The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
8/15/10

Luke 12:49-56

A FEW YEARS AGO, JOYCE AND I WERE VISITING MY BROTHER IN CALIFORNIA AND WENT WITH HIM TO THE SERBIAN ORTHDOX CHURCH FOR WORSHIP. AS YOU MAY KNOW, THE SERVICE IS ABOUT THREE HOURS LONG, AND YOU STAND FOR MOST OF IT. THE MASS WAS IN SERBIAN, BUT A MASS BOOK WAS PROVIDED WITH SERBIAN ON ONE PAGE AND ENGLISH OPPOSITE.  JOYCE, WITH HER USUAL CURIOSITY WAS READING AHEAD, AND WHEN SHE CAME TO THE INTERCESSORY PRAYERS, GAVE ME A POKE IN THE RIBS AND POINTED TO THE PAGE WHERE THE TEXT READ, “WE PRAY FOR THE DAY WHEN THE ENEMIES OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE WILL BE PLACED UNDER OUR FEET.” I LOOKED AT HER AND SHRUGGED, SAYING “JESUS AIN’T NO WIMP IN THIS CHURCH.”

THE IMAGE OF JESUS WE CARRY IN OUR MINDS IS OFTEN CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY CONDITIONED. IN THE WESTERN CHURCH, OUR IMAGE OF JESUS, WHICH WE LEARN EARLY ON IN SUNDAY SCHOOL, IS THAT OF THE MEEK AND MILD GOOD SHEPHERD OF HIS PEOPLE. THIS IS REINFORCED BY OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION WHERE WE EMPHASIZE THE GREETING OF THE ANGELS AT HIS BIRTH OF “PEACE ON EARTH.” WE FOCUS ON HIS MESSAGE OF “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS,” AND OF HOW WE, THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, BY THE GRACE OF GOD OBTAIN THE PEACE OF GOD. BY CONTRAST, THE IMAGE OF JESUS IN THE EASTERN CHURCH IS THAT OF “CHRISTOS PANTOCRATER:’ CHRIST AS LORD OF ALL CREATION. THE IMAGE OF JESUS ABOVE THE ALTAR OF MOST EASTERN CHURCHES IS THAT OF THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE WITH THE FIRE OF JUDGMENT IN HIS EYES.

IT IS NO WONDER, THEN, WHEN WE, IN THE WESTERN CHURCH, READ THIS PASSAGE FROM THE GOSPEL, OR WHEN WE READ OF JESUS WHIPPING THE MONEY CHANGERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE COURT, WE ARE SOMEWHAT DISTURBED AND CONFUSED. THIS DOES NOT SEEM TO FIT THE IMAGE OF JESUS WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO ACCEPT AS THE REALITY OF WHO HE IS. WHEN WE CONSIDER, HOWEVER, THAT JESUS WAS SUCH A TROUBLE MAKER FOR THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL AUTHORITIES OF THE TIME THAT THEIR ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION TO HIS MESSAGE WAS TO KILL HIM, PERHAPS IT IS OUR IMAGE OF HIM THAT IS IN ERROR, OR AT LEAST INCOMPLETE.

IN OUR GOSPEL TEXT FOR TODAY, WE HAVE THE RECORD OF THIS SEEMINGLY STRANGE OUTBURST OF JESUS WHICH DOES NOT FIT OUR IMAGE OF THE MEEK AND MILD SHEPHERD. HE IS ON HIS FINAL JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM, GETTING CLOSER TO THE CROSS AWAITING HIM WITH EVERY STEP. THE COUNTRYSIDE IS ALMOST IN A STATE OF REVOLT BECAUSE OF HIS TEACHING, AND THE TEMPLE AUTHORITIES ARE ACTIVELY PLOTTING TO KILL HIM AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY. HE KNOWS WHAT IS COMING, AND THE HUMAN PART OF HIS NATURE IS FRUSTRATED THAT HIS DISCIPLES, AND THE CROWDS FOLLOWING HIM, ARE STILL BLIND TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT HE IS DOING AND IS GOING TO ENDURE. “I CAME TO BRING FIRE TO THE EARTH, AND HOW I WISH IT WERE ALREADY KINDLED! I HAVE A BAPTISM WITH WHICH TO BE BAPTIZED, AND WHAT STRESS I AM UNDER UNTIL IT IS COMPLETED.” WHAT STRESS, INDEED, TO KNOW WHAT HE MUST ENDURE FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD, AND TO WALK FORWARD UNFLINCHINGLY TO THE PAIN AND SHAME AND HORROR OF THE CROSS.

