Luke (12:49-57) Friendship Baptist Church-8-19-01
Proper 15-Year C
“The Division Within”
We know we have a good thing with Jesus. We know that being born again and becoming a disciple of Christ really can’t be beat. Many of us understand this by just looking at what our life use to be before we allowed the Lord to take over. We see the rough places made plain and the crooked places made straight. We feel good about ourselves and we want to share the gospel and the good news with all that we come in contact with.
We feel good about ourselves because we have something. We have something that’s everlasting to everlasting. We have something that the world can’t give and the world can’t take away. We have something, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present or things to come can take away from us. We have something that make us laugh when we want to cry. Make us get up when we want to stay down. Make us run when we are tired. Makes us strong when we are weak. We have something, that makes us believe the impossible, move the immovable, see the invisible, and help change the unchangeable. We have something that keeps us together when the raging storms of life blow our way and that something, for the disciple, is a true personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s true discipleship. It’s totally sold out on Jesus and not only the name, but also the personhood of Jesus.
For you see, the disciple is much more than an admirer. The disciple not only sings songs for and about Jesus. The disciple not only worships Jesus. The disciple not only says nice things about Jesus. The disciple isn’t just able to quote scripture and pray on que. The disciple is a follower of Jesus. The disciple discerns and puts into practice the teachings and examples of Jesus. The disciple not only practices her or his faith, but also lives her or his faith. And once you become a true disciple of Jesus, your life will truly change.
People will start to treat you differently because you will be different. You will act differently and you will feel different. Places you use to go, you won’t go anymore. People you used to hang with, you want hang with anymore. Things you used to say, you won’t say anymore. Things you used to do, you won’t do anymore. Because when you are bitten truly by the “Jesus bug”, you are now moving closer to God, which, by the way, automatically provides opposition along the way.
I know we usually talk about the benefits and the so-called “good stuff” associated with being a disciple of Jesus. The warm feeling that you have knowing that Jesus is with you and Jesus is a friend to the end. Knowing that Jesus will never forsake you nor leave you. Knowing that Jesus will not only forgive you of your sins, but cleanse you of your bad habits as well. Knowing that the only thing we have to do is to come to him just as we are, we too can be accepted into the family of believers.
However, there is another side to being a disciple. This is by no means an easy job. This thing we call discipleship isn’t an easy road to follow. For you see, when we give our lives to Christ and become totally sold out to him, both in word and deed, we will face consequences, challenges, and concerns. We quickly learn that everything won’t go our way and sometimes the road will get very tough. In doing our service to and for Christ, in working for the kingdom of God, we will be met with some opposition. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:22, “and you shall be hated among people for my name sake”. In other words, when you truly go out in my name and do some kingdom work, some major kingdom building, get ready for some opposition.
As long as you sit back, do and say nothing, everything is all right. But I dare you to have an opinion. I dare you to stand up and say “I feel God is leading me in this direction”. I dare you to say that you are going to trust God and put it all in Jesus’ hands. I dare you to start discerning what the Spirit would have you to do and to say. Just start doing that and problems will start to arrive. All of a sudden, like Nehemiah, you will have some Sandballots and Tobiahs around trying to knock you down.
You will have Sandballots around trying to tear up whatever you are trying to do. You will have Tobiahs around knocking you at every turn. You will have Sandballotts around, questioning your motives and integrity. You will have Tobiahs around, spreading gossip and lies about you.
You will find yourself in a place of division. You will find yourself with people drawing the line in the sand gearing up for battle. You will find yourself being attack on all fronts. You will find yourself being waging war that you did not start. All because you have decided to put Jesus first in your life and allow Jesus to shine and show up in your life.
This is usually what happens when Jesus showed up. There was division and strife between the people. Of all the false charges the religious leaders threw at Jesus at his mock trial, one of them was true. He did stir up the people. In other words, Jesus came to shake things up a bit. Jesus came to relieve people from the tyrannical traditionalism that had nothing to do with God or the love of God. Jesus came to ask the tough questions and challenge the status quo. Jesus came to make us question our motives. Jesus came not to bring peace but strife and division.
In Luke chapter 4, after being tested in the desert, Jesus came into a synagogue preaching “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor”. The word says that after the sermon was preached the people were astonished. The people were amazed. They were amazed at the beautiful words that fell from his lips. Never heard preaching like this before. “How can this be”, they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
But happiness and adulation quickly changed into seething hatred when he talked about Naaman being healed and the widow’s son being raised from the dead. For you see, these were outsiders, folks not from Israel claiming and participating in the blessings of God. The word said that the good church folk, after hearing Jesus say this, wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff, but somehow Jesus escape. Just by showing up and preaching, Jesus caused strife and division.
