Luke 12:49-53

Thirteenth Sunday after PentecostΒ  -Β  14 August 2016

Rev. John Derme

Every Sunday, as we meet here for the Divine Service, we repeat a very important and ancient tradition. For almost 2000 years, Christians have been reading three lessons during worship: one from the Old Testament, one from the epistles or letters of the New Testament, and one from the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The reading of the Gospel has always been considered the high point of the service, because at that reading we get to hear the words and works of our Savior Jesus. When it is time for the reading of the Gospel, what do you expect to hear? We love to listen to accounts of Jesus helping people by healing the sick, raising the dead, and turning water into wine. We love to hear his comforting words as he uses parables to explain how eager he is to forgive our sins and speaks words that we'll never forget, like "I am the Good Shepherd." It raises our spirits to see his compassion as he feeds crowds of hungry people and says, "Let the little children come to me." Jesus uses these words to strengthen our faith and encourage our hearts.

What did you think, then, when you heard the Gospel for today? Jesus said, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" Normally we are used to hearing Jesus say that he came to save the world, not bring fire on it! Is that what you expected to hear? He said, "But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" Normally we are used to hearing about Jesus' baptism as the day that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our Savior, not as something that distresses him. Is that what you expected to hear? He said, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." Normally we are used to hearing about how Jesus came to bring peace, like when the angels sang at his birth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Is that what you expected to hear? He said, "From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other …" Normally we are used to hearing how Jesus blesses families, not divides them! Is that what you expected to hear?

I guess that we don't always get what we would expect from Jesus. Maybe you've experienced that fact in your life, as well. Jesus tells you that he will bless you. Then would you expect him to take away blessings, like when he takes a loved one out of your life, or takes away your job and leaves you unemployed? Where's the promised blessing? He tells you that he will keep disasters away from you. Then would you expect him to allow natural disasters to damage your property and health disasters to hurt your body? Why doesn't he keep those disasters away? He tells you that he will protect you from physical harm. Then would you expect him to allow your body to be injured, whether by accident or by another person's attack? When we listen the words Jesus speaks and look at what he allows to happen in our lives, they sometimes make us say, "This isn't what I expected, Jesus."

Does it seem unexpected? Does it seem like a great contradiction? The truth is that it is no contradiction at all. When Jesus takes blessings away from us, it doesn't invalidate his promise to bless us. He may decide to give us other blessings in their place, and – as difficult as it may be to understand – he will use our loss as a blessing for us, too. When it appears that Jesus has allowed a disaster in our lives it doesn't invalidate his promise to keep disaster away. Although an event may appear to be disastrous from our perspective, God may not see it as such. He is planning to use that event for our benefit. When Jesus allows our bodies to suffer injury, it doesn't invalidate his promise to protect us. There are times when he protects us by keeping accidents or other people from hurting us as much as we would expect. And he uses events like those to teach his disciples to rely on and trust only in him.

There is no contradiction between the promises that our Lord makes to us and the difficulties that we experience in our lives. There is no contradiction between the passages that we expect to hear from Jesus and the statements he makes in our Gospel for today, either. It is most certainly true that Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. But today when he says that he has come to bring fire on the world, that is also true. He is a God who loves all people and wants everybody to be saved. But he is also a God of justice, who demands that sin be punished. Those who reject the punishment that he suffered to be their Savior will have to suffer the punishment – the fire – for themselves.

It is most certainly true that at his baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power to be our Savior. But today when he says that he has a distressing baptism yet to undergo, he is talking about something else he had to do to be our Savior. You might call it a baptism by fire. Before he would ever bring the fire of judgment on people, he himself had to suffer in the flames. He suffered the very fire of hell when God his Father abandoned him on the cross for each and every person who ever lived. Unbelievers who reject the suffering that he endured for them have no excuse, because he did everything necessary to save them.

It is most certainly true that Jesus came to bring peace to the people of the earth. With his perfect life and innocent death, he made peace between his Father in heaven and the people of the world. But today when he says that he has not come to bring peace, but division, that is also true. Although believers have peace with God, we don't have peace between us and Jesus' enemies. In fact, those who have rejected Jesus can make life pretty difficult for his people. That also explains why it is true that Jesus blesses families, but he also divides families. The family who shares the bond of faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins is blessed! Unfortunately not every family shares that bond. And unfortunately members of some families aren't too happy about it when other members of their families live as faithful Christians. Sometimes this opposition is expressed with quiet hostility against the believing family member. At other times unbelieving family members may vocally and even physically oppose the Christian members because of their faith. The truth is, though, that this unrest doesn't only take place within our families. It happens everywhere that we go in this world, because no matter where you look you will find unbelievers who oppose Jesus and attack his disciples.

That is just the way it is. Are you alright with that? Are you comfortable with the fact that Jesus says some unexpected words that are hard to understand? And are you willing to accept the unexpected events that he allows to happen in our lives that are difficult to endure? Jesus has a good purpose in saying and doing these unexpected things. But the devil tries to use them for his purpose, as well. He tries to get us to look at them and wonder whether Jesus really does have our good in mind. He tries to turn our doubt into despair, so that we lose all hope that Jesus will bless us and that he has saved us. He tries to turn us into opponents of Jesus because he wants us to fight against Christians and make life too difficult for them. He tries to get us to reject the punishment that Jesus suffered in our place because the devil wants us to suffer with him in the fire of judgment. Will he be successful with you? Will the devil get you to turn against Jesus?

It may be difficult to understand why Jesus lets some of the unexpected events in our lives happen. We may not ever understand them until we get to heaven. While we live on earth, we will continue to cry out for Jesus to make them stop. And he will. When he calls us home to heaven in death, or – if it happens sooner – when he returns on the Last Day, he will take away any effects of disaster or injury or persecution at the hands of others, and he will give us the health and happiness that he has been preparing for us.

While we live on earth, though, we will have to be patient for that day, because he hasn't taken our troubles away yet. And – as hard as it is to understand – he doesn't want to take them away yet, because right now he is using them for our good. When the sinful nature within us opposes us for following Christ even though he lets unexpected difficulties arise, Jesus teaches us to deny our sinful nature by pointing us to the suffering that he endured for us, so that we will see the proof that he loves us. When unbelievers within or outside of our families try to keep us from remaining faithful to Christ, Jesus points us to the cross that he bore for us to show us why we can bear our cross for him.

You can be assured that – no matter how difficult these are for you – they are for your good. If Jesus endured the distressing baptism by fire of being nailed to the cross to suffer for all of your sins so that he could win your eternal life, would he allow anything to happen that would keep you from getting to heaven? No, these difficult and unexpected events help you on your way there because they teach you to follow your Savior ever more faithfully.

Finally, when Jesus brings fire on this world to judge it for its sins, he will use that punishment for your good, as well. He will destroy this sinful world for rejecting him and for ignoring the suffering he endured for it. He will rescue you and all his believers from the attacks that the devil, the world, and the sinful nature bring against you. From that day forward, you will experience the final goal of Jesus for you, eternal joy and happiness with him.

When you experience difficulties in your life as you wait for that day, it is okay for you to say, "This isn't what I expected, Jesus." And when you hear from the Bible the words that he spoke and they kind of surprise you, it is okay for you to say, "This isn't what I expected, Jesus." But realize that every word he spoke, he said so that you would know what he has done and what he will do to rescue you from this sinful world and take you to heaven. And realize that everything he allows to happen in your life he will use to make sure you get there. Keep that in mind, so that on that day, when he has brought you to be with him, you can say, "Jesus, this is exactly what I expected."