Jesus As Divider

Luke 12:49-56

This past week I was ordering some animated Bible st= ories for use in our new children’s church school program this fall. I ordered three interactive DVDs t= hat included resource books with games, puzzles, and children’s activities for the stories of Jesus’ birth, John the Baptist, and David and Goliath. As I was finalizing = my order on this website, a notice flashed across the screen announcing that, since the order exceeded $30, we would be the recipients of a free Jesus doll. Imagine that in t= hese economic times…a free Jesus doll!

I don’t know how many of you have bought dolls recently but it’s been my observation that you just can’t buy a plain, old, passive doll anymore. Twenty first century dolls are interactive---with computer chips that allow them to talk, walk, do higher mathematics, and other extraordinary functions.

I’m not sure how this Jesus doll is going to be wired, but I suspect, at the very least, Jesus will talk. Imagine if the new Jesus doll could share the Beatitudes. Maybe it would go something like this…You touch the hem of the doll’s garment and you hear the tune, “Jesus Loves Me.” Then you hear Jesus’s voice = break in over the background music, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for th= eirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (hum a few bars) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will= see God.” (hum a few bars) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

But what if they sent us a Jesus doll that spoke the= words from this morning’s gospel reading?&= nbsp; Imagine once again…touching the hem of the doll’s garment and you hear the tune, “Jesus Loves Me.” (hum few bars of the tune). Then you hear Jesus proclaim this message from Luke, “I came to bring fire to earth, and how I wish it = were already kindled!” (hum = a few more bars of the tune). ̶= 0;Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? (hum a few more bars) “No, I tell you, but rather division!”

This just doesn’t seem like the Jesus we know = from our church school days. This doesn’t sound like the Jesus we profess in our Brief Statement of Faith…preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel (Brief Statement lines 10-18). What do you think is = going on in this text?

I took that question to our Tuesday Morning Men̵= 7;s Group this past week. We have adopted the practice of reading the next Sunday’s lectionary passage = and then I ask---if you had to preach this text next Sunday, what would you do = with it? Without hesitation, the f= irst response was---“I’d choose a different text!” Admittedly, that is an option, but= one of the reasons we employ the lectionary----this three year schedule for Sun= day preaching---is so that pastors don’t always preach from their favorite texts. The lectionary provides passages that stretch and challenge preachers as well as their listeners---moving all of us to the edges of our comfort zones so we might ponder the possibilities for new life that seem to lie just beyond our gras= p.

A second possibility for why these words of Jesus se= emed so inconsistent with the Jesus we think we know, might be due to some type = of editorializing within the text. Perhaps this portion of Luke’s gospel was inserted into the document at a later date by a totally different author---that might explain= why it seems foreign or strange to our ears.

Or per= haps the gospel author collected all the Jesus stories and Jesus sayings that were available at the time and lumped them together---without regard to context = or chronology---lumped them in one document for the sake of posterity and it’s that bulk compilation that makes it seem foreign or strange to o= ur ears.

Or maybe we just need to accept it as it is…Je= sus said it, Luke recorded it, and it’s our task to wrestle with it until= we receive some blessing from the encounter.

As we continued to share conversation on Tuesday mor= ning, it became apparent that there were variants in the bible translations as it pertained to verse 50. The Re= vised Standard Version said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how= I am constrained until it is accomplished!” The New Revised Standard Version translates that verse as, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed.” And yet another translation = that morning used the word anxiety, “…what anxiety I am under until = it is completed.”

Jesus was speaking about this work that was yet to be accomplished that will cause divisiveness within households…father against sons….mother against daughter…mother-in-law against daughter in law.

When I think about words like constraint, stress, and anxiety in the context of family relationships---particularly intergenerati= onal family relationships---I am reminded of the 20th century concept of self differentiation. I recently attended a continuing education event that spoke about ways of understanding congregational dynamics and congregational change from the perspective of family systems theory. It was= at this conference that I was reintroduced to this notion of self differentiation. I want to su= ggest this morning that this concept may have application to this morning’s gospel text.

This morning’s worship bulletin has a reproduc= tion of a handout that I received at this conference. I would invite you to turn to it now. Notice the definition of= self differentiation: part of bein= g a healthy person and a healthy congregation is having the ability to be clear about who you are, what your boundaries are, and how best you function. It has to do with the fundamental = issue of identity. Who are we as individuals? What do we believe? How does our identit= y and our belief system effect our relationships with those around us?

