Sermon Text: Luke 12:49-53
In the name of T
Jesus.
Today’s
Holy Gospel is one of those readings, after which it seems strange for the
Pastor to say, “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” Last week, those words made sense. We heard Jesus say, “Fear not, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And those words of Jesus are easily heard as
words of Good News. And when the words
that Jesus speaks are easily heard as words which deliver Good News to those
who are desiring and hoping to hear Good News, then when the Pastor says, ‘This
is the Gospel of the Lord,” and the congregations responds, “Praise be to Thee,
O Christ,” there’s an exclamation point at the end of their response. Praise be to Thee, O Christ, for that was
Good News in my ears indeed! But the
words which Jesus speaks to us in today’s Holy Gospel are likely to produce a
question mark, rather than an exclamation point. Especially the words of Jesus we are left
with:
“Do you think that I have come to give
peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one
house there will be five 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.”
Indeed, when
Jesus leaves us with these kinds of words, it is likely that the response—even
of the faithful—will be one that includes a question mark. How in the world is this the Gospel of the
Lord? Where is the Good News?
And the
truth is, the words which Jesus leaves us with at the end of today’s Holy
Gospel aren’t Good News at all. In fact,
over two-thirds of what Jesus says in this passage from Luke, chapter twelve,
is filled with hard words—difficult words—because they are Words of the
Law. They are words which Jesus uses to
show us, and to teach us, and even to prepare us to deal with the effects of
sin on the earth. And the effects of
which Jesus speaks to us today, are effects that all of you have seen to be
true already in your lives.
Which of
you does not have a house that is divided?
And I’m not talking about whether you root for the Cardinals or the
Cubs, whether you are a democrat, republican, or libertarian, or even whether
or not you wish the South had won the war.
I’m talking about whether or not your sons and your daughters, your
fathers and your mothers, your aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and other dear
family members look at you strange when you speak of the one who has died in
your place, and whose blood sets you free, and whose resurrection is the only
hope you have of ever living in some sort of peace. Which of you does not have a house that is
divided about what to make of Jesus and the importance of His cross in your lives?
You see, while
Jesus’ words today are hard, and difficult, and deal with the painful realities
of a sin-stricken world in which you and I live every day of our earthly
existence; and even though Jesus’ words may cause us to pause, and place a
question mark on the end of our praise; there is no escaping the fact that each
of you know that Jesus’ words to us this morning could not be more true. Because when Jesus talks about houses being
divided, and when Jesus says that the very things which will divide these
houses is His life and death and resurrection on behalf of poor sinful people
who need Good News in the worse kind of way, you know from your own experience
that he’s talking about something that is coming true in each and every one of
your homes.
It was
about two months ago now, and after some function here at church, someone asked
if I could talk. This person had
recently gotten back from visiting family, and was troubled at how she heard a
relative speaking about Jesus and the Christian faith. You see, this was a dear relative of
hers. And until now, she had always
thought that this relative was a Christian; she had grown up in the Church,
gone to Sunday School, and participated in the life of a congregation. But when they were recently together, and the
conversation began to go in the direction of religion, and faith, and even
Jesus and the Bible, the words which her dear relative were speaking made it
obvious that there was quite a difference in beliefs. And these weren’t the sort of differences
that you could laugh about—you know, which hymns to sing, and what color carpet
to install, and whether the service will start at 10 o’clock, or some other
time of the day—these were the sort of differences that made her want to cry. Because she knew that to reject the
Scriptures, or to believe that Jesus is only one of the ways to salvation, or
to think that people would be rewarded with heaven if they just are kind and
lead good lives, is to have a belief that Jesus says is actually unbelief. And so, there we were, in my study, praying
for a sisters-in-law who were divided from one another in the most unfortunate
of ways.
But this
story isn’t unique. This story is
repeated, with different names and with different relationships, in each and
every one of your families too often than we would like to admit. It’s the division which causes you the
deepest kind of grief, is it not? But
it’s also the sort of division which only proves Jesus’ difficult words to be
true. For when your child, or your parent,
of some other dear loved one begins to speak of Christ in some other way than
what Scripture has given us to speak, these words of Jesus that we have heard
this morning, are the words which are coming true before our very eyes, and I’m
not sure if there is anything that could be more tragic.
It’s the source of your most
supreme sorrow. It’s the cause of your
deepest concern. Knowing that you are
divided from those you love on the only issue that has the power to make you
united for all eternity. Knowing that
your child, or your parent, or some other relative has been filled with the
vain hopes of the many false teachers of this world, and the faith he or she is
confessing is something other than the faith that saves. Knowing that someone for whom Christ died, is
taking the message of the cross, and diminishing its power by choosing to
remain in his or her sin. And knowing,
worst of all, that unless something were to change, you would be divided from
him or her forever.
It’s enough to make you weep. Because even more than being difficult to
swallow, and hard to hear, you know that it’s true. And so did Jesus. In fact, it’s what made Jesus cry too. You remember, when he had ridden into town on
the back of a colt, and in the next moment was weeping over the inhabitants of
Jerusalem whom he knew were not going to be brought to repentance and
faith. He had gone there to save them,
and they simply refused to be saved. He
loved them, and would die for them, but they would esteem him not. His desire was to give them life, but in the
end he knew their end was destruction.
And so He wept, for He knew that while some would be united in the
faith, there would be many who forever would be divided.
It is Jesus’ desire for all to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And the bad news is that many will not endure
sound teaching, and will reject the exclusive claims made by Christ and those
who believe His Word. The Father so
loved the world that He sent His Son, so that whoever would believe in Him
would not perish, but have eternal life.
But the tragic truth which Jesus puts before us today—the tragic truth
which you see being fulfilled even in your own families—is that your families
are houses which Jesus has divided.
That’s the bad news. So what is the Good News? The Good News is that Jesus is still speaking
His Word. And Jesus will continue
speaking His Word to houses that are divided so that His Spirit would use that
Word to bring repentance and faith to unbelieving hearts. The Good News is that the Father has not yet
decided it is time to send His Son in judgment.
The Good News is that the Father continues to send His Son in mercy and
grace, and through Him He continues to offer forgiveness, life, and salvation
because of the wrath He endured on the cross.
The Good News is that the distress of Jesus is what led him to the cross
where he was baptized with death so that the gates of heaven would be opened to
all who would believe.
The Good News is that the Word of
God continues to be preached and taught by faithful pastors all around the
world. The Good News is that Christians
today continue to bear witness to the Gospel not only when they’re together on
Sunday’s but even when they are at home with those divided families. You see, the Good News that you can cling to
even when your families and dear loved ones are those from whom you’re divided,
is that desires for all to be saved.
Jesus desires for all to be united in the one, true, Christian
faith. And so Jesus continues to speak
the Gospel through His Church. And His
Church continues to confess the truth of the crucified and risen Savior which
is the power of salvation for all who would finally be united in the faith, and
live forever in a heavenly home that will never be divided again.
And so, while Jesus is bringing
division here on earth, my friends, and that is the Bad News. The Good News is that until He comes in
judgment, He will continue to give us His Word.
And He will continue to speak His Gospel through His people—the Church. And the Good News, is that His Gospel just
happens to be the one thing in all the world that can undo the effects of sin,
so that those who are divided, would be united, in the Church that will never
stop rejoicing that Jesus endured the cross, and despised its shame, so that
heaven would be opened to sinners. And
that, you see, is Good News with an exclamation point!
In the name of T
Jesus. Amen.
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