Luke 12:49-56 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress 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! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
Sermon
The Heartland Film Festival is coming up in October for Indianapolis. Independent film makers from around the world will submit films and movies for the competition. The Festival features offbeat and non-mainstream films that speak to the human condition and highlight human hopes and struggles. Past films have included August Rush and The End of the Spear.
One of the most off-beat films to come out in several years came out in 2007 called Juno. Juno is the movie about a sixteen year old girl whose parents divorced when she was a kid and later re-married. She becomes pregnant by her boyfriend. And rather than terminating the pregnancy, Juno decides to carry the baby to full term and offer it up for adoption. She and her boyfriend find the adoptive couple in a local Thrifty Nickel ad. The climax of her struggle comes near the end of her pregnancy when her boyfriend takes another girl to the prom and the adoptive parents decide to divorce. This is too much for her to take and as she drives home in the family van she pulls to the side of the road and cries. After the crying spell, she goes home and asks her dad “Is it possible for two people who love each other to actually stay together forever?” She wants to know if couples can stay together. Is there any reason to hope? To believe? To expect that people who love each other will be together forever?
I would say that this is not just the question of a sixteen year old girl, but the cry of people across this land. People from North to South and from East to West are asking the question “Is it possible for two people who love each other to stay together forever?” Well I am happy to tell you “yes it is.” God wants you to know that it is entirely possible. Not only is it possible, the Bible says that when Jesus enters the scene of your marriage, it is likely.
We have his words today in Luke chapter 12, “Don’t think that I have come to bring peace to the world, but division.” Matthew adds here “but a sword.”
“From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against
two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
“What!?” you say to me. How in the world is that such good news for families and marriages? You might say to me that you can’t quite see the hope in his words. You might turn away from this notion because you can’t quite see the promise. And that is precisely the point. You can’t see it. But Jesus can see it.
The Bible tells us that Jesus can see things that we can’t see. The Bible tells us that he can see everything. He can see the thoughts of others. He can see others’ intentions. He can see their hearts. He can see the evil spirits. The Bible even says in John that Jesus can see the face of God. There is nothing that Jesus cannot see. He sees it all. You and I, on the other hand, can’t. We can’t see everything.
In fact, you and I can’t actually see the vast majority of what we call reality. Take gravity for example. You can’t see it. You see its effects but the force itself is invisible. Physicists and astronomers tell us that at least 95% of the universe is invisible. It is made up of what they call “dark matter.” It is real. It is as much a part of the physical universe as the donut you ate this morning, but no one can see it. Light is something that is real and is as much a part of the world as the nose on your face, but you can’t see most of it. What you and I do see is just a small sliver, a certain spectrum. The vast majority that passes through this world is invisible to our eyes.
There are realities that shape our lives, direct our actions, and mold our responses that we never even see. This is true not just in the physical world but in our relationships too. Our marriages and families operate amid realities and forces that we cannot see. And these forces that we cannot see shape our marriages and families as much as gravity affects a falling apple.
A month or two ago I was jumping into my hotrod Honda ready to burn some rubber on my way home to see my family when I turned on the radio. And the first voice I heard on the radio was that of Mel Gibson. He was screaming at his new wife. You may know that a few years back he divorced his first wife and mother of his children and married a young model. And as he was screaming at her, apparently she had recorded him saying such vile and vulgar things. Calling her names and accusing her of terrible things. Now, you don’t have to be Dr. Phil to look at Mel Gibson and listen to one of his rants and see that he has issues. He is being influenced by forces he can’t see. He is wrestling with some, shall we say demons. Mel Gibson isn’t the only one wrestling with demons.
It is often these unseen dark forces that spoil our marriages and break up our families. These dark forces often lurk out of our field of view and in our blind-spots. They sneak up on you. Ambush you. Catch you in the dark. How often have you found yourself in a tough situation in your marriage or family because something you couldn’t see. The good news for you is that Jesus sees what you can’t see. He sees what lurks in your blind-spot. Jesus sees what is out of your field of view.
One of my favorite movies is the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart. In the movie he is William Wallace, the kilt-wearing head of a Scottish rebellion against the English. When the rebellion starts to pick up steam, two men show up wanting to join Wallace. Both were unknown. One was Irish and seemed half-crazed. He kept referring to Ireland as his Island. The other seemed normal. One day as William Wallace was in the woods hunting deer, it is a very quiet moment . . . still . . . peaceful as the deer eats off the forest floor. As Wallace takes aim, the deer in his sights, the deer spooks and runs away. Wallace looks up to see the crazed Irish man running at him holding a sword in both hands over his head. As Wallace considers his options, the scraggly looking Irishman hurls his sword in Wallace’s direction. It flies over his shoulder and lands in a would-be assassin’s chest coming up from Wallace’s blind-side. Wallace was unaware of the danger he could not see.
Know this, everyone who comes at you with a sword is not your enemy. When Jesus appears on the scene of your marriage and your family with a sword, it is because he sees something in your marriage or in your family that needs to go. It is a threat to the safety and well-being of your marriage and family. Jesus is not messing around, people. There will be times when he pulls out a sword to take down the dark forces that lurk in your life. He is going to cut ‘em down, slice ‘em away, chop ‘em off. There are things in your marriage that need to go. You may not be able to see them. But Jesus can. There is something in your family that has gotta go.
Jesus knows how much your marriage means to you. He knows how important your family is. That is God’s plan. That is the way God set things up. You remember how when God created the heavens and the earth, God created Adam and Eve for each other. God is the original match-maker. He sets them up, makes the introduction, and officiates at the wedding. And then he tells them to have some kids. They do. Marriage, family, human community is part of God’s original plan. It is part of what is good in the world God made.
You know how good it can be. How you treasure your marriage. How deeply you love your children. It is good. How far would you go to protect it? What would you do to guard your marriage and your family? How far do you think Jesus would go to protect it? He goes so far as giving you a heads up that there will be times when he is going to come into your field of view with a sharp weapon. When he sees danger, he is going to go for its throat. When he sees something that threatens to destroy what God has put together he is going to draw blood. When he sees the dark forces coming up on the blind-side of your marriage or family, don’t be surprised to see him coming toward you with a weapon. Don’t worry. Don’t flinch. Don’t freak- out. Just keep your eyes set right on him. Don’t look left. Don’t look right. Look right at him.
That, really, is the key to keeping your marriage safe – keeping your eyes on Jesus. The biggest mistake you can make as a husband is to make your wife the center of your world. The biggest mistake you make as a wife is to make your husband the be all and end all of your life. Make Jesus Christ the reason you get in the morning. And as you and your loved one, both of you with eyes set the same direction to the Savior, will be as safe as you can get in a world where you cannot see most of what is going on. The same is true for you as parents. Do not make your children the center of your universe. Make Jesus Christ the center of your relationship with your kids. And your family will be as safe as it can get.
If I was not a pastor and I knew that there was even a smidgeon of a chance that by centering my marriage and kids on Christ would protect us from a world of hurt, I would never miss a Sunday. I can’t imagine that any of you don’t take every measure to ensure the safety and goodness of your marriage and family. Take every advantage this church has to ground yourselves, your marriages, and your kids in the sure and strong presence of Jesus Christ.
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