Let us pray. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Last week, we had a look at Luke verses 32 through 40. In that section of his Gospel, the lesson was the need to be prepared for the return of Jesus. Today, I invite you to take another step along the way together in our faith journey. The theme I would like to encounter with you is – ‘Why did Jesus come?’ 

I am completely sure that each of us here has an idea about why Jesus Christ came to be amongst us 2000 years ago. At some point in our lives, either someone else has expressed their views, or we have read enough of the Bible to form our own opinion. We may say that Jesus was, and is, because we need an absolute in our lives, an excellent example to follow, a set of simple rules of life to lean on, or indeed a reason just to carry on with our everyday existence. We may say that we need closeness with God, a means of identifying with His creation in a personal way. And we may also recognize the need for a kind of love, which can only be derived from a heavenly supernatural force. We would, I hope, agree that all the above are true, but there is so much more that we could go on for hours in praise of what Jesus means to us as Christ-ians.

However, our purpose here today is to hear what Jesus himself says about his reason for being born amongst us. 

Verse 49 reads -  “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.” 

Not exactly the picture we might normally have, is it? Whenever there is a disagreement, even among friends, it can get pretty hot, can’t it? Heated and pointed words, often unbecoming to the people in the situation, may be exchanged. Strong feelings rise up, opinions and wills become divided. If the discussion goes on long enough, sometimes if there is no amicable solution reached, a serious and long-lasting rift may occur. 

Jesus wanted a fire of refining, of purification and judgement to spread throughout the world. 

Matthew 7, verse 19 reads – “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”. Does that not apply to our own view of pruning today? Even with today’s headlines of raging forest fires, most caused by either lightning or human carelessness, there are fires, which are deliberately set in order to clear choking underbrush from stifling good forest growth.

Jesus wants us to be impassioned with love for him, for one another. In Revelation 3 verse 15, we read – “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot.” A clear and emphatic decision is called for.

The next verse, from the NRSV – “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”  If our Lord was stressed, I think we’d better pay attention. He of course knew precisely why he had come, and expressed his extreme urgency of the need to do his work quickly. There was not a moment to lose. Just as we saw last Sunday, being prepared starts now! A brand new life in Christ awaits for those who repent of their sins and transgressions, and are forgiven and given a fresh start.

Verse 51 reads - “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Again, not the conventional picture of peace on earth, is it? The Israelites had been longing for a political leader who could better their lot. Many looked to Jesus as a solution to their quest. Even today, with the mid-east crisis between Israel, the Palestinian and Arab nations and Egypt in a state of continuous turmoil, a solution, a saviour seems ever so elusive. Jesus was telling his followers, indeed all that would listen that he was the long-awaited Messiah.

In the 1980 and 1995 referenda on the separation of Quebec from Canada, there were many families, both in Quebec and elsewhere, who became split within themselves regarding their political bent. Father and daughter said ‘no’, mother and son said ‘yes’. So, just as the country became polarized, so did entire families and groups. People who had lived in relative peace all their lives until those fateful days in May and December were then confronted with a decision. Those who voted had to decide to either include or exclude Quebec, to be counted as Canadian or as something else.

Jesus, too, was calling for people everywhere to take a stand – to receive him as Lord and Saviour of the world, on an individual basis. Here in the western world, we have a relatively safe and benign life, in terms of overall freedom. We enjoy unheralded access to mobility, the right to assemble, to form new political parties, and countless other privileges of our democratic society. Our country is the envy of the world. And why is that? One of the reasons is the very freedom we cherish. Our founders came here to explore and to flee the tyranny of the Old World. If you don’t think we have it soft here when it comes to expressing our Christianity, take a trip to China, or Russia or Turkey or Afghanistan. The list is lengthy. Thankfully, our founders framed our new country with the Bible. Check out Psalm 72 verse 8 – “May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth”. But even then, choices were made for God, and to fulfill His will for Canada. The author of the Alpha course, Nicky Gumbel perhaps best states our need to decide about our faith this way: ‘just because you’re born in a Macdonald’s, it does not make you a hamburger’. To call us a Christian country would be an equal misnomer. If we are to return to our founding roots, to declare Canada as a Christian nation, then we, you and I must decide on a personal basis where we stand with God. It is only through a decision FOR Christ that peace can reign in our hearts and in our neighbourhoods. It has also been said, that only in this way can our true potential and destiny as a nation be realized.

