Sermon on Luke 12:49-56

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Over the past few weeks, Jesus’ teachings have become scarier and scarier sounding.

We had the parable of the rich fool, where instead of being able to enjoy his riches, his life was going to end that very night. Then last week, we heard about being ready and staying alert for Jesus’ coming.

This week, we get fire and division and families fighting among themselves.And while the fire Jesus talks about here is metaphorical, I’ve seen too many Southern California wildfires to be comfortable with the image. In today’s Gospel, we see a side of Jesus that’s very different from themeek shepherd we sometimes think of.

Our reading from Jeremiah isn’t much better. It sounds nice at first: sure, God is close by—that’s a good thing! But then, God starts railing against false prophets. We even get another reference to fire. God sounds punitive and harsh here.

“How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart?”

“Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

Our Gospel reading shows Jesus with a similar tone:

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze!”

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

“You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Yikes! This is not the God I’m used to encountering.

And still, something feels so familiar in these readings. Not God’s harshness, but the division and the deceit our readings talk about.It feels like they could be talking directly to us today.

We do have families turning against each other. We live in a politicized and polarized time. At best, holiday meals are often tense. For some, certain family members or even entire branches of the family get cut off. LGBTQ teensget kicked out of their childhood homes. Trans family members get disowned.Families are indeed divided, and people often use (and misuse) the Bible to justify it.

And as for false prophets, you can easily find someone today to tell you whatever you want to hear—whether a newscaster, a social media influencer, a commentator, a politician, a spiritual leader, or a lifestyle guru. Whatever you want to believe, you can find someone to follow.

Division and deceit are everywhere. It’s hard to discern what’s true and what’s meaningful.It’s no wonder our readings for today resonate.

But both the Jeremiah and the Luke passages remind us that God is engaged with our world. God is not far off, and Jesus wants to bring the world-changing power of God’s Beloved Community now.

Our first reading shows us that God cares when people are teaching harmful things in God’s name and won’t passively stand by. God didn’t create the world and then walk away. God is paying attention and will hold people in power accountable.

And our Gospel reading shows us that Jesus isn’t just meek and mild, and that’s a good thing, because it means we have a passionate savior who’s willing and able to turn the world upside down for the sake of God’s justice and mercy.

There’s a reason Jesus got executed. His teachings were a threat to the status quo, to the people in power, and to the Roman Empire that kept peace by the sword. It’s not that Jesus didn’t want peace, but he knew his mission would bring controversy, and he even suffered a violent death for it.

And then, there’s the Hebrews reading we haven’t talked about yet, which chronicles stories of faith throughout the history of God’s people.These are people inspired to action by their faith in God—the God who is nearby and not far off, the God who fills heaven and earth.

They participated in miraculous works, they underwent terrible suffering, they forsook earthly comforts, and they were even killed. The writer of Hebrews was encouraging early Jesus followers in a time of persecution to remain true to their commitment to the Beloved Community. They weren’t the first and wouldn’t be the last to see God’s wonders and to suffer for their trust in God.

Throughout history, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that God has been faithful to God’s people, and they have trusted God, so we can too.

I’ve never been a runner. In fact, I was often dead last in the races in the annual Girl Scout Olympicsas a kid. But somehow, even gasping for breath with a stitch in my side, no one else still running, the cheers of the crowd got me to the finish line.

Despite not being a runner, I’ve always found the end of our Hebrews reading inspiring. I love the image of the great cloud of witnesses watching all of our earthly race: from the triumphs and high fives to all of the hurdles, leg cramps, and maybe even the occasional face plant—they’re rooting for us through it all. I imagine Abraham and Sarah, Queen Esther and John the Baptist, St. Augustine and Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., and my grandparents, and so many others looking on with pride and joy, not judging my human failures, always seeing the best in me and cheering me on, waiting to celebrate together at the finish line.

We often talk about the Beloved Community here and now and our kinship with humanity around the world, but we’re also joined with all those who have gone before us and will come after us: in baptism, at this table, and through God’s love for each and every one of us.No matter what we face, we are not alone.

