Daily Devotional • October 16
A Reading from Matthew 10:34-42
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.
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Meditation
At first glance, today’s Gospel reading seems to contradict today’s reading from the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul gives his disciples very particular instructions for how to conduct orderly worship. He does so, he says, because “God is a God not of disorder but of peace.”
Contrast this statement with our reading from Matthew, where Jesus comes right out and says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” What’s going on here? Are Jesus and Paul contradicting one another? Does God bring peace or violence? Order or disorder?
The answer lies when we read further in the passage from Matthew. Jesus says, “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.” Jesus does bring peace—his kingdom is fundamentally one of a deep peacefulness, like still waters—but bringing peace means first rooting out sin, even the sin of loving good things more than God. This rooting out of our sins can be painful. It can even feel violent. But it’s a necessary step toward the wholehearted, peaceful love for which we were made.
The good news is that even though uncovering and uprooting sin can hurt, it doesn’t take much on our part to begin the process. All it takes is a simple act away from sin and toward Jesus—giving someone in need a cold cup of water, say—to kickstart the kingdom of God in our hearts. Jesus is always patient and kind. He only asks us to go one tiny millimeter. He will cross whatever other distance necessary to bring us to him.
Elizabeth Hamilton’s writing has appeared in the Dallas Museum of Art, Southern Humanities Review, and Texas Monthly. She has an MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Find her work at elizabethannehamilton.com
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Pennsylvania – The Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Maitland, Florida
