Refining Fire

If you have attended any one of the six Open Forums that the Transition Team has held since last September, then you may recall that we began each session by Centering in Scripture and in Prayer. We did this by following an ancient contemplative practice known as Letio Divina (“sacred reading”).

Lectio Divina is done in this way: A piece of scripture is read slowly three times. Each time participants are invited to consider the text in a different way and, after a brief silence, they are invited to share their response, as they feel led by the Holy Spirit to do so.

When we did this in the Open Forums, we considered each text by pondering these three questions:

First Reading	What word, image, or phrase captures your attention?
Second Reading	What new thing do you hear in the text today?
Third Reading	Is God inviting Holy Trinity to do or be or change in someway through change in someway through this reading?

The beauty of this spiritual practice is that it can be done in community (small groups), as we did in the Open Forums, and it can also be done individually. Either way, it opens us up to listen to God speaking to us through the word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. When done in community, it also opens us up to listen to each other and to learn from each other, as we are led by the Spirit.

I use this practice of sacred reading each week, early in the week, as I study the scripture readings assigned for the coming Sunday and prepare to write a sermon.

Today I’d like to share with you some of my ponderings on a portion of the gospel text we heard this morning, using the three questions from the Lectio Divina practice.

We’ll consider Luke 12:49-51 – you can find this in your bulletin, if you want to follow along.

First Reading: Jesus says, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

First Question: What word, image, or phrase captures your attention?

For me, the image that captures my attention is the fire that Jesus says he has come to cast upon the earth. I picture the blaze of the fire; feel the heat of the fire; see the destruction of the fire. Fire changes the landscape. That makes me think of the refiner’s fire – which gets me singing the piece from  The Messiah – For he’s like…a refiner’s fire…For he’s like..a refiners fire…and who can endure the day of his coming…? (Malachi 3:2). So, Jesus is like a refiner’s fire – a purifying fire – a cleansing fire. He comes to remove contaminants from the earth and from us – that is, the devil and all the forces that defy God; and the powers of this world that rebel against God; and the ways of sin that draw us from God; all the things we renounce as part of our baptism. Jesus has come to refine us; to purify us; to change us. Who among us can endure that?

Second Reading: Jesus says, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

Second Question: What new thing do you hear in the text today?

For me, the new thing I hear is the connection Jesus makes between the fire he is casting on the earth and baptism. Both fire and baptism refine us; purify us; cleanse us; change us.

Now, Jesus says these words to his disciples as they are on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus knows what is ahead for him. He knows that his teaching and preaching has angered both the religious and the political leaders. He has challenged their power and their authority. He has spread division among the people by telling them that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15). Not everyone is willing to repent; to change; to turn back to God; and to believe the good news that God’s love and justice and mercy is meant for all the world.

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, where he will be arrested for speaking out against the Empire and he will be crucified as a political prisoner. Yet, he will rise from that death as a new creation. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus offers abundant life and freedom to those who trust in his word, who are willing to change; who are willing to follow him and give up their own life for the sake of the kingdom of God that has come near.

Death and resurrection is the baptism with which Jesus is to be baptized. This is the baptism to which we are called. This is the baptism that refines us; purifies us; changes us and gives us new life.

Third Reading: Jesus says, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

Third Question: Is God inviting Holy Trinity to do or be or change in someway through this reading?

For me, this is always a focus of my pondering and preaching. Another way I sometimes ask the question is What is the Holy Spirit saying to Holy Trinity today?

Today I hear God inviting Holy Trinity to follow Jesus through the refining fire, through baptism, through death and resurrection into new life. I hear God inviting Holy Trinity to change.

I also hear Jesus saying that following him is not easy. Loving our neighbors – and our enemies – is hard work. Giving up one’s own life for the sake of the world is challenging. Speaking truth to power – in a world that values power and wealth over justice and mercy – is daunting. We can expect division and disagreement; we can expect to be misunderstood; we can expect anger.

Yet, we can also expect peace. Oh, not the kind of peace we think the world can give us, if we only we maintain the status quo and don’t rock the boat and don’t speak out about the injustices all around us. That is a false kind of peace.

The peace Jesus gives us is best described as shalom – wholeness, completeness, fullness, wellness. It is “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, (that) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7). This is the true peace that comes from listening to God and following Jesus, as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Today I hear God inviting Holy Trinity to follow Jesus through the refining fire, through the cleansing water of your baptism, into the new life and peace that Jesus gives to you in the kingdom of God, now and forever.