Division

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, November 6, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Luke 12:49-53.

            We tend to have this picture of Jesus as this nice, mild-mannered, easygoing guy.  Someone who preached about peace and love and understanding.  Someone who just wanted everyone to be able to get along with each other and love each other and just all sit around the campfire singing “Kum-ba-ya” together.

            And there is some truth in that.  Jesus was nice.  Jesus did preach about peace and love.  Jesus does want everyone to love each other–after all, Jesus told us to love even our enemies.  

            But the thing is, that’s not all Jesus was.  After all, Jesus was the divine Son of God.  Jesus had lots of aspects to Him, just like God has lots of aspects to Him.  Our Bible reading for today shows a completely different side of Jesus.

            Listen again to some of what He said:  “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!...Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but division.  From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, 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 daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

            Not a lot of peace and love in those statements, is there?  Not a lot of “let’s just all get along.”  Not a lot of “love your neighbor”.

            So what do we do with this?  It does not fit at all with our idea of who Jesus is or why he came to earth.  And yet, if we’re going to deal with the Bible honestly, we cannot just ignore it or pretend it’s not there or dismiss it as Jesus just having a bad day.  So what do we do with it?

            Well, I think first of all, we need to acknowledge that Jesus was right.  He did bring division.  That division continues to this day.  There are many people who do not just refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, but who actively oppose Christ and the Christian church.  And it’s not just happening in Iran or someplace like that, it’s happening right here in the United States of America.  There was an event recently which featured a man reading the Bible over a loudspeaker.  Protesters attacked him, took the Bible away, tore it up, and even ate some of the pages.  Jesus most definitely did bring division.

            But the thing is, I think we have to be careful not to read into Jesus’ statement things He did not say.  He said He came to bring division.  He did not say He wanted to bring division.  He did not say the division would be a good thing.  He simply said it was going to happen as a result of His coming.

            I suspect that Jesus knew at the time He started His ministry that He would be a polarizing figure.  If He did not, I’m sure it did not take Him long to figure it out.  He knew, when He started working miracles, that it would attract attention.  He knew, when people started saying He was a prophet, or even the Messiah, that those claims would stir up opposition.  And He certainly knew, when He called the Pharisees names like “fools”, “vipers”, and “blind guides”, that those Pharisees would not just sit back and take it without responding.  

            Jesus knew that the things He did were going to force people to choose.  People would either choose to follow Him or they would not.  People would either believe in Him as the Savior or they would believe the things the Pharisees said about Him.  

            And Jesus knew that, when people disagree, we don’t tend to just say, well, I guess we’ll just agree to disagree.  It leads to division, and sometimes more than just division.  When people disagree, we tend to get into arguments.  And those arguments sometimes get personal.  And those arguments sometimes get nasty.  And those arguments sometimes even get violent.

            Jesus knew all that.  That does not mean He approved of it.  In fact, He did not.  That’s why Jesus said all those things about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek and praying for those who persecute us.  Jesus knew that things would happen–but He did not want His followers to participate in them.

            And Jesus gave us the example of not participating in them.  Jesus allowed Himself to be killed on the cross.  He did not have to do that.  Jesus could’ve rallied an army to come to His defense.  He could’ve used His divine power to wipe out His opposition.  But Jesus did not do any of that.  People reacted violently to Him–but He did not respond.  He simply stayed true to Himself.  He continued to be who He was.  He continued to say what He said.  He continued to do what He did.  He continued to offer salvation and eternal life.  It’s like what Jesus told the disciples in our reading last week–he did not fear the Pharisees because all they could do was kill His earthly body.  They could not change who He was, and they could not affect His eternal life.

            But some of you realize that there’s a part of this I have not discussed yet.  What about that first sentence of this reading?  Jesus said, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”  Those don’t exactly sound like the words of someone who wished division could be avoided.  Those sound like the words of someone who cannot wait for division to come.  In fact, “I wish it were already kindled” sounds like a lot more than that.  Those words sound like Jesus is saying, yeah, it’s going to be a fight.  Bring it on!

            At least, that’s one way of looking at it.  But I think there’s another way of looking at it, too.  And it’s a way that seems to me to fit better with the Jesus we know from other Bible passages.

            Have you ever been faced with a situation that you really wished you could avoid, but you knew there was no way you could?  Maybe you even prayed for God to do something to allow you to avoid the situation, but eventually you saw that God was not going to do that.  God was going to make you face the situation and deal with it.  Dealing with it was the last thing you wanted to do, but you knew you were going to have to deal with it, whether you wanted to or not.

            When we’re in a situation like that, for a while we dread facing it.  We try to do whatever we can to put it off for as long as we can.  But eventually, we reach a point where we say, you know, if I’ve got to do this, let’s just do it and get it over with.  Let’s just get it done, so that whatever happens, I can just move on.

            I think that may have been what Jesus meant when he said, “I wish it were already kindled.”  Not that Jesus just couldn’t wait to have a big conflict.  But Jesus knew that it was going to come.  He knew that it was going to result in His death.  Jesus did not want to die, but He knew that, at some point, He was going to have to face His death on earth.  And a part of Him wished He could just get it over with.

            But He knew that was not how it was going to go.  As He said, “I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!”  He wanted to get it over with, but He could not get it over with, not yet.  It was not the right time.  Even Jesus had to wait for God the Father’s timing, just as you and I often have to wait for God’s timing.

            There’s a lot of division on the earth right now.  There’s a lot of division in our country.  There’s division in the United Methodist church.  Sometimes those divisions turn into arguments.  Sometimes those arguments get personal.  Sometimes they get nasty.  Sometimes they even get violent.

            But you and I don’t have to participate in that.  Yes, we may have to choose, and that may lead to disagreements.  But we don’t have to participate in the arguments.  We certainly don’t have to get nasty or violent.  You and I can simply continue to be true to Jesus.  We can continue to say what we say and do what we do.  We can continue to reach out to people with love and compassion.  We can continue to let people know that salvation and eternal life are available to them through faith in Jesus Christ.  We don’t have to let what other people say and do change us.  And it is certain that nothing anyone else says or does can affect our salvation and eternal life.

            We may wish that the division and the disagreements were over.  We may wish we it would just be done, so that whatever happens, we can move on.  But that’s not the way it works right now.  It is not the right time.  It may feel like the right time to us, but clearly in God’s eyes, it’s not.  And we have no idea when it will be the right time in God’s eyes.  We simply need to wait for God’s timing.  Because we know, no matter how it may feel to us, that God’s timing is always right.

            Someday, the events described in the Book of Revelation will all take place, and there will be peace on earth.  Until then, let’s not let then events that are happening on earth change us.  Let’s stay faithful to Jesus Christ.  Let’s love Him, and serve Him, and do what we can to tell others about Him.  Division may be inevitable, but it is not eternal.  The Lord is.  Let’s stay faithful to Him.