 |
| The Cost Shawn Nelson Dhalstrom |
Matthew 10:24-39
July 2, 2023
I
think when we hear peace we think of,
good
things: love, harmony, understanding,
tolerance,
inner security, calm.
And
we might go, why would Jesus say
he
isn’t here to bring peace?
Those
seem like ideals of the kingdom of God.
But
that’s not the only way the word peace has been used.
Sometime
people use the word peace
when
they are talking about something else entirely.
Pax
Romana or Roman Peace
Was
an unprecedented time of
prosperity
in the Roman Empire.
It
went from about
27BC
to about 120 AD, give or take a few decades,
It
was right around the time of Jesus.
It
was an unprecedented time because
the
centuries prior to that,
the
empire had been almost constant war within itself
with
emperors and rulers deposing other
emperors
and rulers and occupying territories
until
another ruler came in and deposed them.
War
was a habit for the Romans.
The
time of Pax was ushered in by Augustus defeat
of
Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31BC
After
he took power, Emperor Augustus had the clever idea
to
tell the people of the Roman Empire that they should just let
him
rule, and that being without war would be more prosperous
to
them than being with war.
And
it was. The 200 years of the Pax Romana
was
a time of economic expansion,
and
creative and cultural achievements.
The
building of many of Rome’s roads and monuments, statues,
places
of worship, stadiums happened during this time.
And
eventually, by Jesus time,
The Roman Empire was bragging about the
Pax Romana to the world. It was something
they were dedicated to maintain.
The
word “Pax” or “Pax Augusta”,
showed
up on coins and other methods of
written
communication as kind of advertisement:
We’ve got peace here in the Roman Empire, come to Rome,
live, do business, vacation, come
join the Roman Empire.
And
part of the economic expansion was an expansion of
territory,
this was the rise of the Roman Empire.
During
the height of the Pax Romana, about 70 million
people
lived in the Roman Empire,
almost
a quarter of the entire world’s population.
Pax
Romana was good for the emperor, for the ones in power,
for
the business people, and for the wealthy
citizens
around the center of Rome.
But
of course, this Pax Romana wasn’t
peaceful
and prosperous for everyone.
Especially
for the people of the regions that Rome invaded
and
occupied and expanded into by force
like
Israel and the middle East.
And
to maintain the peace, or the image of peace at least,
The
Roman Empire forcibly took down any rebellion,
any
inkling of an organization that might have
the
thought of challenging or changing the Empire.
And
from these conquered territories and people
on
the outskirts of the empire, the Roman
government
collected lots of taxes to fund their prosperity.
Ad
with the inability to pay taxes,
millions
of people were enslaved, sold into forced labor,
in
order to build the structures of the empire
and
to work for the wealthy and those in power.
The
Pax Romana, the peace and prosperity of Rome,
was
maintained, not by merciful coexistence,
and
harmony, but by dominance,
and
military and economic might.
What
was called peace and prosperity by Rome
was
an illusion of peace maintained by fear and intimidation.
it
was a peace that was almost a prison for so many.
Tacitus, who was a Roman politician and a
historian,
and a critic of his own country wrote:
“To ravage, to slaughter, to steal, this they
give the
false name of empire;
and where they create a desert, they call it
peace.”
It
is the Pax Romana, the illusion of peace,
that
Jesus would have heard about repeatedly
in
the Roman territory that he lived in.
He
would have been taught to not say
anything,
in
order to not disrupt the “peace”.
His
disciples would have heard the same.
Just
get along. Don’t disturb the “peace”.
It’s
this peace – the uncomfortable peace that was
brought
by intimidation and threats of violence—
that
he tells his disciples is not here to maintain.
In
the face of this false peace, Jesus has come to
bring
conflict, the conflict between
the
way things are and the way of God’s Kingdom.
This
speech is near the end of the pep talk that Jesus
is
giving his disciples before he sends them out.
He
is sending them out to do that work that
he
has started: healing, and casting out demons,
announcing the kingdom of God
He is warning them that everyone might not
receive their message with joy.
Sometimes we
assume that healing, and casting out demons,
announcing the kingdom of God would be
universally well received.
That
everyone would be happy with the news
that
God’s presence on earth would bring
joy
and happiness to all.
That
and everyone would welcome the disciples in.
But
Jesus is telling them no.
Bringing
power and hope to people
that
are oppressed and freeing them
from
the bonds that hold them captive,
that
is a disruption to that illusion of peace.
Before
real peace and justice comes,
there
can actually be conflict and discomfort.
