I don’t think that many of us would disagree with the common view that many people have that our world is undergoing great turbulence and strife. I think the evidence is right before us for all to see. All living things and especially humans everywhere are affected deeply and most times negatively by a host of issues and challenges that are both natural and human-made. Some of these are world-wide issues, some are national, some are local and some are even within our families.
From the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza and conflicts in parts of Africa to natural events including the extreme heat being felt in so many places and other climate related issues such as forest fires here and other parts of the world and then the economic uncertainty now caused by the current American foreign policy and all kinds of political tensions among various countries around the world, we see more than enough evidence of a world in turmoil. We can add to this the raw evidence that International law across the world is sidestepped conveniently when countries with economic and military power want to do whatever suits them irrespective of how it affects everybody else. Even religion and especially Christianity is a wedge-issue and the cause of tensions and conflicts around the world from time immemorial and seems to be even more so now as we hear constantly about the battle between the right and the left, liberal and conservative. Everybody seems to be in one camp or the other which is diametrically opposed to the other person or group who then see the other as enemies or traitors. These turbulent and divisive situations filter through communities and into the very homes in which we live so that there are major divisions even among family members. How many of you saw or experienced for yourself the deep divisions and animosity even among close family members that happened as a result of the vaccine mandates and other policies around the Covid 19 pandemic? It became not only a deeply divisive political issue but also a deeply divisive religious issue as well, as many claimed religious freedom from following any mandate or guideline set out by governments and health authorities. Then again, we really shouldn’t be surprised because the two most divisive topics that humans have grappled with from time immemorial have to do with religion and politics. When they come together you have an extremely combustible mix.
When considering all of these realities of our current existence, Jesus’ words in our text for today should not be too shocking after all. Just at the time when we think that the world has had enough conflict or enough division among its people to deal with, the words of Jesus do not seem to, at first reading, offer the hope and peace that we yearn for and would expect to hear from our Lord. Instead, He, the God of peace seems to be suggesting that his very coming into the world was and is the source of more conflict and turbulence than ever before. These words, on the surface, are not comforting words from Jesus, when what we need are words of comfort, assurance and hope that things will be better, not worse; life will be more bearable not unbearable, and human relationships with each other will improve not worsen.
The words of Jesus to the disciples are couched in the idea of judgement, especially judgement on the earth for its continued rebellion against him and his message. The Jews at the time understood that metaphorical references to fire were always in the context of the judgement to come. This judgement served the purpose of refining and separating the faithful from the unfaithful, the good from the bad. When John the Baptist admonished the people earlier in St. Luke chapter three he warned them about the coming of the ‘One’ who would baptiise them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire was symbolic of cleansing and refining and God’s judgement was meant to do exactly this. We also learn from Jesus’ words in the text that baptism was also symbolic of judgement, but in his case the judgement of the cross. In bearing human sins he essentially was subjected to a baptism of the cross for all humanity.
In light of all this, what can we take with hope from the text today? Let me share these few thoughts with us today.
- We must make a choice between good and evil and the choice we make may cause great divisions between us and people we love.
First of all, family divisions usually happen at times when the society or the nation at large is going through a national crisis, more specifically a crisis of identity. When issues become so combustible and inflamed that they cause the national discourse to become so toxic that we see each other as enemies and traitors and we can no longer respect differences of opinions, we quickly lose a sense of what is good for the nation or what is good for all people. We think only of what is my right and my cause and the national or universal good is not as important as my personal or local interest or cause, be it political, economic, social or religious or even all of the above. Times of war also cause great upheavals within nations as different groups have conflicts with each other about the purpose and aims of the war. No wonder Jesus suggests here that at that time of turbulence even families will be divided against one another. That is happening now in Israel and in other parts of the world where conflicts abound. The point that Jesus is ultimately making here is that there is a greater conflict that is taking place and that is the conflict between good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness and the worldly turbulence and strife that we see all around us are the physical evidence of this greater conflict. In all of these conflicts, people will have to choose sides. People must take positions for God or for the devil. There is no middle ground. This is why even households will be divided. Yes friends, even on the issue of the gospel message and faithfulness to God’s coming kingdom, people will have to decide who will be the priority in their lives and this decision will separate even family members in terms of their loyalty and fidelity to one another.
- We have often missed the signs and so we are left unprepared.
Another message that Jesus had to tell the people is that though humans have become so aware and knowledgeable in the things in the natural world, they were too blind to see the very evidence of his presence right before them. Jesus was essentially saying that we humans have become so advanced today in knowledge and there is almost an endless capacity of the human mind which has discovered some of the most complex and mysterious things about life including the things of nature, yet we have missed the most basic signs of the times right before our eyes. We can send humans to the moon, we have made all kinds of scientific discoveries in medicine and a host of other fields, we can read the skies and know the weather before it happens yet the basic sign of the times, the obvious sign of his coming judgement which is with us we take no notice of or we are too preoccupied with our human experiences to care much about. The message here is to open our eyes to the reality that God is at work carrying out his purpose of drawing humans to himself through the turbulence and chaos that is all around us. The more strife we have to endure, the more we people are faced with the choice that we must make between good and evil or between God and the devil.
- Make things right with God while we still can do so.
We should take careful note of the story that Jesus gave the disciples about the person who owed a debt to another. It’s an allegory that has a profound message which is wrapped into the overall message of this text even though at first it may seem to be unrelated. In the account Jesus relates about settling the matter with an adversary before going before the magistrate, Jesus was in fact saying to us that God is the adversary that we must seek to reconcile with before it is too late. Two things can be implied in this account. First of all, we are the ones who are at fault.That is why the onus is on us to approach our adversary and make peace while the opportunity still exists. Secondly, the punishment could be most severe on us if we do not reconcile with the adversary because of the severity of our wrongdoing. We owe much to God and the opportunity is being offered to reconcile the debt now before it is too late. Why is God our adversary? God is the adversary of anyone who continues in sinful behavior which is antagonistic to the ways of God that are righteous and pure. Sin makes us debtors and enemies of God but when we come to Him in humility and repent from our sinful ways then we would have truly settled our debts and are welcomed into a new relationship with God as his children and co-heirs with Jesus the Christ.
The turbulence in the world will continue my dear friends but all of this points to the need to make the ultimate choice of putting our cares and our struggles and our hope into the loving hands of our God. It’s a choice we make for true peace in a time that is filled with strife and conflict. Jesus was clearly not advocating for further strife and turmoil but pointing us to the choice that we must make to be able to navigate the turbulence in our world as we prepare for eternity. May we make the choice now to seek God while we still have the breath of life to do so and reflect his light to those who have lost hope and remain in a turbulent and conflict-filled world who need to find the way to salvation and life eternal through Jesus our Lord. In the end, the message from our Lord Jesus to us all today is not a depressing message of gloom and despair but really a message of hope in God.
May God bless us and guide us as we earnestly seek to live as people who are filled with hope and are now children of God and not God’s adversaries. Amen.