Preacher: Pastor Arturo Mendez 06/28/2020   St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield

 

 

Theme: “Lift High you Cross”

 

May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ abound in each one of us! Amen!

 

Are you willing to carry your cross and follow Jesus? Are you willing to cause division, because of Jesus within your family members?  Are you even willing to lose your life for Jesus?

 

Take a little time, and let's do a self-examination on these questions.

 

It is very interesting what the book of Matthew tells us in the gospel reading. It tells us about the fact that Jesus has not come into the world to bring Peace, but a sword. It is interesting the words that Jesus is saying here to his disciples and to us today. Although it is true, that Jesus in the gospel of John 14: 27 speaks of the Peace that he gives us , but not the one that the world offers. Because his peace is beyond what the world gives. His peace comforts our souls. However, He urges us that our hearts should not be troubled much less be afraid. It is an interesting context in what Jesus speaks to us in the Gospel of John, it is very important; He is the only one who can offer us that peace and we the believers, trust in that peace, because He has forgiven us. He has taken our sins to His death on the cross and the wrath of God is not in us anymore.

 

 However, in the book of Matthew 10:34-39 it makes a radical change about the word peace, it mentions that He has not come to bring peace on Earth, but much more bring sword and division.

 

35: I have come to put the son against his father, the daughter against his mother, and to the daughter-in-law against his mother-in-law.

36: The enemies of man will be those of his house.

 

Sadly, many people believe or imagine that behaving well and not doing evil to people and helping them in a certain way they will be winning God's favor for their last day of life. Unfortunately, these are not the standards of God, of a holy and perfect God, as we well know he will judge us according to the ten commandments, and sadly, no man on earth will be able to fulfill them because of our sinful nature. For all we do is cast out the gifts and blessings that God offers us through his Son Jesus Christ. We Believers give thanks to God that He has sent His Son into the world to rescue us from our sins, and to be able to have eternal life in Christ through faith in Him.

 

So, when we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior to the Outside world and to our family members, Jesus warns us of the consequences that may cause the proclamation of his word. This statement of Jesus, I have not come to bring peace, but sword. It is surprising and we could say literally "shocking". It is obvious that Jesus is speaking about the demands of discipleship, but let us remember that every believer is a disciple of Christ by Vocation. The word of God mentions to us here that certainly some members of the family will accept Christ while others just don’t accept the message , and this produces a conflict. For God demands from each of us our first love and loyalty to Him as a follower of Christ. 

 

Without fear of God , without knowing that the consequence of Sin is the eternal death and damnation of our souls for eternity in hell, and when we mention that there is a way out of that lost path we simply receive a rejection from them and only receive criticisms and questions, like:  Are you more of a Saint than I am? Are you a better person than me?  Do you think you're superior because you claim to be a Christian? Do you not remember your life before? and the only thing we receive is a radical rejection and even the hatred of our own family members, and all this for the same consequence of the sin that dwells in each of us. All we do is reject the gifts and blessings that Our Lord Jesus Christ offers for all mankind. The awareness of sin is to be separated by God for all eternity and to be condemned in eternal death. When we do not understand the magnitude of what this means it is normal for us to receive such criticism from our own families.

 

 Being spiritually blinded makes us deny the virtues and gifts that the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross offers to each and every one of us who believes and confesses that Jesus Is Our Lord and Savior. We thank God for the love of all mankind. That God the Father sent his only Begotten Son Jesus Christ into the world to fulfill with all integrity the law of the 10 commandments perfectly for us and to give his life as a one and only  sacrifice for all of us sinners.

 

 We need to trust in that wonderful gift that He offers us, that not many can comprehend. And that is what the Gospel of Matthew teaches us today. 

 

And yet with all that Jesus motivates us to carry our Cross and deny ourselves for the sake of Christ, we should pray for those who have rejected the word and have denied the gospel of Christ. So in response of what Jesus did on the cross for us, let us pray to the lord that one day his eyes come to take off the veil of blindness and to see the Light of Christ that gives us the Peace of Our souls and our hearts. Which comforts us and gives us strength every day, even  when we only receive hatred and rejection when we proclaim the word. Which is like a sword for many non-believers.

 

Are you willing to carry your Cross? To follow Jesus? And even lose your life? 

 

37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

 

Take your Cross! The Lord invites us in doing this, By taking your Cross it is to deny yourself. To deny what this life and your family can offer you, and to NOT put at first priority everything about this world. Of course I am not saying that some things of that the world offers is bad, like having a good job, a good life, enjoying what we have worked hard for. Of course not, in that perspective, but if all of this is above your priority before Christ, you have already lost your life, for trying to win it with material and vain things. Finally, in the end that will mean nothing. Those things can give us a Status in this world, but all that will not be able to offer us what awaits us in eternity. We need to humble ourselves and deny ourselves, and live a life in sacrifice seeking our sanctification for the sake of Christ. We need to give up our life and live unconditionally not expecting anything in return like great treasures. Our one and only treasure is in Heaven. Carrying your cross and following Jesus means to lose your life for Jesus, and give all of you to Him, and the Lord will reward you in His time. There are many things I could mention in which we would be willing to leave behind. “For the Love of Christ, the Lord Jesus himself set aside his own family and, he said that brother, sister, and mother are the ones who do His Father's will which is in Heaven" Matthew:12: 46-50)

