Trinity Matthew 10: 24-31
[24] The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
[25] It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
[26] Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
[27] What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
[28] And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
[29] Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
[30] But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
[31] Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
The world does not love Christians; it never has and it never will. When our first parents defied their Maker, God condemned the devil with the words, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman.” Genesis 3:15. God did not predict that the world would become Christian, but that the world would hate Christians until the end of time. Using the same word, enmity, St. Paul describes the condition of the human heart when he writes, “Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. Natural man may say many pious things about God, but he hates the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. On this patriotic weekend, we think of the thousands of Americans that base their hope of heaven, not on faith in Jesus Christ, but on being an American. America, they claim, is different from other nations of the world. America, they tell you, is one nation under God, but which god?
The problem is not that the world doesn’t love Christians, but that we Christians tend to love the world. Many church bodies will water down the Scriptures and prostitute the word of God in an effort to gain acceptance and fame in the world, forgetting the basic truth of Scripture that what the world has to offer actually chokes out the Word of God. “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Mark 4:19, and again, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4.
If we don’t encounter any opposition from the world, perhaps we should ask, “Am I truly a follower Jesus?” These words are strong words, a wake-up call for you and me, a call to ask God to forgive us our worldliness and to find our strength in the Word of God, for only the precious word of the Lord can lead us to “deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.” Matthew 16:24.
If Jesus is our Master and if we are His students, then we can't expect to be treated any better than He was. The world didn’t love Him. Even the so-called godly nation of Palestine didn’t love Him. One time when Jesus showed that He was the Son of God by raising a maiden from the dead, the people “laughed him to scorn.” Luke 8:53. Another time when the Jewish leaders “consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill [him],” Matthew 26:4, the people answered and said, “Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?” John 7:20. When Jesus, day after day, showed divine compassion to the sick and needy, “The scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.” Mark 3:22.
Can we of the 21st Century expect any better treatment from the world than Jesus received? “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” Life as a follower of Christ is not an easy road. It wasn’t easy for Jesus. There is, however, this difference. Unlike us, He never succumbed to the world. He didn’t succumb so that by His holy life and death He might make up for the fact that we do. Jesus knows how weak and frail we are. He knows all about the temptations the world uses to get us to deny our faith, “For [He] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin so that we can come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,“ Hebrew 4:10. The devil never gives even the strongest Christian rest, but seeks to make us ashamed of our faith with the pressure of public opinion or of the scorn and ridicule of others, sometimes even from members of our own families. Jesus knows this because He faced it himself. He’s gone before and cleared the way as our victorious Savior so that He might dispense His forgiving mercy to us and give us the strength to be afraid of nothing the world might say about us or do to us. With Jesus as the Head of our household, do we have anything to fear?
Jesus further comforts us by saying, “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” Every evil word spoken against the sons of God will be remembered. Someday the slanderous world will know that Jesus is not Beelzebub and that we are not fools or religious fanatics. The whole universe will witness the glory of the children of God and the mouth of every opponent will be forever stopped. Even on the last day, or better, especially on the last day, you and I will have nothing to fear.
The devil, however, is no fool. By means of slander and public opinion, he seeks so to intimidate us that they crawl into a shell, and hide the precious gospel of salvation. That is why Jesus says: “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” This message of the gospel is meant for everyone, not just for the few that come to church, or for learned theologians. The Bible is an open book and Christianity is an open religion. All that can be known about God is here in the Scriptures, and everyone has access to it. None of it is to be kept hidden. What an encouragement for us for us not to give up daily Bible reading to renew our understanding of the mysteries of God's love for unlovable people, and then shout them from the housetops.
Are we afraid to do that? Jesus says, “Don’t be.” "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." These were very real and strengthening words to Christians of the first century, many of whom had to hide in catacombs to escape being hauled into court and put to death for their faith. This could also happen to us, impossible as it may sound now. Unfortunately, the devil doesn’t need to threaten our lives, as long as he can get us to forget about Judgment Day and think only of the here and now, and to find our happiness in the lusts and pleasures of the world.
The devil never mentions the consequences. The future, however, is real and there will be consequences. Our Savior who has come from the eternal Father tells us that, no matter our lot in this life, in comparison with eternity, it is like a drop of water in the ocean. What people in this life might think of us or what they might do to us, even to the extent of taking our earthly lives, is insignificant compared to the glory that God has reserved for His children in heaven.
Christian life is a constant battle. It is a fight of faith, a faith made strong by the promise of God’s abiding presence. “Think of the sparrows,” He says in this text. In those days they could buy two for a penny in the market. Yet God the Father notices if even one of them falls to the ground. His interest in you and me is so great that he even knows how many hairs are on our heads, something that changes each time we run a comb through our hair. If God watches over every step that we take, is there anything that can harm us? He protects us all along the way to our home in heaven. St. Paul tells us: "I reckon that our present sufferings are not worth being compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18. May the words of this text move us to repent of our fearful nature and give us the strength to resist the allurements of the world, and to share the life-giving message of salvation, a message that means so much to us, with people to whom it means, until we speak, nothing at all.