Costly Discipleship

3rd Sunday after Pentecost/Ordinary Time

June 14th 2026

Scripture: Exodus 19:2-8 & Matthew 10:1-23

Sometimes, the news headlines are so grim, that I get to thinking that we live in the most divisive time in history.

We have trillionaires and we have people without shelter, food, or water.

We have right wing and left wing politics.

We have pro-life and pro-choice.

We have pro-Israel and pro-Palestine.

We have movements in play for equality and movements to take away the rights of women, immigrants, people with non-white skin, and people who do not define themselves as heterosexual.

There have been numerous times over the past decade that have made me wonder if we might have a second civil war in our nation, or if we might perhaps find ourselves involved in WWIII. Tensions are high. Every little thing feels polarizing. Everything feels like the end of the world. Has it ever been this bad before?

Of course it has! Apparently, it has been like this for as long as us humans have recorded history. Jesus, who came that all might have abundant life, who came and proclaimed the kingdom of heaven to be at hand, who came to save the world and grant us peace… that same Jesus named the reality that such change comes at a cost. Why? Because, while these things might sound like universal desires, not everyone is on board. Jesus named the reality that this might cost us even our closest relationships. Our families will be divided, “siblings will turn on siblings, fathers will turn on their children, children will defy their parents and have them killed!”

When Jesus came to change the world, he showed us that he refused to rule by force. He knew that true transformation of the world needs to start with the transformation of individual hearts. He taught us to start with the end in mind: God’s love reigning on earth as it is in heaven. And he wisely warned us it would be difficult to achieve. “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,” Jesus warned. “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Watch out, for people will betray you and beat you.” 

Often times we want to see the end result without doing any of the work in-between. In the same way that we want to wake up tomorrow skinny and in perfect health without committing our lives to exercise and eating right – we want to wake up tomorrow to a transformed, Christ-like world, without committing our lives to the grueling work of searching our own hearts for where we need to let God’s love in and transform that which is hurting ourselves and others, so that we might be agents of life rather than destruction. We want to wake up tomorrow to a transformed, Christ-like world, without committing our lives to the grueling work of dismantling oppressive systems and replacing them with systems that center love and produce life.

When Jesus proclaimed that he came “to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” he was aware that this work would upset some people, would even divide families and, in the worst cases, lead to death. Why? Because this was not good news to everyone who heard it. This was a word that would literally turn the world upside down and those who were benefiting from the world as it was, of course, didn’t want that to happen!

Life is not much different today. Those of us who wish to follow the way of Christ and his liberating love are still sheep among wolves. However, as I often do, I want to repeat the indigenous proverb that we ALL have two wolves inside of us, one good and one bad – what matters is which one we feed. If we let it, the world will feed the bad wolf with messages like ‘protect what you have, everyone is out to get you, just worry about yourself, it’s kill or be killed out here!’ But if we let Christ be the one who feeds us, the wolf will lie down in green pastures with the lamb, understanding that when everyone has what they need, there is no competition, just peace.

When Jesus told his disciples to first go to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ to share the good news, before expanding out to the Gentiles, he was not excluding the Gentiles as if they would never be worthy of the good news our God’s love. He was recognizing that the Hebrew people already believed in God, shared in the covenants, and followed the ten commandments. It is a worthy strategy to start small and build up. If the Israelites could create a community of peace founded on God’s liberating love, they could be an example to the whole world of the true power of God (who is love).

When Jesus is killed, he realizes that even those who profess belief in God don’t always follow the ways of God. Therefore, he instructs the disciples to go out and share the good news with every nation. Now the world has pockets of followers of Jesus, trying to live in Jesus’ footsteps in a world that wants to snuff us out.

I want to be clear that this is not spiritual warfare. This is the human psyche versus the human psyche; the good wolf versus the bad wolf, if you will. The devil is not hardening our hearts, we’re good enough at doing that on our own. Our brains don’t like change and our brains will justify every action we decide to take. “They’re homeless because they didn’t make good choices like I did. They’re hungry because they didn’t manage their finances well, like I do. They’re in prison because they’re evil and I’m good. They’re a sinner because they don’t look/act/love/etc. like I do.” 

Our brains don’t make space for the gray areas of life, unless we practice doing so with intention. We will never understand one another by making assumptions, cutting people off, putting people into boxes, or, worst of all, dehumanizing each other. We will continue to turn on one another, defy one another, as Jesus warns, until we can learn to break down the walls that divide us. Until we can see the image of God in every face we meet. Until we can respect and honor differences without turning them into reasons to be enemies.

Even the best news for us, like the unconditional love of God, can be the worst news to someone else. We could take up our weapons, engage in war, kill off all those who cannot accept Jesus Christ, and try to start the world anew – finally achieving heaven on earth. But let us remember, Jesus had that opportunity and rejected it. In fact, Jesus was a pacifist who believed that weapons could never save people, only love was powerful enough to do that.

As the world rages around us.. as we are heartbroken by the news, both local, national, and global.. let us resist the urge to rage along with it, to rage against one another. Let us instead learn the art of becoming as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. Let us learn to offer peace everywhere we go, and when it is not returned, to simply shake it off, move along, and try again.

Church, we have inherited the charge to be the example to the world of a community ruled by love alone. In a world of division and hatred, let us never tire of being the peacemakers and bearers of unconditional love. Like our ancestors before us, like our God within and all around us, we carry the torch – forever working, even in the smallest of ways, until the whole world experiences abundant life. Amen. May it be so.