Sunday Aug 15, 2010 – Pentecost IX
“Faith In Jesus In Our World Today”
Luke 12:49-56
“Jesus said: “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 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, and in-laws against one another.”
“Jesus 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?”
The Gospel of The Lord! Thanks Be to God!
Jesus can be pretty blunt at times. Obeying God’s call to us can cause some problems in a family, in a congregation, in a church as well as in the world. Some people do not share the trust in God as we do. Some people want to use God for their own selfish ways. Some people do not believe in God at all. We see divisions of all sorts from time to time. So often we hear the ugly argument, “I’m Right and You Are Wrong! Period!” The relationship is over and enmity begins to destroy friendship, family and any positive relationship that was shared. Jesus predicts that this will happen and He urges us to review what He taught about God’s relationship with us. So often we forget that God has created all of us to be special and so there are many differences. Jesus teaches us and reminds us that what God wants done is paramount and not our own personal interpretation of what we think God intended and what we think God wants done. As I have said before, an understanding of God’s Will begins with individuals who are given God’s gift of spouse and we are God’s gift to that couple who happen to be our parents.
Does that mean that if someone does not have spouse and children, that God does not love them? Certainly not, every one of us has parents who shared God’s love with us to some degree and we love God and we love our parents in return. Each of us is a member of a family and on top of that the congregation is God’s form of family that is to be used to share God’s love to everyone. Each of us has special gifts and talents to be used to serve others and for some persons that gift of talent is God’s resource to be used in service of others. Some individuals have families, some do not. Some are tall, some are short. Some are great cooks, some are good teachers. We are all different. That does not interfere with God’s special call as Jesus taught us that we are to love God and to love one another and to serve others as we have been served. Same issue with divorce. People change and if a marriage does not work out for what ever reason. It is not the end of God’s love for both spouses even if and when a child is involved. The critical issue for both mother and father and as well as for all of us is as life changes in one form or another, how are we continuing to serve God and serving one another, remembering that God’s forgiveness has given each one of us a new start no matter what has happened. Yes, divorce can be ugly. Staying together can be worse if it keeps us from serving others as God intended. Better that we look at what Jesus had in mind for us this morning.
In our text we read that “Jesus said: “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 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, and in-laws against one another.”
This difference of one sort or another may divide a family, trigger a divorce as well as create wars and other social problems as well as a great number of the problems each of us face in living each day in this world. The issue then becomes, is my problem a problem of my doing or is my problem part of the culture that we find ourselves in at this time? Is my problem caused by my attempt to be a responsible member of God’s called family and I try to impose my idea of God on others? Or is it because others try to impose their tradition and culture on me as ultimately what God has in mind and I am not being obedient to God’s Call, well from their point of view?
Jesus predicted in this lesson that there would be differences and there certainly are. In the ELCA presently there is a group called Word Alone that is openly advocating that we all leave the ELCA with all due haste because the ELCA is so evil! Some 300 congregations have done so and here in our Synod some 6 or 7 have left already. That is not the feeling here.
Prince of Peace began as a small friendly family of God, growing in faith and reaching out to express Christian love to one another by witnessing, worshipping, praying, and serving God through word and deed.
After a survey in 1962 by the American Lutheran Church Division of Home Missions found a need for a church in Plymouth Township.
Prince of Peace held its first service on October 7, 1962 and began its building program. The first worship in the new building was on Sunday December 15, 1963. By the end of the first year the membership totaled 204 with 18 baptisms. The present building was dedicated on January 5, 1964.
Many programs began in 1964, with a Mother’s circle, a church softball league was formed, a Cub Scout pack was sponsored among other activities and by the end of 1964 the membership grew to 278 members.
A unique summer chapel was created in 1965 that drew many visitors during the summer.
In September, 1967, A Weekday Nursery School was formed that grew by 1976 to an enrollment of 96 Children. Prince of Peace is still knows as the “little church” where people first went to school.
Prince of Peace has participated in various community programs and changes in parish practices such as having girls as acolytes in 1973 as part of the Key 73 Evangelism Campaign.
In 1976 Prince of Peace sponsored a Vietnamese family through Lutheran World Relief.
The attitude of Prince of Peace from the beginning has been one of a calling to life by grace and not by law which is readily seen in its emphasis on renewal of personal relationships, celebrative worship services and a strong emphasis on lay participation to enable the members to become aware of our common purposes and the common faith that God intends for all of us.
Prince of Peace built on much of this beginning emphasis on community concern. It created a long term relationship with Silver Springs/ Martin Luther School, with the Conshohocken Food Pantry, and a meaningful concern for a program of support for Graterford Prison inmates along with support for members of a nursing home over on Germantown Pike.
This is what sets Prince of Peace apart. Yes there differences that do appear from time to time and they have caused some problems of one kind or another. However, Prince of Peace has continued this basic attitude, which is founded on Jesus teaching that we are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves no matter what they are like. We seek to help others to realize the importance of God’s love for us and to see that we are to share that to the best of our ability. That is why I enjoy being here and why we have so much optimism for the “No Family Left Behind” program that we are starting. May God bless what we are doing as we seek to do what Jesus taught.
““Jesus 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?”
That is what “No Family Left Behind” this program for little churches, parishes and synagogues that we are working on is all about. May God bless what we do together interpreting the present time as we have been blessed again and again working together in the past. Amen