August 18, 2013
“Division”
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Luke 12:49-56
Is anyone else troubled by the
words of Jesus in this passage? This is
one of those difficult passages where, frankly I want to pass over. It is particularly difficult because deep
down we like to think about Jesus as a kind, nice, and respectable fellow who
loves everyone, and of course never loses his temper. Unfortunately, if we are willing to grow
deeper in the life of faith, we find a troubling figure that does not fit the
ideal of respectability.
What is the, “Prince of Peace,”
doing promising division and hoping for fire?
In preparation for his birth we are told that he will, “guide our feet
into the way of peace.” When Jesus sends
out the disciples to heal, feed, and teach, he sends them on a mission of
peace. Jesus even tells parables where
Father and son are reconciled in the Prodigal
Son. And following the resurrection,
the first words Jesus speaks to the disciples are: “Peace is with you.” I am left wondering if the passage this
morning is simply an aberration. Was
this one of those moments where Jesus is tired and fed up and loses his temper?
Actually, Jesus’ words in this
passage are a reminder that preaching, living, and working for peace can have
some unexpected consequences. We only
have to go back to the parable of the prodigal son. The father and younger son are reconciled,
but the older brother refuses to be reconciled.
His reaction to the good news is not peace but anger and jealous. The good news of the gospel is often rejected
most fully, Jesus teaches, from the most religious people.
Nowhere is this more evident than
when Jesus stands up to preach his first sermon. He reads these words from the prophet
Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus then says that these powerful words, that have become too familiar
to those in the faith community, have real implications for life right now. And the response to his sermon is to try and
hurl him off a cliff. The message of
peace, justice, and God’s kingdom lead to struggle and find the most unwelcome
audience among the most religious.
Peace is a word that has all but
lost meaning in our own time. Peace
often means the absence of conflict or simply order. We call in armed military or police to “keep
the peace.” What we really mean is that
a particular interpretation of order will be created by any means
necessary. But to understand the peace
of Jesus we have to recognize that true peace is built upon justice. The peace of Jesus isn’t about being nice but
about building relationships, communities, neighborhoods, cities, states,
nations, and economic orders based on the loving justice shown in Jesus.
That all sounds great in theory but
working to build true peace based on justice, even in our family relationships or
our faith community, is never easy. “Love
in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” These words from Dorothy Day get at the heart
of Jesus teaching. It is easy to say
these things and hope for them in our hearts but when Sunday is over, or even
twelve fifteen rolls around, life gets messy.
How do we live this out?
I think the key is to embrace Jesus
teaching about baptism and fire. When he
wishes that the fire had already been kindled, he is not talking about the
destruction of people. He is talking
about those things, in our lives and personalities that need discarding. The fire is a metaphor for the cleansing,
transformation, or ridding of those parts of us of which we are not
particularly proud and which do not buildup the body of Christ. In acknowledging this reality we become more
aware that each person we meet, each person in this community is dealing with
heavy stuff.
And
each one of us is broken. Baptism is the Key – the role of baptism sets us aside and creates a new identity. It means that our brokenness does not have to have the last word. And it means that we will be less surprised when resistance to true peace comes our way. Picking of the mantle of Jesus – good news to the poor – release to the captives – oppressed goes free is fantastic rhetoric and a beautiful vision. But it is a dreadful thing for some in action. We might just find out that folks want to hurl us off a cliff. But the good news is that we are not the first, or the last, we are part of a long history of people who know, truly know, that peace can truly be divisive. Amen
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