Jesus speaks of dividing a household (Luke 12.52); we live in a divided country and a divided world.
Context
Readers in UK will easily recognise that we live in a deeply divided country. The wounds caused by the Brexit referendum are a long way from being healed. And those wounds run through many of our congregations. But we are not alone. Similar wounds divide many other societies; to cite just some examples, the United States has deeply divisive President, India’s Hindu leadership seems intent on alienating at least some of its Muslim fellow citizens, and in South Sudan two different forces both led by people claiming to be Christian have been at loggerheads.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel Jesus asks, ‘Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?’ and speaks of dividing families. This is difficult teaching, but we do our congregations a disservice if we try to smooth over the issues.
Division is always uncomfortable whether in and between families or in and between countries. Few of us now sing the Victorian hymn:
Once to every man (sic) and nation,
comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side.
However, the truth is that sometimes hard choices have to be made and sometimes division becomes inevitable. There are, of course, ways of expressing our differences which are as kind as possible – and ways which are brutal. Sometimes we may be called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4.15). Christians are called to love both God and our neighbour, and to do that sometimes we need to make a stand, for example, against injustice or discrimination or hypocrisy.
It is intriguing that Jesus’ hard words about division are followed by criticism of those who cannot read the signs of the times. How do we read the signs of our times? Jesus seems to be attacking those who only notice the small details and miss the big picture, those who cannot see the wood for the trees. In our cantankerous society, are many of us missing the real big picture? Certainly Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, among others, are arguing that we are failing to take effective action over climate change. Might climate change be the key sign of the times about which Jesus would warn if he were among us now?
How might Jesus respond to divisions within churches, for example, those between different denominations or those over human sexuality? In our current divisions, I find myself increasingly reminded of the famous saying of Martin Niemöller, 20th century German Lutheran pastor, which begins ‘First they came for’ and ends:
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.
Various versions of this saying have emerged, and Niemöller has offered his own comments on the variety of versions. Does this saying have relevance to our contemporary situation as in churches and in wider society various groups are attacked and even demonised?
In his first Presidential address to the General Synod, Archbishop Rowan Williams said, ‘Mission, it's been said, is finding out what God is doing and joining in’. That was 16 years ago, but is surely relevant in our present dilemmas for all Christian living should be about seeking, as best we can in each generation, to discern what God is doing and join in.
Prayers
This well-known prayer from a 20th century theologian, the American Reinhold Niebuhr, seems appropriate:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
And a theme prayer:
Creator God, when we must make hard choices
help us to do so with integrity and with courage,
neither ducking the issues nor causing unnecessary offence.
Help us always both to discern honestly what you are doing in the world,
and to join in joyfully.
Amen.
Questions
- What are the most divisive issues for you in your family, in your church and in wider society? (See also, from this week's all-age resources, AAA issue 102, page 33, Divisive words).
- What are the key signs of our times? And what should we be doing about them?
- How can we best find out what God is doing around us so that we can join in?
- When people around you disagree, is it best to take sides or to opt out?
All-age activity & Young People
Watch Greta Thunberg’s YouTube video and discuss what you might do about it.
Dudley Coates is a Local Preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit, and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.
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