Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Luke 12. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- For Christians, there are few sayings of Jesus that create more pain, heartache, and consternation for us than what is in our text. We have known and believed the great love that God has for us, and we have experienced peace with God, and the peace of God that surpasses understanding, through faith in Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. We know God’s good and gracious will that we all have unity in God’s love, that we “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
- Yet with these words Jesus indicates “THE GREAT DIVIDE” within humanity, a divide which also afflicts our own households and families, and creates division and opposition. It is almost too painful for us to even contemplate, and yet it is our dear Savior and Lord Who speaks these words and bids us to listen. So we must hear Him, and we must consider His Words, and we must come to some resolution about them – especially in terms of where our greatest loyalties are going to be.
- We see in both of our other lessons, from Jeremiah and from the book of Hebrews, that this “GREAT DIVIDE” has existed throughout human history, also within families of old, and even within the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. In these lessons, as well as in Jesus’ own Word, the divisions are deep, irreconcilable, and of great consequence – for the Lord speaks of His Word as being like fire, and a hammer that that breaks the rock in pieces, and Jesus speaks of “casting fire on the earth.”
- So we must listen carefully and understand the nature of “THE GREAT DIVIDE,” and our own place on the one side or the other. First, that:
I. The Great Divide Of Humanity Centers In Jesus Christ
Text: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
A. The Great Divide Is First And Foremost One Of Faith In Jesus Versus Unbelief, Impenitence, And Rebellion Against God
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life, but whoever does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
B. The Great Divide Also Involves God’s Word Versus The Words Of The False Prophets
Jer. 23:16ff “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the Word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you,” and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say “No disaster shall come upon you.”
C. So Also The Great Divide Involves The Great Cosmic Battle Between Good And Evil
Heb. 11:29,30 “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. . . By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
Statement: It may seem to us an insignificant thing, that all of this hubbub should be made over mere “religious” ideas and differences. But to treat matters of faith and the God’s Word as if they were mere “opinions” and the fabrications of man already puts one “against” the Lord Jesus Christ and against God, the only True and Living God – for He claims to speak, and He opposes all “human” revelations, and it is He Who has sent His Son Jesus and proclaimed Him to be the Savior of the world, in His bitter suffering and death and in His glorious resurrection. Likewise it is God Who through His Word calls all men to repent of our sin, and to take refuge in His gracious forgiveness, mercy, and love in Christ Jesus. To consider all of this to be mere “opinion,” or even to consider it to be “not all that significant” is a gross ignorance and disregard for both reality and history, and of God Himself.
What does rejection of God yield and produce? Immorality, perversion, violence, anarchy, ignorance of the ways of love, idolatry and rebellion against all that is good. Stop and consider how life goes where people are ignorant of Jesus and left to live as they best see fit! How are things going in the Middle East, in Africa, in India, and in China? Are things better in Europe – morally and spiritually – since the majority of people have rejected Christ and the Word of God? And over the past 50 years in America, as people have generally moved out of the churches, how has our national life gone – for the better, or for the worse? The massacre of millions of unborn babies, the proliferation of divorce, nearly 50% of all children now born out of wedlock, unmarried women having children with numerous different men, the breakdown of the family, all the problems this brings to our educational system, the proliferation of drug addiction and gang violence. News of these things used to be shocking and horrifying; now it is the daily grist of the news, and all quite “normal.”
Application: Now there are some who want to live this way – and some who perhaps don’t understand the relationship between unbelief and rejection of Jesus and these horrid social ills. Regardless, it is obvious what “THE GREAT DIVIDE” involves, and that there can be no peaceful reconciliation of these two opposing “faiths” and movements. Certainly God, Who is good, holy, and love is not going to give up and change Himself, His mind, and His good and gracious will for mankind. Obviously, He does not expect us to give up either. It is apparent that the side of evil is not going to give up either – and that means “THE GREAT DIVIDE” is going to persist.
And we have to consider what part we are going to take, what side we are going to join, and what agenda we are going to advocate – whether we are going to also call people to repentance and faith in Jesus, or whether we are going to approve of the agenda of the opposition by actively advocating their positions, or by tacit approval of their agenda with our silence. But if we speak out for God’s agenda, it is certain that we will experience the pressure and force of those who reject Him. There is no other way.
Transition: And this brings us to the sorrow and consternation of Jesus’ Words, for:
II. Christ And His Word Create Deep And Pervasive Division
A. Severing Even Families
Text: “For from now on in one house there will be fived divided, three against two, and two against three. 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.”
B. Friendships Also Will Be Severed
James 4:4 “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
C. In Fact, The Whole World Of Humanity Is Divided Over Christ
2 Cor. 2:15,16 “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.”
Statement: It is not that we want this “GREAT DIVIDE” any more than God desires it. After all “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” and “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” So also we desire that all should receive God’s love and gift of salvation in Christ Jesus.
Application: So let us be sure that we understand this – we exacerbate “THE GREAT DIVIDE” only by our patient and persistent witness to Christ, calling others to repentance and faith in Jesus, and by our refusal to participate or endorse the evils of our time. The real antagonism and animosity comes from the other side, those whose guilty consciences are inflamed by those who witness to the truth and genuine love. Sadly, this may actualize even from close family and friends.
Conclusion: Likewise, we should understand all of this properly, so that we are not surprised or offended by the fact that God’s fire is coming for those who reject His clemency and love and plunge themselves and others into the flames of sinful passions and self-destruction. It is sad for us – there is no question about this. But there is only so much that we can do for others, and it does us no good to destroy ourselves out of compassion and loyalty to others who care so little about themselves.
May the Lord Jesus Himself comfort us over “THE GREAT DIVIDE,” that we continue in His love, bearing the trials and troubles that this brings to us. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.