Finding Faith ... in the fact that 'we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses'

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Aug. 17, 2022.

This week's gospel: Luke 12:49-56

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 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.”

Interpreting the Time

54 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. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 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 message:

Who-o-wie! .. If you ever had the notion that it’s easy to be a Christian … a follower of Christ, then tonight’s collection of scriptures may come as a surprise.

We only read a couple of the scriptures, but if you take a look at the entire set, it’s eye-opening!

In Jeremiah, the Lord says: “Is not my word like fire, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

In the Hebrews reading, we are reminded of the plight of the Israelites as they fled through the Red Sea to escape the Egyptians. … Pretty harrowing escape there!

We’re reminded of all those who perished in Jericho because of their disobedience.

And we’re also reminded of many of our biblical heroes who conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war … and put foreign armies to flight.

And those were just our heroes!

Hebrews also mentions the many more believers that were mocked and flogged, put in chains and imprisoned … and even stoned to death! … All because of their faith.

Finally, in the gospel from Luke tonight, Jesus himself tells us that he “came to bring fire to the earth,” and to sow division. … He wasn’t here to bring peace, but in fact his presence would inevitably divide even households over who was faithful and who wasn’t.

It’s all pretty serious scripture … enough so to make us take pause, considering so often I stand up here and preach about God’s love and forgiveness.

So, just what exactly is going on here?

Well, we’re entering a several week phase of the gospel of Luke in which Jesus’ message will sound a bit more intense.

And the challenging aspect for us as Jesus’ faithful is … just how exactly do we balance this kind of messaging against our Savior’s normal stance of love and mercy?

It’s no easy task.

So to begin to help us comprehend tonight’s scriptures, I think we have to begin with trying to understand Jesus’ turn in his message.

Which -- I want to note -- shouldn’t be misunderstood as a departure from love and mercy, but rather a reiteration that God’s job -- and thus Jesus’ too -- is to refine the faith of believers here on earth so that it becomes a faith to be modeled after.

So who here tonight has a good understanding of what refinement means?

Well, I know those here in agriculture would. … Because you all harvest a crop that eventually will be refined, don’t you?

The definition of refining is to remove the impurities from a substance to obtain something more desirable or valuable.

Think about the minerals or gems that we extract from the earth. They’re often put through a process of refinement to obtain a purer mineral or a more beautiful gem.

And there are so many other everyday examples of refinement. … Some of you might even desire that my sermons go under some refinement!

I always enjoy the short description of the week’s scriptures that we find on the front of our bulletin. … But I think this week’s description, in particular, is very helpful.

In that text, we are told that “The word of God is a refining fire.”

In other words, we are to use our scriptures -- I think especially the challenging verses we heard tonight -- to help refine our faith. … To help us be a little more self critical about what our faith demands of us, so that the faith that comes out the other side of that introspection is purer.

Our faith is supposed to be a faith that leads us to action, after all. … Because that IS faith’s purpose.

It’s important to understand that the purest faith is one that changes us, leads us to transfiguration. … Helps us move from ideology to action.

Ok, so God’s word is refining. Lesson one from the bulletin. Got it!

So, what else does that bulletin tell us?

It tells us that Jesus is the great divide in human history. And that he is calling for our attention and devotion.

Remember, we started this sermon talking about how it isn’t easy being a follower of Christ. … And in today’s gospel Jesus isn’t mincing any words. … He isn’t apologizing that we are called to a more refined faith.

Jesus is very up front that he was here on this earth to separate those with weak faiths from those with strong faiths … purer faiths. … God sent his only son here to refine us!

And while most often we hear the Messiah preach of love and mercy, he also does not want us to forget that something is expected of us believers … as God’s faithful.

So, in a nutshell, I think the best way to describe this week’s set of scriptures is to call it … a call to action.

These scriptures -- and in Jesus’ own words -- we are reminded that having faith is a good thing. Coming to church, reading your Bible, following the commandments … all good things, of course.

But more importantly, is that God wants us to have a purer faith that moves us beyond mere ideology, beyond mere admiration of Christ for being our savior.

What God wants of us is a faith so deep and pure that we are moved to actually be Christ’s hands and feet right here on earth.

As our Psalm tells us, we are not only to believe, but we are to go “save the weak and the orphan. … Defend the humble and needy. … Rescue the weak and the poor; deliver them from the power of the wicked.”

Faith Family, that right there gets at the core of what this week’s scriptures are about.

It is about having a purer faith that gets us beyond mere belief in God, beyond thankfulness for our Lord Jesus Christ …

It’s about that refined faith that moves us to action. … And Jesus walked this earth himself to help us understand that.

Finally, before you despair too much … Because I understand that Jesus’ admonition tonight can feel pretty daunting.

It's important to note that our Hebrews scripture also reminds us that we are not in this effort alone.

In fact, we stand on the shoulders of all of the millions of believers that have come before and stand alongside us even today.

Faith Family, Hebrews reminds us that “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” who will help us to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

And who should we look to as our model? … Of course, Jesus … who is “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

And that is the Good News for this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 … the 10th week after Pentecost. … Amen.