Judgment, Division & Discernment

Why should the content of a talk or sermon only be available to those attending a particular service, and to them, only once? We think it should be made more widely available and accessible. So here is the content of Reverend Neil Britton's sermon, delivered at St Margaret's on Sunday 14th August 2022, and kindly made available for us to share with you:

Luke 12:49-56 

What did Jesus come to bring? The story is told of the composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, who would often be asked to play the piano at salons in the high society of his day. He would often play a quiet piece of his own composition. Those present would listen and, gradually, eyelids would droop and sleep would creep upon them. Then he would end his performance with a discordant crash and roar with laughter as he watched everyone’s shock!

This is something like what Jesus did in this passage that is today’s gospel. He states clearly that he has not come to bring peace, but rather division. Of course, Jesus has brought peace. He has brought peace with God through his death on the cross. He has brought peace among Christian believers, when those who know peace with God live it out among their friends and work colleagues. But he has also brought some startling surprises. We don’t often speak about them and we often avoid them, but we do need to look at them.

Judgment:  “I have come to bring fire in the earth and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). It is not clear to what Jesus was referring when he spoke about fire, but we can draw a comparison with a passage in Isaiah, where Isaiah speaks about a man planting a vineyard. However, to his horror its vines only produce bad fruit (Isaiah 5:1-7). Many of Jesus’ words are far from comfortable and many preachers tend to avoid them in order not to offend their flocks. Jesus, however, was up against people whose character was like rock. They were faithful to the traditions of the elders of their day, resistant to what Jesus taught and refused to take heed to his warnings. They were like bad fruit in a vineyard.

But Jesus also speaks of a baptism he must undergo: “I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50) Here he must be referring to what was waiting for him in Jerusalem; arrest, trial, condemnation and death. Those condemned in this way were considered to be accursed: “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23). However, Paul argues in his letter to the Galatians that, when Christ was crucified, he was indeed under a curse, but it was our curse that he bore there: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galations 3:13). Yes, indeed, Christ preached judgment. But he also bore that judgment himself, in our place, when he was nailed to the cross. Those who put their trust in Christ are thereby freed from that judgment and liberated to live for God.

Are we worried about the final judgment? We ought not to be if we have really put our trust in Christ and in what he has achieved for us by his death on the cross. He has borne the judgment we deserve, in our place. Isn’t that really good news?

Division:  “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?” asked Jesus. “No, I tell you, but division.” (Luke 12:51). Whatever did Jesus mean by that?

There will be division in families. It means quite simply that for many who commit their lives to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, more often than not their families will be bitterly opposed to their new allegiance. That is why Jesus spoke of division within families. In his day, the family unit was sacrosanct. It was within the family that morality was learned. If the family were practising worshippers at the local synagogue, woe betide you if you announced that you were a worshipper of Jesus of Nazareth, a failed Messiah who had ended his life on a cross. Faith in Christ would in those family circles bring division. Jesus warned: “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother …” (Luke 12:53). Those who entered the kingdom of God and made Jesus Lord of their lives would discover, to their cost, that there was a higher loyalty than that of their family.

The challenge for those who would accept Jesus Christ as Lord in the West is different. In Europe, secularism reigns. In many families, a young person who hears the call of Christ on his or her life, and decides to follow him, is likely to meet with mockery and scorn from his parents and siblings. Jesus’ words will mean mockery and cruel laughter in the hope that the poor Christian will have had enough and see some sense. Many, however, do not see sense (as the secularists understand sense) and continue doggedly in the footsteps of the crucified Christ in schools, universities and workplaces in the 21st century.

Discernment:  “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you do not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12:56).

It was only with the death and resurrection of Christ, and with the gift of the Holy Spirit, that the followers of Jesus discovered how to discern what was going on in their world. They saw that, if their contemporaries refused the message of the risen Christ, they would suffer and perish. And perish they did, when Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem in AD 70 and put the city and the temple to the flames. This is why, when Peter called on his hearers at the feast of Pentecost to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, he added: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:38-40).

Today we need preachers and alert Christians who can interpret our own present day and discern where society is going. On the one hand we can discern God’s absence. Both in Europe and in the UK, there is an increase of violence on our streets. In Europe, there is the lack of genuine democracy in the EU, with no mention of the authority of almighty God in its treaties and proposed constitutions.

On the other hand, we can see signs of God’s presence. Here and there the Church is growing. This happens where the good news is proclaimed, where God’s word is taught and where worship is accessible and heartfelt. Such churches are thriving, both in the UK and in Europe. Church growth is happening both in the Church of England as well as in independent churches. One thing is clear. Christendom is no more. We can no longer run our churches just as they were run forty or fifty years ago. If we do, we will see them wither and die. Young people will never come to churches like that. We must discern our calling, as life commitment to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, to be lived out in the local church community, in our families, in our workplaces and in our nation. If that is our aim then we can expect to see church growth in our area.

We can take heart from words of Jesus that he spoke to Peter when he commended his confession of faith in him as the Messiah: “On this rock (of your confession) I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew16:18). All through her history the Church has been face to face with the gates of hell. However, the powers of hell have never been able to destroy her. Church buildings may become empty and be sold to developers. Denominations will come and go. However, the Church, the Body of Christ on earth will never die. There are signs of life with those who have eyes to see. The kingdom of God will be there when earthly powers will have passed away.