“A sense of urgency”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, November 4, 2024
Luke 12: 49-59 (Forward, p. 6) CEV p. 1078
Here Jesus touches on something that we’d rather not think about, much less deal with, and that is the sense of urgency that each of us must adopt. Sure, with many aspects of life, especially its more challenging or daunting aspects, we’d often rather put it off. However, there must, if life is to be well lived, be a certain sense of urgency. Time marches on and waits for no one. And, as I add to my number of years, I am even more conscious of it.
Jesus begins today’s passage by speaking of the urgency within His own life. He begins by talking about fire (“I came to cast fire upon the earth. And what do I wish? Would that it was already kindled?”). In Jewish thought, fire almost always had the sense of judgment or of purifying or refining—and, actually, don’t the two of these go together. Purifying or refining are in themselves a certain kind of judgment. And this judgment takes place upon the whole earth, the entire world, most certainly—but also, shudder, upon the Church, the people of God (see 1 Peter 4:17). It is something that we’d rather not think about personally, and yet it is a reality—and who knows when it will occur, hence a certain kind of urgency.
Jesus then goes on to speak of a kind of baptism, an image that seems most odd or out of place to us—and no wonder, we think of baptism simply as that somewhat pleasant and innocuous rite of initiation practiced by churches. However, the Greek word means literally to be submerged into something, into the depths of the sea for instance, or figuratively to be submerged into some terrible and grim experience. So here Jesus was talking about His death, His immanent death on the Cross. How it overshadowed everything He did!
From here, Jesus proceeds to speak of the urgencies that may afflict our lives. There is the urgency of choice, of having to make a choice between Himself and others. Sad to say, sometimes there has to be a dividing line between our allegiance, our loyalty, to Jesus and our allegiances, loyalties, to other people or to society at large. And, if that be the case, there will be a cost, a falling out perhaps, a division. And in this, the Scriptures are most pointed: sometimes if we quit the company and activities of our former companions and associates, there will be unmitigated resentment, even hostility.
Jesus then tells His audience, and us, that it befits us to read, to be aware of the signs of the times and therefore heed them and act upon them. Time is pressing on. And, as if to press home this point, He refers to an all-too human law court. If you are in a bad situation legally, it is best to fess up right away, pay your fine and get it over with. Otherwise, if it has to go to court, you will be all the more the loser. And so too, Jesus is implying, it is with us and God. Are we right with God? Have we dealt with everything that we need to? If not, it is best to deal with it and get it over with, for we never know what our time will be. Yes, as with everything else, there is a sense of urgency to our lives and our actions. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (verse 51)
“This is one of the hardest gospel lessons for me. In a world with so much division, I desperately want Jesus to be our reconciling force, bringing us closer together. And, in so many passages, that is what he promises: to bridge divides and repair the breach, to give us a new way of walking through the world with love in our hearts.
“And yet, we can see all around us the truth of Jesus’s words in this passage from Luke. The actions he asks us to take spur division: not everyone will love their neighbor or extend forgiveness or care for the poor. While I long for peace on earth, I know that until we can all fully embrace the way of Jesus, there will be division. My prayer is that we stop separating ourselves from one another and, in so doing, separating ourselves from God, and find ways to be the hands and feet of love in the world.”
Moving Forward: “Where do you feel division? What might it look like to wrap that in love?”