Think about this concept in relationship to your own family of origin. The very pr= ocess of self differentiation, of establishing healthy boundaries with family members, and discerning how you best function in relationship with those fa= mily members can be a time of great divisiveness and turmoil within a family sys= tem. It’s a process many of us spend our entire lives working out. But if we are successful in seeing= this process through to a healthy conclusion, it does not have to result in relationships that are cut off or estranged. They may be qualitatively differen= t, but they don’t need to be cut off. Notice the first characteristic of a self differentiated leader---de= fine yourself to others and stay in touch with them.

Healthy boundaries---by definition---will not be bar= riers or stumbling blocks to ongoing relationships. This is, in spite of the fact, the process of developing such boundaries may well have created the experience = of divisiveness and distance. As= those new, healthy boundaries emerge, however, the original relationship can be transformed to assume a qualitatively different nature that’s healthi= er for both parties.

I think this might be the divisiveness Jesus is spea= king about in this morning’s message.&nbs= p; Looking at this text through the lens of self differentiation, I wan= t to suggest that divisiveness and division can be the vehicles for a healthy outcome and a qualitatively different relationship within a family system or within a congregational system.

I used to have a seminary professor that would rail against students who took a biblical text---like I just did--- and psychologized that text using words like stress and anxiety. It was his position that responsib= le students of scripture needed to be in the business of theologizing, not psychologizing. With all due respects to Professor John Alsup, I would argue that the various translatio= ns that use words like stress and anxiety, open the door to psychologizing the text.

However, I do believe there exists a strong theologi= cal corollary to this psychological notion of self differentiation. And Jesus provides the insight in = verse 50 when he says, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (12.50).

What’s Jesus talking about concerning this baptism? Here we are in the 1= 2th chapter of Luke’s gospel. This gospel writer has already recorded Jesus’ baptism in the = Jordan River with John the Baptist back in chapter 3.

I believe the baptism Jesus is referring to is his p= ending death and resurrection. And it’s a metaphor of baptism that gets pushed to the background when we baptize by sprinkling or pouring. It’s only during a full immersion baptism that one is visually reminded that, in baptism, we participate in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In baptism, we = die to what separates us from God and are raised to newness of life in Christ. Our Book of Order continues by say= ing, “Baptism points us back to the grace of God expressed in Jesus Christ, who died for us and was raised for us.&nbs= p; Baptism points us forward to that same Christ who will fulfill God’s purpose in God’s promised future” (W-2.3002).<= /o:p>

Baptism is a sacrament that brings division, separat= ing us from our old self and our constrained, distorted relationship with God and,= by God’s grace, setting us on a path of qualitatively different relationships with God, with family, and with the world around us.

The sacrament of baptism is the cornerstone of our Christian identity. It marks = the beginning of a life long process of Christian love where God’s grace transforms believers ….maturing (us) as hearers of the Word of God, cultivating a deepening prayer life, growing (the faithful) in Christian freedom for the service of God and others, maturing (disciples) in solidari= ty with ever wider circles of community, created and nourished by the Spirit, = and finally, with God’s help, nurturing (within people) a life of thanksgiving and joy (Migliore 177).

Any time we pause to think about baptism or about th= e vows we make at baptism, it seems an appropriate occasion to pause for some self reflection. This morning I wo= uld like to invite you to take the 26 Characteristics of a Self-Differentiated Leader, listed in your bulletin, and hold them up to the relationships in y= our life. Where are the growing e= dges in your personal life? How do= es context affect your ability to self-differentiate? What is it about the family, the w= ork place, or the congregational setting that might produce variations in your ability to self-differentiate? Where is God’s grace at work in your life, making you the pers= on God intends you to be?

And for those of you who want to cast off into even = deeper waters…How might this psychological construct of self-differentiation compare with the Christian doctrine of sanctification---that notion that, through God’s continuing work, and the power of the Holy Spirit, believers grow in grace, and holiness of life, marked by good works? (McKim 247).

For non-believers, as well as those new to the faith= , this morning’s discussion probably sounds foolish and maybe even a bit risky. Foolish in the sense t= hat the language and imagery we are forced to use exposes our feeble attempts to communicate truth that is inexpressible.&n= bsp;

Risky in the sense of not knowing what life must be = like when the most fundamental of human relationships undergoes the kind of divi= sion and separation described in this morning’s text.

