|
Click here to listen to this sermon.
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost / Proper 15
15 August 2010
Luke 12:49-53 (54-56)
Good grief Jesus! Perhaps you should call a press conference and apologize and publically take back this sermon. Such volatile language. Feverish rhetoric. Could just land you on a no-fly or government watch list! Maybe we should make an appointment for you to see a doctor. Or a psychologist!
You have come “to bring fire on the earth?” You “wish it were already kindled?” And what’s this talk about a “baptism” and how “distressed” you are that it get done? And then all this talk about causing division! Even in families? Father against son! Son against father! Mother against daughter! Daughter against mother! Really, Jesus! You’ve got to be kidding! We though you were all about “peace!” Is there a doctor in the house? A psychiatrist? Possibly someone should call 911!
Fire, baptism, distressed to get it done, division. Is it Jesus who needs help? Or is it you and I? Maybe we don’t have a clue. Maybe Jesus really knows what’s going on. And you know what? He does.
The fire and baptism of which He speaks is His way of preaching the Friday we call “good.” Fire. The red-hot heat of enduring God’s wrath against all sin. Yours, mine, and the entire world’s. The damnation that all sinners deserve Jesus will take as He bears all sin in His Body. Immersed – baptized into Last Day divine judgment of hell rendered against all sinners in His crucified Body.
The Jesus job is the salvation job. Not for Himself. But for you. For all. He’s knows the salvation job will cost Him His life. He knows He will absorb all sin and its entire punishment -- the damnation of hell. He is stressed. To the max. But He will do it. Willingly.
Why? Because He loves you. Not because you’re so lovely. So wonderful. So hot. No. He loves the loveless. He loves His enemies. The ungodly. Sinners. One and all. You and me. Goes and does a Good Friday, that is to say, “I have come to bring fire on the earth and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed!”
His destiny is the cross! The shedding of His Blood. The giving of His divine life into death for you and for your salvation. For He alone is the Savior. He alone saves sinners. And you have peace with God only through Him. Did you hear that? Through His Good Friday death you have peace with God. God is not angry with you. All is forgiven. All is set right. All is good as far as He is concerned – thanks to Jesus His Son – who endured God’s fiery wrath and damnation for you and in your place.
Sadly, such a Good Friday Jesus really sets some people off. They won’t be having such a “silly,” or “primitive” Jesus let alone a mumbo jumbo salvation that He supposedly achieves at Calvary and bestows in Baptism. And so unbelievers go on the offensive.
In London, England the National Secular Society (atheists) offer debaptism certificates for anyone that wants to liberate himself or herself from the “lunacy” and “superstition” of Christianity. Atheism is very robust and on the move. Very “evangelistic,” that is to say seeking coverts especially on the university campus. Popular authors like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Bennett push atheism to the hilt in their writings and speaking engagements. Dawkin’s book is called, The God Delusion. Philip Pullman, another writer, is the anti C.S. Lewis. Hates C.S. Lewis, his Narnia Chronicles, and Christianity. And so he has written a series of children’s books entitled His Dark Materials to counteract the Christian faith set forth in the Narnia Chronicles. These folks mock Christianity and tempt you and your children to abandon Jesus and live outside your Baptism. In fact, if they have their way these people would take you to court and prosecute you – especially you parents. Why? Because you “force” your children into Baptism and “make” them go to church. And that’s child abuse!
Unbelief divides. It divides citizens. It even divides the closest of family relationships. It cuts deep. Very deep. And so Jesus simply tells us the truth: “Those that insist on living as if I and My Good Friday are nothings, watch out. Be prepared those of you who are My baptized disciples! Many will hate you on account of Me. Because you follow Me. Fathers against sons. Mothers against daughters. And vice versa.”
But do not despair. Jesus will see you through it. You’re His. You’re died for. His Blood counts for you. You’re safe and secure in Him. Even if you’re forsaken or persecuted by those in your biological family or the militant atheists, fear not. For you are a part of God’s family. You are baptized members of the holy church. Kin of Jesus Himself because we “hear His Word and put it into practice,” (Luke 8:21) that is, we trust His promises: “I died for you. Whoever believes in me has eternal life.” And, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” (Mark 16:16).
In the Name of Jesus.
Edited on: August 15th, 2010 5:47 am
|
