Disciples Follow Courageously

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Matthew 10:24-39
 

“Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is he;
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.”  “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” by Civilla Martin

I attended a predominantly Black middle school and high school in Omaha, believe it or not, where I was in the minority as a white person.  I can’t remember her name, but I will never forget the solo another 7th grade girls sang at our 7th grade spring choir concert, this gospel song, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”  You could do that in a public school in Omaha in the mid-’90s!  The way she sang that song, which my very white self had never heard before, made such an impression on me that I still remember it years later.  You could tell she truly believed the words she was singing; words that echo what Jesus tells us in our gospel for today.
We have difficult words from Jesus today, but in the middle of his difficult teaching we’re reminded that his eye is on the sparrow – “So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows,” Jesus says.  God cares deeply even about the cheapest of birds in the marketplace, which could be bought two for a penny – so much more then, God deeply values us.  These words of encouragement sustain us during difficult times.
As I reflected on these words from Jesus and this song, I wanted to learn more about how the song was written.  Civilla Martin, the songwriter, and her husband Walter were visiting Elmira, NY and befriended a couple named Mr. & Mrs. Doolittle while they were there.  Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for 20 years.  Mr. Doolittle used a wheelchair to get to and from work and struggled daily with his disability to care for himself and his wife. Yet despite their challenges, they lived their lives with such inspiring and contagious joy that Walter asked what gave them such hope.  Mrs. Doolittle responded simply, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”  That inspired the hymn, which speaks to everyone but especially to the African American experience.   In times when it is easy to be discouraged by what’s happening in the world around us and what may be happening in our personal lives, Jesus encourages us that his eye is on the sparrow, and we know he watches over us.
Jesus encourages the disciples with the reminder that they are of more value than many sparrows; that God knows all the hairs on each of our heads, because Jesus knows that following him at times will be difficult.  Jesus calls people to do difficult things, sometimes, but he also gives them the courage to do those hard things.  I wonder, like the Doolittles, what inspires us to follow Jesus joyfully, hopefully, and courageously when we inevitably encounter challenges along our faith journey?  Jesus truly does not water down what those who follow him will face.  He is asking so much more than, “Just an hour a week on a Sunday” or “whatever you can spare to give financially,” or “just whenever you have a bit of free time.”  In fact, Jesus says that if we love our parents or our children more than him, we are not worthy of him!  If we care too much about our lives apart from Christ, we might lose our lives!  Jesus is asking us to dedicate our whole lives to God, and to put God first.  These are difficult, challenging words!
Understand that in the gospel writer Matthew’s community, the first Christians WERE facing many challenges that Jesus names here – bitter family divisions, alienation from nonbelieving family members, social ostracization, and persecution including imprisonment and even death.  Jesus himself of course is crucified for publicly proclaiming to be the Son of God.  Jesus never promises that following him will be easy.  Jesus pretty accurately describes the challenges his followers are facing.  Often his words “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”  Jesus knows that the life of a disciple is difficult sometimes.  So, how do we follow him courageously in difficult situations?
    When we are trying to care for a parent who has dementia, when we are wrestling with a difficult health diagnosis for ourselves or for a loved one, when we are going through a messy divorce, when we have beloved family members – sisters, brothers, parents, children – who simply do not see things the same way we do – who also, like the first disciples may not be believers or understand what our commitment to Christ is about, when we face discrimination because of the color of our skin, our gender, our age, our religion or something else…the list can becomes quickly long of WHEN we are discouraged…Jesus gives us courage.  The Holy Spirit gives us, like the prophet Jeremiah, fire in our bones so that we can’t hold back but speak boldly words that may not be easy to say or for someone else to hear.  The Holy Spirit gives us strength to love and forgive people who are not lovable.  The Holy Spirit reminds us that what matters most is what God thinks, not what other people think about us, helping us rearrange our priorities.  When we follow Jesus by traveling lightly – letting go of unnecessary baggage and trusting in God’s provision, that God has gifted us for the journey ahead and we have what we need; then we can also follow Jesus courageously, knowing that no matter what, no matter how difficult, we are of inestimable worth and value to God, and God even cares for the smallest of sparrows.  
    We can’t control every circumstance we find ourselves in, but we can control our response to those circumstances.  As we seek to follow Jesus in faith, may we, like the Doolittles, face our challenges courageously with hope and joy, singing because we are free from what really keeps us down – sin, death, and the devil.  In Christ is our hope and strength.  His eye is on the sparrow, and he watches over me.  Amen.