[Jesus said to his disciples],
"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already
kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace
on earth? No, I tell you, but rather
division. For from now on in one house
there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and
son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother in
law."
He also said to the crowds,
"When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is
coming.' And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you
say, ‘There will be scorching heat,' and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of
earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present
time?"
Not an easy Gospel passage today. When I started preparing for
this morning, I realised I wasn't familiar with this part of Luke’s Gospel,
indeed it sounded quite alien – not the Jesus we’re used to at all. Its
uncomfortable reading isn’t it? We may be better acquainted with Matthew’s
version which somehow doesn’t sound quite so confrontational, 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. Luke, on the other hand, concludes by
roundly condemning his audience as hypocrites.
On reflection, perhaps they sound equally bleak.
I don’t know why I was discomforted: I’ve never bought into
the Gentle Jesus, Meek and mild image, in fact in my classroom I’ve a picture
of Jesus based on a Che Guevara poster which bears the legend “Jesus? Meek?
Mild? AS IF!” The rather fey Jesus with small children and fluffy animals so
beloved of Bible illustrators couldn’t be further from the truth because we do come
across Jesus in anger and violence as he drives the money lenders out of the
temple. We rationalise that, rightly, by talk of righteous anger and how
offended Jesus was at the sacrilege and blasphemy associated with the way the
temple courts were being used in the run-up to the Passover
When we read or hear the Gospel stories we generally assume
that we are the audience for what Jesus is saying and that is often the case,
but it may be a very individual and personal thing that speaks to your heart – but not to yours on this occasion but the next
time we read Jesus’ words it could well be the other way round: the message may
relate very much to our personal circumstances; to our political, cultural or
social circumstances; it may apply to us today, but wouldn’t have twenty years
ago and perhaps won’t in twenty years’ time. Having said that, there are messages which are for all of us and this is surely one.
Do you think that I have
come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
Luke has Jesus talking generally to the crowds but in and
amongst that he talks in asides to his inner group of 12. It really is two
conversations juxtaposed with the disciples being treated to a more intimate
commentary on the side. In these disciples, Jesus saw the potential of great
commitment. Now, in terms of an implied audience, I consider myself a disciple
and I think it’s fair to think that what Jesus said to those first disciples he
is still saying to me – and to you - his later-day disciples. Isn’t it a little
bit scary to think that in us Jesus sees the potential of great commitment too?
But he tells us he comes to bring division.
And this does speak to me: in my view Jesus is a divisive
figure – it’s not for nothing that people warn you not to talk about religion
(and politics), particularly at family events. Try talking to your Jewish and
Muslim friends about Jesus and see how long it takes to reach at least a
theological parting of the ways: friendships have been lost over this. Even
within Christianity we can find ourselves in sharp disagreement about Jesus;
about what his teaching means; about what we believe he would say about the
issues of the day and almost always with the assumption that our view is the
one that Jesus would espouse. Often without even realising it we like to own
Jesus and deploy him as sponsor of our own theology/morality/ethics. I was once
told by an American Christian that
the reason I didn’t agree with him over some point of Jesus’ teaching was
because of my “sin darkened mind.” Oh, that sin darkened mind of mine. Caught
out again.
So, uncomfortable as this passage is, let’s not fool
ourselves that what Jesus is saying isn’t based in fact and experience.
I come to cast fire on the
earth Jesus tells
his disciples. That’s very Old Testament isn’t it? When we hear talk of fire in
an Old Testament sense, what images or themes spring into our minds? What is
Jesus talking about here? To me, Jesus seems to be talking about judgement –
but not in the sense that we usually think of it. I don’t think this is about
lakes of fire and all the O.T. imagery we associate with that use of language. Surely Jesus is being far more sophisticated here: think
about that for a moment – it’s personal, it’s individual, but what are the
certainties we hide behind that perhaps we shouldn’t? What are those things we
delude ourselves with? That pride, those exaggerations we hide behind rather
than the honest and painful self-awareness? Jesus' presence is
an explosive presence: it lights the blue touch paper which blows away our
self-delusions, and what we see as the certainties of life. Surely Jesus is talking about casting the fire of destruction over
all the misplaced aspirations and expectations we have, stripping away all that
we’ve come to rely on; those things which we allow to insulate us from God’s
message of His Kingdom. Mary already anticipated this upheaval in Chapter 1 of
this Gospel, when she says, He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the
proud in the imaginations of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from
their thrones and exalted the humble and meek; he has filled the hungry with
good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.