When
Jesus said that love your neighbor as yourself
it
wasn’t a problem, but when Jesus showed that it meant
eating
with tax collectors and prostitutes
and talking
to their religious rivals,
that
was uncomfortable.
People
love to quote the phrase
“an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
But
they forget the rest of the quote where
Jesus
says that isn’t the way anymore.
He
says do not resist an evil doer,
if
they strike you on one cheek offer the other also.
That
was uncomfortable.
When
Jesus talked about God’s blessings, it was okay,
but
when he said “blessed are the poor”
and
“woe to the rich”
that
was uncomfortable.
When
Jesus said the Kingdom Of God is at hand,
it
sounded great.
But he
reminds us that that means that another
kingdom
will fade away.
That was
uncomfortable.
The
coming of the Kingdom of God
can be
uncomfortable, it can cause conflict.
But this
conflict is expected.
It’s
the old world holding on tightly to its old ways.
It’s
the new world being born.
And
birth doesn’t happen without
some
pain and suffering.
And this is
how Jesus message
often comes into this world too.
We assume that talk of God’s love
will be
received with joy and happiness,
but it’s not.
Now
Jesus isn’t telling us to take up arms
and
he’s not telling us to get into physical altercations
with
people who disagree with us.
Jesus
doesn’t want us to be jerks to everyone.
But
sometimes Christianity has made us conflict avoidant
Christians
have sometimes acted
like the first calling of Christianity is to
be nice.
To
make sure that everyone is always happy and no one is uncomfortable.
Jesus
is telling us that “nice” isn’t the first call of peace,
and
that bringing God’s real-life message of love
into
this world is often controversial.
And
sometimes people, even other Christians,
can
have a problem with Jesus message.
Just
saying that Black Lives do matter,
that
can be uncomfortable.
Just
saying that God loves LGBT people the way they are,
that
can be uncomfortable.
Just
working for housing for our neighbors means that
development
doesn’t happen and a company
might
not make all the money they projected for this year.
That
can be uncomfortable.
Just
making a plea for love, for justice, for equality,
for
tolerance, for actual peace, for understanding
can
cause conflict, some of this discomfort can happen
in our
own neighborhoods, with our friends,
and
sometimes it in our own families
around
a dinner table.
Jesus
is warning his disciples that the real life, bold
proclamation
of God’s Kingdom
can
come with discomfort.
As
Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
"True
peace is not merely the absence of conflict;
it is the
presence of justice”
Jesus didn’t
come to bring false peace.
Not just the
nice absence of conflict that passes as peace.
Jesus came
to bring real peace, real justice for everyone.
The Kingdom
of God.
And to get
there, Jesus needs us to get to the
bottom of some
real problems here and now.
And that
often starts with disruption of the way things are.
That’s the
sword that Jesus talks about.
A
metaphorical sword, not a real one.
But the
question that he asks the disciples then
and that he asks us today is:
Will
be able to bear that cross for Jesus
and
for the Kingdom of God?
When
the kingdom of this world
contradicts
the kingdom of God
and
the rights and justice of all people,
will
we be willing to stand up for what’s right?
Will
we be able to do difficult things
and
have uncomfortable conversations?
Are
we willing to pursue real peace, real understanding
and
justice and not just the absence of conflict?
As
we celebrate July 4th this week,
we
know that there are many things
in
our country that we should be proud of.
And
there are also many ways that this country has not
lived
up to its own ideals that it was founded on.
It
seems like every day there are new ways
that
hard-won freedoms are being stripped away
and
are slipping out of our hands.
it
is not self-evident that all people are created equal,
it
does not seem as if we behave as if all people
have
been endowed by their creator with the
inalienable
rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It
seems like there are people who are intent
on
preserving that right for only a select,
privileged
few instead of for all.
Whenever we
try to live up to those ideals,
there
are conflicts and sacrifices.
There
are uncomfortable conversations
and
there is resistance.
But
this discomfort is just a part of the birth pangs.
Nothing
gets born without some pain.
This
is our world working out its problems.
This
is the human race exorcising its demons.
It’s
part of bringing about the new life that Jesus promises.
Shedding
off the old and letting in the new,
it
will continue to be painful and difficult.
But
God will not abandon us in this struggle for real peace.
Like
Jesus told the disciples:
Even the hairs on our head are counted.
God values us, God loves us, God sees us
God
will be with us.
Jesus
didn’t promise that real peace would be easy.
He
told us that some of it may be very hard
But
staying grounded in God’s love gives us hope.
It
gives us courage, it gives us peace,
true
peace that passes all understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment