What Do You Expect, Christian?

22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday, 10/29/23 Matthew 10:16-23 What Do You Expect, Christian? Regarding… I. Your environment II. Your response III. Your relationships There is little reason in our modern world not to know what you’re getting into. For instance, if you’re thinking about taking a vacation, making a hotel reservation, or trying out a restaurant for the first time, you check it out. You search websites and read reviews. You watch videos. You see and hear what specific locations look like, and then you read reviews to find out how accurate the portrayals are. Is the service as good as advertised? Is the price you’ll pay worth it? Would those who have experienced what you’re contemplating do it again? Or, do they tell you to beware? I can’t help but think that people are doing that very same thing regarding their decision whether or not to join us for worship on Sunday morning. I used to receive phone calls asking me about what Resurrection offers. Not any more. Not for a few years. It’s apparent people check out our website and likely watch one of our services before they decide to walk inside those doors. They want to know what they can expect. And we’re not surprised. Not to do so is failing to take advantage of an opportunity. Why not check things out first before committing to attend worship with us? But let’s take that one step farther. Let’s take it from a place of Christian worship experience to life experience outside those doors. As you make efforts to live your Christian life out in the world, what are you finding? What’s your experience? There are Christians who will claim the Christian life out there can be all peaches and cream. The other evening as I was watching television the face of a nationally recognized Christian preacher appeared and began to tell me that he has the secret to happiness in my life. And if I go to his website, he’ll inform me how to change my thinking about things so that I can enjoy that happiness as I live my Christian life in this world. And he’s not alone. Countless Christians think the same way. But it makes me wonder if they ever read these words of Jesus from Matthew 10. In them he speaks about the Christian life out there in the world, and it’s not a pretty picture. It’s realistic, but it’s not pretty. Today we pause to celebrate Luther’s Reformation of the Church, an event which rocked Christianity and world history. Historians have ranked the Reformation as one of the top three events in the last 1,000 years. But it didn’t result in loads of peaches and cream. Not for Luther, and not for us who choose to be known as Lutheran Christians. As much as this is a day to celebrate the saving truth that we are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, through scripture alone, it’s also a day for a reality check. And Jesus gives us that opportunity in these words before us this morning from Matthew’s Gospel. They lead each of us to ask ourselves the question, “What do you expect, Christian?” Keep that question before you as we delve into this portion of God’s word. Part I. If you know even a little about the history of Luther’s reformation of the church, you know it wasn’t easy for him. He began it thinking it would be easy. That’s because he was under the delusion that the leaders in his church were unaware of the spiritual abuses that were going on. He discovered that the forgiveness of sins was being peddled for money in order to build a huge church in Rome. Surely the pope was unaware. But Luther was pitifully naïve. The pope did know, and when Luther found that out and began denouncing the teachings of his church, he quickly found out what danger he was in. In short order he was excommunicated, he was placed under the ban, which meant he could be shot on sight by anyone. In fact, for years after leaving the Roman Catholic Church, Luther refused to contemplate becoming married because he figured he would be killed soon by his enemies. That’s what he got for proclaiming and defending the truth of God’s word. Is it really all that different today? Our environment in many respects is very similar to the one in which Luther lived. Try standing up for what God says in his word. You’ll be labeled hateful and intolerant, a Jesus freak. Choose any moral topic our world is facing today—beginning of life, end of life, human sexuality, marriage, divorce, humankind’s accountability to God—and you’ll face endless ridicule and inhuman derision. And one of the reasons for that is that the people of this world will not tolerate the phrase, “thus says the Lord.” They refuse to accept the fact that there is only one true God, and he has a claim on our lives and holds us responsible to him for the way we lead them. Don’t believe me? Put something out there on social media that is uniquely Christian and see the kinds of responses you get. That’s the spiritual environment in which we live. And truth be told, it’s not much different from what Luther faced or Jesus faced while he was on this earth, or the apostles after Christ, or God’s prophets in the Old Testament. That’s the environment in which we live. That’s what you can expect, Christian. So, as Christians who have firmly taken a stance on the truth of God’s word, it seems to me there are only two options. One, we can surrender to our world, just give it, make the Christian life easier for us and more tolerable for them, or, we can take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God and continue serving in the high calling our Lord Jesus has given us, knowing and believing that he is the one who has placed us in this environment, as sheep among wolves. We do so with the divine promise that when the Last Day occurs, his word will still stand. Christian, that’s what you can expect. Part II. And as you live in that environment, listen to your Savior encourage you on how to respond, “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Luther had barely begun his reformation of the church when these words were fulfilled in his life. He literally proclaimed the truth of salvation as presented in the word of God before the Holy Roman Emperor and he did so knowing that he could be executed for his firm stance. But he wasn’t the first to do so. Shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven the apostles faced the same opportunity, first before the Jewish ruling council and ultimately before the world’s most powerful ruler at the time, the Emperor of the Roman Empire. And they paid for it with their lives. It happens far too often that Christians in other parts of the world take a stand on the word of God and are martyred for it. Will that ever happen in our country? I pray not. But the fact remains, the truth of God as declared in his word is opposed all across our country every day. Jesus knew that would happen. And so he gave us his promise that the Holy Spirit will still empower us and give us the words to speak as we defend God’s eternal truth, which even Satan himself cannot overcome. That’s our calling. That’s our mission. That’s our privilege. We’ll face opposition to our Christian testimony, but the victory is ours through Christ. That’s what we can expect as we respond to the attacks on our faith from our world. Part III. It’s difficult enough when the world in which we live opposes the truth of God’s word; it’s crushing when that opposition comes from the people who are closest to us. Listen again to these words of Jesus, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” The truth of God’s word might even drive a wedge in our relationships with our closest relatives—our own flesh and blood. And when we first experience it, we’re stunned. We can’t believe what’s happening. Perhaps the opposition to your faith is coming from a close relative who once heard and believed the same truths that you still hold to, but now want nothing to do with that truth, and it hurts deep inside you. So, what can we do? First, if the opposite is true—where you have relationships with family and friends in which you share the same faith and encourage each other in it—cherish those relationships. Foster them! Remind each other how critical it is that you continue to hear that word together and find your comfort and joy in it. And where that isn’t the case—where strife exists because you hold to the truths of Christ and won’t comprise—pray and work. Pray and work. Pray and work. Pray for the Lord to strengthen you and to work in their hearts, and then be the one who is willing to share the truths of God’s word as Jesus gives you the opportunity and the words to speak. God’s word always works; we just don’t know exactly when or how. As much as our celebration of Luther’s Reformation of the Church is a joyful, encouraging, uplifting event, it’s also a reality check. Like Jesus, like the apostles, like Luther, we’ll face staunch opposition as we determine to live according to the truths of God’s word and proclaim those truths. The life of the Christian is not easy. And there are times when we’ll cave into the pressure from our world to suppress God’s truth. But our Reformation confidence is that Jesus never suppressed the truth. He always proclaimed it and he died for it. He died to fulfill the truth that our God is our Savior, the God who won forgiveness and eternal life for us. Jesus rose from the dead to guarantee his saving truth. And our world, and not even the gates of hell, can overcome that truth. Jesus wins, and we win with him. That’s what you can expect, Christian. Praise God for it! Amen.