Proper 7A

June 22, 2008 

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Psalm 69:8-11, 18-20

Romans 6:1b-11

Matthew 10:24-39

You might have heard me say before that if I had enough money to spend on anything I wanted, I’d spend it on art. I’d collect art. I’d travel around and search out unique pieces that revealed something about the artistry of their creators. Something I could relate to. Something that would open up a new way for me to see – broaden my vision of the world. Some blending of color that I had never seen before or a rendition of something familiar that made it seem unfamiliar. Something fresh and new that stirred my curiosity to learn about it. Of course, I’d need a proper place to display my art, ample wall space and appropriate lighting. Then I’d want plenty of time to spend with my art, appreciating it. Not because of what it costs or for any value it may have in the future after the artist is long gone. I wouldn’t buy art as an investment. I’d buy it because it brought me pleasure, because it meant something to me personally. That’s how I would determine its worth. Not by what I paid for it, or what it would bring to me or my heirs in the marketplace. I would care for it and appreciate it for no other reason than I chose it and it mattered to me.

In the Gospel last week, Jesus sent the twelve apostles to seek out the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." He said to them, "Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. If it is not worthy, let your peace return to you." In today’s Gospel Jesus tells them that two sparrows are sold for a penny, yet not a single one falls to the ground without its Creator knowing about it. He tells the apostles that they are worth more many sparrows then he said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace. Not to the earth. Not to any household. I have come as a sword dividing one generation from another." "Whoever loves father and mother more than me," He said, "Is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." In preparation for the ministry he called and sent them to do, Jesus told the first apostles they were worth more than a handful of sparrows to God, but if they loved a parent or child more than they loved him, they were not worthy of him. Unless they followed him, in obedience to God, as bearers of God’s saving grace for the world, Jesus said, they were not worthy of him.

Don’t you wonder what modern day disciples like you and me are supposed to take away from this Gospel about worth and worthiness in regard to the work we are given to do. The work we are sent from this worship service to do week after week after week? For one thing, we can’t expect to be treated any better than Jesus was. He was not welcomed in his home town among his own kin. He was not respected by the so called religious leaders who worshipped the same God he called Father. In fact, the scribes and Pharisees followed him everywhere he went, watching him like a hawk waiting for him to trip up, looking for an opportunity to kill him so they could be rid of him once and for all. We may be worth more than many sparrows to God but if Jesus who is divine was not worthy to be treated well in his day, surely we are not worthy of better treatment than he got.

This piece of the Gospel is downright depressing to me because it is so true. How can we stay motivated to be obedient to our Lord, to participate in the Great Commission, to make the repair and restoration of the world our chief concern and deal as we must with sickness, the presence of evil, and death, when the cost is that it brings strife in our families and no one on earth appreciates our efforts. What makes this life to which you and I are called as modern day disciples worthy of our commitment? Surely there is a better way to spend the days of our lives. (I sound a little bit like Jeremiah, don’t I?) Of course I also know what he said is true, that if we turn away from our Lord and decide not to live as disciples, it feels as though there is a fire shut up in our bones and holding it in is almost too much to bear.

In our culture of rampant consumerism, determining worth and worthiness of everything dominates our lives. What is a gallon of gas worth? What is it worth to me to dive a particular car or live in a particular neighborhood? What career is worthy of my time? Who is worthy of my friendship and my respect? What cause or ministry is worthy of my money? Who is worthy of my help? And we generally have some internal criteria for determining that kind of worth. When it comes to determining our own worth we try to quantify it like everything else, to measure it in money and assets or successes worthy of admiration or popularity. Maybe we determine our worth by how much we are loved by our families and our friends. Suppose I don’t have much family or very many friends. What does that say about my worth?

For us modern day disciples, the worth and worthiness that Jesus spoke of – the worthiness to stand before God that you and I received through the saving grace of Jesus comes not from us. Not from anything we can gain or accomplish in a lifetime of trying. But only from Jesus. That is how our worth is determined. It’s not much different from the way I said I would appreciate and care for art if I could afford to collect it, for no other reason than I chose it and it matters to me.

As the master creator God loves and cares for all of creation. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to God, but through Christ, God chose us – you and me – to be bearers of God’s saving grace in the world, to love and care for the people of God. That’s the work of a disciple. The work we are sent out to do. Jesus did not say it would be easy to do the ministry he entrusted to us. On the contrary, it would be the most difficult way to spend our days. It would demand everything from us. But in the end, life that is stronger than death is our reward. That’s the good news we have to share. And it is worth sharing.