After Jesus in Mark 5, healed the man named Legion from all the demons that were plaguing him, the people were astonished. But when they found out that Jesus cause the demons to go into the pigs thereby making them drown and destroying their illegal economy, they told Jesus to go back where he came from. We don’t want you around here anymore. You are ruin business. Now people are all stirred up. Just by showing up and healing a man, Jesus caused strife and division.
You can say that Jesus was in the disturbing business. He wouldn’t let you off easy as the rich young ruler found out. He wouldn’t play theological mind games with you, as the woman at the well found out. He always challenge the status quo, making them either do better or figure out ways to get rid of him. Just by being the person that he was, Jesus caused strife and division.
But I hear someone asking, “how can this be? Isn’t Jesus the Prince of Peace? Surely this must be a mistake or something. Didn’t Jesus say to his disciples, “go in peace” and again he said “peace I leave you and peace I give unto you”? Now Jesus is saying I come not to bring peace? Preacher, what’s going on here?” Well I am glad you ask because I think we can work this thing out here.
First the whole 12th chapter of Luke is about discipleship. Jesus is teaching the masses about what it really means to be a disciple. He is also warning his disciples of what will happen to them once they go out and start serving Jesus truthfully and faithfully. He starts out in verses 1-3 saying that the hypocrisy that has blinded them in the past will eventually be seen. In other words, a true disciple is never worried about what people may say or do because whatever is perceived and conceived in the closet of darkness, will eventually come to light.
In verses 4-11, a true disciple isn’t worried about what people may do to them, because even if they kill they us that’s all they can do. And we don’t have to worry about what we are going to say when we get in front of the powers that be, because the Holy Spirit will give us the right things to say.
He goes on to tell the disciples in verses 22-34, “don’t worry about what you are going to eat or what you are going to wear, your Father in heaven will take care of all those needs. The same God who protects the birds of the air, the same God who takes care of the grass in the field will also take good care of you”. (Don’t be dismayed whatevr be tired)
He warns the disciples in verses 35-48 to be on the lookout for the Lord’s return. Be ready for the Day of the Lord. Be on guard because you don’t know the day or the hour when the Lord is coming so keep on watching and serving the Lord, so when that day comes, you too can be happy. For you see, everybody won’t be happy on the day of the Lord.
This leads up to our text this morning. Jesus drops a bomb on them and tells them “I have not come to bring peace, but strife and division on the earth”. Why all this confusion? Why all this tension? Why all this mess? Well first of all Jesus does bring peace, but not a false peace. Jesus wants to give us real peace and just because everything is seemly going our way, doesn’t mean that we have real peace. To find peace as Clovis Chappell says, “we must meet the conditions of peace”.
This is why Jesus brings the fire. In verse 49 Jesus says, “I have come to bring fire on the earth”. This is a refining fire that Jesus is talking about. For you see, when you get hooked up to Jesus, all the stuff that held you back in the past, the refining fire just burns it right off of you. All that pride, that envy, that jealously, that false ego and self-esteem, all that bitterness, all that hatred, all that selfishness, all the stuff that holding you back from a true relationship with God, comes burning off you.
Sometimes when we are going through, it’s not because the Lord is punishing you, but the Lord is strengthening you. The Lord is encouraging you. The Lord is helping you. The Lord is making a way out of no way. The Lord is positioning you for a greater work. The Lord is polishing you up for a brighter day. The Lord is getting all the impurities off you and teaching you how to trust him more. How to believe in him more. How to be more receptive to his voice.
I know sometimes that we feel as if the Lord has left us in the fire too long. We want to say, “Lord I believe I am done right now. Lord, you can get me out of the oven now”. But God is the potter and we are the clay, and the potter knows just how long we need to stay in the oven so we can come out refined and refreshed. So we can come out ready to be used the way G the Potter sees fit.
Okay Lord, I know you come with the fire, but “why still the strife? Why still the division? I hear the Lord saying, “because you are now a new creation. The old has passed away and now everything is new. You have a new walk. You have a new talk. You have newness towards life and you need to know this. People who are not walking in the light quite frankly will have problems with the new you. In other words, you have made a decision to follow truth and anyone spreading or telling lies are diametrically opposed to you”. Every earthly relationship from now on will be measured by the truth you now carry inside of you. This goes for every relationship even in your own household.
For you see, even people in your household will turn on you and think you are crazy at times. Some of the biggest obstacles from living a life totally dedicated to Jesus come right out of our own households. Jesus said in Matthew 10:36 that sometimes, “a person’s worst enemies will be right in her or his own household”.
People we feel should be happy that we are saved and working for the Lord, are the same ones who can damper our delight, hinder our happiness, butcher our blessings, and steal our song. They are the ones who try to put a monkey wrench in our plans to study and devote time to the Lord. They are ones with the secular way of handling things when we are trying to work out a more spiritual way. They are the ones who are in the dark and since misery loves company, they want us in the dark too. They are the ones who will stop sometimes at nothing to discourage and demean us for who we become and for who we now are.
