Matthew 9:35-10:4; June 14, 2026; Third Sunday after Pentecost
Remember back in the day picking teams in gym class? Wasn’t that fun, or not?
Which position did you hate being in the most?
The captain picking the team or the plebian waiting to be picked?
Now if you were lucky enough to be called captain, my guess is that you didn’t pick Urkel first. But went with Stefan instead (“Family Matters” – 90’s reference).
Well, incredibly, Jesus was selected to occupy both positions. Plebian and Captain. Urkel and Stefan (just go with it!). For not only was he picked first in Heaven as the Son of God, the Son of Man, our Captain. But he was then sent down to be treated as last on Earth; rejected, despised, mocked, and crucified.
It is incredible, right?
But even more so when you consider that on the Gospel team, in the great Biblical gym class of life where Jesus was asked to select his own disciples, he went out and picked everyone who not only couldn’t play, but who also never even heard of the rules!
Not a who’s who list…but just a who list. Not billionaires, trillionaires, CEOs or whatever, but day workers, adjusters, fishermen.
It would sort of be like the Eagles starting this season over, and instead of rolling out Barkley, Hurts, and Smith, they decided to play me, Valerie, and Kevin instead; with Joel and Cassie calling offense and defense.
Yeah, Jesus went with a bunch of nobodies like that. Like us. A rag tag crew. And then, he gave them the keys to the kingdom, electing the last and the least into positions of leadership.
And that’s sort of the story of scripture as a whole. Unlikely candidates rising to the top, elected by God: Joseph. Samuel. Jonah. Esther. Mary Magdalene. Paul.
But unlike earlier episodes in scripture where these leaders were sometimes small but mighty (think: David, Joshua, etc.), today, in our text from Matthew we get this lineup: “Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.”
Not just a bunch of nobodies then, but even a dude who would try to make a name as a somebody by trading his life, and Jesus’, for 30 pieces of silver.
Almost like the folks who don’t have any money, who sell out every good principle and self-or community interest they should have, for money they will never ever own. But I digress.
But isn’t that incredible by the way? I mean, that Judas was picked at all?
I mean, why pick him if Jesus knew he would betray him?
That was the first question I remember asking when being taught that Jesus/God was omniscient. That he knew all. Why pick the guy if you knew he would attempt to destroy the whole team? If you knew he would run a coup against you, the captain himself?
Why pick Judas?
Some Christian apocryphal texts suggest he was picked because he was the only one strong enough to go through with the plan to send Jesus to the cross. Which sort of makes sense, in a sense, especially if you take the approach that Jesus was on a mission to get to the cross, to die, and redeem the world from its sins. Judas was brought into the inner circle, as it were, and sacrificed his name and his eternal reputation, to put that plan into motion. Or so the logic would go.
But even if all that is fantasy, heresy, canonically Jesus picks him all the same, and calls him like the others, giving him orders and abilities.
Amazing, isn’t it?
And I think, what good news that is for all of us who also would betray him for our own gain, that Jesus still picks us, and shows us grace, and offers us the opportunity to play on the Trinity’s team in Heaven.
But make no mistake, my friends, that doesn’t get us off scot-free
For the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We have works to do. Rag tag group and all. Even in the hot days of summer when at the beach, even when backpacking in the mountains or woods. For there’s always something for us to achieve in a world full of injustice, where there are too many who are helpless and in need of compassion, mercy, and Christ-like goodness.
And, the time is now, my friends. Don’t wait for the “opportune time” or the convenient time when back from New Mexico, or at Homecoming, but begin now!
Begin now.
At our staff retreat this past week, Kevin poked light fun at me and asked if Thanksgiving was coming early this year, what with the title of my sermon, the hymn selections, etc.
But then I jabbed back, which admittedly was a bit unkind since he’s a teacher just beginning his summer, that Thanksgiving will be here in no time at all! To which he replied, “Don’t I know it!”
And that’s how it works with time, right? It just flies by and we have no idea where it all went. Days blend into each other. Months. Years. And the older you get the faster it goes. We know this.
I used to think, eh, I’ll get to such-and-such another time. I’ll put it off until tomorrow. Only to realize that tomorrow June 14, 2025 has turned into tomorrow June 14, 2026.
How many of us have said this, my friends? About both the big and the small? “I’ll put it off.” But we’re not promised tomorrow, let alone an off time. Let alone a later time when our bodies will be as willing as our spirits are today.
So, let’s labor on today, my friends. For here’s the thing with harvests and harvesttime… if you wait too long, the crop spoils. The fields become overgrown. And everything rots.
And given everything I don’t think we can withstand any more rot.
Amen?
Yes, the kingdom of Heaven is AT HAND. It is near. It is now.
So, don’t leave today thinking, decent sermon, Brian, but the time is ripe for someone else… people who are stronger, better, more capable or noteworthy than me.
No! For just as before, this ragtag crew is being picked and called to be his disciples again!
And not just called to follow him. But called to be like him. To teach and work like him. Which is why, if you read our text closely, Matthew immediately turns the disciples into apostles one single verse later.
“Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. And these are the names of the twelve apostles…” – Matthew 10:1-2
We are not then just to look for the helpers, as the great Mr. Rogers tells us, but we are today to become the helpers ourselves.
Imitators of Christ, our captain.
Amen
So here is additional content from my sermon that I thought works better as our charge and benediction:
Are you feeling tired and exhausted, my friends? I know I am.
Are you feeling that there are just too few of us laborers and not enough hands in the field?
Or have you thought like me that there are actually more than enough hands, but we are just are poorer and weaker and more divided than ever before such that’s it become seemingly insurmountable to get anything worthwhile done?
More so when those who have the means to make an immediate and global difference seem to be hoarding it all to themselves and not at all interested in playing with us on the same team?
These are good questions that I have struggled with myself.
But I am in the same breath reminded that even if I am a relative nobody in the grand scheme of everything, I am yet a somebody called by Jesus to play on his team. With him and others like him. Because together, like the disciples turned apostles, us nobodies can also make a difference!
This past week was Seth’s last week of 4th grade. Just where has the time gone! And on Monday he had Field Day. Remember those?
His favorite game turned out to be tug-of-war.
Which is interesting because apparently he slipped and fell down while trying to hang on and pull on his rope.
When I asked why he liked it so much then, he said, because he was able to get back up, and with the help of others, he kept pulling. Kept pulling while enjoying the struggle. And what a great symbol and story that is for us all, this rag-tag crew here at Grace, called to play on Christ’s team.
So like Christ, let us help others when they fall.
And with the Spirit, let us keep pulling.
Let us engage in the struggle, for in numbers, with God as our captain, so many things are possible.
Amen?
Go in peace, my friends.