And when we face challenging readings like Jeremiah and Luke today, we can remember that our God is not passive or far off. God fills heaven and earth. God meets us with passion, wanting the fire of the Holy Spirit to fill the world with God’s justice and mercy.

Just as Jesus isn’t merely meek and mild, simply being nice won’t fix the things in this world that aren’t aligned with the Beloved Community. Being nice won’t get everyone fed or stop wars or end corruption or stop pollution or reverse climate change or protect the human rights of every individual.

It's good to be kind, but that’s not the same thing as being nice. Being nice means not rocking the boat. It means holding your tongue when you disagree, because someone might not like you as much if you speak up.

Being kind means telling the truth in a respectful way. Being kind means siding with the most marginalized, making sure those with the least power are still heard. Being kind means acting from our values, even when it might cause division, even in our own families.

It’s way easier to be nice, but this world needs people who are kind, who stand for community-building values, and who are filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.So, be kind and not just nice. God is with you every step of the way, and you’ve got a whole cloud of witnesses cheering you on.

Sermon on Luke 12:32-40

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

We usually have readings like today’s Gospel during the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas: “Stay awake! Keep watch!”

During that season, we remember that even as the Christ Child came at an unexpected time in an inauspicious place, Christ could come back at any time, so we should always be ready.

That can sound fearful, though, like: “stay on your best behavior or Jesus might catch you doing something bad and punish you for it.Don’t forget that any moment the Second Coming might happen, so you definitely shouldn’t do anything like rest or have fun.”

But Jesus wasn’t trying to scare his followers into submission. In fact, our reading opens with the words “do not be afraid”!

Not only is there the face value meaning, but it also again evokes Advent and Christmas: when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be Jesus’ mother and when the angels announced to the shepherds that Jesus had been born. In both stories, the angels toldthe humans not to fear.

And in our first reading, we read another instance that’s less associated with Christmas: when God promised Abram a multitude of descendants. All of these proclamations of good news started with “do not be afraid.”

Instead of scare tactics, is it possible that our Gospel reading today is actually good news? Yes! And let’s look at how:

Jesus starts by saying that God is pleased to give his hearersthe kingdom. That’s a far cry from “behave or else.” Instead, Jesus is reminding them that by following him, they’ve become a part of the Beloved Community, not just in the future, but here and now. They were part of bringing God’s community of love, joy, and peace to the world around them, making earth a little more as it is in heaven wherever they went.

As we talked about last week, Jesus wants his followers to prioritize relationships over stuff. The parable of the rich fool last week showed that life is meaningless when it’s full of stuff and no one to share it with. This week, Jesus says to invest in what can’t be taken away from you. Stuff decays or gets stolen, but relationships with God and each other are what make life worth living.

So, when Jesus goes on to talk about slaves waiting for their master to come (always a challenging metaphor—it’s uncomfortable when Jesus talks about an unjust and dehumanizing system like enslavement without denouncing it), Jesus isn’t talking about “behave or else” here.

We might expect the slaves to need to wait for their master to keep from getting punished, but that’s not how Jesus tells the story. Notice the master’s surprising behavior: when he gets home, Jesus says he will sit his slaves down and serve them. Not what you’d expect.

As uncomfortable as Jesus’ use of slavery imagery is, he’s talking about a complete reversal of the social order, where the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Kind of sounds like Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, doesn’t it? The rabbi, not to mention God in the flesh, stooped to do the dirtiest, lowliest job that the unluckiest servant normally did.Jesus used this story to declare that Beloved Community upends human hierarchies.

When the Second Coming happens, the people who are living into the Beloved Community, loving and serving their neighbors, will be sat down at God’s banquet that will never end.

But remember that we don’t earn our place at God’s table—it’s there for us from the moment God imagined us into being. We don’t serve our neighbor to earn our invitation into God’s Beloved Community—we’re already here!

We serve our neighbor now, because we recognize the image of God in them, because that’s how we would want to be treated, because God loves us so much that it pours out of our hearts and our hands in the form of service to our neighbor.

