I think this gospel reading could be classified as another hard saying of Jesus from Nazareth. Every time we try to put Jesus into a box he seems to break out and challenge us. The great temptation is always to explain away his behavior or his hard sayings, but to do so is an attempt to make Jesus behave up to, or should I say down to our expectations. It is easy to want to classify Jesus as the peace-maker, but this gospel account contradicts that image. If we were to read this passage from the Quaran it might easily reinforce our perceptions of the warrior prophet Mohammed. But when we find these sayings from Jesus we want to minimize them or explain them away. To engage Jesus we must avoid this impulse and be challenged by him.
Often we have heard some say that people are divided by those who profess their faith in Jesus and those who do not. This is not unique to Christianity for we find the same tempation to separate people by faith proclamations in other faiths too. However, this is not the challenge Jesus has laid before us today. Jesus is challenging us with a proclamation of God’s kingdom. The separation will come as a result of how we are found behaving towards each other. The separation is a result of those who beat their servants, and those who do not. The separation occurs as a result of our lifestyle choices. Do we live in a state where we are gorging ourselves in exuberant lifestyles, or are we found prudent and humble?
In today's gospel we find Jesus saying that he has come to set the earth on fire. He obviously does not mean this in a literal sense, but in reference to his impending crucifixion. The fire Jesus has come to set is the proclamation of God’s kingdom which is a life based upon God’s will. It is a selfless lifestyle that ultimately will result in the surrender of Jesus’ life upon the cross. He is to shed his blood and die, then it will be time for each of us to make our own decision regarding Jesus and this decision will separate us regardless of our previous relationships with each other. We must each make our own decision regarding Jesus and God's kingdom and what is right and wrong. No-one else can do that for us. Jesus will ask us, " Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?" We cannot rely on our parents or the church to make these decision for us. Our faith must not be the faith of our fathers, but it must be our own faith lived and expressed in total freedom. Each of us must make our own decisions in our own heart, in our own time, and in our own way. The decision we are making is not a faith proclamation, but a decision on how we will respond to each other and treat other. It a decision whether we should surrender our will or hold onto it and even impose it upon others or not.
This passage cannot be understood separate from the context in which it is written. We recall that in the passage prior to this we find Jesus teaching a parable of preparedness. It is the parable of the master's return from a wedding. This passage from Luke's gospel is a demonstration of how Jesus reacts to those who continue to treat others unjustly, who beat their servants not expecting the return of the master. Jesus is telling us to be prepared today for the master's return and to live today as if this were the day of the master's return.
Often we read this gospel passage today and think that what Jesus is demanding of us is a simple faith statement, but that is such a shallow reading of this passage and of the person of Jesus. Instead what Jesus is interested in is seeing the servant who knows the will of God and is found doing it. What is this baptism of fire Jesus awaits but the living out of the will of God with all of its implications and consequences? The division that comes is a real division. It is not a division between people who profess one faith or another, but a division that exists between those who know the will of God and are found living it, and those who do not and are preoccupied with living the illusionary life of profit, power, and pleasure. Our world is still found ablaze with the fire Jesus has set by his act of submission. The challenge of the cross is not an event of the past, but forever in the present as every moment we must make our choice anew about the way we treat each other. If we look for a simple life of peace that is based on some false sense of conflict avoidance, then we will be disappointed by the challenge of Jesus. The peace Jesus offers is the peace of submission. It is the peace of the crucifixion.
A reflection based upon a reading of LK 12: 49-53
3 comments:
I agree with finding your faith on your own. But what do you mean about not using the faith of our fathers? Are you saying that we can have the same faith but must not rely on the wisdom of our fathers to get it? Is it a rejection of others knowledge in faith? Granted, our teachers may not know all the answers, but surely we can still rely on them and see if their knowledge adds up?
Is that statement a rejection of the past, or the justification of one's own self regaurdless of others? I don't get it. Can we not make the faith of our fathers our own?
I am happy to hear from you. I hope you well and enjoying your learning experience. I am only saying you must own it eventually. It must speak from your experience and from your heart. Never abandon the past, how could you? Honor your past and all those who have shared their faith with you to bring you to where you are today. Bring them with you wherever you may go. Godspeed.
People should read this.
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