Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling
“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division,” Jesus said on his way to Jerusalem. When people claim that Jesus is more peaceful and loving than the folks in the Old Testament, I point to passages like this one. Quite frankly, given today’s gospel lesson, I would not quote Jesus when my family, church, city, or nation began dividing into bitter camps! Good Christians don’t fight. It’s all about peace and love, isn’t it?
In her book entitled Saving Grace, Kirsten Powers writes, “Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about grace is that it means being passive, or not standing up for your beliefs or not confronting people about problematic or harmful behavior. The image too many people have of a ‘graceful’ person is of someone who just lets others do and say whatever they want and eschews accountability. They envision a person who doesn’t get angry and who, rather than speaking up about behavior that is causing harm, suffers quietly or allows others to suffer.” (p161)
The Bible is full of stories about conflict; and our present time is no different. Pick a subject, any subject, pick a country, any country, pick a political party, or a religious system, and you will find various levels of conflict. Some are creative and constructive; disagreements are easily resolved and compromises are quickly found. Other conflicts are soul destroying, like the war in Ukraine, hate crimes, turf battles, and bitter divorces.
Like the time when Jesus lived, there are signs of political, social, religious, moral, and economic conflict throughout our world. Troubles are brewing everywhere and thanks to social media we hear about them pretty quickly. The recent visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi stirred the pot with China. Political rhetoric is heating up with the FBI actions taken at Mar-a-Lago this week, legal decisions about abortion, and the on-going issues of immigration. Israel and Palestine remain on the brink of war and our recent Lambeth Conference highlighted the continuing conflict over sexuality and marriage throughout the Anglican Communion. “From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided,” Jesus warned the crowd.
Conflict, whether you like it or not, is a way of life. Too much of it and life is miserable. Too little of it and life is stagnant. And if you deny it, you can see the blazing sun and the falling rain but you can’t admit that conflict is all around you. “Hypocrites” is what Jesus called the Pharisees. He claims that they point to the specks in other people’s eyes without first removing the logs in their own. Jesus was warning the Pharisees that there was conflict between the rich and the poor, between the Jews and Romans, between their religious leaders and their people, and between heaven and earth.
When trouble is brewing, denial is not a river in Egypt, as the saying goes, but a temptation that enables unhealthy systems and harmful behaviors to continue.There is a need for sameness, and a decreased tolerance for differences. Some call it herding; others naively suggest “that we all just get along.” We comfort ourselves with narratives that support our own beliefs, closing our minds to people who don’t share our perspectives. We look for quick fixes and simple answers.
Conflict creates anxiety, and as our anxiety increases, we become more reactive, less able to step back and reflect, less able to respond appropriately. We hurt others with our words and actions; and our protests may turn violent. As conflicts escalate, we demoralize, degrade, and dehumanize each other, forgetting that we are all the beloved children of God, even when our thinking is misguided and our behavior is abhorrent.
Conflicts, however, are actually great opportunities to learn about ourselves, other people, and God. They raise the possibility that no one is necessarily right or wrong - just different; and so listening to God and to others becomes especially important. Do we see life only from our position of power or class or age or gender? Are we caught in cycles of anger, victimhood, and resentment? Do we justify our behavior without a pause, or a temporary cease-fire? Do we forget that God’s love for us is not a zero-sum game?
In any relationship where free speech is healthy, we can express ourselves, saying what we think, what we feel, what we believe, and what we need without fear. We also know that we may not always get the responses that we want. In a good and fair fight, we can respectfully disagree with each other, without aggressively attacking the other person personally, or passively denying our reality. Truth can take many paths up God’s holy mountain; and unfortunately it is also the first casualty of war.
Taken alone, this gospel passage from Luke might lead you to believe that Jesus was a combative and divisive leader, whose style was to draw blood by forcing his desires and beliefs upon others. Was he another prophet in their long line of religious history, who was filled with righteous anger, who wanted to scorch the earth with God’s divine judgment and without mercy?
Jesus doesn’t withdraw from conflict; nor does He smooth it over to appease the crowd. Neither a victim, nor a doormat, Jesus uses the “I” word. “I have come for a specific purpose,” He said. “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under because of it.” Jesus is talking about the baptism of his death; for He was on a mission to end the conflict between heaven and earth. He was on a mission to reconcile all people to God and to one another in a sacrificial act of love.
“If our world were nothing but a place of created goodness and profound beauty, then Jesus’s challenge would be deeply troubling,” wrote Teresa Berger. “If, on the other hand, our world is deeply scarred, with systems that are exploitative, then redemption can come only when those systems are shattered and consumed by fire. Jesus comes not to disturb a nice world but to shatter the systems that stifle life.” (Christian Century, August 10, 2004)
I love Luke’s gospel lessons because it shows Jesus not only as the Prince of Peace but also as the King of Division. And discernment means division, coming from the Latin word which means “to cut.” Sometimes, our assets need to be divided so that more people can share their benefits. Cells split in order to multiply and create new life. Power divided is power shared. And sometimes the real divisions among us must be acknowledged before true peace can come. Perhaps it is only through conflict that we are able to discern new ways to move forward.
“Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby released a series of five short films about “Faith in a Conflicted World.” Welby said, ‘I believe with all my heart that reconciliation is the call on every human being. We all know that we live in a world that is divided, conflicted, and hurting, and though many of us long for our faith to make a difference, it can be hard to know where to start. The world cries out for people committed to reconciliation whose actions and words show that a new and better way is possible. Welby suggests three things: being present, being curious, and reimagining new possibilities in the places where we hope to see change.” (Living Church, Mark Michael, April 27, 2021)
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus was nearby. He wasn’t sitting up in a heavenly throne, or on a mountaintop far removed from the crowds, or even in a jail cell writing letters to his followers. He was right there in the midst of the crowds, surrounded by his family and friends, by religious and political leaders, claiming that he came to “bring fire to the earth and division.”
His fiery message was not just about destruction and division, however. No, God’s fire is also a purifying flame, naturally cleaning up our messes, warming our souls, shedding light in times of darkness, showing us the way forward, empowering us for loving action, and bringing new life into the world. The fiery message of the cross proclaimed resurrection life.
As “Mediator in Chief” Jesus came to restore our relationships with God and each other, offering help to those who are caught up in soul-destroying conflicts. Not afraid to interpret the troubling signs of his time He challenged the leaders and the people of his country to change, as he continued his walk to Jerusalem. There, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, so that he could fulfill God’s mission of reconciliation. “Forgive them,” He said, “for they know not what they do.” We call that Saving Grace.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Luke 12:49-56
