The Message, June 21, 2026: "Dare to Be Bold," Matthew 10:24-39

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
June 21, 2026

 

“Dare to Be Bold”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 10:24-39

            As we approach the end of June, we are pretty much at the end of graduation season. I think that all of the local high schools and colleges have already celebrated their graduates at this point.
However, on Friday evening, we hosted the graduation ceremony for the Smarty Pants preschool, and it was ADORABLE! I watched part of it from the balcony in the atrium. The children began the ceremony with the Dinosaur Song. They dressed in dinosaur costumes and sang as they dinosaur-stomped around.  And then they showed the gathering of their parents, grandparents and siblings all of the things that they learned in “circle time.” The teachers invited the children to come forward and lead the Pledge of Allegiance, the days of the week song, and the months of the year song. Of course, being four and five years old, they sang everything at FULL volume and lots of enthusiasm.

            I was reminded this week that my previous church in Norfolk, Massachusetts celebrates “Grads and Dads” today. Yes … dads share their day with the grads and moms get their own special Sunday. But then again, “Moms and Grads” just does not sound right. To be honest, the only reason that I remembered that today was “Dads and Grads” was because they posted a photo of this book on their Facebook page.
[“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss]

            Every year, that church family gives a copy of this book to the graduates. (Dads get a pen, or something.) My guess is that some of you gathered here today have given this book as a gift. Actually … lots of you. There was only one copy left at the bookstore yesterday.

            On the front flap of the dust cover, there is a script for a dialogue, that included a series of questions and answers.
            Question: “Places? What places? What are you talking about?
            Answer: “Dr. Seuss will explain it all.”
            Question: “He does? Really?”
            Answer: “Of course! This is the perfect book for anyone, any age, who is starting a new phase in their life.”
            Question: “The PERFECT book? Are you sure?”
            Answer: “Yes. If you are alive, and you are going places, then this book is the book for you.”

            In our scripture passage this morning, the disciples were not graduating from preschool, or high school, or college. But they were preparing for a new phase in their lives. Jesus was giving them advice as he continued to prepare them for ministry without him. He gave them warnings about the struggles that they would face, but he paired them with encouragement. He was pointed, direct and honest with them. But he had to be. He could not tell them that living and serving as one of his disciples was going to be a cakewalk. He had to equip them for what was ahead of them.
Some of the warnings that Jesus gave his disciples may sound harsh to our ears. They are troubling to our understanding of who Jesus is. “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child, …” Those words likely troubled the hearts and minds of the disciples as well.
If only Jesus had a case of, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” to hand out to his disciples.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! [excerpt]

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself
in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who will decide where to go.
You will look up and down streets. Look them over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you will want to go down. In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang, and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you will be best of the best. Wherever you go, you’ll top all the rest.
Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I am sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lightened. But mostly they are dark. A place you could sprain both your elbow and your chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right ... or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you will start in to race down long wiggled rocks at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weird-ish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

            I do not want to diminish the importance of Jesus’ message to the disciples by reading this excerpt from Dr. Seuss. But Jesus knew what was ahead of his disciples and he did not want them to end up in that most useless place.

            As we listen to the warnings in this passage, we should think of the warnings that the disciples will speak to Jesus in the very near future when they will try to persuade him NOT to go to Jerusalem. But here, Jesus was saying to them, “All of these attacks, all of these plots to trap me and trick me, all of these persecutions are not going to end when I go away. All of this will be visited upon you. The student is not above the teacher. The things that they say about me … they will say about you!”

            Jesus continues: “Oh yeah … and two thousand years from now, families will be more supportive when their children step out into the world. Parents … some of them … will encourage their children to grow and explore. But you have already experienced the difficulty. You gave up everything, you dropped your nets, you walked away from family businesses to follow me. I know that was not easy. I know that the decision to follow an itinerant preacher was not well-received by your families. Hey … even MY own family was not thrilled with the idea. So, yes … I am calling you … God is calling you to do something new. That can be terrifying. That call may ask you to make some very difficult decisions. That call may ask you to step away from people that you love dearly.

            “Yes, I know that I am asking a lot of you, but that is what discipleship demands. However, let me be clear, loving God does not mean that you will love your family any less, but it may mean that you love them differently. If you are to be my disciples, you cannot sort of love God. If you are going to be my disciples, you cannot mostly follow the things I have told you or shown you. There is no ‘right-and-three-quarters.’”

            We know that God is a God of peace, and therefore those who work for peace reflect God’s character.
            We know that Jesus did not advocate conflict. He taught his followers to offer no resistance or retaliation.
            Jesus IS the Prince of Peace. Jesus did say, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
            But Jesus was also saying that sometimes division and discord are the RESULT of his coming, not the intent or his purpose. Sometimes working for peace and justice results in discord and division and disruption.

            The disciples did not have the opportunity to hear Mary’s song. If they had they would have heard:
“God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:51-52) 

            The powerful do not want to give up their thrones. The rich do not want to be sent away empty. And we have seen that they will do virtually anything that they can to hold onto their “thrones” and their wealth.

            The charge to the disciples was the same then as it is today. It is very similar to the charge that many graduates hear if they are paying attention to their commencement speaker. “Go out into the world and make a difference. Go out into the world and speak and stand and fight for what is right and just.”

            Jesus spoke these words two thousand years ago, but they have not lost their impact or their importance. It has never been an easy road being a disciple, following Jesus. But it is easier when we are surrounded by a community of people that support us. The never-easy path becomes steeper and rockier when we are a voice speaking alone, or speaking against the status quo. The never-easy path is much more difficult when we are at odds with the powers that be, those who do not want to surrender their power, their control, or their influence. Jesus knows that there will be those who will be silenced out of fear or uncertainty. Jesus knows that there will be followers that will be silent because they do not want to jeopardize their own comfort or their own “peace.” Jesus knows that there will be those who will deny him.

            Jesus spent thirty years living as a human being. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses; he knows where we are courageous and where we are fearful. He knows that which dwells in the human heart and mind.

            He speaks directly to those corners of our hearts and minds that we would rather he not see, “Do not be afraid.” It is the command, or instruction, that is offered most frequently in scripture. “Do not be afraid. Even though there are plenty of reasons to be fearful … do not be afraid.”

            Even when family members reject you …
            Even when neighbors revile you or despise you …
            Even when the powers-that-be try to bully you, or persecute you, or silence you …
            Even when you find yourself in the crucible or the tempest …
            Do not be afraid.

            God is with us. The God who cares even for the little sparrow, the God who counts every hair upon our heads will watch over us and care for us. God is steadfast and trustworthy. God is faithful.

            Jesus invited us to join him for “circle time.” He taught us what the love of God is to look like. He showed us what the realm of God is intended to be. And now we get to stand up and show the world what we learned.

            Beloved and blessed children of God, what is the most important commandment?

            Jesus taught us: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)

            Let us dare to be bold. Let us stand up and show the world what we have learned.
            Amen.

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