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Dear Centenary Family,
“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division!”
Those are the words of Jesus from Luke 12:51 and are at the heart of the text we’re looking at this Sunday.
I have probably told you before as preachers, we’d often like to find a way to skirt difficult statements from Jesus like this. I prefer Paul’s description of Jesus’ ministry and by extension ours:
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself . . .” (II Corinthians 5:17-19a)
That’s the heart of the Gospel for me. I want to be part of God’s work of bringing people together. I want to be part of God’s great work of helping people who were once enemies become friends.
But I’ve also struggled recently, with the many divisions in our denomination and nation, with the reality, that sometimes, because of sharp differences in deeply held convictions, there are people and groups with whom we cannot get along. For some of people, there is the conviction that to be in relationship with one group or another is tantamount to cooperating with the forces of darkness and evil themselves.
The Gospel reading this week (Luke 12:49-56) is the record of Jesus acknowledging that sometimes being in relationship with him leads to a break in relationship with others, even people we love the most.
But, I’ve been asking myself, “What did Jesus do or say that caused this kind of division with people in his own religious tradition and yes, within his own family?” I’ve come to the conclusion that the things that brought about conflict between Jesus and others may be somewhat different than the things that cause conflict in our time. And, there’s this stark reality. Jesus dealt with those with whom he was in conflict in a vastly different way than we tend to deal with those with whom we disagree today. The title I’m working with this week is, Jesus, Prince of Peace of Troublemaker?
Please keep these dates on your calendar.
September 4, we will continue to have one service,
but it will move to 10:30 a.m. for the fall.
September 11, we will have a “Back to Church” picnic
on the street following worship.
Remember in these times and in all times, you are loved by God and your church family.
Peace,
Matt
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