Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "It’s Not Your Father’s Church"

Text: Matthew 10:24-39

We also live in a segmented religious world. According to http://www.adherents.com, Christianity has 2.1 billion adherents, followed by Islam with 1.3 billion, Hinduism with 900 million, Chinese traditional religion with 394 million, and Buddhism with 376 million, to mention only the five largest of the hundreds of religious traditions practiced around the world.

In today’s world, the greatest number of Christians is found in the USA, with some 225 million adherents, followed by Brazil (140 million), Mexico (86 million), Russia (80 million), and China (70 million). Within the United States, the largest Christian groups are: Roman Catholic (51 million), Baptist (34 million), Methodist (14 million), Lutheran (10 million), and Presbyterian (4 million).

Among Presbyterians, the PC(USA) is the largest denomination, with 2.5 million members distributed among 16 synods, 173 presbyteries, and 11,000 congregations. Within the PC(USA), the greatest concentration of Presbyterians is found in the state of Pennsylvania. As Julie likes to say, "The Presbyterians are densest in Pennsylvania." [pause]…

Here in Texas, there are about 200,000 Presbyterians – about 1% of the population. And here in Grace Presbytery, we have about 50,000 members, also around 1% of the population of the 51 counties in which our Presbytery has its 190 or so congregations.

And finally we come to Trinity Presbyterian Church, a congregation with about 120 members on the rolls at the moment. Here at Trinity we recognize and honor the segmented character of our society. Listen to our "Welcoming Statement" which appears on our Internet homepage, in "The Trinity Weekly Bulletin and Guide to Worship," and in the bi-weekly Trinity Caller:

Trinity Presbyterian Church (USA), a welcoming congregation in the Oak Cliff neighborhood, invites all persons into its ministry, service, and life without regard to race, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, handicap, age, sexual orientation, worldly condition, or any other reason not related to profession of faith.

Did you recognize this "Welcoming Statement" as a recognition of the segmentation of our society? We segment "all persons" according to "race, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, handicap, age, sexual orientation, worldly condition," and "any other reason not related to profession of faith." I make it eight segments plus an "other" – for a total of nine.

Keep this concept of segments in mind for a moment, while we return to our Gospel lesson from Matthew. This is one of those texts that most of us don’t choose when we come to the Scriptures looking for guidance in dealing with life’s stresses, or when we are seeking inspiration for our futures.

This morning’s passage in chapter 10 contains two units of what is often called "The Missionary Discourse" – a text that runs from 9:36 through 10:42. The lectionary reading from 10:24-39 contains: "The Call to Courageous Confession" (10:24-33 ) and "The Cost of Discipleship" (10:34-39).

In the first unit, we encounter a series of segmented categories – the first between disciples and teachers, the second between slaves and masters. The text goes on to distinguish what is "covered up" from what is "uncovered;" what is "secret" from what is "known;" what is in the "dark" from what is in the "light;" and what is "whispered" from what is "proclaimed from the housetops."

In verse 28, the Gospel writer goes even further with these distinctions. We are instructed not to "fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." And we are reminded that God (called here "Father") is ever-present to protect us – even more than the sparrows – from a fall.

In verse 32, another, more powerful distinction is offered: between those who acknowledge Jesus before others and those who deny Jesus before others. The Gospel writer concludes this "Call to Courageous Confession" by linking our acknowledgment/denial of Jesus to Jesus’s acknowledgment/denial of us before the "Father in heaven."

In these verses, Jesus does not offer any middle ground to his disciples. They – and we – are to acknowledge Jesus before others or suffer the consequences. We are told "do not fear" those of the world and we are told to confess our Lord, Jesus. What could be more clear?

And then we come to the unit called "The Cost of Discipleship." Beginning in verse 34, Jesus proclaims "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." He goes on to get personal, declaring that he will "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" (vv. 35-36).

This conflict with family members escalates in the following verses, where Jesus contrasts love of our father or mother, son or daughter, with the disciples’ love of their teacher, Jesus. He reminds them of their commitment to follow him in all things (cf. Matthew 4:18ff.), even to the point of taking up the cross.

By the way, this is the first mention of the cross in Matthew’s Gospel. In the post-Easter Christian community, this phrase took on new meaning that the disciples did not appreciate earlier. Of course, when we hear this charge, "whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me" we cannot fail to understand the implications.

And so it is with the last verse of this morning’s Gospel lesson. Here we encounter the final distinction, the ultimate paradox: "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (v. 39).

This entire lesson is a series of segments in opposition – beginning with the disciples and the teacher, and ending with those who lose their lives for the teacher’s sake, yet find it.

And this brings us back to today, to this place, to Trinity. Earlier, I began with the observation that we live in a segmented society and then proceeded to look at some of the ways in which we are segmented geopolitically and religiously in our contemporary world. Now, we can reconsider who we are – and who we are not – in the light of the distinctions that we have just encountered in Matthew’s Gospel.

Jesus makes clears that all that matters is that we are faithful followers along the path that he, our teacher, shows us. We are not to be fearful of following in his way. "By no means!" – as the apostle Paul was so fond of saying. Recall the final verse of this morning’s Epistle Lesson, from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (6:11).

As we look around us, here in Oak Cliff and in Dallas, diversity is the order of the day. In fact, as we look at ourselves in the context of our community, we are a minority in many ways. As Presbyterians, here in this place, we are a minority among minorities. This is a new and difficult experience for many of us who grew up seeing ourselves as members of much larger congregations within a much larger denomination.

A generation ago, and two generations ago for sure, Oak Cliff and Dallas were filled with Protestant congregations. There were four Presbyterian congregations in this area – Oak Cliff P.C., Sunset P.C., Trinity P.C., and Wynnewood. Today, Sunset and Wynnewood are part of history and Oak Cliff has relocated to the south. Trinity is the sole surviving Presbyterian presence in the northern section of Oak Cliff.

In the old days, it seemed that all we had to do was open the church doors and folks would come in. And who were those folks? A look backward shows that they were very homogenous in their characteristics. In terms of the segments that we recognize in our "Welcoming Statement," they occupied a narrow range. In this, Trinity was no different than many other Presbyterian congregations. Homogeneity was the rule of the day. Diversity was rare.

Today, in the twenty-first century, homogeneity is giving way to diversity, not slowly but rapidly, not hesitantly but surely. We at Trinity find ourselves being transformed from a very homogenous community of faithful believers into a more diverse community of faithful believers. In our increasingly segmented society, we are a "Welcoming Congregation," open to many more segments than used to be the case in the Presbyterian Church.

And, yet, there is continuity between then and now. And the continuity lies in our shared commitment to maintain a community of faithful believers. Then and now, we are disciples. Then and now, we exist to acknowledge our Lord before others. Then and now, we celebrate the paradox of life and death, knowing that giving ourselves and our lives to God is what matters.

It’s not your father’s church. Or, is it?

Amen.