Readings: Jer 38:4-6,8-10; Ps 40; Heb 12:1-4, 8-19; Lk 12:49-53
As a deacon and
an old, retired Navy Captain, I’m often asked to conduct committal services at
the National Cemetery in Bushnell. It’s a wonderful opportunity to minister to our veterans, their spouses, and their families…always a true honor.
Often, as I
conduct a committal service, I’ll turn to chapter 12 of the Letter to the
Hebrews, from which we receive today’s second reading. The chapter begins with the author telling
us:
“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.”
This “cloud
of witnesses” refers to the saints of the Old Covenant who paved the way
for its fulfillment in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. But there at the
national cemetery I point to the graves of a different cloud of witnesses, the
men and women who served our country faithfully and honorably in times of war
and peace. Yes, indeed, “so great a cloud of witnesses,” that call us
back to too many wars and conflicts.
Today’s
readings, for example, brought Winston Churchill to mind. Sorry, but that’s the
way my aging mind works. Things enter it unbidden. Anyway, in May of 1940, as the
new Prime Minister of the UK, Churchill delivered his first speech to the House
of Commons. An electrifying speech, it united the nation behind his leadership
as it waged war against an evil, yet strong and determined, Nazi Germany, a speech in which Churchill
uttered perhaps his most famous words:
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering."
These weren’t
comforting words, but they were necessary words, harsh, motivating words –
words of truth that, despite the metaphors, told it like it is.
We encounter something
similar in our first reading. The prophet Jeremiah foretells the hard truth
about the upcoming victory of the Chaldeans, the taking of Jerusalem, and the long
captivity in Babylon. Many in Judah didn’t want to hear all this bad news – so harsh
and blunt – so they try to kill God’s prophet, foolishly thinking that will
change God’s Word.
In our Gospel
passage, Luke proclaims Jesus’ Word. It, too, seems harsh, so harsh that some, even
today, resist it, and come away puzzled.
How can Jesus,
the Prince of Peace, tell us that He has come “not to establish peace on the
earth…but rather division”? That’s not all. He also says He will be the cause of this division, He has “come
to set the earth on fire.” Then He adds those remarkable words: “And how
I wish it were already blazing.”
These are
indeed harsh words, the kind of words many Christians try to ignore, thinking
that maybe Jesus was just having a bad day. He really didn’t mean it. Did He?
Churchill was
acceptable to his countrymen so long as he was waging war. Once the war ended,
he was tossed out of office. For some Christians, and for too many others, Jesus is acceptable only when He speaks of
peace and love and forgiveness. They want their Kumbaya Jesus; but, in truth,
Jesus meant everything He said.
Too often we
see and hear only the Jesus we’d like Him to be, and ignore the real Jesus, forgetting
that the God of truth and fire also speaks to us.
Remember last
Sunday’s Gospel, how Jesus reminded us of the demands of discipleship?
"Much will be required
of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the
person entrusted with more" [Lk 12:48}.
These, too,
were not easy words for us, indeed, for all Christians who are entrusted with
so much. Today’s Gospel words are no different; but let’s look at them more
closely, in the context of Jesus’ total teaching, and see what He’s really
telling us. The first thing He says:
“I have come to bring fire
to the earth.”
Does He speak
of the fire of war and destruction? Well, we can’t deny war and destruction; it
surrounds us today and plagues our world. And God certainly lets it happen.
But here Jesus
is talking about something else. Here He speaks of a fire that cleanses and
purifies, the fire of God’s light, the fire of God’s truth, the fire of God’s Holy
Presence among us.
It’s the fire
Moses encountered when he approached the burning bush on Mount Horeb. This fire
that didn’t consume called Moses to discipleship and holiness; it’s a fire that
forms and reforms us even today.
It’s also the
pillar of fire that led God’s People out of slavery and through the desert on
their journey to freedom, to the Land promised by the Father. It’s a fire that
calls us and leads us to Him.
It’s the
righteous, sacrificial fire the prophet Elijah called down on the altar of God
at Mt. Carmel – a fire in which all present saw the greatness of the God of
Israel, and the emptiness, the nothingness of the world’s false gods.