I want close this morning’s message with the w= ords of Frederick Buechner. Buechn= er whimsically captures this relationship between foolishness and risk as it pertains to our Christian faith. In the concluding remarks from a sermon celebrating the 200th anniversary of t= he founding of the Congregational Church in Rupert, Vermont, Buechner says,

In the year 1831, it seems, this church was repaired= and several new additions were made. One of them was a new steeple with a bell in it, and once it was set= in place and painted, apparently, an extraordinary event took place. “When the steeple was added,” Howard Mudgett writes in his history, “one agile Lyman Woodard stood on his head in the belfry with his feet toward heaven.”=

That’s the one and only thing I’ve been = able to find out about Lyman Woodard, whoever he was, but it is enough. I love him for doing what he did.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> It was a crazy thing to do. It was a risky thing to do. It ran counter to all standards of= New England practicality and prudence. It stood the whole idea that you’re supposed to be nothing but solemn in church on its head just l= ike Lyman himself standing upside down on his.= And it was also a magical and magnificent and Mozartian thing to do.=

If the Lord is indeed our shepherd, then everything = goes topsy-turvy. Losing becomes f= inding and crying becomes laughing. = The last becomes first and the weak become strong. Instead of life being done in by d= eath in the end as we always supposed, death is done in finally by life in the e= nd. If the Lord is our host at the gre= at feast, then the sky is the limit.

There is plenty of work to be done down here, God knows. To struggle each day t= o walk the paths of righteousness is no pushover, and struggle we must because jus= t as we are fed like sheep in green pastures, we must also feed his sheep, which= are each other. Jesus, our shephe= rd, tells us that. We must help b= ear each other’s burdens. W= e must pray for each other. We must nourish each other, weep with each other, rejoice with each other. Sometimes we must just learn to le= t each other alone. In short, we mus= t love each other. We must never for= get that. But let us never forget Lyman Wood= ard either silhouetted up there against the blue Rupert (Vermont) sky. Let us join him in the belfry with= our feet toward Heaven like his because Heaven is where we are heading. That is our faith and what better = image of faith could there be? It i= s a little crazy. It is a little risky. It sets many a level h= ead wagging. And it is also our r= ichest treasure and the source of our deepest joy and highest hope (Buechner 115).=

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the = Holy Spirit. Amen.

Date: Sunday, Au= gust 19, 2007
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Text: Luke 12: 49-56

Title: Jesus As D= ivider

Doctrine: Sanctification

(Definition: the process or result of God’s continuing work in Christian believers through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Protestant theology this occurs= after justification and is growth in grace and holiness of life marked by good wo= rks (McKim 247).

Focus: God’s grace bestows a new identity on believers that disrupts = and transforms existing patterns of relationships with those around us.

Function: To invite listener’s to name those growing edges in their personal and corporate lives where God’s grace is at work making them the people G= od intended them to be.

References Cited

1. Buechener, Frederick. The Clown in the Belfry. HarperCollins. 1992.

2. McKim, Donald K. Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Grand Rapids/Baker Books. 1996.

3. Migliore, Daniel. Faith Seeking Understanding. Grand Rapids/Eerdmans. 1991.<= /o:p>

26 Characteristics of a Self-Differentiated Leader f= rom the Healthy Congregation Study Guide

By Dr. Peter Steinke

Self Differentiation: Part of being a healthy person and a healthy congregation is having = the ability to be clear about who you are, what your boundaries are, and how be= st you function.

1. Define yourself to others and stay in touch = with them.

2. Regulate your own anxiety.

3. Make a clear distinction between fact and feeling.

4. Profess your own values and beliefs without attacking or judging others.

5. Do not demand that others should think, feel= , or act like you do.

6. Accept differences between others and yourse= lf, knowing that differences alone will not cause differing.

7. Take responsibility for your own anger, frustration, or distress, not accusing others as the cause of your discomfo= rt.

8. Live by your own goals rather than by others’ expectations of you.

9. Refuse to coerce, will, or threaten others i= nto taking responsibility for you (or your pain).

10. Refuse to be coerced, willed, or threatened = by others into taking responsibility for them (or their pain).

11. Form open, one to one relationships with peo= ple, avoiding what is secretive or collusive.

12. Change thoughts of victimization to thought = of what you can do.

13. Gain “space” or “time,R= 21; or “another perspective” to get a clearer picture of things.

14. Contain your own reactivity to the reactivit= y of others.

15. Take a stand and maintain a non-anxious presence.

16. Do not confuse closeness with sameness, or differentiation with isolation.

17. Avoid thinking that sees others as either/or---either good or bad.

18. Look at how you may have contributed to the problem.

19. Accept anxiety, tension, and pain as part of= the human learning process.

20. Cultivate your own imagination rather than concentrate on the conditions you see.

21. Stay in there, persevere, be uncommonly motivated to see it through.

22. Are willing to learn, are intrigued by life,= are challenged by puzzle.

23. Have a clear vision.

24. Use a wide repertoire of responses, are resilient.

25. Allow time for things to process, are patien= t.

26. Accept solitude, standing alone. =