“See, I am sending you out
like sheep in the midst of wolves.”
–Matthew 10:16a
The minister did not like my answer.
It came on a day when I was taking the final step to become a clergyperson myself. I had graduated from seminary, passed my ordination exams, received a call to become pastor of a congregation, and been cleared to proceed by a committee from my home Presbytery, a regional group of churches located in southwest Georgia. Now, I stood before 150 ministers and elders of a Presbytery in Kentucky. They had the opportunity to pose any question of their choosing about the Bible, my faith journey, church history, or theology. It was exciting and stressful, as they would then vote to approve or deny my request to be ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament.
I really don’t remember what anyone else asked on that day, but do recall how things seemed to be moving along smoothly until an older minister came to the microphone and said “All I want to know is this: are you willing to suffer for the Gospel?” His question confused me. As the son of a pastor, I was certainly aware that ministry could be challenging at times, but had never really thought of my call as including suffering. Nor do I remember my initial response to his query, but know he was not satisfied as he came back to the microphone and said, “You haven’t answered my question. Are you willing to suffer for the Gospel?”
Annoyed at that point, I was tempted to respond, “You mean suffering like this?’ but thought better of it and simply replied, “Yes.” He was satisfied, the examination ended and moments later, I was approved for a journey that has now moved into its fortieth year.
The memory of that day and the question he posed came back to mind as I began to reflect on the moment Jesus spoke the words we read moments ago. His setting was not a Presbytery meeting, but a gathering of Jesus and his twelve disciples. Nor does that scene recall a moment when one question after another was posed, but rather when many instructions are given. Yet it does tell of a time when he offers a clear word about suffering for the faith.
On that day, Jesus was sending his followers out for the first time alone. Just prior to those words, he instructed them to visit only Jewish communities and to proclaim one message: “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus informed them they will have the power to heal and bring persons back from the dead and cast out demons, before moving on to practical details about compensation and how to pack and where they should stay he told them that if they were not welcomed in a particular place they were to keep moving. It is then that we heard him speak.
“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves,” he said, offering a clear word of caution about potential trouble that awaited. Jesus continued with the animal imagery as he urged them to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” He named specific hardship that may come as a result of their faithfulness: being dragged before religious and civil authorities and of family tensions. “Brother will betray brother to death,” he said “and a father his child, and children will rise against parents…and you will be hated by all because of my name.”
Given how Matthew wrote his gospel decades after Jesus walked the earth, most scholars feel the author framed those instructions to speak both to the challenges ahead for those men on their first mission efforts and to the church. The same words speak to believers today, as there are times still when acting upon one’s faith brings trouble. Let me illustrate with comments I’ve heard from parishioners over the years.
One day, I commended a man for his active involvement at the church and he said, “I just love it and my children do, too, but my wife tells me that I’m going overboard.” After a Session meeting where the officers had focused on what percentage of income to challenge members to give, an elder said, “I wanted to vote for that motion, but my husband would never go for it.” A father shared how he had told his son he could not be part of a travel baseball team because it would mean they would be out of town every Sunday morning. In response, his son said “Well, thanks, Dad. Now I won’t have anything to talk about with friends at school.”
In subtle and overt ways, acting on one’s faith has always created occasions of trouble. Certainly, that is not the entirety or even the dominant theme of the Christian experience. The blessing of relationship, the strength found in placing ones trust in God, the times Scripture speaks just the word needed or those moments when in resisting the messages of the world one experiences the kind of abundant our Savior intends, all of those occasions and more are part of the Christian journey. There is a richness to the life of faith that is not quantifiable, but is palpable even so. Jesus would not deny that fact for he wants such a life for all who follow.
Yet on a day when he sent those first disciples ahead without him, Jesus was preparing them for the challenges that could come from acting upon their faith. It was not a call to go looking for trouble, but a word of preparation so that should hardship arise they would not be surprised, and instead see such resistance as an indication that they were on the right path. When did you find those words to be true?
I thank you, God, for your presence in every moment of life. Help me to know that even when my faith creates trouble that your love remains undimmed. Amen.
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