Luke 12:49-53

“Peace on earth! Good will toward men!”  The angels joyfully sang those words because the world’s Savior had come.  Little baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  And heaven couldn’t hold in the joy and peace his work would bring to earth.  Fast-forward thirty-some years and you’ll find Jesus saying what seems the opposite in Luke 12.  “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”  Mother against daughter, father against son, and so on.  
 
Jesus’ words aren’t contrary to the angel’s message at Christmas.  They’re more an expression of what happens when the sinful world meets the truth of Jesus’ love.  It’s like fire.  Fire can warm and comfort, if you respect it.  If you don’t, fire can burn and blister and destroy.  Jesus says he came to bring fire on the earth.  One kind is the fiery love believers have for their Lord.  They know the “baptism” he mentioned was his tormented death to pay for their sins.  They’re grateful; they’re fired up; they love to do what makes God happy and to share his love with others.

That same fire burns division and pain.  Consider the greatest God’s-love passage ever: John 3:16.  “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  God’s Word clearly promises love and everlasting life, but not for everyone; it’s for those who believe in Jesus’ work alone.  That’s tough.  Many people don’t like that.  And it’s hard for us at times – when our family is split along these lines; when some believe the Word and others do not.  It’s appealing to want earthly peace instead.  But Jesus’ truth doesn’t change and we can’t hide it.  God’s fire is burning like this: warm and comforting, harsh and painful...until the end of the world.

When the fire of God’s love is burning and your world is turning away from it, don’t give in.  Remember your Savior who felt the fire of hell and burned with love for you anyway.  Remember that his peace comes to hearts on earth in forgiveness and love through his Word.  Spread the comforting fire of his Word despite the fiery division it will bring.  Do it because your Lord has prepared for you a place free from division.  It’s the peace and safety of heaven.