Musical Prelude and Service.

Romans 6:1b-11 & Matthew 10:24-39
I sort of regret choosing to read both of these scripture passages for this Sunday. It’s not that I
dislike either of them, but I do find both to be challenging and they both have an abundance of
fodder for reflection. So, I find myself forced to focus on a few verses while leaving a lot of other
compelling and challenging statement alone.
I want to start with a little bit of a description of social life in the first Century Mediterranean world.
Communities tended to be organized in what can best be described as households. These were
essentially controlled by one powerful man. Children, grandchildren, wives, aunts and uncles etc.,
would be a part of this household. So would any slaves that were brought into this household.
The head of the household basically speak for the whole tightly woven community. So as Jesus gives
instruction and encouragement to his disciples; whom he is sending out to preach his message, he is
picturing them approaching many of these households and acknowledging that not all of them are
going to welcome this message. And in a great many cases, those who are part of these households
are going to remain loyal to the householder over the message and the invitation that Jesus offers.
Jesus is telling people they have a choice to make.
Without diving deep on a great many statements offered in this reading, that is what is happening
here. My disciples, you are going to go out and preach my message to many people who are going to
be warm and inviting and receptive. You are also going to meet a great many people who will reject
you. By rejecting you, they reject me. Some of the people in those households may find comfort and
hope in my message, but will be stuck because they feel a loyalty to a head of the family who rejects
you. In these cases, I am like a sword diving family from family. People will need to make a choice.
In those cases it would certainly feel like giving up your life for anew life in Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, the apostle is essentially offering his ultimate articulation of the
theology of grace through Christ that he has been working on in his various letters. That we are all
connected through Jeus the Christ who was executed and rose from the dead. Paul has spent years
attempting to explain what that death and resurrection means to those who have chosen to give their
lives to the risen Christ. What does this all mean for how we live our lives and who we welcome to
join us around the table, even when we seem to have such different cultures, dietary habits and
languages?
Paul spends the first part of Romans describing a world living in sin. He then discusses how by giving
us the Law, God makes us aware of sin, but also God is able to show grace and love to creation.
Finally, it is through Jesus the Christ and his crucifixion and resurrection that we are offered a way to
a new life free from sin and death.
Feel free to disagree with Paul’s vision of atonement, but this is how Paul attempts to explain Christ’s
relationship to God and God’s undying love.
It’s also important o recognize that Paul uses a number of rhetorical tools in writing his letter to the
churches in Rome. One of those is to set it up as a dialectic; a conversation or debate between two
voices. One sets out a number of statements or challenges which allows Paul in the second voice to
refute that statement.
So when Paul asks in verse 1 of chapter 6, should we continue in sin that Grace may increase? Paul
in fact finds this suggestion absurd. But it is an argument he has heard before. God forgives our sins
because of God’s grace, and we see that in Christ’s sacrifice. So, we are free to sin.
But that is not what Paul is actually saying. We are not free to sin but free from sin. Sin holds no
power over us. Death holds no power over us.
When we choose to follow Jesus; signified for Paul through the act of baptism, we choose to die with
Christ; to join him in crucifixion. And we are also resurrected with him, to a new life.
God’s love: God’s grace frees us from sin. The lives we had prior to this are not held against us, but
we are encouraged to live new lives. We may not be perfect. We may be subject to stumbles and
temptations. But we are encouraged to strive for lives of hope and mercy. Lives lived with love and
connection to the body of Christ.
What I find myself taking from Paul’s often complicated and confusing reasoning, is that we are not
shackled by who we used to be. We are not imprisoned by a society that values power and greed.
We are not trapped into following the directions of a world that encourages envy and the pursuit of
status. That weaponizes shame and humiliation to elevate ourselves over the wellbeing of our fellow
human beings.
We don’t need to be that. Because we are one in Christ, we are free to find a new way of life. A way
that values love, peace, mercy and kindness. A way that recognizes the worth and the beauty of
those sitting next to us as we gather together in holy communion. We are not trapped by our history
or what the powers of this world tell us is important. We are freed from sin and death and can
choose a new and better way to live.
And this is where I find Matthew and Paul find common ground. We are offered a choice. We can
follow Jesus. We can give up the life that came before. Perhaps we grew up in a Christian household.
Perhaps we have lived lives tied to Christ for as long as we can remember. But perhaps also, we look
ahead and see new opportunities, new paths and feel tied to what we have always done.
We are free to move forward, knowing we walk with Christ into a new world and a new life saying
thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789