Jesus; Creator of Conflict Luke 12:49-53
Last week we took time to look at the Book of Proverbs and what it tells us about wisdom.
Today as we move closer to Easter I wanted to go back to Luke’s accounts of the life of Jesus.
I have a question for you, if I ask you to describe Jesus what characteristics of his come to your mind? Here are a few that came to mine.
Prayerful. No matter how busy he was, no matter how many people were crowded around him, no matter the demands being placed on him; Jesus always made time to pray and be alone with God.
Committed. Commitment was definitely not something Jesus lacked. Jesus was committed to bring God’s message of salvation and redemption to the world and in all his dealings during his ministry he never wavered from it. Jesus was totally committed to God’s plan for mankind, even in the Garden of Gethsemane when he knew he was about to suffer torture and ultimately a hard and painful death he stayed committed to the plan.
Servant. Here is God on earth, the creator of heaven and earth. The one that can demand veneration and tribute from us or send us into oblivion and he constantly demonstrates that to serve others is a Godly and Holy act. Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”
Humble. As we said, Jesus had every right to demand accolades and tribute from us and yet at every turn he refused them. Even when he healed someone, he could have demanded they shout out about it but he would tell people not to say anything. In Mark chapter one Jesus heals a leper and then tells him, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.” (Mark 1:44) Even after it had been revealed to the disciples exactly who he was, it is recorded in Matthew 16:20, “Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah.”
Again, and I cannot stress this enough, Jesus is God walking on earth. How much more humble can the creator of the universe be than when he kneels before his disciples and washes his creations feet? How much more can God give up than when he let men take him and nail him to a cross?
Compassionate. Jesus never looked away from people or sent them away because of their condition or disease or deformity, never sent someone away because of their sin. Jesus knew what everyone he encountered needed yet he took the time to notice them and to listen to them.
Patient. Oh he was patient. How many times did his disciples get it wrong? In Luke 9 his disciples wanted him to rain fire down on those who rejected him. Peter rejected and denied him. After the resurrection Thomas doubted him. I might have been tempted to say, “You know what, you’re out, I’m going to start over with different apostles, maybe they’ll get it.” Jesus, he just repeatedly and patiently went over things again.
Forgiving. Even from the cross he prays in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
And of course I think of Jesus as loving. Jesus demonstrated the greatest love of all on the cross, experiencing a horrible death so we all might be saved. There is no greater love than that.
And today, thinking of Jesus as having all these positive attributes we learn he came to earth to cause conflict. Verse 49, “I have come to bring fire on earth,” Not literal fire but division and uncompromising hearts. This may seem at odds with the love and inclusion Jesus preaches but the reality is Christianity is a divisive faith.
In our reading Jesus talks about the division he will cause in families and to the Jewish people listening in that time, this was a monumental thing. We live in a country where being Christian is easy so I think we can miss the depth of what Jesus is saying. In Jesus day family was everything. There was no Social Security, no 401K’s; you depended on your parents and family. And then your parents in turn depended on you.
Our country has a diverse culture; we have influences from Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Native Americans. In Israel 2000 years ago you were Jewish. It was your religion, your background and your culture. It was your identity. It was everything to you. Now imagine going to your family and telling them you are going to give all that up, telling them you are going to follow this man Jesus.
Will this decision cause conflict in your life? At every turn. Your friends and family will definitely try to talk you out of it, and if they can’t they will most likely disown you. You will lose your family, your home, your culture and your identity. This is what Jesus means when he says in Luke 14:26, “If any one comes to me and does not love his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters –yes even their own life – less than me, such a person cannot be my disciple.” Again, the severity of this may be lost on us, people may think that this only happened in ancient times and not now.
I met a man from Burkina Faso; a country 99% Muslim. He was the son of the village chief. He became a believer, gave his life to Christ. He lost his family, his home and his position in that society. He travels the country teaching about Jesus to those who will listen literally at times risking his life to do so.
I read a news report several years back when ISIS was searching out Christians and killing them. A believing man and his wife were captured. Their captors put a gun to the man’s head and told him they would kill him if he didn’t renounce Christ, he refused. Then in an attempt to break him they put the gun against his wife’s head and said they would kill her if he didn’t renounce his faith. She told their torturers that they would never turn from Jesus. They killed her in front of her husband.
I pray you and I will never have our faith tested kike this, but if we are committed to our faith and a life following Christ and his teachings, there will be conflict. Friends and family may not understand what we believe or why it causes us to alter our behavior.
As you know I work on weekends and for a long time I worked during the day and was free in the evening. You also know I re-enact the 18th century. A few years ago there was a militia dinner on a Saturday, I worked during the day that weekend and everyone expected me to go to the dinner. People were upset when I said I couldn’t because I was going to Saturday night services. “You can’t miss it this time?” “You just don’t want to go and are making excuses.” “Oh come on, now you’re going overboard with this religion thing.” None of this was true. They didn’t see that they were important to me but spending time worshiping my Lord with others was as important if not more so. I guess it meant that I loved them a little less than Jesus.
It’s easy for us all to say “I’m not going to church this weekend; I have something else to do, I’m going out drinking Saturday night, but I’ll try to get up Sunday for church.” It’s not so easy for us to say, “Thanks for the invite, we have services then but I’ll try to come after, I’d love to go to the game with you but a couple of us are going to the elderly couple at the end of the street then to bring dinner and do their yard work, you’re picking on these people because they are LGBT, Christ teaches me to love my neighbor so I’m going to go stand next to them; you want to throw mud at them throw it at me too.”
These are our cross to bear. They may be lighter than the cross the man in Burkina is carrying but they are our cross none the less. Luke 14:27, “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Verse 53, “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother…” Jesus uses an extreme example so the people listening to him would understand how far he wants us to go in order to truly be his followers.
People may think Christianity is easy; believe in Jesus, get saved. But it is so much more than that. We are to love our neighbors when that is the hardest thing to do. We pray for Ukraine and even I have failed to offer prayers for Vladimir Putin, but we should.
1 Peter 2:21, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that should follow in his steps.”
2 Timothy 3:12, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
The simple truth is Christianity is a faith of conflict. Conflict caused by our putting our Lord and Savior first, above others and above ourselves. Conflict because we stand firm and we don’t let others sway us from our commitment to Christ. Conflict because we are willing to give up everything for the ideals Jesus brings into the world. Conflict because we fight against mankind’s prejudices and hate.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to be half hearted in our commitment to him, he demands that we be fully committed to what he teaches, dedicated enough in faith to put him above everything else in our lives and strong enough to face the conflicts that our faith will cause. Amen.