THE DISCIPLES AND THE CROWDS THINK HE HAS COME TO RESTORE THE THRONE OF DAVID AND BRING PEACE TO ISRAEL, BUT HE KNOWS THAT HIS DEATH WILL NOT BRING PEACE, BUT DIVISION. HE KNOWS THAT HIS DEATH WILL BE THE BREAK – POINT OF HISTORY, AND THAT THE WORLD WILL BE FOREVER DIFFERENT, DIVIDED INTO WHAT WENT BEFORE AND AFTER HIS DEATH. HIS DEATH WILL CHANGE HISTORY, BECAUSE, IN HIS DEATH GOD WILL ACT FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND THIS ACTION OF GOD WILL DIVIDE THE HUMAN RACE FOREVER INTO THOSE WHO FOLLOW JESUS AND THOSE WHO DO NOT. WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO WILL DIVIDE FAMILIES, AND WHOLE NATIONS, AND WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN ALL TIME, AND THE WEIGHT OF ALL THIS IS ON HIS SHOULDERS AND HE IS THE ONE WHO MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR THE ACTION OF GOD. IF YOU CAN LOOK AT THE SKY AND FORECAST THE WEATHER, HE TELLS THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOW HIM, “WHY DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO INTERPRET THE PRESENT TIME?”

YET, IN SPITE OF HIS FRUSTRATION, IN SPITE OF THE FAILURE OF HIS DISCIPLES AND THE CROWDS TO UNDERSTAND, HE SETS HIS FACE AGAIN TOWARDS JERUSALEM AND THE CROSS WHICH AWAITS HIM. HE WALKS FORWARD, BEARING THE WEIGHT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD ON HIS SHOULDERS WHICH WILL SOON FEEL THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS HE WILL DRAG TO HIS DEATH.

THE BAPTISM OF WHICH HE SPOKE IS THE BAPTISM WHICH AWAITS EVERY FOLLOWER OF JESUS; THE CROSS OF THE CHIRST OF GOD. THERE IS A PRICE TO BE PAID TO FOLLOW JESUS, AND THAT PRICE IS THE CROSS WE MUST BEAR THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, AND MAY EVEN BE THE CROSS ON WHICH WE SUFFER AND DIE FOR HIS SAKE. TO FOLLOW JESUS MAY COST US OUR FAMILIES, OUR TREASURES, ALL THE THINGS WE HOLD DEAR, BECAUSE TO FOLLOW HIM MEANS WE MUST GIVE UP OUR LIVES FOR HIS SAKE, AS HE GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR OURS. IT IS ONLY THROUGH THE BAPTISM OF THE FIRE OF THE CROSS, THROUGH ALL THE DIVISIONS AND SEPARATIONS FROM ALL THAT WENT BEFORE IN OUR LIVES, CAN WE COME TO REALLY KNOW THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH COMES FROM BEING AT PEACE WITH GOD.

I HAVE NO PATIENCE FOR THE SIMPLISTIC AND SACHARINE FALSE CHRISTIANITY THAT PROCLAIMS NOTHING BAD WILL EVER HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD JESUS. TRUE FAITH IS NOT THE BELIEF THAT LIFE WILL BE ALL RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES, AND THE PEACE OF GOD IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN A COMFORTABLE LIFE WITH A GOOD JOB A NICE HOUSE AND A HEALTHY 401K. TRUE FAITH IS PICKING UP THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND FOLLOWING HIM WHERE HE LEADS, KNOWING THAT THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WAITING TO HAMMER IN THE NAILS, AND THE PEACE OF GOD IS FOUND IN KNOWING THAT CHRIST DIED FOR ME AND YOU, AND, IN HIS DEATH, WE ARE AT PEACE WITH GOD NO MATTER WHAT COMES IN THIS LIFE. TRUE FAITH IS THE SWORD WHICH CUTS THROUGH ALL THE FALSE AND EMPTY PROMISES OF THE WORLD AND TESTIFIES TO THE WORLD THAT THE ONLY WAY TO PEACE IS THROUGH THE FIRE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST.

THIS HAS BEEN THE TESTIMONY OF THE DISCIPLES OF THE CHRIST OF GOD ONCE THEIR EYES WERE OPENED AND THEY KNEW THE RESURRECTED LORD. THIS HAS BEEN THE TESTIMONY OF THE MARTYRS AND WITNESSES TO THE ACTION OF GOD IN JESUS THROUGHOUT THE AGES. THIS HAS BEEN THE TESITMONY OF THE CHURCH SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THAT JESUS, WHO WALKED AMONG US AND WAS ONE OF US, WHO ATE AND DRANK WITH US, WAS NOT JUST ANOTHER ONE OF US, BUT WAS, IN FACT, THE KING OF CREATION, THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO BORE THE CROSS OF SHAME FOR OUR SAKE. “THEREFORE, SINCE WE ARE SURROUNDED BY SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, LET US ALSO LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT AND THE SIN THAT CLINGS SO CLOSELY, AND LET US RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US, LOOKING TO JESUS THE PIONEER AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH, WHO FOR THE SAKE OF THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, DISREGARDING ITS SHAME, AND HAS TAKEN HIS SEAT AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD.” LET US EACH TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW AFTER HIM, FOR IT IS ONLY THROUGH THE FIRE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE CROSS WHERE TRUE PEACE IS TO BE FOUND.  AMEN.