Not Peace but a Sword
Matthew 10: 24-39
June 25, 2023
By Colleen D. Hartung
Today’s gospel was not the good news I was hoping for. Not by a long shot. Actually, my goal this year is to find my way toward some sort of healing in my relationships across my extended family networks. So many of these relationships have been frayed by seemingly insurmountable and consequential differences on social, political, cultural and religious issues. You know the old saying, “don’t talk about money, politics or religion with family and friends especially at the holidays.” Somehow that didn’t quite work for me and lots of other people out over the last several years. And in today’s gospel, it doesn’t really seem like it was working out for Jesus’ followers either. Personally, I am feeling sad, tired and frustrated with these ongoing division between friends and neighbors and families. And the gospels seem a logical place to look for good news in this deluge of negativity especially when it comes to matters of spirituality and ethics. Over the years, I have come to count on a bit of good gospel news every Sunday. And even today, I stubbornly expect it. So that leaves me with the question, what is the good news of a gospel that proclaims “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword?” That’s a tricky question.
In search of some sort of answer, let me start by backing up for a bit of context and a wider view of what is going on in Matthew’s gospel. The community that the gospel is aiming toward is Jewish and retains its allegiance to Jewish law as prescribed in the Torah. However, they also claim Jesus as the ultimate interpreter of scripture and even more, he is its fulfillment. Already, by chapter 10, Jesus’ life and works have challenged old interpretations of righteousness that exclude those on the margins and define them as unworthy. And already, by chapter 10, Jesus’ reordering of legalistic priorities is clear; do unto others (all others) as you would have them do unto you; and by the end of the Gospel his prioritization of inclusive love will be crystal clear in the double command to love – love God and love your neighbor; “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (22:40). This reinterpretation or one could say transformation of Jewish law puts the community Matthew is speaking to in direct conflict with Jewish communities that follow the more traditional interpretations provided by the pharisees and scribes. And so here we are in chapter 10, where Jesus gathers his disciples with a proclamation that lays this conflict bare; a proclamation of the sword over peace;
On the surface it is easy to cast this as a straight forward dispute over the interpretation of Jewish law and claims about who is right and who is wrong; who is in and who is out; who are we for and who are we against; who is saved and who is damned and the divisions goes on. With those on the side of Jesus being righteous because … well he is Jesus, the Messiah, the bringer of the Kingdom of God, who (in this gospel anyway) stands up to the pharisees and scribes who wear their privilege on their sleeves and interpret scriptures in ways that confirm their advantages and exclude a lot of regular people.
This all sounds right but it also sounds way to familiar, making our own context of supercharged conflict seem like just more of the same; a repeating, inescapable part of the human condition that plays itself out over and over again particularly when it comes to matters of the spirit like justice and hospitality.
Way too familiar – I can tell you from personal experience that it can actually be pretty easy to proclaim beliefs about justice and mercy (about climate change, economic justice, access to reproductive health care, immigration and LGBTQI rights) from the housetops no matter what side you are on. There are ample opportunities – marches, rallies, blogs, Facebook and twitter pages, canvasing, letters to the editor, text messages; I could go on. And I have pretty much done them all. It can be easy to be clear about what the right answers are and who is on the right side of these issues. And it can be easy to alienate your family and friends while doing all this and feel kind of OK about it – at least for a while. But somehow, I don’t think this is quite what this Gospel is calling for. In spite of Jesus’ proclamation of the sword over peace.
So what is it that Jesus is actually asking his disciples to do in today’s reading that might be instructive in our own time of division.
- First of all, Jesus says that a disciple is not above the teacher. It is enough to be like the teacher – in other words be like Jesus. It’s not a competition, not something that has to be won; rather it is a practice or a way of being that prioritizes love above all else in every moment with every person – and Jesus is a master of this practice. So be like the master. That is more than enough.
- Second, have no fear – there is nothing that is covered up that will not be uncovered; nothing secret that will not become known – in other words “the truth will set you free.” Include marginalized others in your circle of love and don’t worry about falsehoods and inaccuracies that people spread about you. You have loved freely and openly and have done what you can. If love is your priority, it doesn’t matter what other say or if your good deeds go unrecognized. Because at the end of the day. an open-hearted approach to the world is a truth that will not remain hidden.
- Third, Jesus says what I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops – in other words love is a public outreach. We can’t tell someone we love them and then turn our back on them in the public square in their time of need. Love requires us to stand up and be counted when it matters.
- Fourth and maybe most important of all, don’t forget how valuable you are; “even the hairs of your head are all counted.” What you do matters. The love of one person can and does change the world.
These instructions from Jesus are something like a line in the sand – drawn by a sword, perhaps — defining in no uncertain terms the priority of love and what it means to be a disciple in the Reign of God. Basically, Jesus tells his disciples to love with abandon without counting the cost; and he is clear that this type of love is costly – not monetarily necessarily but in its reordering of relationships both casual and intimate. The commandment to love takes priority over social, political and even familial traditions, hierarchies and obligations.
However, righteousness is not about who is right and who is wrong. The point isn’t to rise above family and friends; it isn’t about shaming them; it’s not about being better or keeping score. I think this is what people are sensing or resisting when they talk about elitism. Rather it is simply about loving your neighbor; all your neighbors near and far; but most especially those on the margins who are most often excluded or found unworthy of a community’s loving attention and care.
I would say this is all good news but am not quite sure how exactly this works in the context of healing my every day relationships. Time will tell. Likely sometimes I’ll get the loving part right and sometimes I won’t. I read an article the other day about Garth Brooks and this new bar he is opening up in Nashville. Garth Brooks gets it right in his decision to serve Bud Light at his new bar. A few months ago, Bud Light was featured in a social media promotion by a transgender influencer. Bud Light faced a boycott initiated by some commentators and their sales plummeted by 26%. At a live music event, Brooks announced that his bar would serve many types of beer including Bud Light. Threatened by a similar boycott, he said, “Everybody’s got their opinions. But inclusiveness is always going to be me…. If you want to come to Friends in Low Places, come in. But come in with love, come in with tolerance, patience. Come in with an open mind and its cool. And if you’re one of those people that just can’t do that, I get it. If you ever are one those people that want to try, come. I want the bar to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another. And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. We just are.” Garth Brooks is my hero!!
The good news of today’s gospel is that Jesus did not come to keep the peace; to leave things as they are or as they tend to be when we are not challenged to overcome the easy way of self-interest and greed often supported by familial and social traditions. It turns out the whole of today’s reading is good news; there is another way forward beyond divisions – the way of love. And that like Garth Brooks, we are invited to pick up the sword and draw our own lines in the sand.