Our lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 7), June 21, 2026, follow. For a combined link to read them all online, go here.
Matthew 10:24–39
Jeremiah 20:7–13
Psalm 69:7–10, (11–15), 16–18
Romans 6:1b–11
- In Matthew, Jesus says that disciples and servants are not above their masters and will face similar persecutions. Jesus will be killed, and we may face death ourselves. But have no fear, proclaim the truth from the housetops. They can kill your body but not your soul. Acknowledge Jesus before men, and he will acknowledge you before his Father in heaven. He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. Your enemies may very well be members of your own family, but you must love Jesus more than them, and pick up your own individual cross of particular sufferings and circumstances and follow him. It may be tough but if you lose your life for his sake, you will truly find it forever.
- Similar to what Jesus is saying, Jeremiah laments the persecutions he faces. All of this because he proclaims the punishments coming to them from the Lord. He would rather keep his mouth shut and stop being ridiculed and harassed, but he cannot. When he tries, it is like there was a burning fire in his heart, shut up in his bones. He cannot hold it in! His formerly close friends wait for an opportunity to get him, but the Lord is with Jeremiah “like a dread warrior!” They will not succeed.
- David pleads to the Lord in Psalm 69 to deliver and rescue him. Zeal for the Lord’s house and his righteous ways has consumed him, and he is reproached as God is reproached. People even make up drinking songs to make fun of him.
- In Romans 6, Paul exhorts us all to not test the grace that forgives us, but to be like Jesus. As we were baptized into his death, so will we be resurrected in him to new life. Like him we must be dead to sin and alive to God.
Following Jesus is not all sweetness and life. It may involve unfriendly circumstances, suffering and death. But sometimes we have to take a stand. So, stand with him, dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus. Love everyone but tell God’s truth as nicely yet as accurately as you can.
Blessings,
Rod