Sunday Readings: Jeremiah 20.10-13; Romans 5.12-15; Matthew 10.26-33
“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. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” – Matthew 10.29
In Matthew chapter 10 Jesus commissions his disciples to do what he has been doing — healing, teaching, and freeing people, bringing the kingdom of God into people’s lives. Jesus’ instructions to missionaries come to us as memorable sayings, such as “what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.”
Jesus cautions that despair and death of spirit are worse than death itself and warns missionaries they cannot to expect their lives to be different from his. They may suffer rejection as he did, but they have reasons not to fear. God will care for them as God care for the most common and seemingly expendable of birds, the sparrow. To affirm the worth of sparrows in God’s hands affirms that God cares for every human person and all creation. Jesus’ message to love others as he has loved us is every Christians’ call to live out and hand on.
What deadens your spirit? What importance does ordinary people living the gospel have today?