That is Beloved Community. That is earth as it is in heaven.

And also, it’s easy to get distracted. Marketing campaigns try to get us to believe we’re not worthy without buying their product.

Society sells us business courses and status symbols that allegedly will help us reach a higher rung on the corporate ladder, regardless of who we step on to get there.

We spend our lives trying to earn a place at a table without wondering if it’s even worth sitting at.

We’re like the rich fool in last week’s parable, trying to find security in stuff, but stuff won’t save us.

Sure, we can pay for top notch healthcare and for someone to diversify our portfolio to maximize profit and minimize risk. We can optimize our schedules to be the most productive. We can network to be invited into the most exclusive and powerful circles. We can have the best security systems to protect our privacy and our belongings.

But none of that will guarantee us love, ensure us a meaningful life, or protect us from death.

Our society spends so much time and effort distracting us from what really matters in life. “Buy this eye cream so you don’t feel like you’re aging.” “Binge this tv show to help you forget the shallowness of your friendships.” “Drink this alcohol to numb your anxiety and this energy drink to override your depression.”

It's all a distraction.

Instead, Jesus says, “Be ready.” Stay awake. Not in an “or else” sense, but in the sense of: “I love you and I don’t want you to miss out on what really satisfies: community, relationships, generosity, joy.”

Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi said, “Never allow pleasure or discomfort to distract you from your path.”

We human beings often want to ignore discomfort and lean into pleasure, but this quote reminds us that both can be distractions from what really matters. Do you want a momentary dopamine hit or the hard work of being in community? Do you want to indulge in complaining or refuse to use discomfort as an excuse to let yourself quit something worth doing?

In our reading, Jesus calls us to the path of Beloved Community. Don’t allow pleasure or discomfort distract you from that path.

We associate the message of our Gospel reading today with Advent and Christmas, but today we’re reading it in the long stretch of Ordinary Time. The commands “keep watch” and “stay awake” aren’t about obsessively policing our behavior so that Jesus won’t catch us doing something we shouldn’t. They’re about being present to what really matters in the day-to-day ordinary times of our ordinary lives.

Jesus invites us to be present to connection and community, the relationships that make life worth living.

Life isn’t about building bigger barns or guarding our stuff carefully against moths and thieves. It’s about loving God and loving our neighbor, living with open hands and open hearts.

Do not be afraid, little flock. The good news is that you are already part of the Beloved Community. Don’t let distractions or human hierarchies make you forget how much God loves you.Let your ordinary time be filled with connection and love.

Sermon on Luke 12:32-40

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

We usually have readings like today’s Gospel during the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas: “Stay awake! Keep watch!”

During that season, we remember that even as the Christ Child came at an unexpected time in an inauspicious place, Christ could come back at any time, so we should always be ready.

That can sound fearful, though, like: “stay on your best behavior or Jesus might catch you doing something bad and punish you for it.Don’t forget that any moment the Second Coming might happen, so you definitely shouldn’t do anything like rest or have fun.”

But Jesus wasn’t trying to scare his followers into submission. In fact, our reading opens with the words “do not be afraid”!

Not only is there the face value meaning, but it also again evokes Advent and Christmas: when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be Jesus’ mother and when the angels announced to the shepherds that Jesus had been born. In both stories, the angels toldthe humans not to fear.

And in our first reading, we read another instance that’s less associated with Christmas: when God promised Abram a multitude of descendants. All of these proclamations of good news started with “do not be afraid.”

Instead of scare tactics, is it possible that our Gospel reading today is actually good news? Yes! And let’s look at how:

Jesus starts by saying that God is pleased to give his hearersthe kingdom. That’s a far cry from “behave or else.” Instead, Jesus is reminding them that by following him, they’ve become a part of the Beloved Community, not just in the future, but here and now. They were part of bringing God’s community of love, joy, and peace to the world around them, making earth a little more as it is in heaven wherever they went.

