St. Luke 12:49-56
Divine Service
Pentecost 12 (Proper 15)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

That's what Jesus says in the Gospel lesson for today: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.”  This is good news, isn't it?  After all, after the reading I said, “This is the Gospel – the Good News – of the Lord;” and you agreed, singing, “Praise be to You, O Christ.”

Jesus brings division, not peace.  Is this really something to rejoice in, or is it one of those places where we grit our teeth and say, “Jesus said it, so we'll believe it even though we don't want to?”  Is there cause for joy?  Well, let me ask you this: do you rejoice and give thanks that Noah and his family were saved in the ark during the Flood?  Do you give thanks that one of the thieves on the cross, crucified with Jesus, repented and was saved?  If you do, then you already know of the joy that we have.

What do you have in common with everybody else on the planet?  In what are you united with them?  It's not size, shape, gender, culture, language, ethnicity, philosophy, or financial status.  Aside from the same flesh and blood, it can be difficult to find commonalities among all people.  But that flesh and blood preaches what all have in common: death.  All those who live will die.  This is because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God; thus all will die.  It's not exactly happy news: we are united in sin and death.  That's been true ever since Genesis 3.  This is a unity we do not celebrate.  It's an inevitability we try to keep out of our minds.

But then Jesus comes along.

Jesus declares in our text, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!  I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished.”  Jesus speaks of fire and baptism; fire which destroys and purifies.  In the case of precious metals, it refines by destroying the impurities and leaving only the pure.  Connected with God, fire indicates His presence: There was a pillar of fire leading the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt, there was fire at the tabernacle in the Old Testament, and tongues of fire when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.  In the Gospel lesson, Jesus is obviously present, and He has come to send fire, to destroy your impurity, to refine.  But what will kindle this flame?  Jesus says that His baptism will.

Jesus speaks of a baptism that isn't yet accomplished.  Yet, H's already been baptized once, by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River, right along with all those sinners.  He's taken their place, and He's bearing their load of sin and death from there to the cross.  At the cross, He'll accomplish salvation by suffering God's judgment for all of that sin.  At His baptism in the Jordan, Jesus sets out for His crucifixion.  He is going about His Father's plan for your salvation, and it's accomplished by His death and resurrection.  By His suffering and death, He removes your sins and gives you forgiveness.  He refines and purifies you by His sacrifice.

So when Jesus speaks of fire and baptism, He’s saying this: He is saying that He has come to win forgiveness for you, and it will cost Him His life on the cross.  By that death, He wins forgiveness for you and for all.

Now all of mankind has two things in common: Apart from Christ, man has only sin and death.  But Christ has died for all, paying the price for the sins of all.  Christ has risen from the dead, and He gives this purifying forgiveness to you.  He has given it to you in your baptism.  He says, “I have died your death and I am risen again.  In Holy Baptism, I shared My death with you.  You've already died to sin and risen in Me.  You are refined and purified of your sin, and the only fire and wrath you felt was that splash of water on your head in My name.  Your body still face does death in this world, but you already have eternal life.”  To keep you alive, your risen Lord continues to speak His life-giving Word of absolution to you.  He continues to feed you with His own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.  He faithfully preserves you from eternal death.

In other words, Christ has divided you.  He has divided you from death.  He has set you apart by making you holy for His sake, and that is something to rejoice in!  Once upon a time, when all mankind faced death for wickedness, God faithfully divided out Noah and his family, preserving them on the ark; and for that division, we give thanks.  At Calvary, one of the thieves broke ranks with all those united against Jesus; that one robber repented and was forgiven, and for this division, we give thanks.

So it is with you.  Apart from Christ, you were only united with sin and death.  But Christ has gone to that cross and suffered His death for you.  He has raised you up by your Baptism and keeps you alive by His Word and His Supper.  By His work, life, suffering, dying and rising, you are holy and righteous.  He has divided you from death and wrath and hell, because He has undergone death and wrath and hell on the cross for you.

There is still more Good News: It's not just for you.  Christ has suffered and died for all the world, so that all might believe and be saved.  He desires that all be divided from sin and death, set apart for holiness and life eternal.  As those redeemed and divided from death, the mission of the Church is clear and twofold: Remain faithful to Christ and divided from death, and call others from death into life. 

Remain faithful.  Our Lord desires that we be one, united in Him (John 17:11ff), and He declares that we are one by keeping His Word.  His Word gives life today, even as it did for Lazarus.  Therefore, we preserve His Word, refusing to compromise any doctrine that He gives us lest we sacrifice life and our unity in Him.  And because we preserve His Word, we still have it to proclaim.  We make His salvation known to all who will hear, that they may be divided from death into life.

Consider the great joy you have of being a Christian: You already have eternal life, and you have the pleasure of declaring to others that this life is free for them, too.

