Standing Firm

To be completely honest I am not sure that I want to talk about fire and division after seeing everything that has been happening in our nation this last week as well as other global events that have been on the front pages. I think people see these passages from Jesus and use them as either “I told you so” or as reasoning for why these things are happening and why there is so much division.

But I will tell you why I am going to talk about it, and that’s because it has nothing to do with what has been happening this last week or about any kind of political even then or now. Jesus’ comments about fire and baptism and division have nothing to do with the political world we see around us and that is why I believe it is important to talk about this passage.

Once again we have a passage that, though distinct is still closely tied to the last few weeks of readings we have had. This passage again has to do with what it means to be a conscious follower of Jesus. What I mean by that is that when we follow Jesus we make a conscious decision to believe, act, and behave in ways that are different from the world. Remember again we have all in chapter 12 been told to not be greedy, to sell our possessions, to not worry about our daily needs, and to be ready for Jesus. So we have to keep all that in mind when we read this passage. These are again words to prepare us as followers of Jesus.

These words from Jesus today are not necessarily a warning of his true intentions for his mission. Meaning he’s not confessing that while he has been healing people, teaching about the kingdom of God and bringing people into a right relationship with God that his real purpose is to cause division. What he is saying is that living into that right relationship with God, bringing about God’s kingdom and following Jesus may and in some cases will cause division. Jesus is declaring an inevitable outcome of what his life will bring to some people.

I know a man who came from a family of atheists, and he himself was an atheist. It wasn’t that they didn’t care, but they actively did not believe in God and made sure that conversations about faith were met with resistance and accusations. One day this man met a woman and they started dating. At some point faith came up and she shared that she was a Christian. I obviously don’t know all the conversations that they had together, but I do know that due to some of his life circumstances his mind at that time in his life was more open to conversations about God and faith. He started going to church and eventually was baptized. Later on in their relationship they married. His family loved the woman and how she had helped him, but there was division because he was no longer an atheist. They could not understand how he could come from such a staunch disbelief in God to faith and baptism.

Even though there are stories in the Bible of how entire families and households were baptized together in faith in Jesus, there are also stories from the early church of families that were torn apart becuase of this faith in Jesus. Stories of Roman soldiers who came to faith and were asked by their families to never come home again. These families believed it was a cult and that these Christians ate and drank human sacrifices, because Jesus said that the bread was his body and the cup was his blood and to do this in remembrance of him. All of these broken relationships because of their faith in Jesus.

Again, Jesus is not advocating for this division. He is not advocating the absence of peace. We see clearly elsewhere in the gospels that Jesus is promising peace like we so clearly read in John 14:27 where he offers his followers peace, and it is a peace that the world is not able to give. Jesus is just pointing out the reality that if we follow him and if we do what he asks us to do some people will not like it including people as close to us as our own fathers or mothers or children.

Part of that division is caused by the purifying fire that Jesus brings that he starts off the conversation with. We all know that fire has both a destructive and cleansing sides to it. We clearly see how fire destroys in the wildfires in California right now and the ones in our own state. We also know that those same fires allow seeds to open and create new life. We also know that God is referred to as the refiners fire. That is, the fire that removes the impurities from the metal so that the end product is as pure as possible. John the Baptist also tells us that while he baptized with water that Jesus would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Another allusion to new life and cleansing. Which is also the very next thing Jesus talks about. It also seems to be that the baptism Jesus is speaking about isn’t complete until the end of his journey at Jerusalem. And do you see how all of these things of fire and baptism and faith in Jesus can and will cause division among people and in the world? So I can’t emphasize enough that Jesus is making a point or stating a fact, not advocating for intentional division and family rifts.

So what do we take away from this text that most people try to avoid or skip over? The verses that will never be displayed on the wall of someone’s house or on a card that you send to someone? We remember that Jesus cared enough to tell us the truth. With all the beautiful passages in the Bible like John 3:16 or as I quoted earlier John 14:27, or the Christmas season where we see Jesus as this beautiful innocent baby that the ones who understand his presence praise what he will do for the world, we also have a savior who will take the time to care enough, like a good parent, to tell us what we might and probably will encounter in our world. When we share his word we might not always be accepted. When we follow the path of Jesus instead of the ways of the world, we might be shunned or mocked for it. When we give our time, talents, and treasures to serve, it might be called a waste of time. When we advocate for a peace that the world cannot offer, we might be called foolish.

But when we do those things then we are paying more attention to the ways of God instead of just the earth and sky and whether or not the rain will come today or tomorrow. When we do that, despite all the hardship it may bring in our lives no matter how great or small, we will have lived out our baptismal calling to be faithful even in face of hardship. And at those times we can remind ourselves that we truly have stored up for ourselves treasures in heaven instead of this earth and God will know that our heart is exactly where it is supposed to be. Amen.