PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

God, Lord of all creation, lover of life and of everything, please help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere. We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough,  because in reality every thing and every one is connected, and nothing stands alone. To pray for one part is really to pray for the whole, and so we do. Help us each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because we know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. We offer our prayer together with all the holy names of God, we offer our prayer together with Christ, our Lord, Amen.

― Richard Rohr

Luke 12:49-56 

Not Peace but Division 

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 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.”

Interpreting the Times 

54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? 

Our Presbyterian heritage is built upon a premise of Christ’s actions happening on our behalf and Jesus is baptized for all of humanity, and that our baptism is a symbol of our participating in what Christ has participated in.  Baptism is symbolic of God’s action…that we are marked by God’s grace. 

In this morning’s gospel lesson, we hear Jesus say that he didn’t come to bring peace, but division, it’s a bit disorienting. Isn’t this the same Jesus who is always preaching unity, peace on earth and in us, and to work together, to be connected? 

But, when this passage is read in context, Jesus is saying that following him has consequences, we are operating under a different understanding than what is evident in this world. The old ways of doing things are behind us, a new way of being, of loving, of including and even a changing worldview is required. 

The world, the systems that dominate our thinking…what we see and is fed to us on social media and the news cycle at times…tell us to live and think a certain way that brings division and chaos.  Jesus is simply pointing out a reality, that living in Christ, in oneness, will bring us all to a point of saying that we choose oneness, but the world chooses division.  We see that when we sit at the proverbial thanksgiving dinner and folks are afraid to bring up politics or some other issue that folks have been polarized on. But, following Jesus requires a different depth, a change of course, a deeper inner peace that is not understood in a world dominated by transactional thinking.  Living in Christ calls us towards transformational thinking and being.  We can be attached to God, our truest Selves and detached from things, from outcomes, from circumstances, and still engage lovingly and honoring with others while working towards justice and reconciling relationships.

Yet, even as we are called to love the world, to build bridges and not walls, we are living countercultural and that causes division, and sometimes even violence and persecution… it certainly did for Jesus and the early disciples. It cost them their lives. 

We say it every time we have communion.  Our baptism is one baptism wrapped up in Jesus’ baptism.  This is a sign and a seal that our lives are intertwined.  All of it.  The good, the bad, the ugly…and the bad and ugly are oftentimes the things that lead to deeper beauty and growth.  And, it is a baptism that is constantly happening, flowing all around us and in us.

I’m living into my baptism, and with you as well. The relationships in my life, in our lives, remind us that our old lives are buried in the water, and new life springs out as we are washed in the waters! But, that’s a hard process at times, we may embrace it out of God’s love, but it has a cost doesn’t it? Love is free, love wins, but the growth that love brings can be hard to navigate at times. 

But, baptism gives us hope. We are not alone. God is with us and has given us Jesus. And, as our passage in Hebrews reminds us, we have a great cloud of witnesses that have gone before and after us, cheering us on to the finish line. 

This is Jesus’ example to us in his baptism. When he came to John, John didn’t think he should baptize Jesus, that Jesus should baptize him. Yet, Jesus says no, that in order for righteousness to be demonstrated, that Jesus should be baptized by John. Jesus knew who he was, that he was representing all of humanity and that he was God’s son, God’s human representation on earth. He was connected to the flow of God that created, saved, and sustains all of life. Yet, he also knew that to be righteous, or right in relationship, means to submit to someone else, to live in humility. So, he submits to John’s baptism. 

His dying to self on our behalf cuts to the core of who we are, tells us that we too are a part of the flow of God that changes everything. The question for us this morning is, our we willing to let go of those old ways of thinking and being and live into the new reality that Christ’s baptism represents? 

Do we recognize as this story points out that we can’t hide from the present times that we live in? WE, Jesus’ followers, are being reminded that we do have eyes to see and that the times are changing, just as we recognize that weather is changing. We may not want to recognize that culture is changing and that gives us opportunities for imagination and growth, but Jesus is saying that we are called to adapt and to grow with him. 

When Jesus is baptized, we read that the Spirit of God descends on Jesus life a dove. God’s Spirit is always with Jesus, even before this, and also with us. In the story of Noah, when the floods recede, there is a dove flying over the chaos, reminding us of the hope of new life, and, out of chaos, comes new life and stability. 

We all recognized that we live in uncertain times.  We can see, as Jesus did, that the winds have changed, literally with climate change, and also the deeper winds of a world being usurped by divisive ideologies and personalities that want to steal our joy and hope.  Yet, God reminds us that we are one with God and with one another and that we have a deeper Presence that cannot be destroyed or harmed.  May we live into that deeper Self, that Deeper Presence as we live in and through God’s Spirit.  

Friends, the same spirit of God is descending upon us even now, are we willing to receive God’s Presence in our lives and live fully in this new reality? If we are, then we will see evidence of changed behavior on our part, we will see our lives change and this church become all that God intends.