SERMON FOR SUNDAY THE 14TH JUNE 2026
Matthew Chapter 10 verses 24-39
When we look at the Gospel passage this week, the teaching of Jesus is confronting. It is a call to the disciples for the need to be committed to the Gospel if it is to have any impact in our lives and our world. If we are not completely devoted to God’s reign, loving it more than all else, we will be incapable of loving others as they need, or as God requires.
Though it may confront us, we hear also in the verses that there are those who are very committed to ways that use the weaknesses of others or to ways that unjust when weighed in their outcome in society. In fact, dedication to what we believe has its outcome in some form or other.
Jesus says to the disciples us that if we follow him the people who criticize him will also criticize us: “How much more will they malign those of his household!” (But remember, it’s not about us.)
The sword Jesus brings certainly isn’t physical violence: he’s talking about controversy and opposition. Hebrews 4.12: “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” It’s the sword of discerning truth from falsehood, love from fear. It’s not a weapon of aggression, or even isolation, but the sword of refusing to “go along to get along,” standing for what we stand for even when others oppose us. In fact, the sword might even be our radical insistence that we are one despite other people’s desire to isolate.
We might not have the persecution that the first disciples had, though we can experience indifference to values and belief in Jesus Christ.
While it seems like the call to sacrifice and self-giving is the opposite of abundant life, the Scriptures are consistent in their call for us to believe in this counter-intuitive truth, and to have the courage and faith to give our lives for the sake of God’s reign, while trusting in God to sustain us through whatever struggles we may face.
When we speak of dedication and commitment, we might think these are just discipleship words. However, there are other disciples of a different ethos, who will go to great lengths to maintain their ethos in life.
Most people would correct me on this and say they don’t have a belief. However, whatever ethos we aspire to and see as worthwhile or otherwise is what we become. Some think that the life of ease will avoid this, though truth be told most of what is valued can be hard won and the life of ease can easily become uneasy if injustice is continually happening and the response is that is just the way it is.
The harder question is, what do we believe to be worthwhile and true?
I would be lying if I said that Christianity is easy. It isn’t. It wouldn’t be lying if I say that Christianity is worthwhile and the path of finding and knowing God are more worthwhile than we can imagine.
So, what might we glean from this reading in Matthew Chapter 10 verses 24-39 that might be of help to us?
Birds
I think that Jesus’ insight about the two sparrows is worthwhile looking at for a moment.
Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Perhaps we remember the penny bazaar and we think these days of the 2dollar shops. The sparrows may not be worth much, though God values them.
Here we find a value that God instils that sometimes stands in contradiction to some aspects of ethos in parts of society.
Jesus has an eye for the worthless, for what the world doesn’t even bother counting or noticing, and he uses that in his teaching, like in the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. He also picks strands of hair. Nobody counts strands of hair unless they’re bald and even then God has us with a unique fingerprint. Even the hairs of your head are counted.
The point of this passage is not about how precious the sparrow is but about the importance to God of every part of creation, particularly those people overlooked by the powers that be are not forgotten in God.
The teaching is addressed to the disciples themselves. Jesus is aware of the cost of discipleship and the experiences they will have. The encouragement to the disciples not to be afraid of the opposition which will want to discredit and reduce them to nothing.
We sometimes forget in this passage that Jesus is talking about matters of the soul. Actions have consequences. Jesus says to worry about what can bring death to your soul. So soul matters do matter and Jesus indicates this.
The cross
We can summarise the mission of Jesus (and the mission of God) as taking up the cross.
So, what does it mean for us to be taking up the cross in Jesus’ mission?
Often, when we hear this phrase we assume the saying is “take up your cross. However, the true phrase here is “take up the cross”. It is not “your cross”.
Reading “your cross” gives rise to the expression “everyone has their cross to bear”, which might not be true, and which might lead some to think that they’ve got enough to bear carrying their own cross that they’re not going to help carry anyone else’s. If it’s “your cross” it becomes your own bubble of trouble – individualised, almost self-centred. No, Jesus’ mission is to “take up the cross”, and anyone taking up the cross is worthy of him.
The symbol of the cross in everyday culture.
We are familiar with the symbol of the cross. It is believed that the cross was in the shape of an X as well as the symbol of the cross we know today.
If we think of the X shape, for a moment, then an X shape is used to mark failures in homework at school. Then there are the crosses (not visible) of those crossed out for being who they are, for being wrong – the wrong ethnicity, the wrong race, the wrong gender, the wrong sexuality.
In the movie, the Hunger Games, set in a science fiction future, there is a song called the mocking bird. It is a song for those punished and shamed for standing for good and for freedom of thought in a future.
It’s parallels to the cross are quite noticeable. The cross was the tree of shame used by the Romans in Jesus’ time. The cross has been and remains a symbol of ongoing suffering and oppression of people in some cultures today.
Although this symbolism of the cross is less used (for we prefer to use the saving grace and triumph of the cross), the original intent of the cross was that of a public spectacle, a shameful event, instruments of punishment reserved for the most despised people in society. In this sense, the cross was a scandal, though we know Christ’s victory overcame those who sought to shame and destroy Jesus.
While, the cross shape can denote failure or it can be identification with Jesus who sanctifies and redeems the wrongs and identifies with those wronged in life.
Then there is the sign of a cross that we use when we love and commit ourselves to others. It is the sign we use for kisses to show our love for others, and how far we are prepared to go to honour the pledge of our commitment – even to the extent of taking up the cross in our love for them
So, what does it mean to “take up the cross”? Is it something like this?
Ironically, the symbol of shame is now the symbol of dignity through what Jesus has done for us. So, we find that in the heart of what can be devalued in humanity – brokenness, grief, pain – that we find God at the heart of this brokenness and the forefront of his mission. Taking up the cross of Jesus becomes the gateway to resurrection and the new heart of life. Taking up the cross of Jesus is trusting that God is always with us as light and love in the darkness, and that God gives God’s life in the mission he invites us to join.
For us
The teaching today still hits at core values, such as systems of power, whether religious, political, ideological, or relational, that can work on the assumption that some must lose in order for others to win. Our economic systems are based on the idea that competition is healthy and natural and that winners are rewarded while losers are unimportant.
Some of the values of contemporary Western society leave no consideration for self-sacrifice, service, simplicity, collaboration, and mutual care. Yet, our current ways of doing things are not helping us to address the greatest challenges of our world, and they are not bringing us peace, happiness, or deeper connection with one another.
The Gospel call to sacrifice, service, and simplicity, can be a different voice and can be an influence for good that spreads through society, and begins to make the alternative values of God’s reign visible.
In our personal lives.
We all face moments of decision, when we have to choose whether to preserve our own lives through silence and compliance with those who threaten us or others, or to endure ridicule, persecution, and rejection for speaking out for what we believe is right we stand alongside those whom others want to judge and reject, we risk being rejected and judged ourselves.
While it may hurt to live out the welcoming, forgiving, serving, peaceful, and justice-seeking values of God’s reign, to fail to do so hurts us and our world far more.
References
Unfolding Light , Sacredise , Grits and Grains Matthew 10:24-39 Taking up the cross. What on earth does that mean? by David Herbert