govern this place. If the people seek to gratify the flesh and seek the things of this world, then this church will be negatively affected. If the people seek to love their fellow Christians and servants of the gospel, as well as love and care for the poor, then the character of the church will be a sweet fragrance of Christ that draws us back continually, as well as others. Second, the mystery of the Holy Scriptures, this hidden wisdom, as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 2:7), will be opened unto us by the Holy Spirit and we will learn and see things, both, about ourselves and about the world that we never saw before. Godly wisdom and understanding is spiritually discerned and the Holy Spirit opens these things to us as the Lord sees fit to give. In other words, church is more than just sliding in and out of the pew and feeling as if we have just done the right thing. Christ and His church is a great mystery and the Lord opens ways up to us that bring us a deeper peace and understanding. The issue, then, is what you fill yourself up with, or, to put it in Augustine’s way, the issue is what or who is the object of your love in this life. For all of this reflection, we are led to get on our knees, because this meditation is meant to show us, both, the path of life and our sins so that we do not stray from the path of Christ. This is, after all, why Christ took on flesh. Jesus was incarnate and was made man in order to save us from this world and our sinful flesh. The love that we seek and the mercy that we desire first finds its home and source in Jesus. Without His love from the cross, there is no love for us. Without His mercy in the shedding of His blood, there would be no mercy for us. But Christ loves you. Your sins are forgiven. You are His baptized children. It is Christ’s work to be merciful to you and lead you away from the things that once threatened you, in order that Jesus may thereby lead you to Himself. For this is your home. The blood of Christ pours over you. Jesus gathers you to heaven as a hen gathers her chicks to safety. You rest in His atonement and your baptism renders you holy and without spot or sin. Jesus has made His home with you and you have your home in Jesus. He showers His peace upon His church, and the result is the beautiful and aromatic fragrance of His love that surrounds us and enters our nostrils and all our being to give us peace. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