They are the ones that will stop their children from being baptized. They are the ones who put more and more problems on the backs of their parents. They are the ones who sit at home on Sunday mornings and full of rage when you get back home. They are the ones who put up innocent looking roadblocks in your way to stop you from walking closer with the Lord.
And I came to tell someone who is going through the fire right now because the division within is coming from your own household, I came to encourage you today. This is normal for the disciple. It’s not that you are being punished or that God is trying to get back at you, this is normal. God is preparing you for a breakthrough and strengthening you for a mighty and great work. Keep on praying. Keep on singing. Keep on praising the Lord. Keep your head held high. Keep on serving the Lord because I came to tell somebody that the breakthrough is just around the corner!
But the good news of the fire is that not only does it strengthens and prepares us for work in the kingdom; it also helps us to see. It helps us to see what we didn’t see at first. It helps us to see what we couldn’t see in the beginning. It helps us to see what was there all along, but sometimes like Deacon Steven, we need to be in the stoning pit of life, to see what we couldn’t see before. You remember Steven don’t you? As he was going through his division within, Steven as he was getting stoned, saw the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of the Father, with an outstretch hand, as if he was saying, “come on up Steven, I got a place for you”.
And when you are a disciple, you start to truly see for the first time. You see the division within as a help and not a hindrance. You start to see the division within as a blessing instead of a curse. You start to see the division within as a positive instead of a negative. You start to see the division within as a sign to carry on instead of giving up.
For you see, in order for the Prince of Peace to bring peace, all the hypocrisy that kept true peace away must be destroyed by the fire that Jesus brings. It is then that you realize that people may can interpret the sky and say it’s going to rain. They may be able to look at the sun and say it’s going to be hot. In others words, they may be able to see some things sometimes, but when it comes to spiritual matters, when it comes to seeing with the eyes of the Lord, they can’t interpret. But the only way for you to find this out is to be able to see for yourself.
And what Jesus is saying in this passage is that when it all said and done, you must judge for yourselves. Nobody is going to do the work for you, you must judge for yourselves. Nobody is going to put much time and effort in your problems than you, you must judge for yourselves. You must see for yourselves because in the end, you are responsible for yourself. You are accountable to yourself.
As a disciple of Christ, we must discern what God is calling us to do and just because division happens when we put God first, it doesn’t change our call. We are call to judge for ourselves what is right. Is it right for me to be here? Is it right for me to take a stand right now? Is it right for me to say this? Is it right for me to do this? Is it right for me to go in this direction? Is it right for me to turn around and start over?
Family members might leave you. Church members may not care. The folks on the job don’t care about you. People may abuse you, so in the end, what Jesus is trying to tell us is that, it’s all on you. The disciple knows that when it’s all said and done, I have to judge for myself what is right!
You might want to run away from the problems. You may want to run away from all the strife. You may want to run away from the division. But I hear God saying, “hang on in there”. I hear God saying, “don’t give up the fight. I hear God saying, eyes have not seen ear have not heard, or has it entered the hearts of people what good things that the Lord is prepared to do. I hear God saying if you hang on in there, there’s a blessing waiting for you. If you hang on in there, you will be better for it. If you hang on in there, you won’t be disappointed. If you hang on in there, you will be able to interpret the signs of the time.
That’s what Jesus did he hung on in there. There were some in fighting among his disciples about which one of them were more important, but Jesus hung on in there. His family members thought he was crazy and tried to get him and bring him back home, but Jesus hung on in there. They criticized him for eating with sinners and hanging around so-called loose women, but Jesus hung on in there. They criticized him for including children in the kingdom of God, but Jesus hung on in there.
The powers that be question his authority and his credentials, but Jesus hung on in there. The tried to trick him with their questions and always grumbled about him, but Jesus hung on in there. One of his very own handpicked disciples betrayed him and stabbed him in the back, but Jesus hung on in there. One of the disciples denied ever knowing him, but Jesus hung on in there.
They whip him all night long, took him from judgment hall to judgment hall, but Jesus hung on in there. They hung him high and stretched him wide they put a spear in his side and he gave up the ghost and died, but through it all, Jesus hung on in there.
They thought that they got rid of the problem. They thought that they got rid of the troublemaker. They thought they got rid of the strife and division. They thought they got rid of the man from the hood. But early Sunday morning, I hear a rumbling and a grumbling. I hear Divine Division. Sounds like a voice from the annuls of time, “I am he that was dead, but now I am alive forevermore”.
And since Jesus hung on in there, we too can hang on in there. Since he didn’t give up, we too don’t have to give up. Since he lives we too can live. Since he got up we too can get up. Hang on in there, even during division and strife, because if you hang on in there, there is a blessing coming your way.
Amen
