Sign of the Times

August 18, 2019 Luke 12:49-56 Sign of the Times Pentecost 15 Year C Exegetical Aim: Winter and cold as symbols and signs of the world's darkness and the need for God's intervention. (This Children's Sermon is a bit more symbolic than usual, but so is the scriptural text.) Props: A branch with enough green leaves for each child to tear one off. Lesson: As you were coming to church this morning perhaps you noticed the weather. What was the weather like? (response) What kind of things did you see? What kind of sky was there? (response) What was the temperature like? Was it hot, cold, or nice outside? (response) Summarize the weather conditions and then add to the end of your description: But weather can change quickly, can't it? (response) How do you know when it's going to rain? (response) That is right. It can be sunny outside, the sky nice and blue, and the sun shining brightly, and then you see some dark clouds coming, and you hear the thunder in the distance, and that means it's going to rain. Hold up the branch. What do I have this morning? (response) What color are the leaves? (response) They are green because it's still summer. What is going to happen to the leaves in a few weeks? (response) If they don't know: Are the leaves going to change? (response) What colors? (response) All those colors are a sign that something is on the way. What is on the way? How is the weather going to change? (cold, winter) And when it gets cold what happens? (response) It snows. Hold up the branch. And how do we know that winter is on the way? (response) Application: I want everyone to come up and take a leaf. Take one leaf. Take them off at the branch slowly so you don't tear the leaves. Okay, sit back down. When they are seated: Take a look at your leaf. Soon millions and millions of leaves like the one you're holding will change color, turn brown, die, and fall to the ground. And then the cold will come. And when it gets cold in the world we need God very much to warm our hearts and make us feel love again. You see, the cold not only kills the leaves, but it deadens our hearts, and God wants very much to come into our hearts and warm them with his love so they don't die and fall to the ground. Let's Pray: Lord, keep our hearts warm. Keep us from being cold-hearted. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Children's Sermons A to Z, by Brett Blair Luke 12:49-56 Common English Bible (CEB) Conflicts brought by Jesus 49 “I came to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish that it was already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it’s completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have come instead to bring division. 52 From now on, a household of five will be divided—three against two and two against three. 53 Father will square off against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Learning and practicing good judgment 54 Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud forming in the west, you immediately say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ And indeed it does. 55 And when a south wind blows, you say, ‘A heat wave is coming.’ And it does.56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret conditions on earth and in the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret the present time? Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible The old weather adage often stated is: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning." Therefore, a red sunset is supposed to result in dry, sunny weather the next day. This saying has been in existence for over 2000 years. The saying is based on the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:1-4 Demand for a sign 16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. In order to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But he replied, “At evening you say, ‘It will be nice weather because the sky is bright red.’ 3 And in the morning you say, ‘There will be bad weather today because the sky is cloudy.’ You know how to make sense of the sky’s appearance. But you are unable to recognize the signs that point to what the time is. 4 An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign. But it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign.” Then he left them and went away. All of this time, people have thought that saying was true. But in reality, it is only true in parts of the world. For much of the world, weather travels from west to east. For instance, the rain that we are getting today, was 400 miles west just yesterday. Wind and clouds tend to travel with a storm, so if the wind comes out of the west, you know the storm is on its way. If the wind comes out of the east, then most likely the storm has already passed. Red sky in the morning or night are a reflection on the clouds in the sky. But there are many other ways to predict the coming of a storm. The direction of smoke – up everything okay, swirls down a storm is coming. If you feel a calmness in the air, calm before the storm. Smell dampness, feel the humidity, many people can feel it in their body. Once again Jesus mentions these signs of a coming storm in Luke 12. This scripture caught my attention – living out here in open space, much more concerned about weather then in the city. Think about Jesus words – can see the signs of the times, just like you can see the coming of a storm. What does that mean? I think that all of us would agree that these are interesting times that we are living in. This is a time of tension in our world. There is a lot of bickering and finger pointing. This is a time of polarization. In our society in general, but also in our community, in our church and even in our families. And right here in the book of Luke – Jesus says that he is the reason for that tension and for the divisions that are so prevalent in our world. This scripture is considered one of the tuff sayings of Jesus. One of the teachings that challenges us to our core. I first read through the gospels as a new Christian as a freshman in college. Christian Navigaters had sponsored bible studies on campus. Through a bible study on our dorm floor, I became intrigued with Christianity, and wanted to read more about the teachings of Jesus. The first time that I read Matthew – I was actually scared by most of what I read. I thought Jesus was very mean and that it was impossible to really be a true Christian. That verse about the red morning sky as a sign of a storm always stood out to me. Here that concept is again in Luke of predicting weather based on the clouds and the wind. But then Jesus goes on to say that he is not here to bring peace, but division. That he is here to turn families against one another, - father against son and mother in law against daughter in law. What kind of gospel is that? How is that good news. What kind of Jesus does that? Everything that we hear about Jesus is that Jesus brings peace. He is called the Prince of Peace. The messiah is predicted to be one who brings peace, Jesus even says my peace I give to you not as the world gives you. And here in this scripture he says that he brings division. We don’t need anymore division. Somone asked a rabbi, why Jews don’t believe in Jesus. He said because the messiah is supposed to bring peace to a hurting world – where is this peace that Jesus supposedly brought into the world. 