Unrelenting Fire

49 I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; (Luke 12:49-52)

When we think of fire, we tend to focus on its destructive capabilities. Of course, fire that's not controlled can damage or destroy things and people. But the disciples to whom Jesus spoke would have remembered the stories of God using fire to call Moses' attention to God's presence, and to lead their ancestors though the dessert. And many of those same disciples would have already experienced the division from loved ones that their faith in Jesus had created. Jesus' words, which on the surface seem caustic to us today, were confirmation of what they already knew - that Jesus brought God's presence into their midst, and that everyone would not be happy about that.

Today fire also represents the unquenchable power of God's Holy Spirit. While familial divisions due to faith still occur, they are less frequent. However, the presence and power of God's Spirit often leads to an internal division, separating our sinful nature from the people we are called to be. This refining fire can feel destructive as it burns away the layers we have built up to protect ourselves from the pain of life. But we can stop relying on our own defenses and rest in the inextinguishable power of the Almighty.

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

(Psalm 80:8, 16-19)