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Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 17, 2025
Jeremiah 23:23-29, Luke 12:49-56
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fire can be the most terrifying thing in the world. Thankfully we’ve had a pretty mild wildfire season so far this year here in Washington state, but over the past couple of years have seen enormous fires that have jumped from wild areas – which need to burn from time to time – to communities densely inhabited by people. It was two years ago this month that we saw fire devastate the community of Lahaina in Hawaii, killing 102 people. This past January we saw fire sweep through L.A. County, destroying 18,000 homes and killing at least 30 people. When fire gets out of control, threatening homes and lives, it is terrifying.
And yet, fire can also be the most comforting thing in the world. Think of a campfire crackling at your campsite. Think of a bonfire on a crisp fall evening, or a fire in the fireplace on a cold winter’s night. Is there anything more relaxing? More mesmerizing? The flickering light, the soothing warmth. Or think of the soft light coming from the flames of candles over a romantic dinner. Or the candles we light at church to mark off our time of worship as sacred time, setting a calming, prayerful mood.
Depending on the context, fire can be either terrifying or comforting. This is how fire works in the Bible too. Fire, both as a symbol or metaphor and as a reality, can be either terrifying or comforting – or even both at the same time!
There’s actually a lot of fire in the Bible. Let’s consider some examples:
God came to Moses in the flames of the burning bush. This was a fire of revelation, of illumination, as God revealed his name as “Yahweh,” meaning “I AM.”
God came to the people of Israel as a pillar of fire. This was a fire of guidance, leading them in the direction he would have them go, leading them towards the Promised Land. It was a fire of comfort, as God reminded them of his presence with them in the dark of night.
There was the altar fire God had established in the tabernacle and later in the temple for burnt offerings. This was a fire of sacrifice, of atonement, of reconciliation, of forgiveness.
God sent fire on Sodom and Gomorrah in response to their wickedness. This was a terrifying fire of judgement.
When Elijah posed that famous challenge to the prophets of Baal, God consumed Elijah’s offering with a fire so fierce it burnt not only the offerings themselves, but the wood and the stones and the ground underneath! This fire showed God’s power, and the impotence of false gods.
There is the metaphorical refiner’s fire that the prophets speak of to describe how God restores his people, burning away the dross. This is a fire of purification.
There is the fire of God’s word, referenced in our first reading for today from Jeremiah, where God asks, “Is not my word like fire?”
There is a fire burning across the pages of scripture, a fire that both terrifies and comforts. Any serious student of scripture knows this.
John the Baptist said that when Jesus came, he would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus confirms this in our gospel reading for today, saying: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled!”
And so we have to ask ourselves – what kind of fire is Jesus talking about? We want to know, right? Is it the fire of God’s presence, the fire of illumination? Is it the fire of guidance and comfort? Is it the fire of judgement? Is it the fire of atonement, of reconciliation, of forgiveness, like the altar fires of the tabernacle and the temple? Is it the fire of purification?
The answer, of course, is…yes! The answer is: “all of the above!” The fire Jesus brings is all those things!
Jesus is the very presence of God. He is God in the flesh, and so he illuminates for us who God really is. Jesus leads and guides us through the wilderness, through the dark of night, through the valley of the shadow and into the Promised Land. Jesus brings judgement. We don’t like to talk about that, but he does. “For judgement I came into this world,” Jesus says in John chapter 9. But the thing about Jesus is that he has not just come to bring the fire of judgement – he has also come to be the altar fire which brings atonement and reconciliation. He is the refiner’s fire which purifies us through the forgiveness of sin.
“I have a baptism with which to be baptized,” Jesus goes on to say, “and what stress I am under until it is completed!” This is a reference to the cross. It is a figurative way to refer to his suffering and death. Jesus will soon be “fully immersed” in God’s plan to save. This is how Jesus will illuminate God’s presence with us. This is how he will lead us into the Promised Land. This is how he will simultaneously judge sin and bring atonement and reconciliation and forgiveness. It all happens through the cross. Jesus knows this won’t be pleasant. He knows it will involve betrayal and suffering and death – thus the stress! – but he is also looking forward to getting this fire lit.
This fire will have some frightening aspects to it. In some ways it will singe. It will burn. “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?” Jesus says, “No, I tell you, but rather division!” What could this mean? Didn’t the angels say that peace is precisely what Jesus the savior would bring? Doesn’t Jesus himself say he will give us peace, peace that the world cannot give us?
Jesus certainly does give us peace. He gives us peace with God. He gives us peace for our souls. He makes even makes peace between peoples in many ways – but not in every way, which is the point he is making here. His coming and his call will indeed create divisions. It will generate heat and hostility, even in some of the relationships we hold most dear. Jesus goes on to list all kinds of relationships which may well be burned as some people come to follow him and others do not. They include some of the closest human relationships we have in life. Houses will be divided, Jesus says. Children and parents will be divided.
For the earliest Christians, this is exactly what happened. Some Jews believed Jesus was the Messiah, while others did not. Before long, those who believed Jesus was the Messiah were kicked out of their synagogues, their faith communities. Some were disowned by their families. Some even faced death.
This still happens today. I know a professor at a Lutheran college in California who had a student from the Middle East. She became a Christian during her time in college. She was promptly disowned by her family and told she shouldn’t return to her home country because her life was in danger due to her conversion.
This division happens in much more subtle, but still painful ways, as well. There are plenty of marriages where one spouse believes and the other does not. Instead of Christian faith being the glue bonding them together, it becomes a source of conflict. I talk to parents and grandparents all the time who are grieving because their children seem to have abandoned the Christian faith. They can’t understand why their grandchildren aren’t baptized or aren’t in Sunday school. Christian faith then becomes a sore spot in the family rather than something that brings family members together. Following Jesus doesn’t always result in peace. Sometimes it brings division. Sometimes it brings conflict. Sometimes households are divided.
This isn’t something Jesus wants to happen. Jesus sanctified the family by being born into one. Jesus blessed weddings and lamented divorce. Jesus upheld the commandments, which includes the honoring of mothers and fathers. Jesus is simply describing a painful reality that many will experience. Sometimes following him will bring divisions, even within families.
“Is not my word like fire?” God says. Indeed it is. Today our scripture readings remind us of this in no uncertain terms. But this same fire that terrifies and troubles us also gives us the sweetest comfort. You have to look closely to see it in our gospel reading for today, but it is there.
The good news in our gospel reading for us today can be seen in the fire in Jesus’ eyes as he talks about what he is about to accomplish. Jesus is determined to complete the work he came to do. He is eager to get this fire lit for all to see, illuminating the atonement he will establish once and for all, reconciling us to God forever. He is eager to bear our judgement for us and to win for us forgiveness for our sin, even though it means bearing a cross. As he speaks with passion about his impending Passion, we see God’s great love for the whole world, a love so great that he sent his only Son to save it. In that fire in his eyes, you can see his great love for you.
This love is being poured into our hearts today through the fire of the Holy Spirit. And so even in the midst of all the divisions we see, all the divisions we so painfully experience for Christ’s sake, we know the comforting warmth of his saving love, and the peace only he can provide.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church