Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth; for His word is truth. Amen

The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (2010)

Standing Firm for God’s Word Causes Division. Rev. Toby Byrd

Luke 12:49-53 (ESV)

"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! [50] I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! [51] Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. [52] For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. [53] 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."

In the beginning worshipping and loving God was our natural condition. Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with God, with each other, and with nature. However, all that changed when Satan succeeded in tempting Eve to sin against God and to convince her husband to do likewise. Therefore, every generation of man since Adam and Eve has had to face the obstacle of their sinful nature, a nature which keeps them separated from God and from each other. Moreover, man’s sinful nature dominates him and it is impossible for him to overcome on his own. Yet our merciful and loving God promised to send a Savior who would come among men to set things right once again; overcoming man’s sinful nature and once more establishing peace and harmony with God. However, this peace would come at a price. It would cost the very life of the Savior whom God would send and it would not bring peace and harmony between men.

Many members of the church today eagerly cling to St. Luke’s Gospel, which tells us that on the night our Lord Jesus was born, a multitude of angelic hosts sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14 ESV). In fact, many like to recall the King James version of that gospel reading, which says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14 KJV) because they desire to see in this passage a reference to the peace on earth between man and God and between man and man. Yet, in today’s Gospel Reading, our Lord, Jesus Christ, warns us that we will have to be courageous if we are to be His followers because He did not come to bring peace; a statement that is in stark contrast to the desires of many. Having been given this alarming news from our Lord, which is contrary to all we desire, let us seek the aide of the Holy Spirit as we learn the divine truth, that Standing Firm for God’s Word Causes Division.

Our Lord Jesus is speaking to a crowd numbering in the thousands. In fact there were so many they were trampling on each other (Luke 12:1). Throughout the course of His speech our Lord Jesus tells the crowd many things by which they might safeguard their faith. Then, near the end of his speech, Jesus sends shockwaves, both throughout the crowd and to St. Luke’s readers, when He proclaims, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” (v. 49). Some exegetes are so taken aback by this statement from our Lord that they boldly proclaim that Luke is introducing a foreign element into the Gospel. How, they surmise, could our Lord Jesus ever make such a statement when He is the “Prince of Peace?” They go on to say that obviously our Lord is referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. However, in contrast to such claims, we know that it was our Lord’s mission to bring justification to all men before God by bringing about reconciliation between God and man and this could only be accomplished through His sacrificial death on the altar of the cross. Therefore, our sins could not be forgiven nor reconciliation accomplished without the scandal of the cross.

Fulfilling God’s promise, our Lord, Jesus Christ left His heavenly paradise to become a man and walk among us. However, by this time much of the world had become apathetic toward the promise God had made to Adam and Eve to send a Savior to undo their sin. Rather than rely on God’s Word to keep His promise of reconciliation through His means, man looked to his own effort to win favor with God. Disregarding the promise, man tried in vain to fulfill the commandments of the Law, but they all fell short of that goal and thus, the glory of God.

Fulfilling God’s promise through His ministry of salvation for all sinners, our Lord Jesus astounds men with His wisdom; all that He says, all that He stands for, and all that He does is contrary to the religious wisdom of His day. He tells the world; love your enemies, humble yourself before others, pray in private, and lust of the heart is the same as lust of the flesh. He astounds the people of His day by saying; forgive those who sin against you, a man could be reborn with water and the Spirit, and that He and He alone is the door to heaven. Furthermore, He said, He is the bread that comes down from heaven, all who eat of Him shall not hunger, and those who believe in Him shall never thirst, that His body and His blood are in the bread and wine of His last covenant, and so much more. His words confounded, befuddled, angered, and confused many, especially the religious leaders of His day. Yet, none of His words contradicted His heavenly Father; they were, in fact, the very words of God. Sadly, these same words of Jesus befuddle anger, confuse, and confound many today.

The words of our Lord Jesus unite and divide. He says to us, “I came to cast fire on the earth” (v. 49) and then He says, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” (v. 50). The fire our Lord is referring to is His passion and death. His death on the cross which is His baptism of death kindling the fire that is the purging power of salvation for all mankind fulfilling the promise of God, reconciling all men to Him and ushering in His Kingdom. Thus, this fire of which Jesus speaks has a Law and Gospel effect. According to the Law, there is judgment for the unbeliever. According to the Gospel it brings salvation to the believer. Thus, His fire creates division.

