I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

"I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided:

three against two,

and two against three.

Father will be divided against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

"Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."

- Luke 12:49-59

On Saturday, we read of Jesus' warning to the apostles, and to all the people to whom He preached, about the importance of vigilance or wakefulness in the spiritual life. That is, we must guard against letting in temptations to greed and selfishness, to abuse and exploit others - and remember who we are. We are to maintain awareness, a consciousness of what we are about as spiritual followers, disciples of the master. We are not to let down our guard but to understand how we are to conduct ourselves and where our treasure is. Peter asks, "Are these sayings for everyone, or just for the disciples?" They are for everyone: but to each his own measure. Jesus says, "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." We all carry the responsibility of the spiritual knowledge we have been given.

"I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" My study bible says, "Fire on the earth is either (1) the fire of judgment and the anticipated divisions resulting from uncompromising loyalty to Christ, or (2) the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out as tongues of fire upon the disciples on Pentecost." An interesting picture; either way (judgment or the gift of the Holy Spirit) we are to understand the importance of spiritual knowledge as part of judgment. With understanding and enlightenment come great responsibility: we each possess the gift of the Spirit present to us in the world. What do we do with that gift?

"But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!" Baptism here is a clear reference to Christ's Passion. He must suffer and die on the Cross, for this fire to be lit. Elsewhere Jesus teaches that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. First He must be "baptized" - his own 'death' and 'rebirth.'

"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son mother against daughter and daughter against mother mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." My study bible notes here: "Jesus' words are tinged with irony. Indeed He came to bring peace to the world, but uncompromising witness to truth inevitably causes controversies and divisions even within households." How ironic indeed! How many of us have experienced this for ourselves?

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?" A note reads, "These hypocrites are those who pretend to have insight into all things (here, the weather) but cannot see that in Jesus' words and works the long-awaited Kingdom of God is dawning." They can't read the 'signs of the times.' No matter what they think they know, how much intelligence they possess, they are deaf and dumb to the spiritual reality present before them and what it represents. It is another kind of call for "those who have." Where are their spiritual eyes and ears; where is their spiritual understanding - especially in terms of the responsibility they bear for the spiritual fruits they produce? The allusion to the weather for growing crops is important.

"Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite." My study bible says, "Jesus gives another warning concerning discerning what is right. Just as one should know when to negotiate a reconciliation with an opponent before suffering greater loss, so also one should know to come to terms with the claims of Christ before having to face His dread judgment." It's better to reconcile to spiritual truth as soon as one can, rather than making error greater and greater. Just as the hairs on our heads are numbered, so is there an awareness of who we are and what our choices are. In the previous reading, Jesus has made it clear that spiritual understanding conveys responsibility: but none of us is excused from responsibility altogether. Better to turn away from a bad road early on the journey rather than pursuing a bad course until turning back becomes nearly impossible.

I once spoke with a counselor who said to me that we are either going the right way or the wrong way in life. He was not speaking spiritually, but psychologically. I felt that might have been a harsh statement at the time, but now I feel that he was right. We have choices to make: there's a road of love, and there's the road that's not love. These choices often are not easy and simple to make. There are no hard and fast rules to follow, no necessarily objective criteria. But Jesus here is speaking of discernment, and the development of spiritual eyes and ears. We can discern the weather - but do we really know what time it is in the spiritual sense? Can we understand when we are digging ourselves in deeper and deeper into a hole that will be next to impossible to climb out of? Can we be humble enough to perceive our error, to "change our minds" (the literal meaning of the Greek word metanoia, or "repentance")? Do we know when it's raining, when we need to come in out of the storm? I find salvation to be a long, lifelong, road - one that leads us from notions of unnecessary or false guilt and fear (usually covering up an injustice or greed on some level) toward love. That is, we learn true righteousness, right-relatedness. Salvation is that process of going from the systems of hypocrisy Jesus condemned to this loving place He occupies. But, as with the sword or division He brings, that doesn't mean that we don't have to live up to an obligation, a discernment, an understanding, that may set us apart from others, just as it did the prophets before Jesus. Can you discern the signs of the times? Can you read with the eyes and ears of your heart? Jesus' fire is here: whether it burns us or inflames us with love is up to us.