Proper 7 :: Jeremiah 20: 7 – 13 / Psalm 86: 1 – 10, 16 – 17 / Romans 6: 1b – 11 / Matthew 10: 24 – 39
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 25,
2023 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“THE FAITH: A RESOURCE AND A TOOL”
(Homily text: Matthew 10: 24 – 39)
We human beings make use of a wide
variety of tools, which are resources that allow us to do things that we wouldn’t
be able to do, otherwise.
Knowing what a tool’s abilities are is
important, in order to know how to use that tool effectively.
Some tools can be used without much
instruction, in order to use them safely. But nearly all the tools, the resources,
we use carry with them some sort of a warning, some sort of a set of
instructions about their capabilities, their limitations, and – in particular –
the danger that the tool or resource can pose if used improperly.
One tool or resource we use quite a bit
is books, whether they are used in “hard copy” (paper), or whether or not they
are used in electronic form. A book can inform, it can educate, it can shape a
person’s ideas, thoughts or grasp of reality. But books can also be used as a
tool to spread ideas that are destructive to others.
Another tool we use quite a lot is
bolts and fasteners of various kinds. These things allow us to connect things
to one another in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. But a bolt
that not sufficiently tightened, or – just as bad – is overtightened, poses a
risk if the things it is supposed to hold together come apart. Think, for
example, of the various items in a car’s suspension system. If those things
aren’t held together tightly, the result could be catastrophic.
No wonder that so many of the things we
used now carry warning labels, so that the users will be aware of the dangers
of misuse.
These examples bring us to the topic of
today’s Gospel text.
In it, Jesus instructs His disciples,
as they are being trained to go out into the world carrying the Good News
(Gospel) with them. Implicit in the Lord’s instruction that we hear this
morning is that making use of the tools that God has provided in the sending of
Jesus Christ to take up residence among us will pose a danger to the ones who
make use of them.
The Lord says that making use of the
tool of the Gospel will cause division among people, as those who hear the Good
News either accept or reject it.
It’s possible that the members of the church
of which Matthew was a part (modern-day biblical scholars think that Matthew’s
church may have been located somewhere in what is now Syria) had begun to face
the persecution that the Lord portrays, as He says that those who bear the Good
News will be betrayed by others they had known and loved, and would be dragged
before judges because of their faith.
In our country today, we don’t face
those sorts of challenges and dangers (we are blessed to live in America!). And
yet, outright opposition to the Christian faith is more pronounced than it
would have been not too many years ago.
Even if we don’t face the sorts of
dangers that being dragged into court entail, then we should be aware that
giving testimony to what God has done in our own lives can be misused, to the
detriment of others. Using the Bible as a brickbat to scold others is one
common way of misusing God’s truth. Even here, there’s a warning to Jesus’
disciples, not to use methods that the Lord Himself didn’t use to share the
Good News of God in Christ. To be clear, Our Lord reserved His harshest
criticisms for those who thought they’d figured out all there was to know about
God and God’s ways. I am thinking here of the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the
ruling elite in the time of our Lord’s visitation and earthly ministry.
We, too, should be aware that, in order
to properly use the resources that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us means
that we will hold that gift in love, and share it with love, to all with whom
we come in contact. In that way, we use the gift of Christ, who is our most
valuable resource, in the ways in which God sent Him into the world, bearing
witness to God’s love, and sharing that gift in love.
AMEN.