Let me bring this message even closer to home. Christ calls us out of the world, to be separate from the world and to go about correcting the evil and sin of the world. In a family, when any of its members continues to walk toward the grave without turning to God, the believer then struggles to witness to their loved ones, no matter what opposition there might be. Members of the family can often become very rebellious against these efforts. If the family member is involved in evil practices, there is a natural conflict between the believer and that family member. The person of the world talks primarily about the world and lives for its pursuits. The person of the spirit has God as the primary force of their life. The things of God and His righteousness are paramount. We are to love our families, but we are to love God first. He is our first loyalty. When this order is not present, families cannot realize their potential. This is shown in a lack of commitment, confidence, and meaning. As if to say, you’re born, you suffer this life then you die – that’s it. God cannot look after our families unless He is given His rightful place in our families. Without an invitation to God through Jesus Christ, all manner of strife can and usually does occur, with no spiritual foundation whatsoever. That is why it is critically important to pray for our children or grandchildren daily. Pray for them to come to salvation in Christ. If they already know the Lord, then pray for their faith to increase even more.

Matthew 22, verses 37 and 38 – “He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the greatest and first commandment”. 

In Luke’s Gospel, people did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Many people today do not believe that he is the Messiah. 

In verses 54 and 55 – “He said also 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’”.

It has been said that in our present age, knowledge doubles about every 10 years. As lay persons, we already know more about medicine than expert physicians did 200 years ago. For the most part, we are a well-educated lot, quite adept in the methods of navigating our way through a rather complex and modern society. We have long since surpassed the daily drudgery of shepherding, or fishing, or tending the soil, or needing carpentry as a means of earning a living. Or have we? If we are as clever as we claim to be, why is the world in such a mess? 

I am holding up a printout* from a weather website, easily and freely accessible on the Internet. In fact, our own federal government operates it. It gives current conditions for every community in Canada, a 5-day forecast, and yes, even a moving graphic of clouds and weather as relayed by ground radar and orbiting satellites. There are even more detailed charts and graphs available at websites dedicated to aviation and marine weather forecasts. This certainly feeds into our Canadian obsession with weather. I think Jesus may have had us in mind in these verses I just read. (Repeat verses 54 & 55)

I wish I could hold up a piece of paper, which interprets not earth and sky, but the present times in which we live. Actually, I can – holding up the Bible**. 

Where is our discernment of the times? How perceptive are our spiritual senses? The signs prior to the arrival of Jesus were well documented for centuries in advance. If we are looking at all, what are we looking for? Spectacular signs, miraculous events, irrefutable arguments, astounding truths? Don’t hold your breath if you expect these and others to come from outside of you, as some third party event. God’s greatest concern is to meet you where you are, in your greatest needs, in sickness and sorrow. It is what is on the inside that matters. God, through His son Jesus Christ wants dearly to give us a sign that we are loved, that this generation can be saved, that there is hope. 

In 1 Samuel 16 verse 7b, we read – “for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

It is as we put God first, He will put us first. As He drives by our front door, let us invite Him in. He will never decline the invitation. As His Spirit comes to life and to live within us, our new spiritual eyes will be opened. The words, which Jesus spoke 2000 years ago, will ring true and fresh and relevant. He wants us to be free, forgiven and healed.

Next week it will be my honour to talk about the gift of healing through Jesus. So then my dear brothers and sisters it is as we allow Christ to rule in our lives that we become the people God meant us to be. Then and only then true peace will reign in our hearts and in the world around us. This is the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding. And for this we can truly say – thanks be to God. Amen.
 

* Ref.   http://www.ec.gc.ca/envhome.html

** Ref.  http://gospelcom.net