St. Matthew 10:21-33
June 25, 2017
Pentecost 3/Proper 7A
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~
When was the last time you were up on your rooftop? Hanging out on the roof isn’t something that most of us do very often—if we can help it. In fact, if you are on your rooftop, it usually means that something bad has happened: the roof is leaking, shingles have blown away, the chimney is collapsing, or the birds have come home to roost above your resting place. As for me, I’ve never once been on the
So it sounds a little strange to our ears when we hear Jesus telling His disciples to proclaim things from the housetops. We automatically assume that Jesus is just giving us another of His famous figures of speech—perhaps dabbling happily in a little hyperbole—exaggerating to make a point. Jesus doesn’t literally want us climbing our ladders and shouting things from our rooftops, does He? Well, don’t write off those rooftops too quickly!
Back in the day when and where Jesus first spoke these words, He was being more literal than you might imagine. Back then people proclaimed things from the rooftops all the time—every day. How so? Well, first of all, most rooftops in Israel and in other arid places are flat—and therefore not nearly so dangerous to navigate. What’s more, at a time before there was air conditioning, the rooftop was a great place to hang out to catch a cool evening breeze when the house itself was uncomfortably warm. In this way, rooftops became a place of socialization, where neighbors would converse and kibitz and pass along the latest scuttlebutt. Rooftops in Jesus’ day served a purpose much like the front porches of small town America back in the last century.
In Matthew chapter 10 it’s the Twelve apostles that Jesus has directed up to the rooftops. He was sending out the Twelve on their first missionary journey. They were being sent only to the lost sheep of Israel—only to fellow Jews. (Gentiles would be targeted later.) Jesus was sending them up to the rooftops so as to give maximum publicity to His teachings. What Jesus had been teaching them in private, was now to be proclaimed and preached in public. The Twelve were now to seek out those rooftops and other venues which would afford the maximum exposure. That makes perfect sense, right? It’s like something from a marketing strategies textbook.
But here’s my question: What about when the message we’re given to shout and share from the rooftops is unpopular? What about when the message we shout and share will be mocked by most people? What about when the messengers are setting themselves up for rejection, or persecution, or worse? What about when the God-given message we share seems to drive away more people than it attracts?
These questions aren’t hypothetical. In fact, Jesus told the Twelve that they would be “hated by all” for His name’s sake. This was also the situation faced by the prophet Jeremiah in today’s Old Testament reading. Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim from the rooftops an unpopular message of death and destruction—of doom and gloom—of wrath and judgment—for God’s people. Meanwhile, there was a multitude of false prophets who were busy shouting peace and prosperity from the rooftops—that God would never allow His chosen people to be chewed up and spit out by the Babylonians. It comes as no surprise to learn that the pews in Jeremiah’s church were collecting a lot of dust.
What do you do? What do you do when God gives you an unpopular message to shout from the rooftops? What do you say when God’s gift of marriage—when natural marriage—is rejected in favor of a cleverly legalized arrangement called “gay marriage?” What do you say when God’s gift of identity—when God’s bodily gift of maleness and femaleness—is rejected in favor of a self-chosen gender identity? Or what about the heterosexual couple you know that’s living together—but doing so without the blessing of marriage? Or what about when God’s gift of life in the womb is being massacred daily by abortionists right in our own backyards?
It’s easy to say and do nothing. It’s easy just to keep your head down. It’s easy just to go with the flow. It’s far more difficult to proclaim that the wages of sin is death—that those who choose to reject God and His Word will one day face eternal punishment (if they do not repent). And no matter how lovingly and how patiently you choose to speak the truth in these matters, you will never earn a round of applause or a standing ovation.
What do you do personally when God gives you a hard message to speak—when as part of your vocation as a parent, a friend, a family member—you are called to confront sin—to call someone to correction—to lead them to repentance—to say the unpopular thing? By nature, we have no desire to say such things, let alone proclaim them from the rooftops or anywhere else, for that matter. Rather than heading upstairs for the rooftop, we by nature make a beeline for the basement—deep down to where it’s easy to stay silent, to be safe, to keep comfortable, to make no waves, to do what’s convenient and easy. And even if you do decide to head up to the “rooftop,” Jesus doesn’t promise that it will be easy. Nor does He promise that the words you speak in love will always achieve their intended purpose.
But for every disciple who dares to dash up to the rooftop—to faithfully bear witness to the teachings of Jesus—Jesus does say this: Do not be afraid. In fact, in today’s Gospel reading He says it three times: Have no fear of them. . . . Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. . . . Fear not for you are of more value than a multitude of sparrows and even the hairs of your head are numbered. The fear that controls us and keeps us quiet and muzzled most of the time—Jesus wants us to leave that fear behind. Trust Him. Follow Him in faith. What you hear whispered from the pages of your Bible, proclaim from the housetops. Because—come hell or high water—your body and soul are in His holy care. The God who knows when a single sparrow falls to the ground—the One who knows the number of hairs on your head—He knows just the help you need.
The wages of sin is death. It’s true. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. He was killed on Good Friday—nailed to a cross. But by that death your sin was done away with. By that death He destroyed death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. And that free gift of salvation is offered to all people—to every son and daughter of Adam. No one is excluded. The forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting—that’s God’s free gift for you and for all who believe.
But some people—perhaps someone in your life—may only come to know and receive that gift because you cared enough to leave the basement behind and head up to the rooftop to speak the truth in love. Christ Jesus died to save sinners, of whom we are the worst. We are not perfect, but we are forgiven in Jesus, and that makes all the difference. That’s the good news that we are privileged to proclaim from the rooftops—to neighbors, family, co-workers, and friends. God has reconciled the world to Himself in Jesus.
That’s what we call the gospel. God Himself has proclaimed it from the top of Mount Calvary. God Himself has proclaimed it from the empty tomb of the resurrected Jesus. God still proclaims it today from this pulpit, from that font, and from this altar. His loving care for you reaches into eternity. That’s what He Himself is proclaiming today—loud and clear—for all to hear.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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