Biblical Texts: Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
Can’t we all just get along? You’ve probably have heard others say this before…perhaps you’ve said it yourself. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time you’ve surely thought it. And there’s certainly a Christian wisdom to this wish. At the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Surely, as Christians we should be always be aiming at actions that lead to peace?
Our Gospel reading today then comes as a bit of a shock. “I came to bring fire to the earth,” says Jesus, “Do you think that I came to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather divisions.” It doesn’t make for comfortable reading does it? After all, this is not one of those hot headed disciples ranting away…this is the Son of God himself! The Prince of Peace! Gentle Jesus, meek and mild? It doesn’t seem that way.
It’s helpful that the lectionary doesn’t simply stop there, but continues for another section. In my Bible it’s titled, “Interpreting the Time.” Jesus points to the disciples knowing a great deal about how the weather works…a skill that many of us have to some degree, but one even more pronounced in a country like Israel, where rainfall could be sparse and mean the difference between feast and famine. Jesus questions why they can do that, but can’t see what else is coming?
But it’s important to read Jesus’s words in context. His words on division speak directly into his time. He knows that he has a baptism of sorts to come. A trial that will challenge him in ways most of us will thankfully never experience. And he knows too that his followers will experience similar things. It’s hard to imagine perhaps, when we’re sitting safely in the pews, in a country heavily influenced by Christianity, but Jesus’s message was not always received well by those around him. Sometimes Jesus’s message split even the bonds of families, when some believed and others did not. That’s not unheard of today either. Jesus was preparing his disciples for just such a problem. As we read on in the gospels we find out what happened to Jesus, and church tradition tells us most of the disciples lost their lives for the faith they held.
When I was in college I met a guy called Shane Claiborne. He had grown up in a relatively normal American family, gone to college, and was gradually turning into a respectable citizen. Then, he met Jesus. Everything changed. He read stories of the church fathers, of martyrs, of those who had laid everything on the line in order to follow God. He befriended the homeless, got involved in various protests, moved into a rough area in Philadelphia, and the course of his life drastically changed. He used to joke that he would often hear stories of people coming to Jesus, where everything got straightened out, but for him, it was exactly the opposite. When he met Jesus, that’s when things got weird, but in a profoundly exciting way.
It’s good that the lectionary pairs this gospel reading with the reading from Hebrews, because that reading shows that when you’re following God, there’s no real telling where it will lead. Israel’s faith brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness, Joshua’s faith saw walls fall, and Rahab’s faith saved her and her family. As the writer of Hebrews notes, the examples of the faithful are endless, and the results are both inspiring and harrowing. Conquering kingdoms, escaping the sword, justice being done. But also torture, mocking, imprisonment, and death. And none of these people got to see Jesus before they died.
When we confess belief in God, we don’t get to know how it will pan out. For some, everything falls into place, for others, that’s when life gets weird. But how do we get through it? We let go of those things that are holding us back…some of it sin, some not, and we look to Jesus – the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who endured all that the world could throw at him, for us. He still sits at the right hand of God, and we have faith that wherever our journey of faith takes us, it will end in his loving and outstretched arms.
Amen.