Pentecost 12 Year CA sermon based on Luke 12:49–56.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Several years ago I remember sitting in church with my soon-to-be mother-in-law. She was visiting my soon-to-be husband and we were attending church where hubby was doing his field education.
There are two things I remember from this particular worship service although most of it has melted away from my memory. The first is that we sang the hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” which is my mother-in-law’s least favorite hymn (in fact, she detests it.) The second thing I remember from this Sunday is that this was the gospel reading for that day too.
“They will be divided… mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
I don’t remember the sermon or the other hymns we sang that Sunday. I can’t remember if my husband was the preacher, though he says he was, and I don’t have any clue why he was at his field education church and I wasn’t. What I do remember is the uncomfortable look she and I exchanged and the ironic chuckle we shared when we realized what was being read. I’m happy to say that while my mother-in-law and I have had our differences there have been no divisions and our relationship has grown in deep love for one another.
Still, I remember that Sunday with a bit of trepidation as if it is a yet unfulfilled prophecy waiting to happen.
This gospel is not exactly what one might call a “feel-good” text. We don’t have our children memorize these verses the way we would Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Or John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” We don’t read these verses at weddings and we don’t stitch them into decorative pillows.
Jesus didn’t seem to be in a feel good mood when these words escaped his lips. It seems like an out of place story for a gospel that begins with angels and shepherds heralding the birth of Immanuel, God with us. Jesus’ very words seem out of character for the one we call, “The Prince of Peace.”
But then, this text falls in the middle of warnings and admonitions to repent. Jesus wasn’t taking it easy on his listeners; he was telling them the unabashed cold hard truth about discipleship and life as believers. And he was on his way to Jerusalem where a very unpleasant death awaited him. He was a spark waiting to ignite a fire. This is a discomforting text, but this is often what the truth does to us. Jesus’ words were the truth and the truth can be hard to swallow.
It would be nice to overlook these verses, to put them aside and dismiss them as Jesus having an off day, but to do so would be to dismiss the truth: sometimes our beliefs divide us. Sometimes the very thing which should draw us together can pull us apart.
At the beginning of this month approximately 2,000 representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered for our church’s National Assembly in Chicago. Of all of the decisions that were made the most divisive one had do to with sexuality, specifically the sexuality of its clergy and other rostered leaders which stems from a case of a pastor who was removed from the clergy rolls after admitting to his bishop that he was in a committed relationship with another man.
According to the ELCA News Service: “By a vote of 538 to 431, the assembly asked its synods and bishops to "refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining" people and congregations that call otherwise-qualified candidates in mutual, chaste and faithful committed same-gender relationships, and it called for restraint in disciplining rostered leaders in committed same-gender relationships.”
538 to 431 is a divisive figure. Clearly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is divided on the issue of homosexuality. In fact, I can’t think of one church body of any denomination that isn’t divided over this particular issue to some degree or other.
Jesus said: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
On the issue of homosexuality and the church I wish there was more unity (of course I want us to be unified in the way I think we should be on this issue), but I am also keenly aware that our lives of faith put us in precarious positions. As followers of Jesus Christ we will encounter division even with other followers of Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t all bad news.
Jesus speaks these words on the way to the cross. The fire that he brings is not meant to burn away possibilities of peace, but rather to clear away those things that keep us from true peace. If the fire brings conflict then it is a fire to burn away that which keeps us from speaking the truth and then living the truth in a way which brings real serenity.
The even better news is this: Jesus made it to the cross and afterwards to resurrection. There are many purposes Jesus fulfilled in this including the purpose of experiencing conflict, of knowing what it was like to struggle for one’s faith.
On the issue of sexuality and the Church I expect we will struggle for many, many years to come. There will be divisions; there are already divisions, but Christ burns in the center of them with a passionate truth and a passionate love for us.
This truth and this love is meant to spark a fire in us that burns down barriers and pulls us together, not just on this one issue, but on all the issues that divide us as people of faith and as people in general.
This truth and this love is meant to strengthen us as people of faith and to pull us closer to God and God’s will for us because in that place we will find unity and peace.
