This morning as I was rattling off my today’s to-do list and praying for God’s presence, I paused and in that pause, my prayer partner said, “and isn’t today blog-day?” I thanked her for the reminder and swore internally.

Why is it that this blog (or anything else I have made a long term commitment to) invariably brings up stuff that I don’t want to admit or even look at. I would much rather be donning my Wonder Woman cape and doing wonderful acts of kindness and compassion. There is power verging on pride in receiving the accolades or the ‘thank yous’ for job well-done. Doing stuff is so much easier for me than soul searching or discerning God’s will.

Self reflection is not for the faint of heart. Note I said self reflection not self debasement.

I have been spending time this week reflecting on the lectionary text for June 22nd. I will be preaching on that Sunday, and, I committed myself, from the beginning of seminary, to be a ‘lectionary preacher’—this means that one will not always be given the obviously encouraging and palatable texts that congregations gravitate towards. A ‘lectionary preacher’ deals with the depth and breath of Scripture throughout the Bible—which means wrestling with the ‘hard’ texts—such as the texts assigned for June 22nd: Jeremiah 20:7-13 and Matthew 10:24-39.

Jeremiah is angry with God because God has given him a hard message to deliver and the people are ridiculing Jeremiah for delivering it. The Matthew text is Jesus preparing the disciples for future hardships when they proclaim the Good News, and Jesus states that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  These are challenging texts to preach on in the church that gave birth to the ‘Power of Positive Thinking’! And so I wrestle with God and what I am to proclaim that Sunday.

What I do know is that Jesus does not call us (you and me) into a ministry of accolades and popularity. It is not a ministry of prosperity and abundance of material goods; and, we will not be exempt from public ridicule and opposition. My preaching professor was fond of saying, “If everybody likes what you are saying, you probably are not being truthful to the Gospel.”

In this text, Jesus is calling us to understand in new ways what it means to be his disciples—today, in the here and now—and the cost that we will have to undergo. It is not an invitation for honor and glory but for sacrifice and suffering. It is a call to radical obedience. It is a call to be obedient even when the world turns against us, even when the world rejects our message. Jesus is also commanding the disciples not to be held hostage by fear. Fear is a powerful thing. Fear can hold people in bondage so they cannot move out in to mission. All too often, I feel, we trap ourselves with unreasonable fears. And once ensnared we become paralyzed or go into states of denial.

So where are you today? Proclaiming the Good News that God desires justice and mercy for all people? (all kinds of justice-economic, social, etc., etc.) Or paralyzed, or in denial that says ‘everything is good and wonderful?

Note: June 3rd, one of the U.N. commissions released a report that says, “Four billion [my emphasis] people—the majority of people living on our planet—are robbed of the chance to build a better life for themselves because they are excluded from the rule of law.”  The Report, entitled 'Making the Law Work for Everyone' highlights that half the people in urban areas worldwide live in squatter settlements and work in shadow economies.