Romans 6.1b-11 & Matthew 10:24-39
The arguments which Paul sets out in his letter to the church in Rome became - much later - the foundations on which the Protestant interpretation of Christianity was constructed. They were also deeply influential for early Methodism. It was while he was listening to Martin Luther’s explanation of Paul’s Letter to the Romans that John Wesley found his heart strangely warmed by a new understanding of what being a disciple of Jesus really means.
Paul’s predicament was that he was eager to visit the new and influential church in Rome but most of the Christians there didn’t know him personally, and what they had heard about him had left them feeling deeply uneasy. Paul found himself compelled, therefore, to set out the truth about what he believed, in contrast to the stories that were circulating about his teaching.
Chief among these seems to have been the idea that human beings are irredeemably flawed by a deeply ingrained self-centredness and can only trust in God’s grace for forgiveness instead of striving to lead a holy life. This much is true. Paul did believe this. But his opponents went on to misrepresent him by reporting that he didn’t believe it was even worth trying to lead a righteous way of life.
‘God forbid!’ says Paul, an expression which - then as now - really meant ‘By no means!’ or ‘No way!’ His true position was that Jesus’ death on the cross saves us from self-centredness by allowing us to leave our old self behind and rise to a new kind of life with him. By grace - the free and unmerited new start that we receive through his death - we are given the opportunity to be reborn. Baptism, says Paul, is the moment when Christians commit to dying with Christ in order to rise again to newness of life with him.
This led some would-be disciples, the Emperor Constantine is a striking example, to postpone their baptism to the last possible moment in case they fell back into sin again. They made the mistake of seeing discipleship as a one-way system. When we're driving through a city centre there's no going back in a one-way system once we've taken a wrong turn, but discipleship is a journey that inevitably flows both ways, sometimes forwards but sometimes backwards. It’s always a journey with the potential for ups and downs. We can all too easily fall back into our own self-centred ways and then we’ll need to renew our baptism vows.
That’s how the misunderstanding about Paul’s teaching arose. It’s one thing to say that if things go wrong we can try again. It’s entirely different, to say, as Paul’s opponents believed he was teaching, that we don’t need to try in the first place because we shall inevitably fail.
John Wesley believed it is possible for someone to become perfect in faith, although he admitted it wasn’t very common and he never achieved it himself. However, for those of us who - like Wesley - sometimes fall short, the obligation to strive for perfection in Christ remains.
This section of Matthew’s Gospel is a collection of Jesus’ sayings, all of which are also found in other New Testament passages. One, an amplification of some words found in Mark’s Gospel, also closely parallels one of Micah’s prophecies about families turning against one another, as well as being almost identical to a saying recorded by Luke. Did Jesus say similar things on different occasions, some shorter and more pithy, others longer and more resonant with Micah’s warning? It’s more than likely that he did.
There’s almost a random quality about this grouping of Jesus’ sayings. Many of them also occur in Luke’s version of events, and some are echoed by John, but in completely different contexts. They are then, what people sometimes call, ‘floating sayings’ - memorable phrases or comments, but no one knows when Jesus said them or how many times.
I say that the grouping of the sayings looks ‘almost’ random because, on closer examination, they all seem to be about conflict. Jesus has been vilified, so his disciples must expect similar treatment. They’re called to proclaim openly what he’s told them in private, and suddenly this idea is linked to people killing the body, which implies that proclaiming the Gospel is likely to provoke fierce opposition. The reward for sticking our necks out is that Jesus will put in a good word for us when our deeds are being sifted before God.
This brings us to the quotation from Micah about whole families being in conflict with one another. When our younger son Matthew was three years-old I had a duel with him in the garden using plastic toy swords. I parried his blows for a while before letting my guard drop. In an instant he stabbed me, exclaiming, ‘Take that, sucker!’ Well, Jesus expects us to take it, too! He hasn’t come to make life easy for his disciples. We’re to expect the sharp and pointy sword of suffering rather than peace, perfect peace. Whoever doesn’t take up the cross and follow him is not worthy of being his disciple.
These lessons resonated strongly with me as we emerged from lockdown. Once we emerged from our protective bubbles we had to reconcile ourselves to risk-taking again. Someone told our daughter that she would send her children back to school when there was no risk involved, but of course that day never came. Those who try to keep their life at all costs will inevitably lose it one day. Those who are willing to lose their life for Jesus’ sake will find it.
Someone has said that if we follow Jesus seriously, if we stand with the marginalised, speak truth to power, choose forgiveness over revenge, generosity over greed, and love over fear; then there will be a cost. We may be misunderstood. We may face resistance. We may even find tension with people close to us, our own family and friends, and with others who say they are also seeking to follow Jesus, but who interpret his teachings differently. Jesus didn't pretend that discipleship is easy, but he did say, ‘Do not be fearful’.
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