Readings:
Sermon:
I wonder how many of us find resonance in the teenage cry of….‘you don’t understand’, quickly followed by a thudding up the stairs and a loud bang as their bedroom door slams.
The perfect relationship we hear of in the trinity - Father, son and Holy spirit in perfect unity (John 17:22-23) is often not the lived reality of our human relationships. Generational division which causes friction between mother – daughter, father – man is nothing new in many households. It is highlighted for us here in today’s gospel reading from Matthew.
But I for one don’t expect to hear Jesus talking about himself in the gospels as one who brings such division. Indeed, every time I read this passage it jars with me anew. I find myself asking how can Jesus the Prince of Peace, who describes peacemakers as being blessed be advocating division, so strongly? How can he be talking in such stark terms? This splitting of households, and divided loyalties seem to clash with so much of Jesus teaching of love and tolerance.
But I also know that each generation is called to proclaim the gospel afresh, with relevance to their contemporaries. It is embedded in the declaration of assent that deacons, priests and bishops agree to before ordination and is an imperative for every Christian.
And in many ways that fresh communication makes absolute sense as the music, hobbies, interests, of one generation are never exactly the same as those who came before, so the ways of communicating and opening up the gospels are bound to be different too.
How have things changed from our parent’s generation to our generation to us? Even ordering a take away….
My parents would have said ‘take away food – what’s that?’
For me a take away means picking up the phone to order and then going and collect it when it is ready.
Now, Generation z order on an App and food turns up at your door - on demand with no human contact required
What comes next drones to deliver maybe..?
The world moves on. Nonetheless, there is often division and upset when new things are introduced and attempts made to do things differently.
So really I should not be surprised at all to find Jesus saying his radical new Kingdom will cause division. In this passage he is really telling it like it is. No sugar coating. He warns his disciples to expect suffering and division as their new actions and different message starts to attract attention.
Yet at the centre of this gospel is a promise that Jesus stays true to those who follow him. “Acknowledge me before others and it will be ok, because I will acknowledge you. Do not be afraid, even in the face of opposition”. Jesus says, “but have courage”.
So, it should be of no surprise to me and Christians today when that when talking of Jesus not everyone responds with curiosity and interest to hear more. The rub comes when that conversation causes division in our households and even in and between our churches. Painful as it is to deal with such situations today’s gospel is clear…
Acknowledge me and I will acknowledge you.
By rooting ourselves in Christ, and finding ways of expressing the gospel in the places where God has sited us, and by using terms that today’s generation can engage with, then despite division, life in all its fullness is to be found.
Questions:
- What causes division in your churches or lives today?
- How might you acknowledge Jesus in that situation and meet the division not with fear but courage rooted in the hope of Christ.