How many of you are addicted to shopping malls? I know one person who claims to be a first-rate “mallee.” You might not know about every mall in Harris County; but I expect almost all of you have been to Greenspoint. Do you remember the first several trips you made? Were you as disoriented as I was? For the first several times, things looked familiar, but I couldn’t tell which way was Foley’s and which way was Montgomery Ward. Why am I starting today’s reflection with Greenspoint? It’s because today’s gospel leaves me as disoriented and confused as when I first began exploring Greenspoint.
Each Sunday the gospel usually focuses on God’s love for us. But in today’s reading we have what seems to be the exact opposite: Jesus says: “I have come to light a fire on the earth. …. Do you think I’ve come to establish peace on the earth? … I have come for division.” and then he talks about how everyone in the household will be against one another. This hardly seems like the Jesus we usually hear about. That’s why I felt disoriented when I started to pray this passage in preparation for today’s reflection. However, I finally arrived at something that seems to make sense for me. That’s what I want to share with you today
In today’s reflection I want to address two issues: First, what does the gospel passage mean within its own historical context and Second: what might these words mean for us today? In looking at the past and present we should also look at three concepts: loving confrontation, courage, and endurance.
Looking at the history: what impact do you think this gospel message had on the first Christians, the ones for whom the Good News was written? We need to remember that these early Christians were all converts – converts who had been either Jews or pagan gentiles. In those early days in order to follow Christ it might have been very necessary to break away from your family. Just as in our Civil War, brother fought against brother, the early Christians had to forsake their fathers or their sons; their mothers or their daughters in order to follow Christ.
The gospel writers, especially Luke who wrote primarily for Greek Gentiles, recognized this division. Luke wanted to encourage his listeners by recalling sayings of Jesus which re-assured those early Christians that it was acceptable, even necessary, for there to be conflict within the family; and especially between generations, for those who would follow the teachings of Jesus.
The words reported by Luke should not be taken to justify family strife. Instead, we need to understand them as words of encouragement for those who needed such encouragement, for those breaking away from their loved ones in order to become Christians.
I think we also need to understand that Luke was probably also talking about more than just the interactions between father – son and mother – daughter. In those days, the family represented what might be called both “peer-pressure” and “authority-figure pressure.” Luke was not writing just about family conflicts but also, about potential conflicts between friends; between people at the same level; or between people of lower and higher status.
There is another encouragement I believe Luke was offering through the words of Jesus. I think he was saying that avoiding confrontation when confrontation is needed, is not Christ-like. Sometimes we get the impression that early Christians, and maybe modern Christians, were being taught how to be “wimps.” After all, they were told: you should turn the other cheek; love your enemy; do good to those who hate you. Some people would say that this is how a “wimp” might act: to let everyone walk over him.
But that’s far from being the case. The early Christians were risk-takers. The early martyrs prove that. The lives of the saints show that being a Christian is not being a “wimp.” It takes immense courage to turn the other cheek; to love those who persecute you; to do good for those who hate you. It’s that kind of courage that Luke is writing about when he says that households will be divided.
Early Christians would need to stand up to immense peer-pressure and pressure from higher authorities in order to be Christians. They would need the courage to endure the hate and misunderstanding of relatives and former friends. With this background in mind, what can we say about the relevance of this Gospel reading in our own lives today?
First of all, this reading seems to call us to recognize a need for what might be called “loving confrontation.” Many of us try to function using the slogan: “peace at any price.” We tend to avoid any and all confrontations: with our spouse, or our kids, or with our friends. Sometimes we put off hard decisions in order to preserve a fragile peace.
To counter the slogan of “peace at any price,” perhaps today·s gospel is calling us to engage in loving confrontation. Maybe there is a need to challenge someone in order to initiate a change. This is certainly true in major areas involving moral questions. Is it ever appropriate to remain silent on questions of abortion or of child abuse? What about pornography? Can one be a Christian and not take a stand on social issues such as apartheid, the sanctuary movement, poverty, or arms control?
But now comes the real question in all of this: how do I know the Christian position in any of these questions? How do I know wtlen it is necessary to engage in loving confrontation? What should I challenge in order to bring about change?
It’s one thing to say it’s acceptable for there to be confrontation. It is another thing to determine under what circumstances this confrontation should take. In order to engage in loving confrontation, I need to engage, first, in an effort of discernment. I need to distinguish what is God’s will from what is my will. I need to tell the difference between what God wants and what I expect.
And it’s not enough for me to take the position that whatever I say might be God’s will is really God’s will. I need to allow God’s will to shape me and not the other way ’round. That’s what discernment is all about: listening through prayer to learn what God’s will is. There are many approaches to discernment and how to understand the difference between God’s will and my own desires. For now, I want to mention only one aspect of discernment: the internal Peace of Christ.
In today’s gospel we heard Jesus say: “I did not come to establish peace on the earth.” Yet, we know that Jesus did give his disciples his peace. And at each mass we wish one another the peace of Christ. So, did Jesus give peace or not?
I believe we need to distinguish between the peace of this world and the peace of Christ. The peace of Christ is not worldly tranquility. It is not complacency. The peace of Christ is not external. It is internal. The peace of Christ is a gift from God. It is the internal feeling that comes when I have, indeed, discerned the will of God and made his will my will. That is the outcome of true discernment: the internal peace of Christ,
A few minutes ago, I spoke about the need for loving confrontation, for challenging in order to initiate change. Rather than focusing on the loving confrontation of others, how about loving self-confrontation? instead of talking about “peer-pressure” or “authority-pressure” maybe I should challenge myself in order to initiate a change. Perhaps my own moral attitudes need to be sharpened. Maybe I need the courage to act on my moral convictions; to have the courage to speak out about injustice; to do something meaningful about the hunger and poverty of others.
For some it might be the need to break off a damaging relationship or to conquer an addiction. In order to change ourselves or to help others change, each of us needs the courage to endure – to endure during the undertaking of our challenge and to endure the consequences of that challenge.
In our First Reading, the prophet Jeremiah exhibited both kinds of endurance: the hardship of speaking out and the hardship of being cast into the well, because of what he said. Yet both this First Reading and the Letter of Paul offer us hope in our endurance, because of the pleading of another person. Because of the one called Ebed-Melech, the Cushite, Jeremiah was released from the well, and Paul tells us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. We each have our own Ebed-Melech to help us; our own cloud of witnesses to help us “persevere in running the race which lies ahead.”
Yet, at times, perhaps I am called to be an Ebed-Melech for another Jeremiah. I, too, am part of the cloud of witnesses for another person, Is today your day to be part of the cheering crowd or to be the runner? Today, are you the prophet Jeremiah engaged in loving confrontation? Or are you Ebed-Melech who comes to the aid of one who is suffering for his beliefs? But whoever you are: may the Peace of Christ be with you.
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time; August 17, 1986
Jer 38:4-6, 8-10; Heb 12:1-4; Lk 12:49-53