Luke 12:49-53
Grace be unto you and peace….
I have a lot of people tell me that when they try to read the bible, and particularly the Old Testament, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to them. Sure, there’s the stories. There’s Abraham who almost sacrifices his son, Isaac. There’s Joseph with his coat of many colors. There’s David and Goliath and even Daniel in the lion’s den. And besides the “who’s who” and the “who did what”, there’s a lot of other stuff, and people try to read it by themselves and they start to think, “Ok, what’s the point?”. “What’s all this got to do with me?”.
There’s a lack of “connection”. When we’re kids, we sing songs like “this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”. Even politicians in our lifetime have tried to capitalize on the theme of “being a light", being that “city set upon a hill”. But when we hear about people like Moses, who in our epistle reading from the book of Hebrews today, is said to, “when he was grown up…[chose] to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin”…we think, “Ok, great…so, what?”. There’s a lack of “connection”.
What had happened in every single one of these cases is that the God, who the scriptures describe as a “consuming fire”, had come to each one of these people personally. In every case, this consuming fire of our God spoke to them by means of His Word. In every case, this Word created a change in the disposition of their heart and the preoccupations of their minds. It created a change in the focus of their lives. It became the focal point in their time of need, their help in their day of trouble and it became like a fire between them anyone that would try to get between them and their God.
Every single one of these people we read about in Hebrews today were made, by this consuming fire. They were made members of that great multitude of Saints known as “the people of God. As the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”. Their lives were changed by their encounter with the Holy Fire…Their lives were altered by that fire that comes to all men in the form of God’s Word. This same fire today has come to you. This fire comes to you to make you a part of the people of God. It comes to remind you that you are God’s people. It comes to you that you might be kept as the people of God. God’s Word forms the dividing line between those who are His, and those who refuse to be His.
GOD’S PEOPLE ARE FORMED BY FIRE
I. The calling of Abraham, Moses and Joseph are just the prototypes of God’s calling to you
As Jesus says today, “I came to cast fire on the earth”. When the disciples walked with Christ. When the crowds heard his voice, when Zacchaeus was called down from the tree, every one of them was hearing the voice of the “Consuming Fire”. Christ’s voice was the voice of the God of heaven. He spoke nothing other than what the Father had given Him to say…and it called people from their homes. It called them from their lives of sin. It called them to Himself – “I Am the Lord, thy God. You shall have no other God’s before me”.
Christ called his disciples by means of this Word. By means of this Word, Christ formed a people for Himself: A people out of those that had been led astray by false prophets and false teachers…A people who had once been involved in shameful business. (Think of Mary Magdalene and Matthew…much like Abraham is said to be the son of an idol maker from the land of Ur (in modern day Iran).
These people heard God’s Word and in the same way that this Word was directed to them it is once again directed to you. “I came to cast fire on the earth” Jesus says. “Do you think that I came to give peace on earth?”. Do you think you can just be my disciple and keep ignoring my Word? That you can keep going on with that business which has entrapped so many people in their sins? Do you think that my goal is for all of you to create a worldly “utopia” in my name – and that according to your sense of “justice” and your “reason and understanding”? NOOOOOO!! I came to create division. I am not the “god of the false prophets and teachers”. Don’t fool yourselves and don’t be fooled! Who isn’t with me is against me and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters…and I will be to him or to her like a hammer, that breaks the rock in pieces!
II. But look to the spread of this fire!
No longer will I simply speak as one man to one man. I will no longer speak as I spoke to the prophets of old – in dreams and in visions. No, this fire is about to be kindled. When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. The world will be convicted of their sin. They will be forever reminded of their enmity with God because they knowingly and willingly…even secretly schemed and to commit this crime against me. They will be shown the futility of their words. Their hostility towards me will be exposed as well as the fact that, no matter how often they say “peace, peace”, there is no peace, apart from me. Their version of peace is simply one man trying to take advantage of another or exert his will over another…and they do this because they have no other means of recourse. They do this because they have rejected their God and they each wish to put themselves in my place. And my Word will come among them like a hammer. In that day, the rock of their stony hearts will be broken in pieces and their bodies will become like the dust…even the chaff that the wind blows away.
III. But among you who hear, this is good news.
Today, I speak. You are my chosen. The ability to interpret the time has been given to you! Now is the time. Today is the day of your salvation! And as I send forth my church throughout this perilous time, it will be an unstoppable flame as I pour out my Spirit on the earth. Through those who hear, I will speak in every town and beside every bed. I will speak round every hearth and every table. I will speak in the morning and in the evening. I will speak as the people rise up and lie down and as they go out to work and school and in their visiting and their coming back in. I will cast fire on the earth…because that is why I came. And hear this some of you: “How I wish it were already kindled”.
How I wish that you would drop your grudge; drop your idols; drop your fleeting pleasure and your attachments to this life…that my blood shed for the life of the world might be your life; that my body given for you might be your substance.
Conclusion: Today, the fire that Christ speaks about has been cast before you.
It’s a great fire by which you now have, like the patriarchs of old, come to know Christ’s name. You should be able to see yourselves in the stories of the patriarchs. You should be able to see yourself when, like Moses, you are tempted to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this life. And Like Moses, you should rather be mistreated with the people of God than to be known as the son or daughter of a great king. Like Abraham, you should be willing to set out on your course to the promised land and leave it all behind. Like Joseph, you should hold fast to the Word of your God, even if you’re in prison; even if you’re falsely accused; even if your own brothers are lost or have turned against you.
Christ has been raised from the dead. The fire has been kindled. Your sins are forgiven. The true power behind the events of the world has been shown. A hope beyond this life which overcomes every brutal and merciless injustice or ill in this life, has been revealed. This is the truth and this truth spreads like a wildfire so much that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. God’s Word is truth. What a treasure! What a fire! And anytime you are in the hearing of this Word…anytime you are spending in this Word, you should approach it as that fire that has been graciously cast before you. By this Word you are called out to be separate. You are called by this Word to be His child. You are called out from your families you are called out from your friends you are called out sometimes from your country and called to begin again….and it’s a blessing. Christ has come to cast fire on the earth. Glory be to God, in Jesus’ Name +