Father, all praise to You for a very productive day! My sermon for Sunday is set, though it might get a few tweaks yet. And except for getting the Prayer List together, the PowerPoint is ready to go. Thank You for helping me to focus and accomplish.
Luke 12:49-53 (<<click here to read the passage)
Many years ago, our son played on a local t-ball team for a couple of years. For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, it is a precursor to baseball/softball for boys and girls who are wanting to learn the basics of hitting, catching, throwing, etc. Regardless, for his birthday that year (he may have been six or seven) we set up a party with some of his buddies from the team and a few others from school. Since it was summer, we decided that they would have fun roasting hotdogs over an open fire.
This was in the early days of us living here so we had yet to set up a place for an open fire. We could tell that previous owners had used a place for that purpose, so we decided to use the same spot. I lit the fire and I guess I put just a bit too much wood in it and we hadn’t let it burn down enough because it was really, really hot! We used it but the boys basically had to lay flat on the ground around the fire to roast their hotdogs because it was too hot to stand or sit by it. Not very bright but I have greater wisdom on such things today!
Fire. Mankind has benefited greatly from it for millennia, but we have also suffered greatly because of it. It is one of those things that must be safely managed to help and not hurt.
Today’s passage seems to come out of nowhere and slaps us in the face! In it, Jesus speaks of fire.
There are many references to fire in the Bible. Sometimes it refers to division – think of the pillar of fire the nation of Israel followed in Exodus. It was a visual guide at night, but it separated them from enemies and their detrimental influence. There are also references to refining fires – for silver and gold to be purified they must pass through fire to burn out impurities.
Most theologians believe that, here, Jesus is speaking about the fire of judgment – no hotdog roasting here!
The Amplified Bible says, “I have come to cast fire (judgment) on the earth…”
And the word cast does not refer to a toss or a lob. One commentator said the word used “means ‘throw’ or ‘cast’. It implies great force. It might have been the word for how a baseball pitcher hurls the ball towards the plate. There would be nothing soft or gentle about that!”
We think of Jesus as gentle and loving and compassionate and peaceful, and He most assuredly masters those attributes…but He will also judge. And His judgment will not be in err. He will miss no detail of guilt or innocence on the part of any man, woman, or child. Every single one of us will stand before Him and how we have responded to his sacrifice for us will be made known to all.
Lord Jesus, it is easy for us to embrace all the pleasing things about You but Your pending judgment can be a much more difficult pill to swallow if our sins have not been eradicated by Your forgiveness before that day comes. May we all seek You out and be ready to be welcomed into Your presence instead of being cast into eternal fire. Amen.
Aug 13th, 2020, Thurs, 8:07 pm
