The Seeds Within.

Luke 12: 49-53

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Dangerous stuff, this Christianity.

Jesus was prophesying how anyone who chose The Way after his death and resurrection was going to be in for some great challenges and we only need to read the Acts of the Apostles to know how accurate Jesus was. It’s incredible how religion has been, and still is, a point of huge conflict and anger.

Even many of us living in the Western Hemisphere, though not facing dangerous persecution, have experienced the conflict and fear that a different set of belief systems can arouse between individuals, groups and communities. Was Jesus saying, “This is the purpose of my coming,” or was he actually expressing deep sorrow that it would be so? We know from everything Jesus expressed in the Gospels that he didn’t come to establish a religious power base in order to create chaos, war and political and human grief but the history of Christianity, sadly, has been one of immense division, struggle and pain. Sometimes it was the Christians who were being persecuted and sometimes the Christians were doing the persecuting – often persecuting people who were of their own faith group. Is this what Christ intended to be the result of his coming? Or was he just saying that this is how human nature reacts when the status quo is threatened or when people have a choice between love and power?

Let’s bring this on home. But instead of recalling times such as when someone from another faith group or someone of no faith at all challenged your beliefs, let’s talk about your own inner world of faith and religion and how you deal with threats to your own status quo. It’s no good being critical of how the major religions of the world still cannot live peaceably together if we cannot look inside ourselves and see those same seeds of angry conflict, defensiveness and divisiveness in our own psyches.     

Scenario: a new person in your faith community gets the ear of the pastor and begins to institute changes to the liturgy or to how the parish is run on a day-to-day basis. The people of the community are not consulted about the changes; they are simply told this is how it will be from now on. What is the reaction of the people? Violence. Guns and bombs aren’t the weapons; words and judgments are. The new person and the pastor are torn apart by everyone’s words. Groups form defended territories. People are up in verbal arms. Those who agree with the changes are pitted against those who disagree. The rancor and rage is huge and the community is split. The seeds of violence have sprouted and division is the harvest.

Scenario: Your child becomes a rebellious teenager and one day tells you that you are a hypocrite, all religion sucks and she doesn’t want to attend Mass anymore. You are hurt and you also fear for your child’s spiritual welfare so you decide that she is not old enough to make that decision. You angrily tell her that as long as she is a part of the family she will attend Mass. She continues to go to Mass but her seething sulkiness places a huge damper on family unity and on any chance that church could be a pleasant occasion. Usually the drive to or from Mass ends up with you yelling at her because she’s being so snotty and her yelling back because she’s so resentful. The seeds of violence have sprouted and division is the harvest.

Scenario: a person in your spiritual small group comes to group one evening all excited because he’s been reading a new book. When he describes the message of the book, you feel that it is way off center and could be deemed dangerous to orthodox spirituality. It could also confuse some of the younger members of the group and lead them astray. In front of everyone, you immediately point out the errors in the book’s theology and insist he shouldn’t read any more of it nor share any more with the group. The fellow shuts up, is obviously hurt and humiliated and never comes back to the small group but you feel justified because it’s necessary to keep the majority on a safe spiritual path. You are also secretly relieved because he had always been a bit of a loose cannon anyway. The seeds of violence have sprouted and division is the harvest.    

  

The question is not whether someone is right or wrong. We always feel completely right when we allow the seeds of violence to grow. Wherever there is division there are always at least two parties who are each convinced they are completely right and the other is completely wrong. In our concern we may sense a threat or a danger. We may feel our authority is on the line. We may sense that someone else is acting in an inappropriate manner or is not exercising proper discernment. We feel absolutely right and completely justified in taking action.

However, consider this: Jesus was inappropriate. He was off center from a lot of commonly accepted laws. He was a loose cannon. He didn’t seem to be discerning or orthodox and was leading a lot of young and inexperienced Jews astray. He challenged the status quo. He was totally divisive. The authorities felt they were absolutely right and completely justified – in crucifying him.

No, Jesus did not come to establish another power base. He did not come to institute yet another religion where people could claim to be right and throw stones, literally or figuratively, at those who disagree with them. This week’s Gospel must be read in context with the last few readings as well as the verses not included in the liturgical readings. Jesus is saying, “Trust me. Trust your Father. Do not trust in power, money or possessions. Don’t find your security in all those things the world finds security in – including being in the right group following the right theology. Don’t follow me because you think I’ll make everything peaceful, secure and easy. Look at me. I came to bring the fire of love and I am about to be baptized in a fire of hatred kindled by the righteous; I will be crucified because they think I am a threat and you will be thought of as threats as well. But trust in my love. Trust in our Father’s love. Don’t allow the seeds of violence to grow in your hearts but rather, let love take root. I have overcome the world not by power or by superiority or by fear. I have overcome it through love, opening the door for you to do the same.”

Walk through the door of love. Plant the seeds of respect and acceptance. Heal the division in yourself, in your home and in your faith community. Let God take care of the question of who’s right and who’s wrong.

Because we haven’t done such a great job of that so far.