5th Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 7
Matthew 10:24-39
"A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is
enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the
master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much
more will they malign those of his household!
"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be
uncovered, and nothing seecret that will not become known. What I say to
you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim
from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the
ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all
counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will
acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before
others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for
my sake will find it.