 

Give your life to Jesus and give all your sins to Him, and refuse to continue living a life full of selfishness and seeking more what the Lord wants us to do. The Lord wants from us, to seek Him daily, in sacrifice and to love our neighbors. Even if we only receive the rejection of each and every one of them. To deny yourself is to follow Jesus, to follow in His footsteps, and to love our enemy and our neighbors as ourselves. That is what it means to carry our cross and be a follower of Jesus. To be willing to lose your own life for the sake of Jesus, is to go to the cross every day and seek his forgiveness daily. To carry your Cross is to come to Repentant life, to seek his Face, to offer your Life as a living sacrifice to Christ for his sake. It is to be a Faithful witness to the other people around us and to see in us a Risen Christ who is living in our lives as an example, as the One Who has loved us and has forgiven us , and the only one who invites us to receive every day his blessings and gifts of peace, hope, and life everlasting. That is what it means to follow Christ and carry our Cross, to deny ourselves. But we can only do that when we fully trust in his word and in his mercy given day by day. When we partake of the sacraments and spend time in His word. When we receive the blessings of holy baptism. Christ seals us and makes us his own for all eternity, our names are in the book of life and now we belong to Him. So let us thank him that He has taken us and cleansed us from all unrighteousness, and makes us partake of His presence and we can all enjoy of the eternal life He’s giving to us. Our task is to pray to God for all those who deny the gospel of Christ and that the Lord will touch their hardened hearts and can attain God's grace and mercy through faith in his Son Jesus. Are we willing to deny ourselves? and carry our own Cross?

 

Receiving your reward! 

 

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

 

Jesus spoke a lot about the difficulties the disciples would face when they carried out their mission. But He concludes His Sermon by promising a reward to those who support the message of the Gospel and to the Disciples. However, any reward can’t match the blessings of grace given to those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus as their Savior (Eph:2 8-10). 

 

 

It is very interesting how Jesus talks about receiving. In this gospel of Matthew, we find different contexts in Greek. One that draws my attention is the word ‘Receive’. Receive means to take. (να λάβω = na-lavo) Another word for it is ‘Welcome’ (Καλώς ήρθατε= kálos-irthate). Another meaning is to get back, receive back, or receive as Heritage. But here the lord tells us, “whoever does not receive you or receive the words of Christ, is not worthy of the gospel of Christ.” They are rejecting a prophet and disciple of the lord, and are denying  Him because of their sinful nature. We need to remember that our Lord Jesus was also rejected from so many people. But for everyone who welcomes you, kálos-irthate, with faith, is receiving, na-lavo, the word of the lord and take the blessings and gifts the lord is giving to us, salvation and life everlasting. That is our heritage in heaven.

 

These three different designations for the same missionaries that Jesus sent out, began with the Twelve Disciples;   So to receive a Prophet in the name of a Prophet, is to acknowledge that He comes with words of a prophet which is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. The same is true of a righteous man, we have to remember no one is righteous in the eyes of God the Father because we are all sinners. However, we know and we confess that Jesus has made us righteous and sanctifies us through his death and resurrection and cleanses us through all righteousness. So whoever believes in the Lord Jesus and confesses their sins to the lord, He will make them righteous. However, these words come from the Lord and all of them are representatives of Jesus Christ. He is the one who gives all authority in His name to go and proclaim and Baptize in the Name of the Father and the Son and in the Holy spirit. Everyone  who receives the messengers will be receiving His reward. So what this mean? the Lord gives us  eternal life by Faith In Him alone, because He paid the price for our sins. We don’t have to do anything to earn it because He has done everything for us. So, if we are humble and we open our hearts the word that comes from the Lord Jesus will touch our lives and our souls and The Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and give us the most precious gift, the gift of faith. Only by the grace of God the father through his son Jesus Christ, that is the most valuable reward that the human being can acquire. But anyone who rejects the message will be discarding the precious gift of eternal life and will be condemned for all eternity separate from the father who is in Heaven.

 

Thus, the Lord invites us to take courage in the call that He makes to each and every one of us as his disciples and prophets of the word of God. He urges us to be courageous even to death, because he has promised to be with us until the end of time and to go to the world proclaiming his message of salvation to all the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:19-20) Teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the father of the son and the Holy Spirit.

let us take our Cross and raise it high and allow the Lord Jesus to be with us to accompany us in this difficult, but not impossible task. Let us thank God that he has given us that privilege to be able to proclaim his words of Salvation to all mankind, and also thank Him for his Son Jesus Christ. Who has saved us and gives us strength to go forward with his mission, and to pray to God the Father. So that his word may be proclaimed to the ends of all the earth in the name of Jesus. Amen!