Pentecost+10/Proper 15C (Luke 12:49-56)

Today’s lesson may be considered one of the toughest teaching accounts of Jesus. Can you imagine Jesus saying, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”? This image of Jesus as a divider or a disruptor doesn’t resonate with his more well-accepted nickname, “Prince of Peace." Yet, these two contrasting images don’t conflict with each other if we keep in mind the words of Johan Galtung who once said, “By peace we mean the capacity to transform conflicts with empathy, without violence, and creatively—a never-ending process.” Rather, peace in the light of God’s kingdom exposes hidden conflicts. 

On the other hand, let’s face the fact that conflicts have always been there even before Jesus said anything about them. No need to look further. Just consider our family conflicts. (Now, I’m having a headache!) While reasons vary for each conflict, the reason for a Jesus-causing conflict is clear. It’s the kingdom of God. His proclamation of the gospel that God is present in the heart of every human being is the driving force of Jesus-causing conflicts. The breath we take in and out is no longer our own but the Breath of God. As our breath is patterned according to the Breath of the Spirit, our lives are patterned according to the will of God. 

This breath talk might sound a bit ambiguous or even poetic but please take this expression of breath literally. The way we breathe affects the way we live. We heedfully acknowledge that God is breathing the Breath into our breath. This physiological aspect of breath has a physical effect on us, which is emotional in that it affects how we feel (e.g. taking a deep breath slowing down our temper) and spiritual in that the Spirit resides in us (e.g. the depth of our breath connecting us the inner kingdom of God centered in our belly). This bodily, thus incarnational, presence of God changes the way we perceive the world and others. This change of the perspective on life, or more specifically the goal of life, clashes with other competing perspectives on life. Therefore, a conflict arises. 

The crucifixion is an example of the conflict Jesus himself was involved in. The irony of this conflict is that he was killed politically by religious authorities. We see his conflict intersecting politics and religion in his time. The kingdom of God cuts through all levels of our human life. Now, what we want to pay attention to is Jesus’ inner conflict in the garden of Gethsemane on Mount Olive before his experience of subsequent betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. We see his struggle in his prayer, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42)

External conflicts are easy to detect while internal conflicts within ourselves are not. Before jumping into external conflicts caused by the change of our perspective on life based on our cultivation of the inner kingdom of God in us, honest discernment that looks into our inner conflicts must proceed. Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer is not only the prayer we want to say but also a methodological tool that helps us see inner conflicts. I would break this method into three steps:

1. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” Say to God unashamedly what we truly desire which may be entirely self-serving. The key is honesty. Self-judgment is premature and inaccurate since we don’t have enough evidence to give a final verdict. Also, this may be arrogant of us since we’re never the final judge but God is. What matters is there’s nothing to hide. No self-deception, no self-attack, no self-pity. Just an honest look at ourselves. 

2. “Yet” This is the moment that we allow the Breath of God to breathe in us. Set aside all our desires as we meditate. Clear our minds. Be alert to any thoughts or feelings arising and direct them to the breath ardently. 

3. “Not my will but yours be done.” Examine our self-serving desires and convince ourselves that God’s will serve our best interest. There’s a sense of freedom from the crafted and fabricated selves we initially desired to satisfy. That God’s will be done fulfills our will is the leap of faith that we take. 

The moment of “yet” is to stay focused on the present moment when conflicting desires are uncluttered. Only in this moment of “yet,” we can answer Jesus' question with “yes” in the lesson this morning, “Why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” Oh Jesus, yes, we know how!