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The Holy Gospel according to Matthew the tenth chapter. Jesus said to the twelve, A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master. It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household? So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, and even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid, you are of more value than many sparrows. Every one, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword, for I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. This is the gospel of the Lord. You may be seated. Maybe I should say, okay, let's bring on the rain so we don't have to dig into this particular passage from Matthew today, but here we have it right in front of us. So let us pray. Lord God, may the words of my mouth, the meditation of our hearts and minds, be acceptable unto you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. I wonder what songs or scripture or prayers come to mind for you when you find yourself in a fearful, difficult or stressful situation. Maybe it's the funeral of a loved one or a friend, or maybe it's an upcoming medical procedure or appointment, and you feel overwhelmed. So amidst all the upheaval of that moment, maybe it's that song or that hymn or that scripture verse that comes to mind that melts away the fear and the sadness. Now, for many folks, it could be Psalm 23. I can't think of how many times I've been with people and they will say, please, let's let's say Psalm 23 together. The Lord is my shepherd. There's something about thinking about being in the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil that really draws you closer to the presence of God. For many, it might be the familiar, amazing grace. And sometimes people are like, oh, we overuse that, we sing that all the time, but there's a reason why that song comes up again and again. For me, it's how great thou art. I cannot help but think of my great-grandmother who lived in the house with me, and when she died, it was how great thou art. And so I hear that hymn, and I think of my great-grandmother. Sometimes it's when we face an upcoming challenge or decision, and we can just feel like things are just tough right now. How do I get through that? And I am mindful too that for me, I sometimes think of music I learned in VBS or at camp. And so I think of this difficult decision and I start singing in my head, my God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are so I I start singing that and it changes my outlook when I think about facing that particular difficulty as well. Does it make it go away? No, I still have to go through it. And yet I'm reminded that I'm not alone when I go through it. Sometimes it's those moments, just in the middle of the night, where you wake up and you, gosh, you just don't feel great. And there's something that has come to mind. And so, how do you get back to sleep? Is it the tune, have no fear, little flock, have no fear, little flock? Excuse me for my voice there. I don't know if I hit the right notes on that one. Or is it Psalm 27? The Lord is my light and my salvation. When we are people of faith and we're surrounded by a community of faith, when we hear scripture, and sometimes you might be thinking, what are those things that I that come up in my mind? Maybe they don't come up in this moment, but in those moments when you really need them, you start to have that prayer, that hymn, that scripture flow through you and remind you that you belong to God. Well, it's not always helpful to speak in absolutes. Most people will experience those moments, those difficulties, those hardships, those fears that bubble up. Listen to those words that we heard from Matthew and all those things that Jesus talks about, that there'll be difficulties with people against people. Those things are a reality in our lives. And being a follower of Jesus does not give us this lifetime protection of never feeling those feelings or facing those situations. So it's in those very moments that I hope that you can lift up those songs and those scriptures and those prayers that bring you back into the confidence of the one who calls you by name. It is often why we may come here as well, sit among one another to worship and to be filled with the good words that we hear and the songs that we sing and the prayers that we pray together and the meal that we eat together that Jesus gives to us. It is through faith that we not only face fear, but we can overcome it. It is through faith that we not only face struggles and suffering and hardships, but we can come out on the other side stronger, knowing that we go through that together. William Getter writes about this part of the Gospel of Matthew and feasting on the Word. Jesus is addressing the faithful who seek to live into their Christian faith while facing conflict and discouragement. Notice he's not writing if we face it. He's reminding us that it's while and when we face it. How do we confront it as a disciple of God? Well, we face it as a person who is a disciple, who continually seeks and learns and grows in our faith and our understanding of God's word through our lives continually. And in this reading from Matthew, in the midst of all those other things that are written about and those difficulties and hardships, are also Jesus' words who tells us, do not be afraid. And I wonder how those words speak into your life today. What do you face right now that you need to hear those words from a Savior who knows you to say, do not be afraid? Because sometimes we face a fear concerning those things in our daily lives, and sometimes we may face fear because of how we live our lives of faith out loud. In verse 26, we hear, so have no fear. Nothing will be covered up, it will be brought to the light. Now, recently my mom went through a major heart surgery. And there was a bit of fear and anxiety that definitely bubbled up when you find out that that is on your list of things that you have to do. There's a little fear and anxiety and worry that bubbles