It’s the fire
of the burning ember that touched Isaiah’s lips and removed his wickedness and
purged the prophet’s sin so he could proclaim God’s Word to His people.
In every
instance, it’s the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit
who appeared as tongues of fire that inspired Mary and the first disciples as
they prayed together in the upper room.
Yes, indeed, Jesus
calls for fire, a fire of purification.
It’s a fire of
a new creation, the fire that brings the Church into being at Pentecost and
continues to cleanse and purify her, always calling her back to her holy
beginnings.
It’s the Holy
Spirit’s painful fire that calls us to repentance and conversion, demanding
that we reject the world’s false promises. But it’s also a fire of liberation,
a fire that frees us from our slavery to sin and leads us to the freedom of
God’s Kingdom.
And then Jesus
tells us:
“There is a baptism with
which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished.”
These words,
too, confuse a lot of folks.
Didn’t Jesus
already undergo a Baptism when John baptized Him in the Jordan? Yes, but for
Jesus His Baptism by John is an example for us; but it’s also a sign, a
manifestation of the Trinity: Jesus experiencing the descending dove of the
Holy Spirit and the confirming words of the Father. So, what kind of Baptism is
Jesus talking about here?
In the early
Church, and in many churches today, Baptism is a total immersion in its saving
waters. Consider how the Church’s funeral rite begins…
“In Baptism, she died with
Christ and rose with Him to new life. May she now share with Him eternal
glory.”
Immersed in the
waters of Baptism, we die with Christ and become a sign of His suffering and
death. Rising from the waters of Baptism, we become a sign of His Resurrection,
looking to our own resurrection on the last day.
Is this
“Baptism” on the Cross the one to which Jesus must be baptized? His words
answer the question.
“…how great is my
anguish until it is accomplished.”
Finally, Jesus
tells us:
“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Many are
confused and alarmed by these words as well. Doesn’t the Gospel preach bringing
God’s peace to the world? Doesn’t Jesus tell us to love each other? Aren’t the peacemakers
the “children of God?” And perhaps, most alarming, could these words encourage
Christians to reject peaceful solutions to the problems that divide us?
Sadly, such
questions betray a lack of understanding, not only of Jesus’ teaching, but also
of human nature itself.
With these
words Jesus gives His disciples, including us, a prophetic glance into the
future, showing us how the world will respond to the Good News of the Gospel,
of Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t
will such divisions, but it’s something that we should expect to encounter. Indeed,
it began when Jews and Gentiles called for Jesus’ crucifixion. And it’s been
going on ever since.
Christianity
and its teachings have not simply been rejected by many, but are also seen as
the greatest threat to the plans and schemes of those seeking to gain or
maintain power in the world.
It began with the
Pharaohs, the Canaanites and Philistines, the Scribes and Pharisee, Sadducees, Greeks
and Romans. And it continues today with Communists, fascists, Islamists,
atheists, secularists…you name it. Stalin once mockingly asked, “How many
divisions does the Pope have?” And yet, ironically, it was the faith of
persecuted Polish Catholics that began the liberation of Eastern Europe from
the Soviet yoke.
Indeed, there
were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than all previous
centuries combined. Where there is persecution, there is tremendous faith. And
it’s always been that way. Tertullian, the 2nd-century Early Church
Father, said it well: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church."
Perhaps most fittingly, the preacher in Hebrews concludes
today’s passage reminding his 1st-century Christians:
“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.”
Yes, “not
yet” – perhaps the same thing can be said to us.
Today, while
Christianity in the modern, oh-so-civilized West seems to be in decline, in
Africa and Asia its growth is dramatic, and so too is the number of martyrs.
The Church, as
it defends the truth, demands justice, calls to respect life and human dignity,
and pleads for freedom – these will create division.
Jesus reminds us that being a Christian is never easy. Yes, the
peacemakers are blessed, but so too are those who suffer persecution for the
sake of righteousness. Jesus doesn’t separate the two, and neither can we.
