PENTECOST  12C (Proper 20) August 19, 2007
Isaiah 5:1-7; Ps 80:1-2,8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
 
We all long for peace.  We say things like:  I can’t wait for my retirement when I won’t have to worry about all of these daily details” or “If only I could have one day when there wasn’t some crisis to deal with”.   We wistfully join in the words of songs like “There’s a place for us” or “Somewhere over the rainbow.”   Because most of us are faced with a lot of crises and hard decisions and choices and circumstances that confound and befuddle us, we carry about within our hearts a yearning for the moment and the place where it all fades into sunshine and melodious music.
 
Those who avoid much of the uncomfortable Bible such as today’s Gospel from Luke, often come looking to Jesus for this escape – this kind if peace: a world of tranquility, heart-melting music, supportive and comforting words, impeccably designed interiors, all the latest technical conveniences, and a string of pearls around my neck.  But clearly, according to Jesus at least (though not what we hear in the strains of a lot of religious song), this was not to be the case. “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”   These are stark and shocking words from Jesus, but, we must surely admit, they are tinged with reality.  Insightful of the human condition as Jesus was, he knew that his path to God would not attract a universal welcome.  And true to his word, the world has been fighting and arguing over what he had to say ever since, even within a single family: “From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three…”  Things that matter spark passion.  The radical nature of Jesus’ teaching about God as a God of justice and mercy was bound to set some folks off and Jesus knew it full well.   He speaks very firmly to those who are attaching themselves to his retinue.  Jesus asks us to use the same sense that we bring to bear on the signs of probability in the world around us.  “It’s gong to rain.”  “It’s going to be a hot one.”  “If you extend the mercy of God to its logical fullness, it is going to be more than a lot of people can tolerate.”   “If justice is the mandate for all God’s children, then some individuals are going to have to do some sacrificing and that never makes people happy.”  Why can you not see the signs around you?  All that needs to be done now and how much work and dedication that it is going to be?
 
We pursue – each one of us – what we think we have heard in the message of Jesus, which seems like a beautiful thing for the world, and we run into walls of incomprehension and hatreds and even violence.  We are shocked and deeply hurt and yet Jesus warned us it would be like this if we really mean to follow him.  This is true for individuals at any place along the theological spectrum.  We mean well and just want to bring in the love of Jesus.  Why do people want to hold up hate signs along our parade route?   I just love the Word of God as it has come down to us.  Why do people call me a closed-minded bigot?  If I was looking for peace in my confused and rocky life, it sure looks like this is not the place for it.  Certainly this has been the modern retreat cry for abandoning the Christian enterprise.
 
Finding that place where there is no more trouble, no more conflict…is that what faith is?  This is a critical question for contemporary spirituality because of the desperate longing in most human hearts to bring an end to divisions and discord of every kind.  What do you want from following Jesus?   What benefits do you expect to accrue from carrying about the label of “Christian” or of any other religion for that matter?
 
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews gives us quite a different description of faith.  It is quite a list of very non-peaceful activity – “…stoned to death, sawn in two, killed by the sword…destitute, persecuted, tormented…-  introduced by a foundational image for the people of God: “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.”  This author has no association with faith as the pristine, manicured, and carpeted refuges for middle class status quo that has come to be identified with so much of modern American religion.  Faith is an engagement in the arduous and risky journey with those of every generation who have caught a glimpse of a glorious destination, because this is the prize of our souls.  Faith is refusing to stand in the lonely solitude of being a victim in the world, leaning instead into the strength of the innumerable crowd that shares the journey, letting our unity in the destination relieve the weight and the weariness that would have us drown in the Red Sea rather than walk through it.  “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…” like Jesus, continues the author.  Like Jesus, who is not some sentimental portrait hanging on the wall or an object of some romantic longing, but who is “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”.  Jesus consistently welcomed the outcast, refused injustice, stared down the posturing of power and nurtured intimacy with God because this is what was taking him to where he was supposed to be – the joy of effective, faithful being.  The Cross was no barrier to such joy.  As pioneer and perfecter, Jesus has laid down the same pathway for our feet.
 
Apparently in the European football circuit these days a song has emerged as the ultimate team inspiration: “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.  The idea is that with the fans singing around their team, they will know the support that is out there for them and fight on for victory – hardly a future that Rogers and Hammerstein could have seen for their sentimental classic from the 1945 musical Carousel.  I have always been a bit guarded of this song because of its sentimentality and overuse, but maybe the football fans have an insight from their rough and tumble, often violent world that entails sometimes much loss and occasionally victory.  Thanks to the loan of an old record player I listened to Aretha Franklin singing the song as I hadn’t been able to do for many years.  When she sings it she sings the testimony of the Letter to the Hebrews.  The words are not sung as pretty poetry to wring a tear out of an audience.  They are passionate, full of strain and the tough work of moving forward.  “Get your carriage together and walk on!” This is faith.
 
Does Jesus give us a Utopian Paradise in which to lie back with a permanent smile on our faces?
Does Jesus give us a place with the bluebird - where there isn’t any trouble?
Does Jesus bring us “Peace on Earth” like it says on so many Christmas cards?
Jesus’ own words should blow our sentimental illusions out of the water: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.”  Jesus is eager to bring us into a pathway of re-making the earth that is hard work and conflict because it is new.  Jesus challenges assumptions and pushes the boundaries that keep us comfortable.  Jesus is eager to give us a way to journey the path that is human life in joy rather than defeat and cynicism.   Above all, Jesus brings us companionship.  It is the companionship of the glorious task and the companionship of the glorious destination – a great cloud of witnesses whose joy is offered to keep us strong in the journey, never alone.  And that is real peace…Walk on…walk on, with hope in your heart, through the Red Sea, past the walls of Jericho and beyond the agony of the Cross – not isolated individuals, but a people of faith!