There are moments in life when following Jesus does not make things easier. It makes things clearer.
There are decisions that feel like that. You know what is right, but you also know what it may cost. Standing up for someone who is being treated unjustly. Speaking a truth others do not want to hear. Doing what is right when it is not the most convenient option. In those moments a simple question shows up: what carries more weight, fear or faith?
That is where we see what is guiding our life. That is where we see what holds our decisions when pressure is present.
We all know that tension.
When speaking can break a relationship. When staying silent feels safer. When doing what is right brings consequences we would rather avoid. When following Jesus does not fit what others expect from us.
That is what Jesus is addressing in today’s Gospel.
This passage is part of the instructions Jesus gives to the twelve before sending them out to preach and heal. Jesus is not preparing disciples for control over outcomes. He is preparing them for faithfulness, and he wants them to understand something from the beginning.
Following him will have a cost. He does not promise comfort, success, or general acceptance. He promises his presence.
The disciples were not religious experts. They were ordinary people. Working people. People who had left their jobs behind to follow Jesus. Jesus sends them into towns and villages where the message will be met with resistance. In their world, family and community were the foundation of identity and safety. Being rejected was not only an emotional wound. It meant loss of belonging, protection, and future.
That is why Jesus speaks so directly. He does not soften what is ahead. He tells them that what is done to him will also be done to them.
If Jesus is rejected, they will be rejected. If Jesus is questioned, they will be questioned. Not because they are failing. But because the Gospel confronts what holds many lives together: power, fear, control, reputation.
That is why Jesus speaks about taking up the cross. For those hearing him for the first time, the cross was not a religious symbol. It was a Roman instrument of public execution. Total humiliation. The end of status.
To take up the cross means to follow Christ even when it comes at a real cost. It means forgiving when it would be easier to hold on to resentment. It means serving when we are tired. It means speaking truth when there is pressure to stay quiet. It means choosing faithfulness when something is lost.
That is not only about extreme moments. It shows up in ordinary decisions that shape our life.
We all know what it is to live with fear.
Fear of rejection. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of losing something we value. Fear of not being enough. Fear of the future.
And fear can quietly start making decisions for us before we even notice it.
That is why it stands out that three times in this passage Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.”
That is one of the central themes of the text Jesus names those fears and then redirects them. Not because fear is imaginary, but because fear is not the final authority over our lives.
Because if we are honest, fear often makes decisions for us.
Fear shrinks our world. Fear narrows what we can imagine. Fear keeps us safe in the short term but small in the long term.
But the center of this passage is not simply about stopping fear. The center is that we belong to God. And because we belong to God, we can live with courage, even in uncertainty or rejection.
That is what God declares over us in Baptism.
In Baptism God placed his name on us. He called us his children. He claimed us as his own. Not because we earned it. Simply because God loves us.
That identity does not change when people reject us. It does not change when we fail. It does not change when life becomes unstable.
That is God’s answer to fear. You belong to me.
But Jesus does not only speak about identity. He also speaks about discipleship in real life. He calls us to a visible faith. A faith that shows up in our decisions, in our words, and in how we treat others.
Following Christ is not only about overcoming fear or what we believe internally. It is about living in a way that reflects God’s love, compassion, and justice in the world.
When Jesus speaks about division within families, he is not promoting conflict in families. He is naming what happens when the Kingdom of God reorders the center of life.
Some loyalties shift. Some priorities change. Some relationships become tense.
That still happens today.
We see it when someone chooses honesty over approval. When someone stands with a person others push aside. When someone refuses to stay silent in the face of harm.
For us as a congregation this text carries special weight. We are a community made up of different languages, cultures, sexual orientations, life experiences, and backgrounds. Some have experienced rejection for being immigrants. Others for being LGBTQ+. Others for affirming the dignity God has given every person. There are also those facing illness, the loss of a loved one, anxiety, financial uncertainty, or difficult relationships.
We all know what it means to keep going when it would be easier to step away.
And Jesus names this clearly. Our primary identity does not come from acceptance or approval. It comes from belonging to God.
And here we find good news. Jesus does not ask us to walk a path he has not walked first. He too was rejected, criticized, and abandoned by those close to him. He too carried the cross. But the cross was not the end. The resurrection changes what fear can claim over us.
When Jesus calls his disciples to follow him, he does not send them alone. The risen Christ walks with them. He walks with us. God’s victory over death reminds us that rejection, suffering, and fear never have the final word.
When the world divides people into categories and labels, Christ gathers his people.
That is what we confess and receive at the Lord’s Table.
At the table we do not bring status or achievement. We bring hunger and need. And Christ meets us there. Bread and wine become a promise. You are welcome here. You are fed here. You are not forgotten here.
At this table, fear loses its place of authority. What we carry in, Christ meets with grace.
Jesus says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it. Then he says that even the hairs on our head are counted.
These words are simple, but they are strong. We are not invisible to God.
When we feel overlooked, God sees us. When others reject us, God does not reject us. When we feel alone in what we carry, God is already present.
God knows our struggles, our fears, and our wounds. And precisely because God knows us so deeply, God does not abandon us.
Brothers and sisters, there will be moments when fear tries to lead our decisions. There will be moments when following Jesus cost us something. There will be moments when we feel misunderstood or alone.
But Jesus reminds us today that our life is in God’s hands. We are known by name. We are loved. We are claimed by God.
And because we belong to God, we can move forward with courage. Love with generosity. Serve with compassion. And defend the dignity of those who are forgotten or rejected. Not because we are strong, but because Christ is with us.
And from there we are sent.
To live with faithfulness. To speak truth. To hold up the dignity of others. To not let fear decide for us.
Because we belong to God.
That is our life and our mission.
Amen.
