Tenth Sunday After Pentecost. August 14, 2022

Lucas 12:49-56

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

Fire, division, hypocrites. . .! What harsh words we hear in today’s gospel! These words must be understood within the context of the intense moment Jesus lives on his way to Jerusalem.  Time is running out, the opposition grows, the cross is approaching, and many people still fail to understand his message. . .

From the beginning of his ministry in Galilee, Jesus faced the opposition and rejection of the Jewish leadership; however, he continued his proclamation and set his mind on Jerusalem. Going to Jerusalem was a crucial decision in Jesus’ life; it meant the proclamation of the Kingdom of God among the religious and political center of Jewish life. Jesus knew it was a journey without return. In previous chapters in Luke, he had announced to his disciples, “The Son of Man [He himself] must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed . . .” (9,51). Despite knowing where the journey would lead and the opposition on the way, Jesus continues and with great anxiety he exclaims, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (12,49).

Why does Jesus bring fire to the earth?

Fire has a special place not just among the Jews but in many cultures.  In Jewish thinking, it is essentially a symbol of the inextinguishable presence of God, like the burning bush that Moses saw in the wilderness; the bush was on fire but not consumed by the flames. Out of this fire, God said to Moses, “I am who I am . . . I am the Eternal.” The image of the Eternal was kept by the priest at the temple by keeping a continuous fire on the altar of the sacrifices, “A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out” (Lev 6,13). So, fire was understood as life, light, joy, purification, and death. . . However, death was understood as the purification caused by fire, which brings restoration and a new life. This is the fire that Jesus brings to the earth, the fire of God, which brings life and light and purifies the corruption and contamination on earth.  

Today, as Jesus heads to Jerusalem, we hear him expressing with great emotion his wish that God’s fire were already kindled. However, this fire won’t be fully kindled until his baptism on the cross, and Jesus seems to be anguished about that moment when he says, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”  Jesus’ baptism on the cross ignited the fire of God on the earth. What a commitment! Jesus’ wish for God’s presence on earth implied his sacrifice and he knew it!

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the first community gathered in Jerusalem and received the fire of God in Pentecost. It is also Luke who tells us that, “. . .divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. . .” (Acts 2,3-4). From this day, they began to spread the fire of God around the world.  

Sisters and brothers, do we not wish the fire of God kindled among us? Do we not wish the fire of God illuminating us, renewing us, and purifying our world? Are we committed like Jesus to ignite the fire of God in our world. . .?  What radical decisions would it mean in our lives?

Fire as an element of purification separates good from evil and causes divisions.  Jesus and his first community experienced divisions due to Jesus’ message of fire. Following the way of the cross was so disruptive that it meant breaking with family traditions and practices, which were not in accordance with Jesus’ message.  Today when we hear Jesus saying he brings division, we can understand how radical his message is. So, let us not be worried when even our own family does not recognize us because of our practices guided by Jesus’ teachings. When we live the radicality of Jesus’ message we come into conflict with the system that surrounds us. So, I ask, “Have we ever been disruptive in such a way that we create divisions?”

Jesus finishes his message calling his audience hypocrites. How rude and unlike Jesus must have sounded!!  But Jesus wanted to get his audience’s attention so they would discern the crucial time they were living. His harsh expression calls them to pay attention and foresee the changes that were coming. They needed to listen to Jesus and convert to God.

Dear sisters and brothers, God ignites our fire at our baptism and calls us to be like burning flames in our world, bringing life and joy, illuminating our communities, and sometimes causing divisions like fire that separates good from evil. Are we kindled enough? AMEN