You Can't Run From God: Jonah, Jeremiah, and Us - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost - June 21, 2026

SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on the reluctant prophets of Scripture — particularly Jeremiah — and the sending of the disciples in Matthew to remind us that God never promises an easy road, only a faithful companion for the journey. Even in the midst of trials, heartache, and honest complaint, the message that rings clearest is one of hope and presence: God is with us. Like Jeremiah's fire shut up in his bones, we are called not to a life of ease, but to a life of faithfulness, sustained by a peace that passes understanding.A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew                                            Matthew 10:24-39Jesus said to the twelve 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. 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.” Artwork:  Calling of the Apostles, Antonio Arias (1481)