up as all of a sudden you hear the medical personnel and the surgeon talk through all the things that could happen. And you almost want to cover that up and be like, well, let's not really, let's not really talk about that. You know, let's let's not focus on that. But those things have to be brought to the light. You have to be prepared, you have to know what you're going into it. And so you think, how do you face those moments? And for my mom, it was with prayer. She had reached out to her pastor and asked for her pastor to be there to say a prayer. So her pastor showed up and said a prayer. As we sat in that room as she got ready for being wheeled back, we stood and we said a prayer. And then my mom, even in that moment when she was wheeled into the hospital room where they were going to begin the surgery and they were going to put the anesthesia on her. She said later, she's like, I wanted to pray for the medical staff, but all of a sudden they're coming at me with the anesthesia, and all I got out was, bless you. And then she was out. And so she's like, I'm not sure I prayed for them or not in that moment. And I thought, I don't know if I would have done that. Who does that? A person of faith who was thinking that I need to turn to prayer in order to get through this moment in my life. It's easy to cover some stuff up like that. Like we don't want to talk about what could happen during that, and yet to go into it knowing for her, she knew that no matter what, God was with her, no matter what the outcome would be, that she had the strength and that she would be taken care of in that moment. In verse 28, Jesus says, do not fear those who kill the body, because there are those who will face threat to their very lives because of their faith. There are stories of folks who have been threatened physically. We are here as Lutherans because of this man named Martin Luther, who wasn't a perfect man. And yet he himself kept moving forward, even threat to his life, because he knew this were the words that he read in Scripture were the words that needed to be known in the church. A church that had gotten lost in itself and was selling indulgences and telling people there are things that they had to do when he knew that this free gift of grace had to be heard and known by all in a word that could be understood by people. And so he faced that threat. And we know that this gift of grace is a free gift to all. We know the promises are given to each and every one of us. Not again that it makes things perfect, but it is given as many times as we need it for the sake of all of us to hear God's word, to be able to open our Bibles and to read God's word together, to be encouraged and to know that we do not have to be afraid. So do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. Imagine if God's care extends to the smallest of creatures. Think about how much God cares for you. Jesus knows that we are trying our best to live out our faith, and yet it doesn't mean that because we don't live our best, that we won't be receiving grace or love. Jesus gives that to us as well, even when we misstep or fail. We come back and we return to Jesus. We are fed once again, and we hear those words of forgiveness, and we are filled with Jesus' meal, with Jesus' love, with Jesus' hope. This is why we are continually told, do not be afraid. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us on this journey through life as we try our very best to lead a life of loving faith. And yet for us, it's not a contest, and it's not something that we have to worry about winning or losing. It's given as a gift. I often think of that contest that maybe you participated in before as well, where there's a jar of marbles that you have to guess how many are in there, and if you're lucky, it's a jar of candy. Because then if you guess the closest number or the correct number, you get to win the jar of candy, and you're like, yes, I'm the winner. And then everybody else is the losers because they didn't guess the right number that's in there. Well, our faith isn't like that, it's not a contest, but sometimes we treat it like that contest. That if we guess right, that if we know all the correct stuff and information and others don't, that we'll be the winner, we'll be the ones that are closer to God than I'm the righteous one and you're not, or I have all the right things and I'll be saved and you're not. And yet it's not a contest like that. It's not that God's grace is a contest that, oh, if I do the right thing, then God will choose me and then won't choose other people. Our God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do. Isn't God's mercy wide enough for all? It doesn't have to be a contest. It doesn't have to be, I'm the winner, you're the loser. Remember that this is grace that's freely given. For all who come before our Lord and Savior, this meal, we say all are welcome, come and eat. This meal is for you. With all the things that are in this text from the Gospel of Matthew, it's not that it's a guessing game when it comes to God. God has this big picture in mind, this wide picture that includes a large table where all are welcome to be around it. And God also is in the details. God knows all the number of hairs on our head. God knows all these things about each and every one of us, and still God extends love to us. No contest, no guessing. We don't have to have fear overcome us because God overcomes all fear. So do not be afraid if you don't understand what in the world Jesus is saying in this scripture text or in other places. Think about the overall picture of who God is for us and why God sends Jesus to us. Because Jesus will bring a peace that makes us right, this gift that makes us right with God, even in the midst of sometimes those unpeaceful situations that we find ourselves in in relationship in the world. Because we know that that is not the final word. Have no fear with what you face today or what you face tomorrow. For God goes with you, God's mercy is wide, and our God is strong and mighty and loves you. Amen.