Loving God, you have made us your priority and have come to us with passion and with love through your Son, Jesus. Order our priorities by the power of your Spirit, and fill our hearts with your love; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"How many churches have pictures of Jesus throwing a lightning bolt down on the Cleavers and disrupting their whole household?" This question is asked by an American Lutheran pastor who is reflecting on today's gospel. [Stoffregen - http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke12x49.htm ] How many, indeed! The Jesus whom we meet in today's gospel has come to bring fire and to bring division into people's households. Now why, exactly, would Jesus do that? Aren't there enough quarrels and dissensions without him causing more?

However, consider for just a moment what happened when God's word was spoken by the Old Testament prophets. Particularly in Jeremiah, we hear a lot about the false prophets who are around at the same time as Jeremiah. These are prophets who claim to speak for God but do not. Generally speaking, the false prophets told the people exactly what they wanted to hear. "God will give the nation peace. You will live in prosperity. Everything will be all right." The people happily listened to what these supposed prophets had to say.

However, when it came to actually listening to God's word, it was a totally different story. Many of the prophets like Jeremiah had a message which the people would have called "doom and gloom." The prophets often warned the people that they had forsaken God's covenant and that the curses associated with the covenant were going to come into effect (Deut. 28). In other words, since the people were greedy for gain and ignored the Sabbath and refused to help the poor and were ignoring their relationship with God, therefore they would be attacked by foreign armies and carried off into exile. As you can guess, this was not a particularly popular message. This is the word that is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces (Jer. 23:29).

Now, of course, when Jesus comes, he also speaks God's word. In fact, he not only speaks for God - he is the embodiment of God's Word. And so for those who draw near to Jesus, it is also like drawing near to the fire.

The thing is that all of us have our own priorities and our own way of doing things. We do not naturally do good and love one another and worship God with our lives. Most of us would far rather put ourselves first and do whatever feels good at the time. And so, when Jesus comes into the picture, he disrupts our priorities. He comes in order to turn things right side up - and when we follow Jesus, we get turned around, too. And often that means changing our priorities - and most people don't like change - and most people close to us don't like it when we change - and so we end up with division - even in our own households.

It is easy to see how this was so in the early church. Later in the gospel of Luke, Jesus' followers are warned that they will be betrayed by "parents and brothers, by relatives and friends" (Lk. 21:16). They will be arrested and persecuted and even put to death. When some people in a household believed in Jesus and others did not, it caused obvious difficulties, especially when Christians were being persecuted. Family members might hand over their relatives in the hopes of currying favour with Roman officials, or simply to save their own skin.

Of course, today it is unlikely that we would be arrested and put to death because we are Christians - at least in this country. However, faith in Jesus still causes divisions, even in households. In some cases this will be because some in the household believe in Jesus and some do not. People who seek to follow Jesus will simply have different priorities than those who do not. However, there will also be cases where the division may seem like it has to do with Jesus, but really doesn't.

An example of this would be the family where the mother has not spoken to her daughter for 18 years, ever since her "good Catholic girl" married a Lutheran and joined the Lutheran church. This kind of division actually has very little to do with Jesus. However, where one person seeks to follow Jesus and lives or works in close proximity to another who does not, there is bound to be division. Much of this will come because Jesus disrupts our priorities.

For example, one family member values Sunday morning worship and another in the same household values sleeping in or Sunday morning sports or other events. The result? Division. One spouse believes in making financial decisions based on Scriptural priorities and the other spouse puts priority on "whatever I want - now!" The result? Division. One family member believes that as much time as possible should be spent with the family, and another member of the family believes in taking time to help others and to volunteer. The result? Division.

"Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront!" (The Message - Lk. 12:51) Living as self-centred people who are cut off from God is not okay. God intended a different life for us, which Jesus came to show us. God intended us to live in love - in union with him and in community with one another. Could it be that the fire that Jesus brings is actually of passion and love?

Now, don't misunderstand me. We're not talking about romance here. We're talking about the fire of the Holy Spirit - the one who sets our hearts on fire like in "Shine, Jesus, Shine." I remember reading about a man in China who was talking to a missionary from North America. The Chinese man was asking about what it is like for Christians in North America. "Are they people of burning hearts," he asked? The missionary wished that he could have said "yes." You see, the Christians whom this man had met in China were all "people of burning hearts."

Jesus did not come to affirm the status quo, but to bring life. There is something seriously wrong if apathy is our response to the Saviour of the world. Are there any among us who are people of burning hearts? Are there any among us who speak the Word of God because it is like a fire within us that just has to come out (Jer. 20:9)? Are there any among us who are passionate about serving others in the name of Jesus?

This is the kind of fire that Jesus brings, and this is the kind of fire that can even bring division. Yet, it is a fire that is always filled with love and that ultimately brings people together with God and with one another. May we, too, be people of burning hearts, and may the Holy Spirit guide us in all things. Amen.

Lectionary 20(C) Luke 12:49-56
August 19, 2007 Jeremiah 23:23-29
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

? 2007 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved