Fourth Sunday
after Pentecost (Proper 7A)
June 25, 2023
Text: Matt. 10:5a, 21-33
Beloved
in the Lord, confess Christ. Speak of
Him. Speak His Word. Boldly.
Confidently.
Unapologetically. Do not be
afraid. This is what Jesus bids you in
our Holy Gospel: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men”… the Greek word for “acknowledge” is better
translated “confess”… “I also will acknowledge”… confess…
namely, as my own… “before my Father who is in heaven, but
whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in
heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33; ESV). Our
text is the continuation of our Gospel from last week, addressed originally to
the Twelve Apostles. But it applies not
only to Apostles, and not only to pastors, but to all the baptized, all
who bear the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are given to confess Him.
There
are the extraordinary occasions, of course, when you are called upon to confess
Him before hostile government authorities or other enemies of the Gospel. And there are the more mundane times when you
are called upon to confess Him before family members, friends, co-workers, or
even those you just meet while going about your business. From time to time, you find out the occasion
is not so mundane after all, when a loved one or acquaintance reacts to you
with disgust and vitriol. So also, there
are the sacred occasions in which you publicly confess Christ: Your Baptism
(perhaps by the mouths of your sponsors and parents), your Confirmation (when
you made your confession with your own mouth), Holy Communion (when you attend
the Lord’s Supper here, you publicly confess that you believe what this Church
teaches), your Christian wedding (yes, that, too, is about Christ above all). You do this every Sunday in the Creed and in
the liturgy and hymns of the Church.
Pastors do this at ordination and installation. And for the Christian, even a secular oath of
office carries with it the confession that “I will be faithful, as my Lord is
faithful to me, and as a direct result of His faithfulness.” In fact, “so help me God” is, for the
Christian, a prayer for just that: God’s help to execute what is
entrusted to you faithfully. In
fact, when you get right down to it, simply living in your vocation faithfully,
fulfilling your responsibilities, loving, serving, sacrificing for others, is a
confession.
And
may I suggest, beloved, those mundane confessions of Christ among family, and
others you know or meet along the way, may be the most important. And may I further suggest, the best way to
make such confession is to foster the habit of simply speaking of Christ, and
the things of Christ, and to Christ (with the Father and the Holy Spirit),
routinely, naturally, in your daily conversation. This is what Luther talks about in the Large
Catechism. With regard to the Second
Commandment, he says, “It is also useful that we form the habit of daily
commending ourselves to God [Psalm 31:5], with soul and body, wife, children,
servants, and all we have, against every need that may arise. So also the blessing and thanksgiving at
meals [Mark 8:6] and other prayers, morning and evening have begun and remained
in use [Exodus 29:38-43].” The more you do this, routinely praying with your
family, including Christ in everything, Luther intimates, the easier it will be
to speak of Christ in the rest of your conversation. Thus he goes on, “Likewise, children should
continue to cross themselves when anything monstrous or terrible is seen or
heard. They can shout, ‘Lord God,
protect us!’ ‘Help, dear Lord Jesus!’
and such. Also, if anyone meets with
unexpected good fortune, however trivial, he says, ‘God be praised and
thanked!’ or ‘God has bestowed this on me!’ and so on.”[1]
Do
you see how this is confessing Christ, injecting Him and His Word, into every
part of life, every event, good or bad?
Don’t underestimate, first of all how good this is for you, for your
edification. But also how helpful it is
in confessing Christ to others. A number
of years ago, I happened to run into a prominent (and decidedly secular) public
school official here in town, just walking down the street. I knew her, and we exchanged some
pleasantries, and she told me about a very nice thing her husband had done for
her. And without even really thinking
about it, I responded enthusiastically, “Praise be to Christ!” Well, the pregnant pause that followed, you’d
have thought I’d just blurted out the grandaddy of all naughty words! It was a shock to her, to hear me speak like
that. She wasn’t accustomed to such
talk. But then she turned and said,
“Yes.” You know what, that isn’t much,
but I’ll take it. And then she was
telling me about some other things going on at the school, and I said, “I’m
praying for you.” And she responded,
“Thank you. Prayer works!” Which, of course, was no revelation to
me. But see, what has become for me
habitual and natural, speaking Christ into every situation, if nothing else,
got her to think about Him for a minute.
Beloved, confess Him, speak of Him, naturally, routinely, as though He
is Participant in all your conversations, present and active in every moment of
your life. Because He is. Someone tells you something sad or painful…
“Christ, have mercy!” Or something
wonderful or joyful… “Thanks be to God!”
