Paul Walker, “The Gospel According to Tim Riggins”

One of the things I love about Jesus is that He is a realist. He has zero interest in sugar coating the human condition. He says things like, “Out of your heart springs every kind of evil.” Or “You worry about all kinds of things -what you will eat and what you will wear.” Or, “Oh you of little faith.” Do I harbor all kinds of unsavory things in my heart? Yes. Am I often driven by fear or worry? Absolutely. Is my faith sometimes overwhelmed by doubt? Of course. All this is true of you too.

     Jesus is a realist. Unlike Billy Riggins of Friday Night Lights, who is trying his hand at coaching football and delivers an opening speech to the team. He pulls out a paper and reads a quote that he says has inspired him. “If you can believe it, you can achieve it.”  It’s clear that even Billy doesn’t believe what he is saying. The team claps awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us what is true and what is really happening in your life and in life in general. No empty platitudes.

     Case in point is today’s gospel reading. Jesus says he came to kindle a fire on the earth. He says he did not come to bring peace. Instead, there will be division. Families will be divided – fathers against sons, mothers against daughters, mothers in law against daughters in law. Now, I don’t have to tell a single person here about family division. Every family has some kind of division. Children move across the country to get out from under a controlling father. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.

     Jennette McCurdy, former child actress of iCarly fame, just released a new memoir called “I’m Glad My Mom Died.” It chronicles her overbearing mother’s obsession with her daughter’s image, resulting in McCurdy’s eating disorders, addictions, and unhealthy relationships. The fact that “I’m Glad My Mom Died” sold out on Amazon just one day after its release is not jut voyeurism. It’s because way, way too many of us can relate to its content in one way or another.

     Family division goes all the way back to the earth’s first two brothers. That’s what you might call “long division”. You may remember that sibling rivalry didn’t work out too well – Cain murdered Abel. Most families have a secret that cannot be spoken – usually, but not always, related to addiction or abuse. There is usually a parent or a child whose anger rules the family dynamic. Everyone is scared to upset this person.

     It often gets sublimated into humor, like the tee-shirt/coffee mug “If Mama Ain’t Happy, then Ain’t Nobody Happy”. But truth be told, Mama’s anger around which everyone must tip-toe is no laughing matter. I saw one woman wearing a tee-shirt that said, “I’m raising 2 children and 1 husband.” Time for the boy husband to grow up.

     Time for some good news, now? Yes, I think so. I’m about to walk out on my own sermon. Well, the “fire” that Jesus says He has kindled on the earth is the fire of the gospel – which, of course, is and means “good news.” Fire is a bible metaphor for God’s presence, God’s power. Tongues of fire rested on the disciples at Pentecost. Fire is usually a positive connotation in modern lingo. When someone is crushing it, we say that she is “on fire.”

     In the wake of the division we have been talking about, I want to tell you that the fire of the gospel brings healing. Just as doctors use a kind of fire to cauterize wounds, so too will the gospel bind up your wounds.

     Think about forest fires for a second. They occur naturally to allow for new growth. If older trees die and younger trees aren’t there to replace them, the balance of the forest is thrown off. Fire clears the dry underbrush, giving new plants and underbrush the sunlight and space they need to grow.  Sometimes this happens in your life, doesn’t it? God burns something away to give birth to something new. You may remember that the great wizard Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings fell into the fires, only to return as the more powerful Gandalf the White.

     What I’m saying here is this: although the divisions in your family, in yourself, in the world may sometimes feel like a dumpster fire, your one true hope for healing is in Jesus Christ. As T.S. Eliot says, we are “redeemed from fire by fire.” And what is the particular healing, redeeming, growth inducing nature of the fire that Jesus has kindled? I’ll give you one word for it – grace. If you have been coming to Christ Church you will know that we always talk about grace.

     The reason we always talk about grace is that grace is the word for the fire that Jesus kindled on the earth. It is a new fire, burning away the old conditions of religion. Purging the “if I am good, then God will love me” conditionality. Grace tells you that God’s love is one-way love: from Him to you, no matter what. Grace is: you might conceive it, but you can’t achieve it. But God has achieved it for you.

    As grace relates to division, in families or otherwise, grace does two things. Grace is not afraid of conflict and is able to speak with honesty. And yet, at the same time, grace gives everything away, not counting wrongs, not standing on rights. Grace always forgives. Grace is ALWAYS the path to healing division.

     I’ll give you an example once again from Friday Night Lights. This is from 2008 so sorry if it’s a spoiler. Back to Billy Riggins. He and his new wife are having a baby and he is strapped for cash. He and his football star brother Tim have started a car repair shop. Billy starts stripping stolen cars illegally for extra cash without Tim’s knowledge. Tim reluctantly participates, but just before the police catch them. They are both looking at prison time.

     Realizing that his older brother Billy, is about to become a dad, Tim decides to take the blame completely on himself. “I did it. I did it all. You had no idea this was happening. I stripped the cars, I took the money, I took the cars to the junkyard. You are my brother. You have a family now. You need to be a father. This is my decision. This is what is going to happen.” Billy breaks down in tears. As do we all!

     Now don’t get me wrong. You can never “fall from grace” because grace is what we always fall into when we fail. But you will inevitably fall short of grace.  There will be times when you will fail to forgive, you will stand on your rights, you will be afraid of conflict. But this is exactly where grace is for you.

     I can say this because grace is not an idea or empty platitude. Instead, grace is a person. When Jesus says, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized”, he is talking about the historical epicenter of grace. He is talking about the cross. He is talking about his death for the world’s sake. He is talking about receiving into the wounds in his hands and feet and side all the divisions of the world. He is talking about the place of pain upon which he pronounced the ultimate word of grace: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

Amen.