Readings

Genesis 21.8–21: The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.’ The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named after you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, ‘Do not let me look on the death of the child.’ And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Matthew 10.24–39: 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 Beelzebul, 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 him 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 unperceived by 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. ‘Everyone 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.’

Sermon

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says some things that can make us feel uncomfortable.

Not least, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Those words do not sound like the Jesus we often picture. We are more used to hearing about loving our neighbours, turning the other cheek, and being peacemakers. So what does Jesus mean?

To understand this passage, we need to remember its context. Jesus is sending out his disciples. He is preparing them for the reality of following him. He is not promising them an easy life. Instead, he tells them the truth: following Christ can be costly.

The German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote about the difference between “cheap grace” and “costly grace” in his book The Cost of Discipleship. Cheap grace, he said, is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ. It is the idea that faith remains only a comfort, without ever asking anything of us.

But costly grace is different. Costly grace is still grace — still God’s free gift of love and mercy — but it calls us to truly follow Christ. It forgives us, but also changes us. It comforts us, but also summons us. It welcomes us as we are, but does not simply leave us as we are.

Bonhoeffer’s understanding was not merely theoretical. As a pastor in Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime, he refused to remain silent in the face of injustice and persecution. He became part of the Confessing Church, which resisted attempts to bring the Church under Nazi control, and he spoke out against the treatment of Jewish people and other victims of the regime. Eventually he was arrested and imprisoned, and in the final weeks of the Second World War he was executed by the Nazis. Bonhoeffer understood that following Christ could come at a tremendous cost, yet he believed that discipleship demanded faithfulness even when the consequences were severe. His life stands as a powerful reminder that the call to follow Jesus is not always safe or comfortable, but it is always worth answering.

Of course, not many of us will find ourselves in similar circumstances to Bonhoeffer’s. Nevertheless, that is very close to what Jesus is saying in this Gospel. The disciples are about to carry the good news into a world that will not always welcome it. They will face opposition, misunderstanding, and rejection. Some will be mocked. Some will be persecuted. Some will lose relationships that matter deeply to them.

It’s important to note that Jesus is not creating conflict for its own sake. Rather, he is acknowledging that the values of God’s kingdom often challenge the values of the world. When people commit themselves to truth, justice, mercy, forgiveness, and love, not everyone responds positively. Sometimes the very decision to follow Christ creates tension.

Many Christians throughout history have known this reality. The first disciples certainly did. Dietrich Bonhoeffer knew it. The saints knew it. Even today, countless Christians around the world face discrimination, imprisonment, or violence because of their faith.

Yet alongside these very difficult warnings comes a message of extraordinary reassurance.

Three times in this passage Jesus says, in one form or another, “Do not be afraid.” The most often repeated phrase in the Bible.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

“Even the hairs of your head are all counted.”

Jesus does not deny the existence of danger. He does not pretend suffering is not real. But he tells his disciples that they are held securely in God’s love and care.

The image of the sparrows is especially beautiful. In Jesus’ day sparrows were among the cheapest birds sold in the marketplace. They were considered insignificant. Yet Jesus says that not one of them falls without God knowing. If God notices every sparrow, how much more does God notice each one of us?

In a world where people can feel overlooked, forgotten, or insignificant, Jesus reminds us that we are known and valued by God. Not in a general or abstract way, but personally. God knows us completely.

That theme links wonderfully with our reading from Genesis. The story of Hagar and Ishmael is not an easy one. They are cast out into the wilderness. They find themselves alone, vulnerable, and desperate. Hagar believes death is near. She cannot bear to watch her son suffer. It is one of the Bible’s most painful scenes. Yet it is precisely there, in the wilderness, that God meets them. God hears the cry of the child. God speaks to Hagar. God opens her eyes to see a well of water. God provides for them and remains with them as Ishmael grows.

It is a story about people who might easily have been forgotten. Cast aside by others. Left on the margins. But they are not forgotten by God. Just as Jesus says that not one sparrow falls unnoticed, Genesis reminds us that no person suffers unnoticed. God sees Hagar. God hears Ishmael. God provides hope when all hope seems lost.

That is good news for all of us. There are times when we may feel as though we are wandering through our own wildernesses. Times of grief. Illness. Anxiety. Loneliness. Times when the future feels uncertain and we cannot see where help will come from. The promise we are given is not that such wildernesses will never come. Rather, it is that God is present within them.

So, today’s readings invite us to hold together these two truths.

First, following Jesus is not always easy. Faithfulness may sometimes be costly.

But second, we need not be afraid. The God who saw Hagar in the wilderness, the God who heard Ishmael’s cry, the God who notices every sparrow, is the same God who knows and loves each one of us.

Whatever challenges we face, whatever wilderness we may be travelling through, we do not walk alone. For we belong to the God who sees, the God who hears, and the God who never lets us go.

Amen.