God's Love Sticks With Us - 4th Sunday after Pentecost
Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
June 21, 2026
Last week, we heard Jesus summoned his disciples and gave
them authority to embody good news. Often we might imagine our calling is to get
more people to come to Grace! That more people in the building will by its very
nature mean good news. But instead Jesus’ followers are to go where others are
with the good news first. Jesus sent them out away from their comfort zone but they
didn’t need to go to faraway places instead to the lost right here. But then he said: Take no money in your
belts, no
bag for your journey, or a staff to protect you. Find someone to welcome you in. It’s not about
you.
But then he says “If
anyone will not welcome you…”
“I am
sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves. Beware… they will hand you
over to government officials and beat you. You will be dragged before the
powerful because of me, as a testimony to them. But do not worry about how
to speak or what to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that
time, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit speaking through
you. Sibling will betray sibling and a father his
child, and children will rise against parents, and
you will be hated by all because of my name. When
they persecute you in this town, flee to the next.
Not only will people not want you around, but you could
also be disowned, harmed, left to flee for your own safety. And it will seem
like you have no tools to prevail.
NOW WHO WANTS TO SIGN UP TO FOLLOW JESUS IF THAT IS THE
COST? No glory and its not even always safe.
If we are honest, don’t we sometimes want a “safe” faith
that doesn’t ask so much of our life? Over the years I’ve heard people say that
they just want to be uplifted here, without the struggle of feeling convicted
or uncomfortable. If so, Jesus is not your guy. We worship a crucified and
risen Lord, not a gold leafed mighty conqueror. Jesus’ didn’t come to speak a
false peace. He brings a sword. But his sword is not armor, but the clarity of
God’s vision breaking down artificial barriers that we create over whose lives
are worthy of love. We will not always feel comfortable proclaiming this love.
When we delve into Scripture and our real lives, we see
both the depths of humanity, and the greater depth of God’s love in sticking
with us.
When God’ words become embodied we are saved. When God’s
words are embodied by us, they ask us set our selves aside to save others.
That will create tension like we see in our Old Testament
lesson where Abraham and Sarah were anxious to embody the promise of a child.
True confession, Abraham gets on my nerves. I remember complaining to my Old Testament professor about how it seems
horrible that we call him a leader in the faith given all he did. To which she
said, “instead of focusing upon what Abraham did, look at what God did.”
I am sure Abraham loved Sarah and wanted her to be happy.
I am sure Sarah longed for a child to call her own because without a child she
endured the heartbreaking judgment of others. They’d been told they would have
a child by holy messengers but then they blinked and took matters into their
own hands and made a devastating choice.
I doubt they considered the impact upon Hagar who as a
slave could not refuse Abraham’s advances. In order for Abraham and Sarah to
get what they wanted, she was “given” to him by Sarah.
Hagar became pregnant, but eventually then, so did
Sarah. Ishmael, Hagar’s son, is a
constant reminder and Abraham was obligated to care for both sons. Imagine what
that felt like for everyone. God taught Abraham and Sarah many things, but when
they lost perspective, they chose the path that is old as humanity- I need to
do it my way, again.
We see what happens when in haste, in fear, in anger or
jealousy, we grab for power rather than living in the teaching of God and the
authority of the Spirit upon us. Lives are cast aside and lives are lost.
To shield ourselves we call those lives “Collateral
damage” or make them be statistics because
there is too much uncomfortable dread when we see real bodies. Did Sarah have a
valid concern in wanting Isaac to be provided for? Sure. But not at the expense
of another God would say. Genesis says Abraham rose early in the morning, took
bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder,
along with the child, HIS child, and sent her away.
Hagar is a slave who again cannot choose otherwise. Abraham
put a big bag of water and their child on her shoulder. A man who had already
burdened her, loaded more burden upon her. Many of us have carried kids or
grandkids at a store or the zoo but at what point do we say, “I need you to
walk”? Hagar is not walking around the Target; she is wandering in a desolate
space physically and emotionally.
God lets this happen momentarily, not because God does
not care. God is holding Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Hagar and Ishamel in
love. I believe that in order for God to provide the love these souls deserve,
it was easier to remove Hagar and Ishmael from an abusive environment than try
to work around Abraham and Sarah.
Which makes me wonder whether we consider: how complex are
the lives of everyone who is wandering in our midst today? Do we know how their journey unfolded? Do we
assume they could’ve made better choices? What does God want to do? What does
God want US to do as disciples?
What can Jesus teach us so we live in love and not fear
or anger?
Jesus says a disciple is not greater than their teacher, but
we can be like him. Life is complex so we need to be willing to be taught
wisdom and embrace humility. The pull of
our own expectations, our desires to be liked or satisfied, and to be seen as
well off threaten to overtake us. In today’s age, being seen as human is at
stake, not only in the conflicts of war, but in the bargaining of what people
really need to eat, or to have shelter or healthcare. How much more comfortable
do the comfortable need to be? What would we sacrifice to be safe from violence
or the wilderness of ecological contamination rather than tending a comfortable
investment account? What about the enslaved people of today who are modern day
Hagar’s and Ishamel’s that we bend to our consumer demands?
If any of that stings you see why Jesus warned that others
will not want the embodiment of gospel around. When we slow down and show who
is lost and hurting, it can make us feel uncomfortable and convicted. The
“lost” Jesus speaks of ask a lot, both those lost by their own choices and
those who through forces beyond their capacity become “lost.” Abraham and Sarah
remind us we all become lost somehow. Maybe that is the scariest of all.
If you feel lost, Jesus is here. And if you are
wandering, I want to end with three ways to let Jesus teach you:
Pray- Jesus, teach me what you want to place upon my
heart.
Give- Jesus, teach me how to deepen my commitment to your
vision.
Serve- Jesus, teach me who most needs the way the I can
love and send me.
The good news is about what God did and does. Christ died
and rose to prove the power of God’s love. The Holy Spirit is still equipping
and sending. Lord, thank you for sticking with us.
Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2026 All rights reserved. May
not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
Sermon Text: Matthew 10:24-39
[Jesus said to the twelve:] 24 “A disciple is not above
the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 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 Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26 “So have no fear of them,
for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that
will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in
the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 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. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many
sparrows.
32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me
before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever
denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I have
come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.
35 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,
36 and one’s foes will be members
of one’s own household.
37 “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, 38 and whoever does not take up the cross
and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose
it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
BACK