Gentle Jesus meek and mild? As if!
But another aspect of fire, is that it brings light into
darkness. Elementary though that image
may be, it is a very significant one theologically. It is the light of God that
is shone into the dark places of this
world and into the dark places of our hearts, highlighting those things we
would prefer to keep hidden, even from ourselves. We can choose not to; we can
prefer the darkness to the light or compromise with a sort of spiritual
twilight; a form of lip service discipleship – and I include myself in that.
And light is about revelation – God’s revelation of Jesus. I am the light of
the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life. But that imagery of light is not fully complete without the
imagery of fire: that's the contrast the burning away of our false hopes and
certainties also illuminates Jesus the Christ. John the Baptist used this image at the very beginning of Jesus'
ministry when at Jesus' baptism he said, I baptize you with water, but . . . he will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and with fire. Just
as the children of Israel were led out of Egypt by a pillar of fire by night,
so Jesus comes to lead us out of captivity into freedom from the slavery of our
own self-centredness, our own self-defeating behaviours and our separation from
God which religious writers down the ages have called sin. That is a powerful image too.
These disciples Jesus is addressing here were to embrace that
burning purity and give their total commitment to Jesus Christ and to the
Kingdom of God. Not as superheroes but as broken, inadequate humans with all
the foibles, weaknesses and frailties that go with the human condition. That’s
the first part. The second part is that they were willing to be transformed by
that commitment. So, what does that mean? I’m sure we all identify with the
first part. How are you doing with the second? What does it mean to be totally
committed to Jesus, to be radically committed to the Kingdom of God in this day
and age, given that it will bring division?
And that’s the question we need to ask ourselves otherwise
why are we here? This passage has to have the power to challenge us and to
change or it will remain a slightly awkward piece of religious literature,
nothing more.
One of the great temptations for many Christians is to prefer
a sugar coated Christianity – Christianity-Lite if you like, to accept the gift
of salvation certainly, while eliminating the implications of this great call
to discipleship. Our greatest temptation is that the cares and routines of this
life can become more important than the call of Jesus. And so the business of
family, friends, jobs, homes and hobbies – our own personal familiar routines -
get in the way of our discipleship and therefore of Jesus’ mission.
Is this what Jesus means when Luke has him condemn his
audience as hypocrites?
Our challenge as disciples is to join Jesus in his mission to
bring the Kingdom of God closer. Nothing more, nothing less. What did the
reading from Hebrews encourage us to do? Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. We follow
Jesus not just as Saviour but as Role Model. We do it because he did it. That’s
the challenge but I’m not coming with answers. If only! I have to face that same challenge and there’s
a little passage from Philippians that exhorts us, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling. I have to do it and you have to do it and there aren’t
any answers because each of us is different.
The prophet Micah put it very succinctly,
And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly
and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. If we want
generic guidelines to begin to work out our own salvation, we could do a lot
worse than to listen to Micah, And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to
love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. If we are acting justly
and loving mercy it will inform our politics, our attitudes, our motivations.
Jesus bringing divisions? You bet! And we need to be in the
vanguard following our role model. What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?
What would Jesus think? How would Jesus respond? It’s not trite at all: it’s
the challenge.
Where do you stand on the issue of the international aid
budget? On poverty? On human sexuality? On race, immigration and asylum
seekers? On crime and punishment and so on? Why do you think the way you do on
those topics? Has that view been shaped by Jesus’ values?
In Matthews Gospel Jesus tells the story of the sheep and the
goats and he concludes: What you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did for me… and whatever you did not do for the least of these you
did not do for me.
Oh yes. That is about division.
Amen