As we talked about last week, Jesus wants his followers to prioritize relationships over stuff. The parable of the rich fool last week showed that life is meaningless when it’s full of stuff and no one to share it with. This week, Jesus says to invest in what can’t be taken away from you. Stuff decays or gets stolen, but relationships with God and each other are what make life worth living.

So, when Jesus goes on to talk about slaves waiting for their master to come (always a challenging metaphor—it’s uncomfortable when Jesus talks about an unjust and dehumanizing system like enslavement without denouncing it), Jesus isn’t talking about “behave or else” here.

We might expect the slaves to need to wait for their master to keep from getting punished, but that’s not how Jesus tells the story. Notice the master’s surprising behavior: when he gets home, Jesus says he will sit his slaves down and serve them. Not what you’d expect.

As uncomfortable as Jesus’ use of slavery imagery is, he’s talking about a complete reversal of the social order, where the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Kind of sounds like Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, doesn’t it? The rabbi, not to mention God in the flesh, stooped to do the dirtiest, lowliest job that the unluckiest servant normally did.Jesus used this story to declare that Beloved Community upends human hierarchies.

When the Second Coming happens, the people who are living into the Beloved Community, loving and serving their neighbors, will be sat down at God’s banquet that will never end.

But remember that we don’t earn our place at God’s table—it’s there for us from the moment God imagined us into being. We don’t serve our neighbor to earn our invitation into God’s Beloved Community—we’re already here!

We serve our neighbor now, because we recognize the image of God in them, because that’s how we would want to be treated, because God loves us so much that it pours out of our hearts and our hands in the form of service to our neighbor.

That is Beloved Community. That is earth as it is in heaven.

And also, it’s easy to get distracted. Marketing campaigns try to get us to believe we’re not worthy without buying their product.

Society sells us business courses and status symbols that allegedly will help us reach a higher rung on the corporate ladder, regardless of who we step on to get there.

We spend our lives trying to earn a place at a table without wondering if it’s even worth sitting at.

We’re like the rich fool in last week’s parable, trying to find security in stuff, but stuff won’t save us.

Sure, we can pay for top notch healthcare and for someone to diversify our portfolio to maximize profit and minimize risk. We can optimize our schedules to be the most productive. We can network to be invited into the most exclusive and powerful circles. We can have the best security systems to protect our privacy and our belongings.

But none of that will guarantee us love, ensure us a meaningful life, or protect us from death.

Our society spends so much time and effort distracting us from what really matters in life. “Buy this eye cream so you don’t feel like you’re aging.” “Binge this tv show to help you forget the shallowness of your friendships.” “Drink this alcohol to numb your anxiety and this energy drink to override your depression.”

It's all a distraction.

Instead, Jesus says, “Be ready.” Stay awake. Not in an “or else” sense, but in the sense of: “I love you and I don’t want you to miss out on what really satisfies: community, relationships, generosity, joy.”

Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi said, “Never allow pleasure or discomfort to distract you from your path.”

We human beings often want to ignore discomfort and lean into pleasure, but this quote reminds us that both can be distractions from what really matters. Do you want a momentary dopamine hit or the hard work of being in community? Do you want to indulge in complaining or refuse to use discomfort as an excuse to let yourself quit something worth doing?

In our reading, Jesus calls us to the path of Beloved Community. Don’t allow pleasure or discomfort distract you from that path.

We associate the message of our Gospel reading today with Advent and Christmas, but today we’re reading it in the long stretch of Ordinary Time. The commands “keep watch” and “stay awake” aren’t about obsessively policing our behavior so that Jesus won’t catch us doing something we shouldn’t. They’re about being present to what really matters in the day-to-day ordinary times of our ordinary lives.

Jesus invites us to be present to connection and community, the relationships that make life worth living.

Life isn’t about building bigger barns or guarding our stuff carefully against moths and thieves. It’s about loving God and loving our neighbor, living with open hands and open hearts.

Do not be afraid, little flock. The good news is that you are already part of the Beloved Community. Don’t let distractions or human hierarchies make you forget how much God loves you.Let your ordinary time be filled with connection and love.