Our Lord Jesus goes on to say, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (v. 51). There can be no fence sitters when it comes to believing that Jesus is the promised Savior of God. The division Jesus speaks of not only divides the Church, but it cuts through households and divides the closest of families, so that “a man's enemies are the men of his own house” (Micah 7:6 ESV). Through these words, Jesus overturns any notion of a theology of glory that always promises happy households for those who confess his name. There is no doubt, cross and the Gospel do not bring earthly peace; rather they bring division. This would appear to contradict the angelic hosts at Jesus’ birth. However, the peace of which the angel’s sing is a peace not of this world, nor is it given as the world gives peace. In fact, St. John tells us in his Gospel that our Lord says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27 ESV).

How could the “Prince of Peace” come not to give peace but to bring division? Confused? Let’s see if St. Paul can clear up our confusion. St. Paul tells us, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27-29 ESV). God purposely chooses that which humanity considers weak, dross, unflattering, and foolish to shame those who would rely on themselves over Him; those who deny Him and seek after other gods and those who rely on their efforts to win salvation. Those who do so consider us who place our entire faith in Jesus Christ alone as the only way to heaven, to be weak, foolish, unflattering, and dross. How does it feel to know your foolish? I hope you feel great, because this is your visible expression of faith!

Should we really be surprised that God’s Word causes division? His Word is itself division. God’s Word is divided into Law and Gospel. The Law exposes and condemns unrighteousness; it shows us our sin and exposes us to God’s wrath. It always points to what we are to do for God in order to obtain righteousness. Yet, God Himself tells us that trying to obtain righteousness through works of the Law is foolishness. St. Paul provides this warning, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 (ESV). Therefore, the Law commands good works of thought, word, and deed and condemns and punishes sin (Luther’s Small Catechism). Those looking to the Law for salvation will always shun the cross as the only way of salvation.

On the other hand, the Gospel shows us what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. In the Gospel, we have the good news of our salvation in Christ Jesus, through which God gives us forgiveness, faith, life, and the power to please Him with good works (Luther’s Small Catechism). It is the Gospel through which we obtain the true peace of which our Lord speaks in John 14:27. It is the peace that St. Paul says, is, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philip. 4:7 ESV). Therefore, filled with this peace, St. Paul can boldly proclaim, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

Therefore, rightly divided, Law and Gospel do the dividing work of God, who “kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6 ESV). It is this stumbling block; Jesus Christ and the whole Word of God, Law and Gospel that divide nations, people, and families. When you Stand Firm for God’s Word it Causes Division.

The Gospel truth is foreign to the ways of the world. It is too often lost in bitter fighting between husband and wife, father and son, and mother and daughter. It is challenged by the wisdom of the world that says God cannot exist. It is challenged by false religions who deny that Jesus is the Son of God. It is challenged by the world who cannot accept the truth that they cannot save themselves, but that they can only be saved by the Son of God. Thus, the Gospel is an assault upon the world and the prince of this world, Satan. It is a fire cast upon the earth that consumes sin and forges strength into the hearts of believers in Christ. It is a dividing rod separating believers from non-believers. It is the fire that saves believers from the eternal fires of hell.

The Gospel is also the healing balm for the sin that dwells within each of us. Having divided the world and families, there is one more division brought on by our Lord Jesus: the division between the old and the new man of baptism. In the re-creative waters of baptism our Lord Jesus fashions a new man from the old: born again by the Holy Spirit to live forever as a child of God. However, as long as we are on this side of heaven, the old man continues to dwell in us and he will not allow the Spirit-made new man to live in peace until we are laid to rest in death; then and only then will the new man know true peace with Christ.

Some who read the Gospel for today or listen to this sermon may say, “Division, division, division; all seems hopeless, all seems lost” but this is not the case. For the very Word that divides is also the Word that unites. It unites believers in one common cause, the proclamation of the Gospel to a world dying of sin. It emboldens followers of Christ to boldly speak to others of their love for Jesus. When conflict in the home is strongest, His Word of eternal life can be the catalyst to bind broken hearts and bring about reconciliation. When the sinner is brought to their knees by the Law; fearful of the wrath of God, the Gospel soothes the anguish, binds the wounds, and brings the peaceful proclamation of forgiveness to the lost and condemned sinner. And when we feel lost and separated from God we can always turn to our Lord Jesus who reminds us, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 ESV). This He can assure us because He endured the fire and bloody baptism of the cross bringing us the peace of salvation and the forgiveness of all our sins. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.