And not just “Bless you,” or “Blessings,” but “God bless
you.” Bless your neighbor, beloved, in
the Name of God which you bear by virtue of your Baptism. It is at one and the same time the imparting
of God’s favor to that person… Christian blessing actually does something,
as God’s word always does… it actually does what it says… and a
confession of Christ to that person, in which confession the Holy Spirit is
active.
But
whatever the occasion for such confession, extraordinary or mundane, the long
and the short of it is, you will suffer for it.
Jesus promises it. The devil
cannot abide your confession of Christ.
He will stir up the world against you.
Unfriending and unfollowing on social media is the least of it. Mean words.
Slander (“You hateful bigot!”).
Rejection from family members and those you thought were friends. And whether it happens or not, you have to be
ready to give testimony before governors and kings, if necessary. Jeremiah did.
Paul did. All the Apostles and
Prophets did. And Jesus did. He spoke the Truth in His testimony before
Governor Pilate and King Herod. And it
got Him killed. Mocked, beaten,
scourged, crucified, dead and buried. It
could happen to you. The danger is real. Because you are in Christ.
But
do not be afraid. “A disciple is not
above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the
disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have
called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those
of his household” (Matt. 10:24-25).
It is enough for you to be like Jesus. And you are most like Him when you
suffer for His Name and His Word. He
suffered to atone for your sins and the sins of the whole world, for
your forgiveness, life, and salvation. You
suffer that others may know this Gospel, and believe it, and be saved. For not everyone will reject your
confession. Not everyone will reject
Christ. Many will hear and believe. Because you were willing to speak the Word of
the living God.
But
look, whether they receive or reject you… Don’t fear them! Don’t fear those who can merely kill the
body, but cannot kill the soul. Fear
God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And that is what He will do to those whom
Jesus disavows on the Day of Judgment; namely, those who in this life have
disavowed Jesus. Denied Him. Confession is a fruit of faith. If you believe in Him, you will confess
Him. Justification is by faith alone,
but faith is never alone. Faith
confesses Jesus Christ. With the heart
one believes, and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses, and is saved
(Rom. 10:10). So fear God, and confess
Christ and His Word.
But
even more, do not fear because, look what Jesus has done for you. See how He loves you. See how the Father loves you, that He gave
His only-begotten Son into the death of the cross to redeem you and make you
His own. But then, you also know that
this isn’t the end of the story. Christ
is risen. The tomb is empty. Jesus lives.
And so you who suffer with Christ, and die with Christ, will be raised
with Christ. Bodily, when He comes again
in glory. Spiritually, already now, in
Holy Baptism.
Beloved,
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he
not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). The very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Who of you counts the hairs on
your head? This is to say, you are more
precious to God than you are to yourself.
So they kill you for confessing Christ.
What then? They can’t do anything
more to you. And you will be with Jesus. As Paul was, when he felt the steely blade
against his neck. As Peter was, after
he, too, was crucified in the Name of His crucified and risen Lord. As so many are who, across the centuries, and
throughout the world to this very day, are martyred merely for the crime of
being baptized into Christ.
What
of that? What of it? They can’t really kill you. That’s the point! Because Jesus lives, you live. That is the unshakable fact of the
matter. So confess Christ. Speak of Him.
Speak His Word. Boldly. Confidently.
Unapologetically. This is a good
day to remember this. This day, June 25th,
happens to be the 493rd Anniversary of the Presentation of the
Augsburg Confession (the Augustana, for which our congregation is named). It wasn’t only the pastors and theologians
who put their lives on the line before the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire and Emperor
Charles V. It was the princes and
electors, the lay leaders of the Evangelical Churches, who signed their names
and offered their necks for the confession of the true faith. And, really, it was all those who went to
Church to hear the evangelical preachers, who believed and confessed the faith
set forth in the Augustana, and who received the Sacrament accordingly. Many of them paid with their blood. Blessed are they. And so you, their heirs. Here you are at Augustana Lutheran
Church, 493 years later, hearing, believing, and confessing as they did. Do not be afraid. The Day is coming when all that is hidden
will come to light. And Jesus will
confess you before His Father in heaven.
And then He will turn to you and say, “Come, you who are blessed by
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world” (Matt. 25:34). Until that
Day, beloved, keep His Name ever upon your lips. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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