Luke 12:48b-56
Doing What It Takes

"From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that 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:
   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."

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 it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

New Revised Standard Version

We read in the Beatitudes how we are called to be Peacemakers, and we long to be the Peacemakers who are known as the children of God. But we must use God's definition of "peace", not ours.

We can see from the context of this passage that Jesus was talking to his disciples, warning them that his role, and their roles, would be divisive. Jesus describes the divisions as painfully so, deep divisions that rock some of the closest of relationships. But if that is what is needed to bring about the Kingdom of God, then that is what must be.

This is tough! Most of us want to treasure relationships, not challenge and disrupt them. We want to "keep the peace", and some of us are so eager to do so that we make great compromises to avoid upsetting situations. Somehow, we want to believe that achieving "peace and quiet" on the outside will bring us "peace and quiet" on the inside, and it doesn't work that way. When we think about it, we realize we know this to be true.

That's the point of what Jesus said next, directed to the crowds. "Can't you see?" he asked. Knowing God's definition of peace and being faithful to God's calling isn't something only scholars can conclude after years of study. It's as clear to see as the skies were to those crowds -- if we are willing to look. Too many times, we decide it is too uncomfortable to look, because to look is to confront our denial.

What will we do? There are only two choices: base our actions on God's will or on our will. That choice we each must make dozens of times each day. Will we grab for a peace we construct, or do we trust God to make a perfect peace? Will we do as Jesus taught and deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him?