JUNE 29, 2008  SERMON ARCHIVE

Now, here's a Gospel lesson you may not have expected: Jesus comes to break up families and turn them against each other.

Don't take my word for it-take His:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household (Mt. 10:34-36).

Jesus declares that He has come to break up families. Just wait until your uncle, the skeptic, asks you to explain this one. What are you going to say?

First off, rejoice that your Lord brings this strife, for-believe it or not-it is good news. The Lord makes this joyful proclamation today: He comes to defeat bad peace with good strife.

The first clue in understanding what Jesus means is this: When Jesus speaks of turning families against each other, He is quoting an Old Testament prophecy from Micah. In the book of Micah, the prophet decried the sinfulness and the rebellion of Israel against God. Rejection of God's Word had led to many terrible consequences in society. On the national level, rulers were corrupt and judges were easily bribed; because the authorities were crooked, there was no justice for anyone. On a more local level, friends were not to be trusted: Friendship is always based upon loyalty and trust, but sin had turned people to selfishness and greedy gain. {Personally, Micah mourned that the family structure was being destroyed. In a family where all followed the Word of God, they would get along. But, declared the prophet, there were terrible outcomes when family members rejected God's Word. The result Jesus quoted when he spoke the words of Micah 7:6: For son would dishonor his father, daughter would rise against her mother, daughter- in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies would be the men of his own household.

For son would dishonor his father, daughter would rise against her mother, daughter- in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies would be the men of his own household.

When some in the family are believers and some are not, there will be strife. When a believing father seeks to correct his unbelieving son for sinful behavior, the son may well rebel all the more in order to dishonor his father. If a daughter-in-law objects to a mother-in-law's false religion, the mother-in-law may turn critical of her daughter-in-law's every action.

This is in fact a timeless truth: When a family is made up of believer and unbelievers, there will always be strife because there are different gods in the household. That family will find peace in only one of two ways: Either all will come to believe in the Lord and abide by His Word, or all will decide that family is more important than God-they will either cease to speak of religion, or decide that religion just doesn't matter.

This is the strife that Micah mourned: Because the people were rejecting God's Word, it had led to hostility in families. Some held to the truth, and some rejected it. This is the first clue in understanding what Jesus is saying in today's Gospel lesson.

The second clue is this: Jesus came to undo the wages and consequences of sin. Paul states in Romans 7 that all deserve eternal death, because all are sinful and the wages of sin is death. Therefore, Jesus came to undo this: He came to die for the sins of the world so that all might be forgiven. This is the message of the Gospel: Apart from Christ, you face God's eternal judgment. But by His death and resurrection, Jesus has undone this; by dying for your sin, He has won grace and life for you. And in so doing, Jesus came to undo the wages of sin.

You see, sin kills- it brings physical death. To bring physical death, sin often uses sickness to do the killing: Sickness is often sin's choice means of death. Note this simple, important point: When someone is sick, they are often wracked with pain and tortured by mental, emotional anguish. When they have died, however, they look far more peaceful. The reason is obvious: Those who are physically alive can feel pain and experience strife; those who are dead are incapable of doing so. The one who has died looks peaceful, but he has no life. When sin destroys, the end product looks peaceful; but it is a bad peace.

On His way to the cross to undo the wages of sin, Jesus showed that He had the power to do so by performing miracles of healing. He met those who are pained, anguished, troubled-their lives were afflicted with illness. He healed them-He removed the illness and took that trouble upon Himself. He undid those wages of sin

And what about those who had already died-who already 'rested in peace'? Along the way, Jesus had raised some from the dead. He had undone that wage of sin, too, because He was greater than death. He took all sin, sickness and death to the cross; there it would be defeated.

But, note: When Jesus raised people back from the dead to this life, those people were still in a sinful world. They would feel pain, they would face strife, and they would endure sickness again. They would undergo these things because they were now alive again. Where there is life in this world, there is strife.

These are the two clues for understanding the Lord's words in the Gospel lesson for today. First, He quoted Micah, who declared that there would always be strife in families where some were believers and some were not. That strife would cease only when all believed the Word, or when the family decided to ignore the Word. Second, Jesus came to undo the wages of sin; and He demonstrated this when He raised people from the dead. Alive again, they would face strife again; because they were alive.

With these two clues in mind, look again at Jesus¡¯ Word: Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.

When Jesus came, He proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was near. He declared that He was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, that He would redeem the world by His death on the cross. He further proclaimed that all who trusted in Him would be saved. When Jesus preached this message, many who heard would belong to families where no one believed the Lord's Word; and because no one believed the Lord's Word, there was no strife in the family because of religion.

Many today would call this a peaceful, happy household; but because no one believed, they were all lost in their trespasses and sins. They were at peace because they were dead.

their trespasses and sins. They were at peace because they were dead. However, there are many others who hear and who do believe, who trust in Jesus, and who seek to live by His Law and Gospel. Their actions at home will change, and they will seek to tell this message to the rest of their family. They will wisely warn sons and daughters of the dangers of promiscuity and worldliness. They will lovingly tell their in-laws about Jesus and warn against other gods. They will seek to guide their parents to the way of Truth.

When they do so, the battle will begin. Sons and daughters will not want to abandon their worldly lifestyles in favor of repentance, so they will rebel. In-laws will not want to abandon their religion for another, and a hostile wall of silence will build. Parents, who usually do know better than their children, will reject the Gospel as a 'stage' in the life of their kids. From there, the strife will grow.

The world will say, 'Look how much damage that Gospel has done. That family was getting along perfectly well before all that stuff about sin and grace, cross and Jesus. Now there are big problems, and it's all the fault of Jesus and His followers.'

There is no doubt that, in such a case, strife has replaced peace; but it's a good strife that replaces a bad peace.

The family was peaceful because all were dead. The strife has arisen because some of them are alive. And as those who have been saved continue to be faithful and speak God's truth, they are wielding the sword of His Word-His saving Word!

It is only by that strife-causing Word that others in the family can be saved.

This is the strife that Jesus brings: Deliverance from sin, forgiveness, faith and eternal life. He raises up believers from spiritual death to life.

This is the message that Jesus proclaims: He brings good strife to conquer bad peace. He brings life where there was death. He brings forgiveness where there was only killing sin. He brings faith where there was rejection and unbelief. The world will blame Jesus for bringing life, forgiveness and faith; but for all this we give thanks.

Martin Luther once wrote that the most troubling times in his life were when he had no troubles-he figured that he had gotten so far off track that the devil saw no need to afflict him anymore. Where Jesus is, there will be strife as the world opposes.

Where Jesus is, there will be strife as the world opposes.

But only where Jesus is will you find true peace-peace with God. Peace which declares He no longer holds your transgressions against you. Peace that comes from this blessed announcement: You are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen

Christ Is Risen