Sermon: Sheep Among Wolves

Delivered at St. Mark United Methodist Church and at Berea Friendship United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on June 21, 2026

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Sheep Among Wolves

Audio Version

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 secret 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.

Matthew 10:24-39 (NRSV)

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

From “The Summons” by John Bell

In C.S. Lewis’s fantasy novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, four children find themselves in Narnia, an enchanted land populated with talking animals and mythical creatures.  Narnia has fallen under the control of an evil witch who has placed the land in a state of perpetual winter.  In the words of the inhabitants, it is “always winter and never Christmas.”  At one point in the story, the four children are shown hospitality by a couple of beavers.  After they enjoy dinner together, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver tell the children about Aslan, “the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-sea.”  Rumors have been circulating that “Aslan is on the move,” that he has returned to Narnia to liberate the land and it's inhabitants from their wintry oppression.  Surprised to learn that Aslan is not a human but rather a lion, the children ask if he is safe.  Mr. Beaver replies, “Who said anything about safe?  'Course he isn't safe.  But he's good.  He's the king, I tell you.”  The children eventually meet Aslan and join him in his campaign to liberate Narnia.¹

C.S. Lewis denied that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an allegory,² but the story is clearly analogous to the Gospel narrative.  The frozen land of Narnia is like a world groaning for redemption; the lion Aslan is like Jesus, the Savior and true Lord of this world; and the four human children who stumble into Narnia are like disciples who are called to join the Savior in His redemptive work.  By making the messiah of the story a noble yet still fierce lion, Lewis subtly teaches his readers that, even though Jesus is good, something about Him is not safe.

And, in the Gospels, Jesus not so subtly warns His disciples that following Him will not be safe.

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In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that one day, Jesus looks out and sees all the people who have come to Him seeking hope and healing, and His heart breaks for them.  In His eyes, they are as vulnerable as “sheep without a shepherd.”  Not only are many of them suffering from various ailments and illnesses, they are all languishing with the boot of an evil empire on their necks.  Jesus compares the work to be done to a great harvest that will require many, many field hands.  He says to His followers, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Jesus then calls the twelve Disciples together to send them out to do the things He has been doing in His ministry.  He says to them, “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. ”  He instructs them to travel light and to rely on the hospitality of the people they meet.³

Jesus then begins to warn the Disciples about the hostility they will inevitably face.  He says to them, “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  Jesus warns the Disciples that they will face persecution from both religious leaders and political leaders.  He urges them to use the trials they face as an opportunity to allow God to speak through them.  Jesus warns the Disciples that people who follow Him might even be betrayed by the people closest to them, but He assures them that “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”⁴

So why would Jesus and the Disciples face such opposition?

I highly doubt that anyone would oppose Jesus and the Disciples for merely doing good deeds.  Notice that Jesus does not instruct the Disciples to only “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, [and] cast out demons.”  He also instructs them to “proclaim the good news” that “the kingdom of heaven has come near.”⁵  When Jesus began His public ministry, He started announcing, as His predecessor John the Baptist did before Him, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”⁶  This announcement is at the heart of everything Jesus says and does.⁷  His miraculous healings and exorcisms are not merely good deeds but are also signs that a heavenly Kingdom is indeed invading this world, not to conquer and oppress people as the Roman Empire has done but to set people free.  In the Gospels, the people who are hostile toward Jesus tend to be in positions of power or influence.  The announcement of the coming of a heavenly kingdom might not sound like especially good news to people who are fully invested in an earthly kingdom, people who think they have something to lose.