Amen.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Several years ago I remember sitting in church with my soon-to-be mother-in-law. She was visiting my soon-to-be husband and we were attending church where hubby was doing his field education.
There are two things I remember from this particular worship service although most of it has melted away from my memory. The first is that we sang the hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” which is my mother-in-law’s least favorite hymn (in fact, she detests it.) The second thing I remember from this Sunday is that this was the gospel reading for that day too.
“They will be divided… mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
I don’t remember the sermon or the other hymns we sang that Sunday. I can’t remember if my husband was the preacher, though he says he was, and I don’t have any clue why he was at his field education church and I wasn’t. What I do remember is the uncomfortable look she and I exchanged and the ironic chuckle we shared when we realized what was being read. I’m happy to say that while my mother-in-law and I have had our differences there have been no divisions and our relationship has grown in deep love for one another.
Still, I remember that Sunday with a bit of trepidation as if it is a yet unfulfilled prophecy waiting to happen.
This gospel is not exactly what one might call a “feel-good” text. We don’t have our children memorize these verses the way we would Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Or John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” We don’t read these verses at weddings and we don’t stitch them into decorative pillows.
Jesus didn’t seem to be in a feel good mood when these words escaped his lips. It seems like an out of place story for a gospel that begins with angels and shepherds heralding the birth of Immanuel, God with us. Jesus’ very words seem out of character for the one we call, “The Prince of Peace.”
But then, this text falls in the middle of warnings and admonitions to repent. Jesus wasn’t taking it easy on his listeners; he was telling them the unabashed cold hard truth about discipleship and life as believers. And he was on his way to Jerusalem where a very unpleasant death awaited him. He was a spark waiting to ignite a fire. This is a discomforting text, but this is often what the truth does to us. Jesus’ words were the truth and the truth can be hard to swallow.
It would be nice to overlook these verses, to put them aside and dismiss them as Jesus having an off day, but to do so would be to dismiss the truth: sometimes our beliefs divide us. Sometimes the very thing which should draw us together can pull us apart.
At the beginning of this month approximately 2,000 representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered for our church’s National Assembly in Chicago. Of all of the decisions that were made the most divisive one had do to with sexuality, specifically the sexuality of its clergy and other rostered leaders which stems from a case of a pastor who was removed from the clergy rolls after admitting to his bishop that he was in a committed relationship with another man.
According to the ELCA News Service: “By a vote of 538 to 431, the assembly asked its synods and bishops to "refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining" people and congregations that call otherwise-qualified candidates in mutual, chaste and faithful committed same-gender relationships, and it called for restraint in disciplining rostered leaders in committed same-gender relationships.”
538 to 431 is a divisive figure. Clearly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is divided on the issue of homosexuality. In fact, I can’t think of one church body of any denomination that isn’t divided over this particular issue to some degree or other.
Jesus said: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
On the issue of homosexuality and the church I wish there was more unity (of course I want us to be unified in the way I think we should be on this issue), but I am also keenly aware that our lives of faith put us in precarious positions. As followers of Jesus Christ we will encounter division even with other followers of Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t all bad news.
Jesus speaks these words on the way to the cross. The fire that he brings is not meant to burn away possibilities of peace, but rather to clear away those things that keep us from true peace. If the fire brings conflict then it is a fire to burn away that which keeps us from speaking the truth and then living the truth in a way which brings real serenity.
The even better news is this: Jesus made it to the cross and afterwards to resurrection. There are many purposes Jesus fulfilled in this including the purpose of experiencing conflict, of knowing what it was like to struggle for one’s faith.
On the issue of sexuality and the Church I expect we will struggle for many, many years to come. There will be divisions; there are already divisions, but Christ burns in the center of them with a passionate truth and a passionate love for us.
This truth and this love is meant to spark a fire in us that burns down barriers and pulls us together, not just on this one issue, but on all the issues that divide us as people of faith and as people in general.
This truth and this love is meant to strengthen us as people of faith and to pull us closer to God and God’s will for us because in that place we will find unity and peace.
Amen.
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