Intro Jesus says some startling words to us in today’s Gospel. They are unsettling and disturbing. And His words unsettle us even more because they come from the One whom Scripture calls the “Prince of Peace.” Jesus says, “Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Jesus--the Prince of Peace Himself--tells His messengers, that He did not come to bring peace. He came to bring a sword. They were not to misunderstand their mission as a mission of peace. Main Body Yet, Jesus does bring peace. He gives peace that reaches beyond all understanding and expectations. So what gives? Yes, Jesus gives us peace, but it’s not as the world gives peace. For the peace Jesus gives comes only through faith in Him. The peace that Jesus brings is anchored in His death and resurrection, in His words and His wounds. “Peace be with you,” Jesus said to His apostles on Easter evening, as they were cowering in fear (John 20:21). He showed them His hands and His side, still bearing the marks of His death, and said, “Peace be with you.” Jesus gave them His peace, His own peace linked to His own words and wounds. But where is Jesus’ peace for us, some 2,000 years later? It’s here, where Jesus still brings us the benefits of His wounds. It’s in the Absolution, the sermon, and the Supper of His Body and Blood, where Jesus’ words and His wounds are present for us. That’s true, eternal peace. It is as Prophet Isaiah wrote, “The punishment for our peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). You and I all seek some measure of peace. The problem is that we seek peace on our own terms. How do we do this? We may seek peace in wealth. If only we had enough money for tomorrow and the next day, we could be at peace today. We may seek peace in solitude. If only we could isolate ourselves from the negativity of others, we could have peace. Yet, the peace we want is a peace that conforms to our old, sinful nature. We want peace, but only if it will leave us comfortably unchanged. That’s the peace that we want. In other words, we want a peace that confirms us in our self-focused and self-centered ways. We look for peace in what pleases us. And by pleasing ourselves, we think that we will then have true peace. Repent! Flee from such thinking! That’s exactly the peace that Jesus didn’t come to bring. Instead, Jesus says this: “I did not come to bring you that peace. Instead, I come bearing the opposite--not peace but a sword.” The sword that Jesus bears is Himself, the One who is the Word. The book of Hebrews tells about this sword-bearing Jesus. “For the Word of God is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. No creature is hidden from him [that is, Jesus], but everything is naked and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Apostle John saw Christ with a sharp, two-edged sword coming out His mouth (Revelation 2:16 and 19:15, 21). When Christ speaks, it is with the razor-sharp precision of the Word, for He is the Word Himself in human flesh. The Word Christ speaks is a sword, but a sword that brings the eternal peace of His cross! This is not a cheap peace. This is not a halfhearted peace. This is not a comfortably complacent peace, brought about by calculated compromise and careful negotiation. The sword of the Word is razor-sharp, double-edged surgical steel. The Word is the Law that kills and destroys sin in the death of Christ. But the Word is also the Gospel, which raises you to life and heals you in the life of Christ Jesus. Only by destroying sin and the devil’s lies will you come to have the peace of God in its fullness. For the existence of evil mandates this needed spiritual warfare by Christ. For you to have true peace, Jesus must wage war against the leaders of vice, sin and the Devil, with His weapons of virtue. So don’t fear the Lord’s sword or flee from it. For Christ, who wields this sword, is the same Christ who gave His life into death for you on His cross. He knows the killing edge of that sword. For you, He has experienced its killing edge firsthand, in His own body. And He wields this sword--not as an instrument of mass destruction--but as a skilled surgeon, slicing out sin and death, excising the cancer of idolatry, and reviving and restoring you with His breath and His blood. But the sword of Christ is also a slicing sword that brings earthly conflict and division. As Jesus says, “I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be members of his own household” (Matthew 10: 35-36). Christ’s coming always precipitates a crisis. When the cross of Christ confronts us, we either deny it in unbelief, or we confess it in faith. We renounce Him, or we believe Him. Jesus is a lunatic and liar, or He is Lord. With Christ, no neutral ground exists. And the line between faith and unbelief is always up close and personal. It cuts through family ties. It severs every human connection, whether by blood or marriage. The sword of Christ divides father from son, mother from daughter, mother-in-law from daughter-in-law. Why would Jesus do that? Why would God tear the bonds He has joined, the ties of family that we know are so essential to this life? This is troubling