Sermon Title: In A Time of Conflict

Sermon by the Reverend John Young-Jung Lee on June 22, 2008

Matthew 10:24-39

10:24 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;

10:25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

10:26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.

10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

10:30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.

10:31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

10:32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will

10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

10:36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

10:38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

10:39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

In A Time of Conflict

I like the bestseller book from 1970’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This book is full of challenges in life. Here are a few sayings I still remember.  “To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…” This has almost the same messege as Jesus’ saying, “ So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24) Another saying I remember is, “For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating… don’t forget that the reason you fly is to eat.” This saying makes me think of why we read the Bible, come to church and hear the sermon. The purpose of all these activities are to live out God’s justice and mercy.

The last passage I want to share is this: “The higher you fly, the farther you see.” When we love each other and our relations go deeper, then we know how good he or she is. When I served the church as a lay person, I had my own level of understanding of ministry; and unique perspectives. After I was ordained, there was a shift of understanding and perspectives. When I served as the Conference president, there was also another world I was able to see and understand. Jesus' instructions to his disciples prior to their first mission continue in today's gospel reading. and ends by saying,  "What do you expect? A disciple is not greater than his teacher. If the world gives me a bad time, it will give you one too" (Matthew 10:24-25).

In the Gospel readings of the last few weeks, Jesus gives instructions to his disciples prior to their first mission. He has been telling them about all the dangers and hardships they may have to put up with. He tells the disciples to think only about proclaiming the good news. He says, “Do not worry about what to carry in your mission and do not even carry any gold, silver or any possessions. Now today, we are in the last part of his instruction. Jesus speaks about different levels of understanding of the people and he says, "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.”

Jesus asks his disciples to scale up to an upscale discipleship: to step up their understanding of differences and what it means to follow a great leader who sacrificed his whole self. This is not an oppressive or hierarchical idea. It talks about the different level of understanding and different perspectives within any organizations or communities. What Jesus teaches us is that we need to respect each other’s levels of understanding. This brings peace, this brings healing and reconciliation in our church and community. Let’s take a look around our society.

As the society becomes diverse, people began to value the differences and different culture, tradition and religion claims their own truths. This is what we experience in the Canadian society and in our church too. Up to this point it is good and people enjoy diversity. However when it come to a situation to chose one out of two or three competing ideas, there comes problems. This can happen within the church, within the work place and within the family. Some of us may remember that a few years ago, we had communion prayer with liturgical dancing.

In the form of the very original worship, dance with chanting was the only way of prayer of thanksgiving. But some traditions do not allow dance in a solemn worship. In his gathering, Jesus greets with blessings of peace at the beginning and ending. Our exchange of peace in the beginning of the service is our intention to recover Jesus’ Spirit. But as the Christian worship evolved some traditions perceived it as distracting or inappropriate. In the process of recovering the Spirit of Jesus, there can be clashes of different culture and tradition. This can cause conflict depending on the people’s cultural, religious tradition, experience and understanding.

Reaching to a consensus or full understanding takes time and we need patient, loving and caring heart with mutual respect and passion to dig out the truth in our communal life. Some times to keep the life of justice and mercy as Christians is a lot more difficult. In many times, setting the priority in the Spirit of Jesus Christ “ONLY” in our faith journey, in our church life creates conflict. Then we vaguely can understand  the heart of Jesus who is saying, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Jesus makes clear to the point what we have to do in the time of conflict. It is the matter of choosing Jesus’ way and other ways. Jesus warns that sometimes keeping our faith journey makes us to go against the father or family members in our own household. In this situation, Jesus urges us to chose exclusively his own ways. What Jesus points out is that if you follow the ways of the world, you are not worthy. Jesus makes even clearer and says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

What Jesus concludes is this: Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Jesus does this by revealing that discipleship is going to entail a lot more than just showing up. It is not losing a few hundred dollars or thousands of dollars. Jesus clearly speaks that “those who lose their life for my sake will find it. It is not analogy or metaphor. Jesus does not explain why. Jesus here is a straight talker. “If you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.” It is a solemn order for us today. In this final section of his missionary discourse, Jesus talks about the true nature of genuine discipleship.

A faithful disciple is one who proclaims “the good news - the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 10:6-7)  and who will “take up the cross and follow the one who confessed, not my will but thy will be done. The “cross” here we “take up” can be public disgrace, shame before the entire community. In our present life, we quite often run into confusion or misunderstanding. When we have to choose one out of many seeming good ways, we are in conflict. We can be in conflicts with our father, mother, brothers or sisters. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus is saying that the voice of the people is not the voice of God. We worry way too much about what other people say or think of us and far too little about what God thinks of us. We know this is true.

What Jesus speaks to us in the time of conflict is to think of Jesus’ heart and mind and set the first priority in Jesus’ way. Today, we celebrate the baptism, the celebration of covenanting to become the disciple of Jesus. We believe that it is God’s call to be God’s people. It is a covenant by saying “Yes” to God’s call. It is an affirmation of God’s loving grace in our community of faith and in the person who says “Yes.” We ARE connected to each other and we ARE neighbors with the entire world and the entire planet. Jesus calls us: Do you love me and follow my way as much as giving your whole self for God’s work? This covenant made in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Baptism, forgiveness of sins and starting out a new journey.

This is the journey of brining ourselves before God. In this journey of whole new life in the kingdom of God, we began to know how much God loves us. We will taste the joy of the kingdom of God. And we will affirm that God is with us always.

Thanks be to God! Amen.