Grace and Peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Let us pray,
Prepare us, O God, for your service. Let us come before you with eager and humble hearts and with disciplined minds. Cleanse us, enlighten us, and kindle us, that we, with all the faithful, may call upon you in true devotion, rejoicing in the wonder of your saving love. As we serve you in your holy house, grant that we may glorify you with heart and mouth and hands: to your honor, to the salvation of your people, in the power of your Holy Spirit.
Amen.
This week there are going to be a lot of bad sermons preached. A lot of sermons are going to miss the point of the texts. I hope that this is not one of them.
Some of the texts are difficult, confusing, and are regularly preached without a close reading of the text. Well preparing to write this sermon I was absolutely confused by the gospel reading and are Old Testament reading from Jeremiah. I kept trying to figure out if I was missing the point, or why they just did not seem to make sense to me.
And so, I did what I do every time a text confronts me and seems difficult or confusing, I read the larger context that the text is in. So, for our reading from Jeremiah, I read several additional chapters before and after our reading for today. For gospel reading, I had to look back and see the rest of the chapter from Matthew that this small text came from. In both cases I discovered a wealth of information that would have been lost to me and thus to you because I just stuck to these short passages.
I didn't remember the story of Jeremiah and Hananiah. The story begins, Jeremiah in the first year of Zedekiah the King receives the word of God to prophesy that the Babylonians, who have already conquered Israel taken people from the land of Israel and transported them to Babylon and have ransacked the temple taking away all the gold from the temple. The candle holders, the incense burners, the bowls, plates, and even the Ark of the covenant. That the Babylonians, would not be a short ruler of Israel but would be a ruler of Israel for quite a long time. Jeremiah was called to tell the people of Israel to build your houses where they are and to live their lives. Jeremiah was telling the people not to rebel or fight against the Babylonians , but rather to accept their fate and know that their God promised to return them in return all the things that have been taken from them in time, before this time Babylon would rule over them and much of their neighboring kingdoms. As a sign of this Jeremiah formed a yoke out of wood and wore it around everywhere, he went.
At the same time another Prophet started to preach in Israel, he was telling the people that they should rise up and fight the Babylonian King, that the Lord would empower them to bring back all the gold from the temple and all the Exiles from Babylon. The King Zedekiah liked the message of Hananiah and prepared to go to war with Babylon.
And thus, we get to this meeting between Jeremiah and the prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah repeats the exact words that Hananiah had spoken. Then said the prophets who came before prophesized war famine and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms As for the prophets who prophesied peace when the world word of that profit comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the Prophet. What Jeremiah is saying here is a sarcastic comment against the prophet Hananiah saying that everyone else prophesied the destruction but Hananiah gives us this wonderful image of peace. But peace isn't what God is commanding now. When Jeremiah said these things, Hananiah was so angry that he took the yoke off of Jeremiah's back and snapped the wood and said this is a sign that God told me to show you that just like I snapped the yoke from around Jeremiah's neck God will snap the yoke that the King of Babylon has placed amongst you.
Jeremiah then goes away without a response to what Hananiah just done. But then a vision comes to Jeremiah from God and God tells him because Hananiah has broken the wooden yoke, the yoke around Israel's neck will no longer be wooden what will instead become like iron. The yoke will be harder and the slavery worse and longer because of the words of this false Prophet and all the Israelites who are listening to him over God's true word. God also tells Jeremiah to go and say these things to Hananiah and prophecy to Hananiah that because he is a false Prophet, he will receive the rewards of a false Prophet and within the year he would be struck dead. And so, it came to pass that within the year Hananiah was dead and the people of Israel would suffer under the rule of the King of Babylon for many decades and several generations.
Our reading from Matthew this week talks about whoever welcomes you welcomes me and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me and the people who welcomes those who I sent receive a reward and whoever gives even a Cup of cold water to these little ones in the name of a disciple truly I tell you none of these will lose their reward. I know a lot of sermons are going to be about welcoming this week. About welcoming others into your midst and that's a good message but that's not what this text is talking about. This isn't a text talking about radical hospitality, this isn't a text about opening your arms up to a stranger all these things appear in the gospel and all these things are good but this week's text is specifically a message to the disciples.
