June 21, 2026, at Saint William and Saint Peter Parishes in Naples, FL
Jeremiah 20: 10-13 + Psalm 69 + Romans 5: 12-15 + Matthew 10: 26-33
There is a breathtaking intimacy expressed in these verses of today’s Gospel. To those of us who are too often timid, if not downright afraid, to respond to the challenges of today’s culture and political climate, Jesus reveals a God of sparrows. This is a God who is to be trusted. A God who has not withdrawn from the world but filled it with his gentle and loving spirit to give us courage and hope. Yet, we are so like Saint Peter, who in Pilate’s courtyard cowardly avoided any association with Jesus Christ when it meant some risk. Then the Spirit awakened in him, and there was no way to silence his voice when it came to speaking of Christ and what he had learned from his Savior.
This culture and political climate may not be as physically dangerous as in other times, but there is a persecution still. It is subtle, often expressed in apathy or a roll of eyes that minimizes our faith and what we have learned from our Savior about how to live together in peace, generously, respectfully, and honorably. Religion becomes a private matter banned from discussion as though we had nothing to say that mattered.
Our values matter, and they need to critique the public sphere and shape public policy not in a patrician political way, but in such a way that our values raise questions about what is right and what is wrong. We do not check our values rooted in the Gospel when we leave this church. The compassion of Jesus Christ for the poor, the sick, those in prison, and the vulnerable matters as much today as it did in his own historical time. These vulnerable ones cannot be demonized.
I know people who place conditions on God’s unconditional and extravagant love. They resist a Gospel of Grace and often embrace a Gospel of punishment and retribution calling it “Justice.” I also know people who simply avoid any mention of Jesus Christ and resist what he taught us about the Father. With no more judgement about them than I would judge Peter in Pilate’s courtyard, I wait and pray that the Spirit will awaken them to experience that God of Sparrows who protects, inspires, and waits for us to bear witness to his presence, his Son, Jesus Christ, and all that he taught us. Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Who wouldn’t want that?