Sermon | The Rev. Bill Cavanaugh | August 17, 2025
Proper 15, Yr C: Luke 12:49-56
We all have images of Jesus, often from our childhood: Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, the one welcoming children into his arms, the one who said last week Fear not, little flock.
When we look at today’s Gospel, we can’t help but wonder Where is that guy??? Who is this Jesus speaking of fire & division? Who is he? This is the same Jesus, the One who calls us to life. He reminds us today that the path to life is not necessarily easy or smooth.
In today’s challenging Gospel, Jesus calls us to realize three things: Problems are as serious as they seem; Jesus’ cure is not easy, and we need to see what is really happening.
1) Jesus (a Jesus very unlike the one we are accustomed to) says, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled”. (Lk 12:49) People were thinking that Jesus came to tweak things—maybe kick out the Romans, restore Israel, make things OK. But Jesus knew that would not be enough. He speaks of FIRE—not just tweaking things, but of a new revolution, a new Kingdom.
Then and now, it was as serious as it looks. Today we look around and see deep political division, anger toward police and authorities, fatalism, alienation, violence—and the reality is that we all are complicit. And if we are honest, we know that mere tweaking won’t do it—stricter gun laws, mental health, video games—these and other solutions may help but they don’t solve the deep problems.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn diagnosed the problem when he said, “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil runs through the heart of every person.” The problem is with the human heart—every human heart, including yours and mine.
So what is the nature of Jesus’ fire—is it destruction or is it purifying? When gold or silver are purified, the ore is melted with fire. The impurities rise to the surface and are gradually scraped off, until nothing but pure metal remains. How does the smith know it is pure? When he can see his reflection in the melted ore.
Ultimately, if we are honest, we know our problems and the problems of the world are of a spiritual nature/of the heart. Jesus tells us that only fire—a purified heart—can fully solve our dilemmas.
2) So what is Jesus’ cure for what ails the human heart? “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided.’ (v50-52)
Ouch! Two things: Jesus tells us he has a baptism—the Gk word means overwhelming—that is about to happen, alluding to the Cross. Jesus knew that the problem—our existential problem—is not ours to fix. We can’t—power, therapy, money, education—all are good things, but none works to solve the struggles of our hearts.
Into that God intervenes. On the cross, all the pain, all the resentment, injustice, anger, evil & sin were laid on Jesus—and it killed him, just as they kill us. But that is not the end of the story—Jesus rises victorious over the powers of sin & death, and he shares that promise of hope & victory with you and me.
Jesus then talks of division—even within families. If we allow Jesus’ victory over death to work in our lives, then we are changed. Moving toward the light, toward wholeness, toward new life is often painful because people move at different speeds.
AA warns its members that as a person moves toward sobriety, it changes the family system. One has to face the fact that some in the family were used to what was and unconsciously seek to preserve the old status quo.
It happens in our spiritual journeys as well. When the light went on in my life, my parents were worried. Here I was going to church on days other than Sundays, reading the Bible—they thought I was becoming a religious nut. They may have been right, but it worked out! Knowing Jesus changes things, but knowing Jesus is worth doing.
3) Jesus then challenges in this lesson to see clearly:
“He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say It is going to rain; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be scorching heat, and so it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but who do you not know how to interpret the present time?’” (v54-56)
People could predict the weather but could not interpret the present moment. We are even more skilled—we have computer weather forecasts, we can predict the economy, we have polls that predict all sorts of things. We can predict the relatively important, but not the truly important.
Who predicted the frustration that elected Trump? Who predicted the sharp rise in antisemitism, or the rise in mass shootings? Or who predicted the good things—progress in race relations, acceptance of LGBT persons, climate awareness? How do we see clearly?
As the great hymn reminds us, God is working his purpose out. We are called to persevere. As today’s epistle tells us, “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
As Xians, we have been given eyes to see (Even if we don’t always!). This is the challenge for us to see—what is God doing in New Haven and beyond? How do we be part of God working his purpose out?
There is great reward, even if we participate in small ways. Twice a week during the school year, I help out at a private middle school here in town. It is a school that gives otherwise disadvantaged students the tools—discipline life skills, a good education—to enable them to succeed in high school and beyond. God is at work, and I am proud to be part of that.
The promise is that God can and will use this place, his people, you and me as his instruments in the world, bringing healing, hope and new life to a broken and hurting world. All we need to is to say yes.
And so, today we do not see “Gentle Jesus, meek & mild” Instead we are confronted with a prophetic, challenging Jesus who reminds us that:
—the world’s problems are as serious as they look—can’t just tweak them to solve them.
—Jesus’ solution is not easy—it is costly for him & for us
—And we are called to see what is really happening—that God is at work in the world, in you & me, making differences large & small.
God is working his purpose out—and that is Good News!
May it be so.