2000 years later we are still at each other’s throats. What’s interesting is Jesus case in point is in that saying. Many of us are asking the same question why is there so much tension in our world today? Where is the peace? Jesus came into the world, into the jewish community because there were a society that have gotten comfortable with the status quo – with tradition and the way things were. The message of all of the prophets was that the status quo tends to hide a lot of sins. Jesus brought the presence of God into a world that needed to change. The problem is that the presence of God brings honesty and truth. And when the truth gets told – people get uncomfortable. The presence of God being clarity – when you get clear about your feelings and your actions, someone is always going to disagree with your position. The presence of the messiah being commitment – commitment to one thing means a lack of commitment to everything else. All of these things together – truth, clarity and commitment – create tension, disagreement, polarization and division. Following Jesus always means having to take a stand for what you believe in – Making Decisions A teenage girl at summer camp was torn between two sets of friends. Some of them were sunbathing on the dock, saying to her “stay with us.” But her other friends were in a rowboat saying “no, come with us.” There she stood, one foot on the dock, the other foot on the edge of the boat, and the boat was moving. Trying to appease everyone, trying to not decide, she ended up falling into the water; and worse, her hair got wet! But I think this is exactly what Jesus is addressing in the gospel lesson today. He is warning us that there will be times when following him will require us to turn away from something else. There will be times in this life when we will be required to say “yes” to one thing, and therefore “no” to the other. And of course, the action we most often take is the same one that girl did on the swimming dock. We try to go in both directions. We try to say “yes” to it all, and we end up falling in between the seams, and being miserable. Steven Molin, Flashing Yellow Lights The problem is that we don’t like to live in tension. We would prefer to live in silence. And yet Jesus challenges each of us that only in that tension can there be real peace. Only when we deal with the underlying issues in our world, our community, our church, our families – will we truly understand the meaning of peace beyond understanding. The tensions that we are struggling with today concerning racism, sexuality, generational difference. Have been a part of our life for years. The problem is that we have never truly faced those issues, because we didn’t want to deal with the tension. The sign of the times is not that a storm is on its way – the storm is already here – and it has battered us for years. The tension is not new – the tension and our uncomfortableness tells us that we do indeed have a savior who is alive and well. The Holy spirit is out there working to create a new world – a new understanding of peace. There is nothing wrong – everything is going just as it should be. A world where truth, clarity and commitment have a place at the table – is the world that Jesus came to create. Jesus is not asking us to have peace amongst our sisters and brothers, but to have peace within ourselves. To stay focused on our commitment, to be challenged to follow Christ into this brave new world. A Weird New Religious Cult A sociology professor every year begins his course on "The Family" by reading to his class a letter, from a parent, written to a government official. In the letter the parent complains that his son, once obedient and well-motivated, has become involved with some weird new religious cult. The father complains that the cult has taken over the boy's life, has forced him to forsake all of his old friends, and has turned him against his family. After reading the letter, the professor asks the class to speculate what the father is talking about. Almost without exception, the class immediately assumes that the subject of the letter is a child mixed up with the "Moonies," or some other controversial group. After the class puts out all of the possible conclusions they can think of, the professor surprises them by revealing that the letter, was written by a third century father in Rome, the governor of his province, complaining about this weird religious group called "The Christians." William H. Beljean, Jr., An Interesting Letter Let us pray…… Amen. Additional illustrations…….. Not Well Received A Baptist pastor fresh out of seminary was assigned to a small church in the hills of Kentucky. In his first sermon, he condemned gambling, especially betting on the horses. The sermon was not well received. "You see, Reverend," a parishioner explained, "this whole area is known for its fine horses. Lots of our members make their living breeding race horses." The next Sunday the pastor spoke on the evils of smoking, and again, his sermon was not well received – for many of his members also grew tobacco. The third week the pastor preached on the evils of drinking, only to discover after that a major distillery was one of the town's largest employers. Chastised for his choice of sermon topics, the frustrated pastor exclaimed, "Well, then, what can I preach about?" A kindly, older woman spoke up and said, "Pastor, preach against those godless Chinese communists. Why, there isn’t a Chinese communist within 4,000 miles of here!" There are some sermons people do not want to hear because they contradict their dearly held values or their comfortable life styles. Jesus earned a reputation for preaching these kinds of sermons – sermons that were challenging and demanding, radical and divisive. In our Gospel lesson for today we have just such a sermon – one that challenges our commitment to family values. Frank Rothfuss, Jesus’ Focus on the Family __________________________ Parable of a Good Climate "How are you feeling today, Joe?" "This lousy climate gets me down," said Joe. "I'm used to a warm climate that is dry and clear all the year around." "Well," said Bill, "I like the four seasons and the unpleasant days make the bright days better." It is true that climate conditions have some influence on health, but happiness depends more on the spiritual climate. Home is the place where your loved ones are and where the people you live with bring the most contentment and satisfaction. There can be real cause to smile in sunshine and in rain, if love and friendship bring the right spiritual climate. Some people seem able to laugh and face adversity with cheerful faith and courage. Some are busy in service of others and difficult times bring greater opportunities to be useful. "It makes me feel good," said Bill, "to note something special in each season and to look forward to those events, which are associated with the season. I like it here. I like the people here. It is the best location in the nation for me." Now is always the time for serving Christ! And Jesus said, "When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" St. Luke 12:54, 55, 56 One day I asked a rabbi friend of mine why Jews didn't be¬lieve that Jesus was the Messiah. Without going into a long expla¬nation that the question undoubtedly required he replied, "Where is the peace? The Messiah is supposed to usher in peace and we didn't and still don't see evidence of that." Good answer, I thought. How do we reconcile that expectation with the reality we face? And while we're at it, how do we reconcile it with Jesus proclaim¬ing that he came as a fire starter, a division bringer?