How great your joy…so how come it doesn't feel all that joyful?  How come being divided from death and proclaiming life seems to be such a chore?  The answer is as simple as it is staggering: It's difficult to be divided from death because the vast majority of people in the world remain united in it.  They do not want the grace that Christ has won, but that's not all.  Romans 8:7 declares that “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.”  Not only does the world not want the grace of Christ Jesus, but it doesn't want anyone to have it.  This is becoming more and more apparent in our present age.  In the 20th century, we lived in a time where Communism was the big threat; and underlying Communism was the teaching that there is no God.  This ideology did not say, “There's no God, but it's okay if you think so;” indeed, more Christians were killed for their faith in the last century than in the rest of history put together.  In our present time, that form of Communism is nearly dead.  Instead, we face a society full of all sorts of personal religions and beliefs.  This may seem safer for Christians, but do not be deceived: While the world not only teaches that we should tolerate all religions, it also teaches that we may not tolerate a religion that teaches only one way to heaven.

Therefore, tough times still lie ahead for the Church, divided from death, as the Bride of Christ faithfully awaiting her Bridegroom and no other.

Because you are divided from death, you will face distress in a sinful, dying world.  For one thing, your Old Adam will accuse you and whisper, “After what you have done, with the sin that you have, do you really believe that you are different from this world?  Do you really think that you are set apart from death for life?”  When you hear such whispers, be quick to say, “Yes, that is exactly what I believe.  I am not divided from death because of my own doing, but because of Christ's.  I am a sinner, but Jesus speaks His Word and says that I am forgiven.  Because He says so, I have life.”

Our Lord mentions some of the most acute distress in the Gospel lesson: “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.”  This is probably where it hurts the most.  As time goes on, few families have the blessing of all being together, united in Christ.  All too often, Christian parents watch their children stray from the Word and faith, and must endure that ongoing heartbreak.  Children sometimes bear the cross of knowing that their parents do not believe, and thus still face God's judgment.  It is a continuing point of grief when a Christian marries an unbeliever, for what good spouse would not be worried about the other's salvation?

Then the temptation comes in, to blur the division and make it not so divided.  Parents are cruelly tempted to approve of their sons' and daughters' sinful behavior, to choose between the Lord and their own flesh and blood.  Spouses are tempted to play down faith and salvation so as not to anger the other.  In short, many are tempted to downplay the Word in order to keep peace in the family; but this is not a true peace, for it turns against the Prince of Peace, crucified and risen again.

It happens in the Church, too.  Congregations and whole synods will struggle to remain faithful to Christ.  Too often, there will be movements within the Church to compromise with the world, by refusing to denounce sin or failing to declare the pure Gospel.  At such times, there will be strife as the faithful strive to preserve the Word.  Those who introduce false teaching will often claim that they do so to bring peace.  Such was the case 10 days ago at the ELCA convention where they decided, as a church, to not take disciplinary actions against any rostered worker who is in a “mutual, chaste and faithful” same-sex relationship.  At times, the faithful will be denounced for causing trouble, being divisive and thwarting unity.  This is how it will be until the Lord's return, for St. Paul declares, there must also be factions – divisions (literally, heresies!) – among you.  (1 Corinthians 11:19) Therefore, we must state unequivocally: We will not trade faithfulness to God's Word for man's unity; we must answer as did Peter and the apostles: “We must obey God rather than men.”  (Acts 5:29) If we remain faithful to God's Word, then we are united with Christ and with all of His people.  And where we are even tempted with such compromise, we repent and rejoice that the Lord has set us apart for Him.

So behold the great temptation of the Church in general and you in particular: The devil, the world and your own sinful flesh will try to make it too painful to remain divided from death.  They seek to make God's life and grace appear so burdensome as to make sin and death attractive.  They'll keep howling until the end.  But, the Lord's Word is far more sure.  Christ declares that He has conquered Satan, crushed his head; and the devil is now chained on a short leash.  Your Savior declares that He has overcome the world, so that He might deliver you from here into eternity in heaven.  He declares that He has rescued you from your sinful flesh, raised you up to new life in Baptism so that you might live with Him forever.  He has divided you from death to life.  Can your enemies' attacks overcome this Good News?  No.  They snarl and sound ferocious; because all they can do is sound powerful as they attempt to make you reject your Lord and follow them.  But these want only your death, and they have already lost to the Lord of life forever.

In Christ, you have been rescued from eternal disaster and death.  Your Savior has suffered his baptism on the cross in order to save you.  For the sake of Christ, you are divided from your sin, because Christ has borne your sin to the cross.  You are divided from eternal judgment, because by His stripes you are healed.  You are divided from death, because Christ raises you from the dead.

You are thus divided because you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

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