Christ and the Culture War: Luke 12:49-56 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

[Jesus said:] ⁴⁹“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵²From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³they will be divided:
 father against son
  and son against father,
 mother against daughter
  and daughter against mother,
 mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
  and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
  ⁵⁴He 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. ⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (NRSV)

ELCA Facebook page

When my plane landed in Minneapolis for the ELCA Churchwide Assembly two weeks ago, my fingers were crossed that there’d be no controversy.

We don’t need any more schisms to weaken are already-shrinking denomination.

My hopes were dashed on Wednesday afternoon when the assembly voted for the ELCA to become a sanctuary body. In predictable fashion, the ELCA Facebook page filled up with posts from folks who celebrated this as a victory for God’s love. But then, the angry, vitriolic posts appeared: “Martin Luther must be spinning in his grave.” “The ELCA doesn’t care about truth or the bible.” “The church should stay out of politics.” “The ELCA is nothing but a front for the Democratic party.” Then the 24-hour cable news channels grabbed hold of this, and distorted the facts to keep their viewers tuned in.

So who’s to blame for this latest controversy? The Metro New York Synod? Politicians? The media? The people who oppose this decision?

Should I blame Jesus? After all, Jesus says: “I have not come to bring peace, but division.” I have come to turn father against son and son against father, mother against daughter

and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Gulp.)

Our lives are built upon loyalties to groups and the values that bind them together. Jesus’ followers were bound in duty to the religious establishment, the Roman Empire, and most especially, to their kin. All these demanded loyalty through submission. Good Jews obey the scribes and teachers of the law without question. Good Romans pay taxes to the Emperor and respect their place in the social hierarchy—which placed wealthy men at the top; women, children, widows, slaves, aliens, and the poor at the bottom. And if you brought shame upon your family, you would soon find yourself without a family.

Jesus is divisive because he defies worldly values. He redefines salvation as being a free gift of grace, rather than a reward for submission and obedience. Jesus redefines morality and righteousness as the care of neighbor, rather than personal piety and purity. Jesus ascribes value to those who have no value, no voice, no power, nor privilege by virtue of their birthright or masculinity.

Jesus is every bit as divisive today as he was two thousand years ago. Trouble is, we experience division as liberals and conservatives fight for the soul of our country and the church. Worse yet, both claim Jesus as the champion fighting for their cause. But Jesus is not the cause of this division.

When you cleave to a faction or movement, there is always the temptation to worship group values and ideals with religious zeal—believing they have come directly from God. “God is for us. God is not for them.”

But Jesus didn’t come to fight the Culture War. In fact, the Culture War is an affront to the kingdom of God. The Church was never meant to dominate the world. The Church exists to love the world.

No person or tribe can claim righteousness and truth in themselves. Righteousness and truth come only from Christ. Jesus is righteousness. Jesus is truth.

While the world worships wealth, power, success, and self-sufficiency; Jesus forgives unworthy sinners. He seeks out the lost and lifts up the lowly. He rescues people who cannot stand on their own two feet. The Holy Spirit disrupts the status quo and causes change to bring us closer to God’s kingdom.

Those may sound like liberal values—but remember this: a just society must be an orderly society. The meek shall inherit the earth. Obedience to Jesus is the grateful response of people who are saved by grace. Christian freedom is not for personal indulgence but the betterment of the neighbor.

The Church needs the presence of liberals and conservatives for the well-being of the whole—because the Spirit can’t speak in echo chambers. Conflict is both natural and necessary for the health of the church. Difference and diversity in groups prevents tyranny. I will argue that if we’re not experiencing divisions, or being challenged on the values we hold dear, are we really following Christ? After all, if you’ve cornered the market on truth, what do you need Jesus for?

As God’s people, we live not the comfort of our own certainties, but in a shared struggle for truth. But when we welcome Christ’s love into our disagreements, relationships are strengthened. The Church is strengthened. Struggling together, with the Scriptures open and our hands held in prayer, God’s truth is revealed. God will continue speaking until Christ returns. Until then, the love of Christ revealed in the cross is our guiding light.

And, as Jesus taught, you should expect division and detachment from people who are toxic to the life of Christ in you. These persons may be oppressive and abusive to you—or they’re not prepared to detach from the values and loyalties they’ve always known—and go with you.

Because our lives are built on the foundation of loyalties—any separation from those loyalties will feel like death. It’s always easier to ignore Jesus or leave a church than it is to exist apart from the people, the values, and the norms that have been the foundation of your existence. Those you leave behind will make it costly for you to claim new life in Christ. They will tell you that you’ve wandered from the truth and have become unrighteous.

But the good news is that Jesus is with you in the struggle and the search for truth. When you are detached from old loyalties, you will experience Christ’s loyalty. You enter into new relationships with others and a deeper relationship with Christ. Peace is still possible—and not the peace of a fragile consensus, but the peace that comes from trusting God and loving one another as God loves us.