The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 8A), June 26, 2005
BCP: Isaiah 2:10-17; Psalm 89:1-18 or 89:1-4,15-18; Rom. 6:3-11; Matt. 10:34-42
RCL: Gen. 22:1-14 or Jer. 28:5-9; Psalm 13 or 89:1-4,15-18; Rom. 6:12-23; Matt. 10:40-42
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus makes one shocking statement after another. He claims that he has not come to bring peace but a sword, to divide families, and that anyone who prefers even his own parents to him is not worthy of him. He announces that those who follow him must do so by taking up a cross and by losing their lives for his sake (Matt. 10:34-39). The demands are excessive. In few other places, if any, is the nature of absolute commitment stated so bluntly.
Isaiah’s message comes to the same conclusion by a different path. He states emphatically that a time will come when all that is “majestic,” “haughty,” and “proud” shall be brought low, that “human pride will be humbled … and Yahweh alone will be exalted” (Isaiah 2:12,17). Where Isaiah announces that all arrogance shall fall before God, Jesus goes further. He makes it clear that even everything that is good and right in itself cannot be put before commitment to him. Yet, in context, neither of these passages can be seen as truly megalomaniacal.
In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to remain unswervingly faithful to him, and promised that if they did so their lives in the Promised Land would be easy and luxurious. In the gospels, Jesus said that his followers were to seek first the kingdom of God, and then all that they truly needed would be given to them. In other words, the demand to put God in Christ first is actually a promise given for the benefit of the faithful. The psalm puts it into balance — when God is put first, then unmitigated and invincible joy, delight, and celebration follow: families, possessions, the divine inheritance, the future.
The lesson from Romans puts the message in terms of Christian commitment and sacramental initiation. The faithful who become “dead to sin” then become truly “alive for God in Christ Jesus” (6:11). In short, ultimate and complete commitment is necessary if one is to receive the full blessing of eternal life. Almost surprisingly, the gospel lesson goes on to show how easy it actually is. Those who receive the messengers of God for that simple reason find eternal life. Where total commitment is demanded, at the same time “anyone who gives so much as a cup of cold water” to a disciple “will most certainly not go without his reward” (Matt. 10:42).
Look It Up
What loses its power once one has voluntarily “died with Christ”? See Romans 6:8-9.
Think About It
Reflect on C. S. Lewis’ words in A Grief Observed: “Your bid — for God or no God, … for eternal life or nonentity — will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high.”
Next Sunday
The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 9A), July 3, 2005
BCP: Zech. 9:9-12; Psalm 145 or 145:8-14; Rom. 7:21-8:6; Matt. 11:25-30
RCL: Gen. 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 or Zech. 9:9-12; Psalm 45:11-18 or 145:8-15; Rom. 7:15-25a; Matt. 11:16-19,25-30