In the past few weeks our gospel readings have all been from the 10th chapter of Matthew. In this chapter Jesus calls and sends the 12 disciples out into the land of Israel. God tells them that they're going to heal the sick preach that the Kingdom of God is near and raise the dead. He tells them that they're going to do the very things Christ has been doing. But then he also tells them but not everyone who I send you to will accept you and when that happens you should shake your dust off your shoes and leave. And then he talks about the fact that Jesus doesn't come to bring peace but a sword. Families will be divided because of the message that they are called to share; communities will be divided. The disciples have much to fear. Just as the people of Israel called Christ the Prince of lies and from Beelzebub, so too the disciples will be attacked. Some will even be killed; they certainly will be persecuted. And Jesus tells them do not be afraid. That's a terrifying thing to hear from Christ. Jesus the Messiah, has told you to go out spread the good news, but the good news won't always be received well, not only will the good news not always be received well but sometimes people will be outright hostile towards it and because they're hostile towards this good news the gospel they will attack you and you will suffer because you bear the name of Christ and bear the gospel.
And so, with all of that, we then hear this week's reading. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a Prophet in the name of a Prophet will receive a prophets reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; And whoever gives even a cold Cup of water to one of these little ones in the name of the disciple--truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.
After telling the disciples of all the sufferings they might face, of the difficulties of proclaiming the good news, of healing the sick, and proclaiming sins forgiven, Christ offers these words of welcome, these words of comfort. Yes, there will be suffering, and some people reject you because they rejected Christ and the message of Christ, but others will welcome you. And they will welcome you because they welcome Christ’s message and then in welcoming Christ’s message they are welcoming God. And the people who welcome you will receive their reward, the reward of the prophets, the reward of the righteous. And that reward is Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and the life everlasting. Those who welcome the disciples welcome Jesus and welcome God the Father and because of that they will receive their reward.
What good news do these texts bring to you, to us?
What these texts tells us is people often will accept easy answers. They will welcome false prophets because the false prophets don't challenge them; the false prophets tell them the word they want to hear, regardless of if that is God’s Word.
The gospel isn't always easy on us. Yes, the gospel tells us that our sins are forgiven, that Christ has done the work necessary for our Salvation and for our reconciliation with God. That is comforting but when we read the gospel, we also see how much we fall short of what God desires for us. We hear that all have sinned and all fall short of the grace of God.
When we read the scriptures, we want to place ourselves in the role of the victor of, the hero of the stories, but when we're honest with ourselves a lot of the times we probably should be closer to the villains.
In our order of confession and forgiveness of sins, at least the one that we say the most often, we say, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Our God who is merciful, yes even who loved us while we were sinners chose to come to earth, become a human become an abused, despised, vulnerable, and weak human, to be persecuted, prosecuted, tortured, rejected, and ultimately die on the cross so that we might know God and be saved.
The gospel isn't always easy message. The task of sharing the gospel isn't always an easy task. Sometimes when we share the gospel, when we share God's word, when we share God's love; we are rejected.
Just because the gospel isn't always easy to share and just because we might be rejected and the message rejected, that doesn't mean that we should stop sharing it. It doesn't mean that we should stop going out and spreading the good news. Even when other people reject the message of Christ crucified for all of our sins, a message that calls for the liberation of all of God's people and all of God's creation, a message that calls on us to love all people regardless of who they are or what they've done. We don't know what seeds the Holy Spirit is planting in those who reject us. We're going to hear in a few weeks several parables because the gospel readings for the last three Sundays of July are different parables of Jesus. And one of the parables that that is valuable here is the parable of the seeds sown in different soils.
I like that parable. One of the things that I take from it is the seed is scattered and grows where it will, where God has created the right environment for it to take root and grow. A lot of times when we read it, we talk about the fact that well there's good soil and there's bad soil and there's rocky soil and there's roads and the seeds grow only in good soil.
But in many ways the gospel is a very special seed, because the gospel when it's planted and nourished and supported by the Holy Spirit can grow in whatever soil it's planted and it changes the soil that it's planted in. I'm thinking of, I don't know if any of you have seen, but there's a city I think in Pennsylvania where the city was abandoned because there's a fire in a coal mine underneath the city, and the even the pavement is cracked open and plants are growing where they really ought not to be. The gospel is like that, even in the cruelest person you can imagine the gospel could take root and change the soil.
And so, my friends my brothers and sisters, my siblings in Christ, I remind you to boldly proclaim the good news, share the gospel wherever and whenever by your words and by your actions. Yes, your message might be rejected. But even in that rejection God might be planting seeds for new growth.
Let us pray,
By your word, eternal God, your creation sprang forth, and we were given the breath of life. By your word, eternal God, death is overcome, Christ is raised from the tomb, and we are given new life in the power of your Spirit. May we boldly proclaim this good news in our words and our deeds, rejoicing always in your powerful presence, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.
Amen.