“Did Jesus Really Bring Division?”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – August 14, 2016

Centenary United Methodist Church

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 12:49-56

    Last week we discussed how we might test the universal nature of Jesus' teachings for all humanity past, present and future. The Golden Rule was cited as one of these teachings.  Many of Jesus' teachings have their roots in this Rule that states, "Care for others in the same manner and spirit that you would like others to care for you."  (Matthew 7:12)  Variations of this teaching can be found in all religions.

    This morning we are going to test how inclusive another teaching is for all humanity. This teaching is among the most bizarre that has been attributed to Jesus.  He taught, "Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the world?  The answer is 'No!'"  I have not come to bring peace, but division." (Luke 12:51)  The Gospel of Matthew uses even stronger language: "No, I have not come to bring peace but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)

    It is highly likely these words were used repeatedly to justify the Crusades that lasted 196 years.  In 1095 AD, Pope Urban II called forth Christians to help the Byzantines free the city of Jerusalem from Islamic rule.  Was Jesus really calling for a Holy War when he said that he was bringing division among loved ones within families? (Luke 12:52)       

    As it is with almost every lesson of life, people bring to each of them an interpretation that comes from their orientation toward life, from their sense of justice and from what they feel compelled to defend.

    It has always fascinated many Americans that in spite of how carefully the authors were in creating precise language when they wrote The Constitution of the United States, the document can be interpreted in vastly different ways.  Often the U.S. Supreme Court has a split decision on a number of cases brought before it.  These decisions are made along the party lines by liberal and conservative judges.  Most readers of the Constitution assume that something is either right or wrong.  Why are there such differences of opinion?

    One answer for such differences came from a man that spent a lot of time crafting the document.  Ben Franklin once stated:

When you assemble a number of people in order to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those people all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests and their selfish points of view.

    If we can experience a carefully worded document being interpreted so differently by trained practitioners of the justice system in the United States, how can we expect to have a correct interpretation of various Biblical passages?

    A person could read one hundred different sermons on Jesus' parable of The Prodigal Son, and come away with the same number of unique interpretations.  There are so many attractive themes in that parable. One could easily conclude that as holy as the Bible is for many people, each person will hold on to the interpretation they were given by some pastor or teacher, or the meaning they want to give to it.  Did Jesus really bring division?  The answer is:  Absolutely!  He did.

    Instead of peace, Jesus said that he brought division between loved one by giving them a different choice to make.  He taught his vision of what life would be like once a person decides to live in The Kingdom of God. The difference that choice can make will definitely divide people, particularly from those who are absolutely committed to remaining bound to the struggles of living in our world.

     The Kingdom is a cluster of values and attitudes governed by unconditional love.  It has little to do with the highly flawed justice system that attempts to be fair toward the world's teaming throngs of people, each with his or her own set of values. 

    Some people volunteered to clean up Bermuda's beaches of glass and debris following the Cup-Match-weekend while others gave little thought to dumping trash and debris near the entrance of Fort Hamilton.

    As we look at our lesson for today, Jesus could not possibly bring peace to a world filled with people who have such diverse points-of-view, values, attitudes and different solutions to the problems that confront humanity. This is the way the world has always been and it is highly likely that it will remain that way because everyone is on a different rung of the ladder of their spiritual evolution.  

    He was teaching love with no strings attached and Christians have serious trouble with doing that.  Many pastors have serious trouble being loving toward others whose actions, beliefs and behaviors are different.  Even today the Church so easily gets off message by creating legislation so that all special interest groups can feel included.   Legislation is useless when it comes to matters of the spirit.  Try passing a law that makes hostile, resentful, hateful and jealous responses illegal.

    Jesus had no problem loving everyone from prostitutes to those who were murdering him.  He knew that each person was experiencing his or her own journey. We can have all the sacred texts in the world, filled with wisdom and specific directions to the path of the good life, but each person understands life by the interpretations he or she brings to each experience.  

    Jesus taught, "Take the log out of your own eye, and you will see more clearly to remove the speck in the eye of your brother and sister."  (Matthew 7:5)  This is among the many teachings that demonstrate the kind of division Jesus was bringing.

    There is something very different about people who have made the choice to live in both worlds and remain at peace.  When I asked our favorite saxophone artist if he would play a piece for our service this morning, he selected, It Is Well with My Soul.  When I heard that, I asked him and those standing around us if they knew the story of how the lyrics came to be written.  None of them remembered hearing it.

    Horatio Spafford was a wealthy attorney that had a thriving legal practice in the Chicago area.  He owned a beautifully appointed home in the suburbs.  He and his wife Anna had four daughters and a son.  

    Being a man of faith, he looked at his material successes as a series of blessings that came from God. He was grateful that God had created him with talents and gifts he could develop and use to make a wonderful living.  He had learned to give back to his church and other benevolent causes.  He often defended indigent clients who could not afford legal services.

    At the height of his successful career, his experiences slowly became more like a modern version of the life of Job.  The reversals for the family began with the death of their 4-year old son from scarlet fever.  Not long after his death, on October 8, 1817, the great Chicago fire destroyed half of his investment properties along Lake Michigan. With 90,000 people now homeless, Horatio and Anna spent most of their remaining wealth helping people to rebuild their lives.

    With most of the healing of Chicago well underway, the Spaffords were leaving for a well-deserved vacation in Europe.  Shortly before they were to leave, an emergency surfaced in Horatio's business.  He decided to send his family ahead on a steamer ship with the understanding that he would meet them early in the next week.

    On the way to Europe, the steamer collided with a British sailing ship. Within 12 minutes the steamer sank three miles to the bottom of the ocean carrying with it the Spafford's four daughters. His wife, Anna, was pulled to safety after she was found clinging to a piece of floating debris.  Of the 307 passengers on that steamer, only 81 survived.

    While on his way to meet his wife in Europe, he sat down in his stateroom onboard another steamer.  Near the location where the two ships had collided, he wrote these words, "When peace like a river, attended my way.  When sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.'"

    Horatio Spafford understood that there are no guarantees even for the faithful while living in the material world. There is a carefully mapped out plan for each of us by God.  Like any well-adjusted fathers, God does not micromanage our lives even when people pray for that kind of direction.  God's plan is universally applicable to everyone.  There are no special favors.  Why?  We have everything we need to bring to life our best and to experience the power that comes from the unfolding of our potential.         

    Horatio Spafford did just that.  He did not cling to regrets over anything that happened during his life.  For sure, he mourned his losses but he was able to let go of them because his spirit was anchored elsewhere.  

    The Buddha taught "Life is sorrowful."  This definition of life could be said by a lot of people because this life is all that they understand. Jesus' Kingdom of God, when accessed within us and developed, helps us to achieve freedom from everything this world has to offer. Once we learn that our environment here is a playground for spiritual development, our lives will soar to heights unknown.

    For those of us that have this orientation toward life, we realize that gold does not glitter, that God does not send us our mates, that how our bodies look does not matter and that even our excellent health eventually leads to a time when we leave these cocoons.

    We become like infants that travel through a birth canal transporting our transiting spirits to the place where we made the decision to come into our solid forms.  We return home having experienced an adventure that resulted from the sum of our choices.  

    Jesus absolutely brought division.  Ironically, those of us that decide to follow him will experience Horatio Spafford's river that fills our spirits with confidence and peace.

    The world's populations may never experience peace.  People cannot experience peace until they learn to purify their thought forms.  This is the division Jesus brought, i.e., those who can and those that cannot.  Those of us who have made the choice to love without counting the cost -- we literally have the potential to have the best of both worlds.