A Meditation for our twelfth week of Ordinary Time in 2026

There is a radical newness of life that I continue to find in Jesus. The love. The grace. The hope. It is all so deeply moving to me. The comfort of God’s love has allowed me to mature and grow in ways I could not have otherwise. I understand that if, in God’s tenderness He loves all of me as I am, then I too can know and love myself as I am. All over the scriptures I sense a call by God to know myself, and to grow. To become more like Jesus. I love that the second chapter of our Way of Life embodies this call by accepting God’s grace and choosing to grow in response. Good love hopes all things and God’s love is good. It hopes and believes that I can become more like Jesus.

Here in is the challenge. The natural ways of my life lack depth. Every one of my observations and feelings, even examined, are bound within the natural shallows of waters I can barely see through. There is depth waiting for me beyond the surface of these experiences. Every category of life I think of has profound depth that requires work, effort, and time to begin experiencing. There is always depth. There is always somewhere deeper. 

This same tension feels like what the Apostle Paul is writing about in todays reading (Romans 6). No, now that have grace I should not continue to sin. No, I shouldn’t just accept grace and move my attention to something other than God. I should walk in newness of life in Christ. I should carry my cross. I should let myself die every day so that I can experience new depths of life. God’s grace allows me to choose to grow in ways I could not without it.

It is not lost on me that life is easier without growth, and that much of our world is set up to keep us shallow. What happens to relationships when we pursue growth and others don’t grow with us? With enough time, it seems like conflict is inevitable. The closer we are to people and the more kinship we share with them, our ongoing growth can feel like betrayal. Even Jesus knew that the more people were discipled by Him (having their life and character become more like His), the more conflict it would create in their families. That this would be even more acute for those who previously had a shared religous experience.

Jesus knew this conflict too. He experienced it, and knew that those following Him might very well experience it too. In today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 10:34-39) I see Jesus making some pretty confusing claims at first. He says that I should not think He has come to bring peace, but a sword. As I keep reading it becomes very clear that He is talking about strife and conflict in relationships. Jesus does not promise me relational peace on my journey with Him. He understands that as personal growth leads to relational divergence, and conflict is often the result. Jesus does give us peace for my spirit, my mind, and by soul in all things.  A translation that might help me better understand what Jesus is means in context would take “but a sword” for  “but strife” or “division.”  

It is no small thing that Jesus is asking of His disciples. It is in this relaional context that Jesus tell them that we must love Him more than our parents, or our children to be worthy of Him. To be worthy means that we “take up the cross and follow Him.” Those living under the occupation and oppresion of the Rome empire understood what the cross meant. They understood that Jesus was presenting a way of being that was in opposition to empire.

He goes on to tell them “those who try to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” For those first hearing these words the meaning would have been clear. The radical love, grace, and mercy for all that Jesus taught, when embodied, would place them in opposition to not only family members, but of Ceaser himself. Today, few of us live in contexts where loving our neighbors as ourselves, or growing to be more like Christ mark us for death in the eyes of the our governments. Yet there continues to be a very real possiblity that relational strife and division will find us. And still, proclaim with me as the psalmist does.

Make me into a sign of Your goodness,
    upon seeing it those who hate me will be ashamed,
    because You, LORD, have helped and comforted me.
Psalm 86:17

May You, Lord, make us into signs of Your goodness.

Readings for the 12^th Sunday of Ordinary Time · Year A

Sunday readings according to the Revised Common Lectionary.

Photo Credit
Paul Prins on 23 April 2024 in New York City.