for us to ponder. Christ the home wrecker--or so it looks that way. But to see Christ as a home wrecker is only to hear the Law and not the Gospel. The sword that Jesus brings is a two-edged sword, of which the Law is but one edge. He must tear down, before He builds up. He must wound before He heals. He must isolate, before He brings us into community. Christ must cut into your relationships, so He can get into the thick of it all. For Christ must get between a person and the members of his household, so each will deal with the other, and receive the other, in and through Christ Himself. Without Christ for you, in you, and through you, no true, lasting peace cannot exist. Christ wishes to be at the heart of every human relationship. Without Christ as the beating heart, every relationship is in danger of becoming idolatrous. Jesus says, “Anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). There is only one, true living Man in the entire, dying world. There is but one Deliverer from sin. There is but one Light in the darkness. He is Jesus Christ. Someone cannot be in Christ and have divided loyalties. To love anyone over Christ is to make that person into an idol. And idols always crumble under the pressure of being our gods. No one can be god for us but the God who hung on the cross, who was broken by our death, and in His dying and rising brought us life. The sword of Christ must divide you even against yourself. Jesus says, “Whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). Everything you are and everything you have must be nailed to the cross. You must become nothing, so Christ can become everything. It is as Jesus says: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it” (Matthew 10:39). But where does this killing and making alive take place? And how does this come about in our lives? Where do you lose your life to find it? This happens in holy baptism. The Apostle Paul writes, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) The Apostle Paul writes such words as if to remind us of what we already know. “But of course you know that! Now listen to this: ‘Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into his death, so just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life’” (Romans 6:4). God kills and raises us to life. He crucified His Son and raised Him to life. And, in Christ, He kills and raises you, whom He calls a “son of God,” whether you are male of female. For your sonship, your inheritance, is Christ’s inheritance. In baptism, you died and were buried in the death and burial of Jesus. You were joined to Jesus in His death with the promise of rising with Him in His life. Baptism is how you die and rise with Jesus. Death and resurrection is the way through which you lose your life to find it in Jesus. Baptism means death to self, death to sin, and even death to death itself. It means freedom, for those who have died have been set free. They are no longer slaves to sin. So sin no longer reigns over you. Christ reigns over your sin, lording His cross and resurrection over you, so every day your sin is buried in His death, and every day you rise to new life in His life. Baptism gives you a new identity. You no longer live; Christ now lives in you. In baptism, God the Holy Spirit gives you new eyes to see yourself in a new way, to repent, to change your mind about whom and what you are. Baptism gives you God’s permission to count yourself as dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Baptism gives you God’s permission to see yourself--not based on who you are, and what you’ve done--but based on whom Christ is and what He has done for you! You have an identity and an inheritance. Your identity is as a “son of God.” Your inheritance is eternal life with God. Baptism means that you have a future--not of death--but of resurrection to eternal life. Conclusion This is certain because baptism is God’s work and word. Although we see and hear a pastor baptizing, it is still God’s work and His word. For Jesus identifies Himself with those He has sent so closely, they are interchangeable with Him. As Jesus says, “The one who receives you receives me” (Matthew 10:40). To receive the one whom Jesus has sent to you is to receive Jesus Himself--to receive His Word and His work. Jesus binds Himself to the bearers of His Word--to His called and ordained servants of the Word--so no one may doubt that He is at work. And where Jesus’ called and ordained servants are, there Jesus is with His forgiveness, His life, and His own Body and Blood. And then, there is peace, true peace, and everlasting peace. Amen. -- Rich Futrell, Pastor Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Kimberling City, MO http://sothl.com Where we receive and confess the faith of the Church (in and with the Augsburg Confession): The faith once delivered to the saints, the faith of Christ Jesus, His Word of the Gospel, His full forgiveness of sins, His flesh and blood given and poured out for us, and His gracious gift of life for body, soul, and spirit. ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. 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