However, in the Gospel reading, Luke 12:49-56, Jesus speaks of bringing “fire to the earth,” the stress of completing his baptism, and that he comes not to bring peace to the earth but rather division! He then tells the crowd "You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"
Biblically, fire can represent many things. For example, the presence of God, like the pillar fire in Exodus 13:17-22 or the tongues of flame at Pentecost Acts 2:1-4. It can also represent eschatological judgment as in Revelation 20:7-10 where Satan and his army are consumed by fire.
Fire also represents purification as in Zachariah 13:9 and Malachi 3:2-3 where each refers to God's intention to purify Israel like a refiner purifies silver by fire.
Baptism also is used in the New Testament to represent both judgment and purification and was connected with fire by John in Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" so Jesus embodies the presence of God which simultaneously judges and purifies.
Today something personal and extraordinary took place, My wife, Mary, suggested this year I write more from my emotions. Until now I have found that hard to do, Today's Gospel, however, unleashed memories, images and emotions from my personal life, Creator worship with Pastor Ray's sermon, the blog posts, a year of reading the Bible (which is about to come to an end), conversations with some Creator members, films and books I have recently seen and read together with what we will be discussing at the next Creator council meeting all of which were striking me emotionally.
I thought about Simon Peter when he wept after his betrayal of Christ. I don't think this came from feeling remorse for his betrayal but rather much of what was head knowledge suddenly became heart knowledge for him. This what happened to me today I realized with Pastor Ray's sermon and this Gospel that judgement from truth alone is harsh and unmerciful. No one can be spared and no one forgiven. This is a judgement that we all fear at times. This comes from God's nature described in the Old Testament. One person summed it up succinctly in a conversation I had with him on Saturday "Man relies on God to always be in the mercy seat. Wait until God is in the judgement seat!"
Judgement Day! Jesus tells of the coming storm. A pastor sent me an email last week where she said "something is a-brewin". She was relating good news yet a violent storm image came to mind. What echoed in my head this morning about judgement was The Battle Hymn of the Republic. "Mine eyes hath seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on." God is on the march to judge and make what is wrong in the world right
Then came what I knew in my head that my heart suddenly understood. Julia Ward Howe wrote this about John Brown, and only later adapted the changes that made it seem it was about God. Howes' words do not capture the God whose voice I know from the Bible. This is not the God who made a covenant with Noah " I have left my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth " God again and again renounces the right-hand direct power God could wield, deferring instead to what Martin Luther once described as the left-hand power of God. This is God's indirect way of working in the world.
I thought about what Mark 16:19 19 reveals about the acension "After Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God." I don't believe God has a physical hand but today I was struck with a beautiful thought. When Jesus sits on God's right hand God is not using its power, God will not condemn using his right-hand power from what we know of Jesus.
Of Peter Christ said, "On this rock I will found my church." Jesus founds his church on the man who could betray but also emotionally understood Christ's teaching when he wept. The church should be telling the Gospel good news that God's judgement is not something to fear but to be embraced by all sinners, and we are all sinners.
For our Facebook group A Year of Contemplating the Word this was Day 352. There are 13 days left in our reading of the Bible and I smiled with the knowledge that 13 is also an auspicious number in the Bible, considered to be an "angel" number. It confirmed the auspicious feeling of the moment of elation I experienced contemplating this verse.
In another memory, and in anticipation of an upcoming council meeting, and balancing out the happiness of the moment I reflected on the first time someone told me the story of isolation and silence that happened to her over this past year. There was empathy flowing from each of us at that moment. She asked me if I was crying as she revealed all her pain and confusion about remaining a member. I found I was. I was also thinking how easily misunderstandings spring up between all of us.
Later, I fell into anger that this had occurred and the confidentiality that was a hair breath away from secrecy that was involved. Certainly anger was not the best reaction to a complicated situation where everyone felt in the right and yet still wanted to know how to do better. I found I needed to imagine what forgiveness could look like when a simple "forgive and forget" did not seem appropriate.
This still needs to play out completely and this will not come easy for the council and some within the congregation. After taking all this to heart and processing all the accompanying emotions, however, I thought of the opening hymn again and whispered a more appreciative and heartfelt "Great is the Lord!".
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