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The Gospel according to Luke 12:49-56

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He sat on the sofa watching TV, not so much because he cared about what was on as much as that it occupied his time effortlessly — mental bubble gum.

"This is Dateline NBC" the announcer said. Then Katie Couric’s voice said, "Our lead story: an interview with Jesus of Nazareth. It is the first interview this controversial religious leader has given in two thousand years, and you’ll see it exclusively on NBC. But first, a word from our sponsors."

After the commercial, Katie introduced the story: "Jesus of Nazareth—most people think they know him, but tonight you might find that Jesus has a different, and more disturbing, take on things than you knew about. Here’s Stone Phillips with the story."

And there was the handsome, debonair Stone, standing with the arid hills of Palestine as a backdrop. "Tonight," he says, "we have an exclusive interview with Jesus of Nazareth." Stone then went through a brief history, pointing out that Jesus had been a first century preacher who was adored by some and abhorred by others, and who was finally executed by the Romans with the consent of the local government. Some of his disciples, however, claimed that he appeared to them even after his death, and the so-called "Jesus Movement" refused to die, even when the Roman Empire put its adherents to death. Finally, the Roman Empire was converted, and now, two thousand years after Jesus’s death, there are tens of thousands of churches in the United States. "Join me now," Stone said, "as we talk to the man who started it all."

"Hey, honey," the man on the sofa called to the kitchen, "come on in here and watch this show with me. They’ve got Jesus on." His wife, still drying her hands on a dish towel, came in and sat on the couch beside him.

The scene on the TV screen changed from the bright, dry hills to a TV studio, and there was Jesus, with a small microphone pinned to his shirt.

"That doesn’t look like Jesus," the woman said. "In the stained glass windows at church, he has light brown hair and fair skin and light eyes. Look how dark he is. Are you sure this is Jesus? This doesn’t look like Jesus."

"Hush," her husband said, with a practiced wave of the hand. She had made him miss Stone’s welcome, and now Stone was asking questions.

"Jesus, looking at the last two thousand years, what pleases you about your movement."

Jesus paused for a moment, and then decided (somewhat uncharacteristically) to actually answer a question put to him: "There have been many, many, faithful people, countless more than you can know. Through the ages, many of these people have been utterly forgotten in this world; their tombstones are now sand, but they devoted their lives to my message of peace and justice and compassion and respect and dignity and love of God. My message set them on fire, transformed their lives, and their lives touched so, so many other lives. Sometimes they shared the message, so the other life became a messenger as well. Sometimes they just gave a glass of water, or clothes, or a piece of bread. But my followers today are surrounded by this wonderful cloud of witnesses, and the work, the faithfulness, goes on even now. That’s what most pleases me."

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The man on the couch said, to no one in particular, "I like this Jesus." His wife, thinking the comment was directed toward her, said, "Well, yeah, but I can’t get over how dark he is." Again, the practiced wave of the hand. Then, trying to redeem herself, she said, "But he does say nice things about our church." Then the show came back on.

"What most disappoints you?" Stone asked.

"That’s why I’m here," Jesus said. "I was on fire, and came to bring fire, to set people’s hearts on fire, so that nothing in their lives mattered more than their single-minded devotion to God, the God that I showed them by my life, and by my death. Fire like that is so exciting, so transforming, but it’s also so upsetting. It’s like a forest fire, that burns hot and seems to destroy everything, but did you know that giant sequoias, those towers of the woodlands, can’t germinate without forest fires? They need the fire for new growth."

"People are like that. People need fire for new growth. It’s not comfortable, and I knew it would cause division. I said it would even destroy families, father against son, mother against daughter. . . ."

Stone interrupted: "Those comments have been very controversial," he said, "and many people. . . ." Jesus stared at him. He would answer questions (uncharacteristically), but he would not be interrupted. Stone, uncharacteristically, stopped talking in mid sentence. "Excuse me," he said.

"I knew it would cause division," Jesus continued, "when people’s hearts were on fire for God in a world so unjust, so uncaring, so cold. Even families would be torn apart. But nothing, nothing, can be more important than the mission, the conversion, the transformation of people into messengers, into my eyes and hands and feet. Nothing. I came to bring fire!"

There was a short pause. Stone felt like he should ask a question here, but he did not.

"But," Jesus continued, quiet now, "it seemed very clear to me that everything about my life and, especially, my death said that my followers were to be those who suffer because of division, who are on the receiving end of taunts and rejection. But I find that all too often, my followers have initiated division, have caused violence, have asserted positions of privilege in my name and become oppressors. My heart breaks when I think of what has been done to the Jews, the Muslims, what the church has even done to my own followers. So often in my name they took the fire that should have been burning in their own hearts and they used it to burn others. That, Mr. Philips, is very disappointing to me."

Stone’s voice again: "We’ll have more after these messages."

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This time the man and the woman on the couch watched silently. They were both vaguely uncomfortable. Something was stirring in each of them, but they didn’t talk about it, so they didn’t know that very different things were stirring in them.

"And now more of our exclusive interview with Jesus," Stone said.

"I’ll tell you what else disappoints me," Jesus continued. "It’s related, but different. I came to bring fire, Mr. Philips, fire in people’s hearts. I came telling them and showing them with my life that faith is exciting — and consuming. That the conflict should have come to them because their whole lives, their whole understanding of everything, had been changed into something that would upset the world, that might upset their family. But so often that fire, that passion for God, that passion for justice, that passion for the dignity of every human being, that passion that should have burned in their hearts, was cooled. Cooled in the name of harmony. Cooled in the name of the status quo. Cooled in the name of ‘not changing too fast.’ Cooled in the name of not rocking the boat. Cooled in the name of social propriety. Cooled in the name of practicality. Cooled in the name of embarrassment. Cooled in the name of tradition. Cooled in the name of budgets, and buildings. Cooled in the name of plain old fear. Cooled. They found a thousand reasons and a thousand ways to cool the fire I brought to the earth, until they finally made me as cold as the stained glass in their churches."

"And that, Mr. Philips, is a grievous disappointment to me. Because I did not come to spread a lukewarm message; I did not come to make the faith convenient; I did not come to make tepid Christians. I came, Mr. Philips, to bring —
fire. Fire! FIRE!!!"

The scene switched to Stone, back in the studio: "We’d like to know what you think. Log onto our web site [the address appeared on the screen] so you can vote. Are you willing to follow this man who wants to set your heart, and, by his own admission, even your world on fire? Or do you think his approach is too radical, and our churches should be dedicated to stability, harmony, and charity? We’ll be back next week with your answers."

"Thanks, Stone," Katie said.

There was silence on the couch for a moment. Finally the man jumped up, and, pacing back and forth, said, "God, that’s exciting. I want that. I want to devote my life to that. I’m sick of all that cold talk in that cold church. I want that passion; I want that dedication; that is what life is really about. I want to follow that man. I want us to dedicate our lives to his message."

She looked at him with horror.

And so, there was division.

You folks at church this morning don’t have to log on. You can vote this morning, with your hearts, with your feet as you come to the rail. Are you willing to follow this man who wants to set your heart, and even your world on fire? Or do you think his approach is too radical, and our church should be dedicated to stability, harmony, and charity?

Your answer will, of course, be known only to you and God, but it’s a pretty good bet that the rest of us will be able to tell — by whether you get up off the couch.