August 19, 2007
Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey
The Challenge of Jesus
A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend and we happened to be talking about Jesus. So my friend, trying to make some point or other made the statement “Jesus wasn’t confrontational” And of course knowing this scripture is coming up in the lectionary I said “Are you sure about that?” AND “If Jesus wasn’t confrontation why do you think they crucified him?” You see we seem to want to hold onto this image of Jesus as meek and mild…loving and compassionate…always understanding. But we want to rush pass scripture that portrays Jesus as edgy, challenging and confrontational. But hear today’s words “Do you think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” We can hardly believe that this is our prince of peace…our great comforter!
M.Scott Peck says in his book Further Along the Road, after having read the gospels for the first time at age forty:
"I was absolutely thunderstruck by the extraordinary reality of the man I found in the Gospels…I discovered a man so incredibly real that no one could have make Him up. It occurred to me then that if the Gospel writers had been into PR and embellishment, as I had assumed, they would have created the kind of Jesus three quarters of Christians still seem to be trying to create…portrayed with a sweet, unending smile on His face, patting little children on the head, just strolling the earth with this unflappable, unshakable equanimity…But the Jesus of the Gospels---who some suggest is the best kept secret of Christianity—did not have much 'peace of mind,' as we ordinarily think of peace of mind in the world’s terms, and insofar as we can be His followers, perhaps we won’t either…It is as if most Christians haven’t read the Gospels, and most Christian clergy are not even able to preach the real truth of the Gospels, because if they did, their congregations would flee out the door.”
We tend to want to be black and white thinkers don’t we? Jesus is either loving and comforting OR challenging and confrontational. BUT, the truth is scripture portrays him as both. There is no doubt that Jesus is loving and compassionate. He is often found at table with society’s outcasts. He blesses children. Forgives adulterers. Befriends and heals women. BUT he also questions authority…questions the rules and laws within his religious tradition. He pushes social norms. He wants to tip everything upside down…the last will be first and the first will be last. Social status is challenged by him. Those who have been outcasts have found favor with Jesus. So, it appears to me that when appropriate he is compassionate and at the same time he has come to challenge the status quo.
Eugene Peterson interprets this passage in a way that truly emphasizes Jesus as a challenger in The Message, his popular contemporary rendering of the bible. It reads: “I’ve come to start a fire on this earth---how I wish it were blazing right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything right-side up---how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I’ve come to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront!” Then it goes on to say that there will be division in families. Now this is noteworthy because the family is very important in the ancient world. The family is the primary place of status and identity. It provides financial security and secures your place in the world. SO to have division in the family is to risk all that makes one secure and sheltered and important.
Now maybe you have come to church this morning for comfort and peace, I don’t blame you. When I hear the news and look all around me in the world I want comfort too. I want a place of refuge. Sorry not today! Today our peace is interrupted. Remember back in chapter three of Luke’s gospel John the Baptist tells us “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming….he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” FIRE! Fire symbolizes both judgment and purification. Nothing we want to associate with our sweet Jesus! It reminds me of a song by folk singer Julie Snow called Baptism of Fire the line that repeats throughout the song…”the only way out is through”. There is no way around the challenge of following Jesus. The only way to follow Jesus is through accepting his challenge. His challenge is to give up our security and comfort to make the reign of God a reality here in our world. This passage is a reminder for me, that following Jesus is not meant to be easy, at least not all the time and it is easy to get comfortable in our faith and forget the challenge of Jesus.
I was listening to a DVD featuring Sister Helen Prejean the author of the book Dead Man Walking and she said “When I began working with the poor a fire began to burn in my heart…I began to awaken to the gospel message and hear…really hear… that Jesus was among the outcasts .He shared meals with sinners and prostitutes” We need to be with the outcasts too! But I was struck by her statement a fire began to burn in her heart…She began to get all fired up about advocating for the poor…about working for death row inmates…ministering to violent killers and somehow finding compassion. It was compelling! She also talked about how easy it is to just ignore the outcasts because often they don’t live anywhere near us! It is easy to go about our day in the suburbs and forget that poverty exists here in our rich country. BUT again this FIRE began to burn in her heart and she could no longer NOT do the work she does. Her heart was on fire with Christ…with continuing Christ’s work. I began to wonder how often do we put out the fire because we want to remain comfortable…or the work seems too hard…or the work is too overwhelming? But we are baptized with this fire…this fire that ignites us with the Holy Spirit that enables us to be the body of Christ….to be Christ’s hands, feet and voice. And it is not easy and sometimes it causes division…things get turned upside down. But, if we are to be the body of Christ… If we are truly Christ’s church, we need to be fired up and we need to be fired up about the things Jesus was fired up about.
Do you love me? Feed my sheep…clothe the naked…care for the sick…visit those in prison. Care for the widow. Put everything aside and Come follow me.
Sometimes the Christian life is not neat and nice but messy. Sometimes it can lead to broken relationship. Speaking the truth is hard to hear. The division is often between those who stand for love, justice and compassion and those who oppress, or stay silent and still in the face of injustice. Somewhere I read that Christianity is a revolution against the values of the world. Now, that’s not easy to hear or and even harder to live. The world offers us some things we have become quite comfortable with like status, money, comfortable living…having more than we could ever need, but at what cost? Can we turn the other way while children live in poverty? Can we forget Darfur, Africa, and New Orleans? Can we continue to live in ways that harm our environment? Will we continue to wage war to bring peace? Jesus calls us to be disruptive and disrupted! We can not always come seeking comfort. We need to be open to being disrupted and move out of our comfort zone. We need to be the shakers and movers in the world. We need to question policy decisions that keep people in poverty. We need to demand health care for all people. We need to ask how long will we let innocent people and soldiers die? And To borrow a phase from Barrack Obahma in his speech at general synod, we need to speak up when actions of those in power “offend our conscience”. We can not as people of faith accept injustice. Living our faith is not an easy thing.
So friends, when you read the gospels (and I hope you will) don’t read them looking only for peace and comfort but read them and meet the real Jesus, the One who comes both to comfort and challenge…the One who comes to bring both peace and disruption. “I have come to bring fire to the earth! I have come to change everything, turn everything right-side up…I have come to disturb and disrupt”. Don’t allow yourself to be too comfortable! Indifference is the enemy of our faith. Rather, let the fire of Christ set your heart ablaze so that together we can continue Christ’s mission. Amen.