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“The Courage to Keep Going” 

Matthew 10:24-39 

June 21, 2026 

Rev. Rebecca DePoe  

Matthew 10:24-39  

24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 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!  

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[a] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.  

32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.  

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.  

35 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,  

36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.  

37 “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, 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.  

In the Upper Parlor of our church hangs a framed quotation from President Theodore Roosevelt. Some of you may know it. It’s from a speech called “Citizenship in a Republic,” and it includes these well-know words: 

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong one stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly.” 

Roosevelt’s image is powerful because it reminds us that courage does not belong to those who watch from the sidelines. It belongs to those who keep showing up. I suspect many of us have spent time in our own arenas this week.  In difficult conversations, difficult decisions and difficult moments of uncertainty. 

What struck me is that courage rarely feels the way we imagine it will. We tend to think of courage as confidence. We picture bold heroes who never doubt themselves and never feel afraid.  

But the truth is, courage often looks much more ordinary than that. Courage is showing up for the conversations you would rather avoid. Courage is making the difficult decision when there are no easy options. Courage is taking the next faithful step when you cannot see the entire path ahead.  

And perhaps that is why, in Matthew 10, Jesus does not tell his disciples, “Be confident.” Instead, he tells them three times: “Do not be afraid.”  

Matthew 10 is often called the Mission Discourse. Jesus has just commissioned the twelve disciples to proclaim the good news, heal the sick, and embody God’s kingdom.  

But before they go, Jesus tells them the truth:  

Following him will involve opposition, misunderstanding, and difficult choices. This is not a pep talk. It is preparation.  

Yet right in the middle of these hard truths comes a repeated refrain: “Do not be afraid.” Three times in six verses- verses 26, 28, and 31- Jesus offers the disciples the words they most need to hear. That repetition tells us where the emotional center of the passage lies.  

Jesus begins this section with a simple but challenging reminder: “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master.” In other words, if we choose to follow Jesus, we should not expect a different path than the one he walked. If Jesus- who healed the sick, welcomed the outcast, and proclaimed God’s love- was misunderstood, criticized and ultimately rejected, then his followers should not be surprised when faithfulness becomes difficult.  

I think that we often assume that if we are doing God’s will, the path ahead should be easier, clearer, and more comfortable. Yet Jesus offers no such promise. Instead, he tells his disciples the truth: following him may involve misunderstanding, disappointment, and even opposition. This is not because God has abandoned us, but because discipleship has always required courage. Sometimes difficulty is simply the cost of loving, serving, and remaining faithful in a complicated world. The presence of struggle is not proof of God’s absence.  

Having prepared the disciples for the challenges ahead, Jesus immediately turns to the words they most need to hear: “Do not be afraid.” Three times in six verses, he repeats that command. Notice that Jesus does not deny the reality of fear or promise that nothing bad will happen. Instead, he offers a deeper foundation for courage. He points to the sparrows—small, common birds that could be purchased for almost nothing in the marketplace—and reminds his disciples that not even one of them falls to the ground apart from God's care.  

Notice that Jesus does not ask his disciples to manufacture courage from within themselves. Instead he offers a deeper foundation for courage. He tells them, "You are of more value than many sparrows." In a world that often measures our worth by our productivity, success, or approval from others, Jesus offers a different truth: our value comes from belonging to God. We are seen. We are known. We are loved. The courage to keep going does not come from believing we are strong enough to handle everything on our own. It comes from trusting that our lives are held in the hands of a God who knows us completely and loves us deeply. 

Most of us know what it’s like to walk through a season when we don’t know exactly what comes next. We know what if feels like to carry questions without clear answers, to make decisions without complete certainty, to take one step at a time and trust that God is leading us forward.  

Different seasons require different kinds of faithfulness. There are seasons when life feels stable and predictable, when plans come together easily and the future feels clear. And there are seasons when simply showing up with patience, grace, and trust becomes holy work.  

Perhaps that is exactly what Jesus is preparing his disciples for. He does not give them a detailed roadmap for every challenge they will face. He does not answer every question about the future. Instead, he gives them something better: the assurance that they belong to God.  

And because they belong to God, they can keep following him- even when the path ahead is uncertain.  

The final section of this passage contains some of Jesus' most difficult words. He speaks about division, taking up a cross, and losing one's life to find it. These verses can sound unsettling, but Jesus is not encouraging conflict for its own sake. Rather, he is preparing them for the reality that faithfulness sometimes creates it.  

There will be moments when faithfulness to Christ conflicts with the expectations of others or challenges the values of the world around us. There will be times when we are tempted to choose comfort, security, or approval instead of discipleship.  

Yet Jesus insists that true life is found not in protecting ourselves from every risk, but in entrusting ourselves to God. Most of the time, this kind of courage does not look dramatic. It looks like showing up when we feel weary, speaking truth with compassion, extending grace when it would be easier to withdraw, and taking the next faithful step even when we cannot see the entire path ahead. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the quiet, daily decision to remain faithful in the presence of fear. 

The world often tells us that courage belongs to the strongest, the most confident, or the most successful. But Jesus tells a different story.  

Courage belongs to ordinary people who choose faithfulness over fear. Courage belongs to those who keep showing up, keep loving, keep serving, and keep trusting even when the path ahead is unclear.  

The courage to keep going does not come from having all the answers or knowing exactly how things will turn out. It does not come from our own strength or determination.  

It comes from knowing whose we are.  

Jesus reminds us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from God’s care. And if God knows every sparrow, how much more does God know and love each one of us?  

When fear begins to creep in, when the future feels uncertain, when we wonder whether we have the strength for what lies ahead, we are invited to remember that our lives rest in God’s loving hands.  

The God who knows the number of hairs on our heads knows our fears, our questions our hopes, and our dreams. The God who calls us to follow is also the God who walks beside us.  

The credit belongs not to those who never struggle or never doubt, but to those who keep following Jesus, trusting that the One who sends them is also the One who holds them. 

And because we are held in that love, we do not need to have all the answers before taking the next step.  

We can trust that God’s grace will meet us there.  

We can trust that God’s presence goes with us.  

And we can find the courage to keep going.  

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.