Jesus the Divider
August 14, 2023
Luke 12:49-59 | I John 4:16-18
Jesus is all love, for sure. But love does separate. Love is all-inclusive for those people and things that jive with the nature of love.
The difficult realization is not all people nor things want to jive with love.
The good news is that people and things can change.
Luke 12:49-59
“I came to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish that it was already ablaze! I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it’s completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have come instead to bring division. From now on, a household of five will be divided—three against two and two against three. Father will square off against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud forming in the west, you immediately say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ And indeed it does. And when a south wind blows, you say, ‘A heat wave is coming.’ And it does. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret conditions on earth and in the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret the present time? And why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going to court with your accuser, make your best effort to reach a settlement along the way. Otherwise, your accuser may bring you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you won’t get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”
I John 4:16-18
We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love.
Prayer
God,
I confess that I don’t like conflict. I don’t like people not to like me or what I do. I also confess I often let this weakness be an excuse for inaction.
So as I begin this day, give me confidence in the nature of your love, which is welcoming to all who would receive it. Help me receive it. Help me give it. Your love.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.