Jesus says to the Disciples, “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.”⁸  Jesus is implying that, if the Disciples are truly following in His footsteps, then they should not expect to be treated any better than He, their teacher, has been treated.  He then says, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!”⁹  He is referring to a particular incident in which He was slandered.  One day, when Jesus healed a man whose condition was attributed to a demon, some Pharisees who witnessed the miracle suggested that Jesus was using demonic power to cast out demons.¹⁰  According to Mark's Gospel, some religious scholars say about Jesus, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”¹¹

Jesus has drawn the ire of certain religious leaders.  In His teachings, He has been critical of religious people, particularly when He challenges His hearers to be more righteous than the Pharisees and their scribes¹² and when He urges his hearers to not practice their piety like “the hypocrites.”¹³  People find that Jesus teaches with an authority they don't hear from the religious scholars.¹⁴  On one occasion, when a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, Jesus told the man that his sins were forgiven before healing him.  Some Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy, because only God has the authority to forgive sins.¹⁵  Furthermore, the Law of their religion specifies how one is to atone for one’s sins.  On another occasion, Jesus called a tax collector named Matthew to be one of His disciples, and later, while He was enjoying dinner with Matthew and his fellow tax collectors, some Pharisees expressed their disapproval that He would associate with such “sinners.”¹⁶  Not only are tax collectors considered crooks, they are also considered traitors for being employed by the Roman Empire.  Simply put, Jesus has been stepping on the toes of the religious leaders, calling their character into question, and challenging the boundaries they set for people.  As a result, the Pharisees have become so soured toward Him that they have started to slander Him, going so far as to accuse Him of being in league with the devil.

The hostility Jesus faces will only intensify.

Jesus does not face opposition because He does good deeds.  He faces opposition because His ministry and the announcement at the heart of His ministry about the coming of the Kingdom of God are dangerous to the status quo.  Jesus knows that anyone who follows in His footsteps will face the same opposition He has already faced and will continue to face.  Jesus is good, but He is not safe to the principalities and powers that want to maintain control in this world, so following Him will not be safe.

Jesus says to the Disciples, “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.”¹⁷  I do not believe that Jesus actually wants to create conflict and turn people against each other.  I believe He is simply acknowledging the disruptive nature of His work and the work He is calling the Disciples to do.  People who belong to the heavenly Kingdom that Jesus announces will inevitably find themselves at odds with people who belong to the kingdoms of this world.  People who seek the Kingdom of God might merely be labeled “troublemakers,” or they might be met with harassment or even violence.  In the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., “True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force – tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force – justice, good will and brotherhood.”¹⁸  In a world rife with injustice and exploitation, doing the right thing will sometimes result in conflict, and sadly some people who strive to do the right thing will find themselves in conflict with members of their own families.

Jesus continues, “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.”¹⁹  Disciples of Jesus must be all in.  They must be willing to rock the proverbial boat when necessary, and they must not be afraid to face opposition.  Some people will even have to make the hard choice either to follow Jesus and do what He has called them to do or to turn away from Jesus’ call and seek their families’ approval instead.  There is a cost for following Jesus, but the reward promised to those who follow Him to the end is life in a Kingdom where God’s will is done on earth as in Heaven.

Jesus warns the Disciples that they will face opposition for faithfully following Him.  That said, it is important to realize that facing opposition does not necessarily mean that a person is faithfully following Christ.  In fact, it could mean the opposite.

There is a certain church in Topeka, Kansas that has faced a great deal of opposition over the years.  Members of this church travel throughout the nation, proclaiming the message they believe God is calling them to proclaim.  They and their message are frequently met with protests, cursing, obscene gestures, and objects hurled their way.  The family of this church's founding pastor has been named “the most hated family in America.”²⁰  I am referring to the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.  The message the members of this church proclaims to people is that God hates them, and, for some ungodly reason, they find it necessary to spew their venom near the funerals of fallen soldiers and other victims of violence.  The members of this church face opposition, not because of their faithfulness to Christ but because of their despicable behavior.  I do not endorse any violent or vulgar acts against the members of this church, but I do believe that people, especially faithful followers of Christ, are right to take a stand against them.

When Jesus sends the Disciples out “like sheep into the midst of wolves,” He expects them to remain as sheep and not to join the wolves.  Though He urges them to be as “wise as serpents,” He expects them not to become as venomous as serpents but to remain as “innocent as doves.”  Though Jesus wants the Disciples to understand the ways of the world around them, He does not want them to adopt those ways for themselves.  There must not be any viciousness or venom in anything the Disciples say or do.

