"Like Fire, Like a Hammer" August 19, 2007 Proper 15, Pentecost 12

(First read the passages for this sermon: Jeremiah 23:23-29; Luke 12:49-56)

When you think of the church, do you think of comfort – or uncomfortable challenge? My guess is that images of comfort prevail.

For instance, what do we often call this room in which we are meeting? Many call this the “sanctuary” – and what is a sanctuary? Isn’t it a place of safety and retreat, solace and comfort?

Many of you have suffered injury or illness or grief, and you have been comforted by the support and consolation of the church. I often hear someone say, “I don’t know how people get through something like this who aren’t part of a church.”

Comfort is certainly what we emphasize in the ministries of the church. That certainly makes us all feel good! Pastors enjoy the warm reception by folks of their pastoral care: the calming presence, the soothing words of prayer. But what about the other edge of the two-edged sword that is the word of God? (Hebrews 4:12) Pastors also know that when they speak the challenging words of gospel imperative too openly and honestly, well, people don’t like to hear such unvarnished judgment on the way we Americans live!

Reinhold Niebuhr once said that the purpose of preaching is to comfort the afflicted – and to afflict the comfortable! You and I have no problem with the first part of that equation, do we? It feels good to be comforted!

But how long would you hang around if I judged you were too comfortable, and quoted too many Biblical teachings which challenge and criticize the way you live as followers of the Christ? Some would become zealous followers of such a demanding gospel, trying their best to live according to its radical imperative. But others would be shocked, because the church would no longer be a comforting place. There would be division. It could be that even members within a family would be divided against each other. It could be that the effect of the gospel would be described in these words: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be 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."
You remember those words, don’t you? I just read them from the gospel reading, from Luke.

This morning’s readings from Jeremiah and Luke are not easy for you and me to hear! In our culture of permissiveness it has come to be that nearly everyone thinks of Jesus exclusively as a person of comfort – that Jesus is our gentle friend, no matter what we do or how we live. But there’s the other edge to the sword. Here are words as from Jesus that we read this morning: "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”

Jesus the Christ is the Word of God, the Word made flesh. And in this morning’s Old Testament passage paired with the gospel text for this day, we read what God declares through Jeremiah: Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Like fire! Like a hammer!

This comes from a section in Jeremiah in which the prophet is opposing false prophets. Why? It is because these prophets were telling God’s people that things were fine – when the people were acting in ways that were not according to the words of justice and mercy they spoke and sang in worship. Jeremiah counters by saying that human beings anger God when they act unfaithfully, and that there are consequences.

Is that Biblical view not true for you and me as well?

It is certainly true that there is an imperative to the gospel. The gospel is all grace – but it is not all comfort. Jesus’ life of voluntary poverty and self-giving love is the model. It is the Word made flesh! So then – compared to that model, am I pleasing God by my actions? It matters how I live! Am I pleasing God by the way I treat my spouse and my family members? By the miles-per-gallon of the car I drive? By the size of the house I live in and the amount of energy it consumes? By the amount of money I give away, as compared with the amount of money I spend on my physical comfort? By the political candidates I support – according to where they stand on issues of war and peace, and care for the poor and the weak? (In the Bible, care for the poor is the most important criterion by which God judges national leaders. Check out this morning’s Psalm, for example: Psalm 82.)

The word of God is a two-edged sword. The word of God is like fire that burns away our arrogant self-righteousness. The word of God is like a hammer that shatters our smug self-justification. We are judged. We are judged to be not ok!

And so, coming to know our desperate need for the grace of God, we are driven to our knees. We pray: “Gracious God, have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you, and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.”

You may recognize those words because you prayed them a few minutes ago, during the order for Confession and Forgiveness. The Word of God is like fire! It is like a hammer! The Word of God condemns us because we turn from God and give ourselves into the power of sin. The burning, hammering Word of God drives us to our knees, desperate for grace.

Only then we are open to receiving that same Word of God as grace-filled comfort, soothing ointment applied to the wound of our sin.

God suffers when we turn away in selfishness and self-centeredness! When we turn back to God, every time we turn back, we find that God’s arms are wide open in merciful welcome. Here are words you also heard spoken during the Confession and Forgiveness: “God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.”

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia