Division | 3 Minute Sermon

Описание: In Luke 12, we read that Jesus asked:

“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? ”

I have a simple answer to that question: yes, Jesus, of course I think you came to bring peace on earth.

I have it on good authority that Jesus came to bring peace on earth; it is in the Bible. It is in several places in the Bible, including this very Gospel of Luke.

Yes, we expect peace on earth. We sing songs about it.

So we might be surprised that when Jesus asked the question: “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?”

He did so rhetorically, and then immediately answered: No.

In establishing the message of His Kingdom; Jesus signaled that saying yes to Him would have consequences. Saying yes to Jesus, means saying no to a lot else… including saying no to ourselves.

Jesus came both to unify and divide… to unify us with God and God’s work, and to divide us from anything that would distract us from Him.

I’ve been thinking about division, specifically the division in our culture. It seems that the forces that divide us get stronger every day. It seems that we are constantly pushed to pick a side, to pledge our allegiance to a team.

I’ve observed that allegiance to our cultural/political teams seems as fierce as ever; it seems we routinely put those allegiances first. It seems that we, regardless of the issue or position or action, bless whatever comes from our team and curse whatever comes from the other team… that we easily overlook the flaws from our team, and willfully ignore the virtue in the other (no matter which team we are on).

I suppose Jesus was right; there is division. But is the way we routinely participate in the division the Jesus way?

It seems to me that Jesus was most critical of what was coming from His team (the conservative religious folk) and most forgiving of those on the other team (the outsiders, the ones that folk on His team called “sinners”). I suppose it is like I’ve heard a few preachers say: Jesus comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable.

It seems to me that the tension between our various sides, our various teams, would be more productive (far less destructive) if we adopted the Jesus way, focusing our criticism on ourselves and our team, and focusing our grace on the other. That’s the way Jesus led people in true righteousness.

That would certainly be countercultural… but the Jesus way often is; let’s dare to choose the Jesus way.