As people who call ourselves disciples of Jesus, we must consider honestly what we are doing.  Are we trying to liberate people, as Jesus did when He freed people from their demons and diseases, or are we trying to keep people in their places?  Are we offering people hope, or are we misusing Jesus' name to instill fear and shame into people?  Are we heralding the heavenly Kingdom that Jesus announced, or are we serving some earthly kingdom instead?  Jesus once used these words from the Book of Isaiah to describe what He was doing: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor...”²¹  Do the poor, the oppressed, the disadvantaged, and other such “lost sheep” hear good news from us, or, in their eyes, have we joined the “wolves” who prey upon them?

If we are distorting the good news Christ has called us to share or if we are perverting the good work He has called us to do, then we are not faithfully following Him, and people are actually right to oppose us.

Jesus and His message are dangerous to the status quo, and people who benefit from the status quo tend to respond with hostility to people who rock the boat.  Very little has changed in this regard since the days of Jesus.  Martin Luther King Jr., a minister of the Gospel, and Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu who was greatly inspired by Jesus, were both assassinated because they fought against oppression.  Jesus urges the Disciples to not be afraid.  He says, speaking of those who will respond to them with hostility, “Have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret 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.”²²  The truth must be told, no matter how much the powers that be work to suppress it.

Jesus then says to the Disciples, “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.”²³  If you think that Jesus is threatening the Disciples with eternal damnation in the event that they give into cowardice, consider what He says next.  He continues, “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.”²⁴  Jesus tells the Disciples that they really ought to fear mere mortals who can only kill them a lot less than they fear the almighty God who decides the ultimate fate of their souls, but, by reminding them how much they matter to their Father in Heaven, the One who holds their souls, He assures them that they really have no reason to fear at all.  Finally, Jesus says to the Disciples, “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.”²⁵  A person’s faithfulness as a disciple of Jesus and courage in the face of opposition will not go unnoticed by God, and a person’s phoniness and cowardice will not go unnoticed by God either.  The message Christ calls us to proclaim and the work He calls us to do are too important to be stifled by our fear.

There is still much work to be done; this world is still groaning for redemption;²⁶ “the mass of [people who] lead lives of quiet desperation”²⁷ still need hope and healing; and Christ is still calling workers to go out to offer them hope and healing.  May God give us the willingness to say, “Here am I; send me!”²⁸  May God give us love for all people, and may God break our hearts for the “lost sheep” in our midst, those left most vulnerable by circumstance or by society.  May God give us the discernment to see if we really are seeking the Kingdom of God or if we are merely propping up an earthly kingdom.  May God give us the courage and the integrity to stand up to the wolves in our midst without becoming like them.

Amen.


Notes:

1. C.S. Lewis.  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  First published in 1950.
2. Wikipedia: “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”
3. Matthew 9:35-10:11 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 10:16-22 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 10:7-8 (NRSV)
6. Matthew 3:2; 4:17 (NRSV)
7. N.T. Wright.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 1.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  pp. 26-27 
8. Matthew 10:24-25a (NRSV)
9. Matthew 10:25b (NRSV)
10. Matthew 9:32-24
11. Mark 3:22 (NRSV)
12. Matthew 5:20
13. Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 (NRSV)
14. Matthew 7:28-29
15. Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12
16. Matthew 9:9-11
17. Matthew 10:34-36 (NRSV)
18. Martin Luther King, Jr.  “Nonviolence and Racial Justice.”  Christian Century, 02/06/1957.
19. Matthew 10:37-39 (NRSV)
20. There is a documentary about this church with this very title by Louis Theroux.
21. Luke 4:15-19; Isaiah 61:1-2a (NRSV)
22. Matthew 10:26-27 (NRSV)
23. Matthew 10:28 (NRSV)
24. Matthew 10:29-31 (NRSV)
25. Matthew 10:32-33 (NRSV)
26. Romans 8:22-23
27. Adapted from a quote from Walden by Henry David Thoreau
28. Isaiah 6:8 (NRSV)

The Wolf and the Lamb was painted by Jean-Baptiste Oudry in the 1700s.