This Week :18 August 2019 – Jesus causes division
This Week :18 August 2019 – Jesus causes division

This Week :18 August 2019 – Jesus causes division

 Bible Reading: Luke 12:49-56 

Dear Friends 

I sometimes wish the Christian story were easier. The passage for this week Luke 12: 49- 56, with its strong emphasis on division, even to the point of splitting families, is a great example of this. Here’s the thing: I hate division. Whether it’s because I’m a middle child or a mediator by nature, I really don’t like conflict and division. 

But one of things I’ve learned over time is that the only time there is no division in a community is when there is no vision. Because a vision sets a course, pulls you forward, and invite even demands change. And that creates division. Jesus came with a vision of God’s coming kingdom. It’s a kingdom that stands in stark contrast to the kingdoms of the world. Rather than valuing the strong and powerful, it values the poor and vulnerable. Rather than prizing power, it lifts up compassion. Rather than coming by force, it comes in weakness and vulnerability. And for all these reasons, it challenges the status quo and makes people nervous, uncomfortable, even angry. 

Which is why Jesus causes division. Notice, though, that he doesn’t enjoy this either. Jesus, too, is under stress. He was baptized by John and the Spirit at the opening of his ministry, but that baptism has not yet reached its culmination. The baptism of which he speaks, in fact, will only be completed at his cross. So why, then, does he follow through with this message and vision? Why endure the pain and stress and suffering that such a baptism entail? Because that’s just how glorious and needful the vision of the kingdom with which he’s been blessed and burdened is. This vision of a God who loves all and a world drawn together by sharing that love is worth it. It’s that simple, that hard, and that beautiful. Not easy, to be sure, but beautiful to the end. 

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