Passage: Luke 12:49-53

Pastor: Pastor Walther

Date: August 17, 2025

As we begin our new worship series, WOUNDS THAT HEAL, we’re talking about those words of God that cut to the heart, which seem to inflict wounds… but they are words God actually uses to heal us.  We begin with our sermon theme today: DIVIDED WE STAND. 

Maybe you’re wondering, “Did I hear that right?  Isn’t it supposed to be ‘UNITED’ we stand!?’”  That’s what people usually say, and even the Bible would seem to agree with it.  In Luke chapter 2, which we hear every Christmas, what did the angels say? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE to men on whom his favor rests (Peace… not division!).”

            I promise I’m not just trying to stir the pot with this theme.   Because 10 chapters later in Luke – we have today’s sermon text from our Gospel reading, where Jesus himself says, “I did not come to bring peace but division…” And that’s a harder message than the message of the angels.  Maybe it’s even a passage you and I are tempted to ignore.  “I don’t get it, so I’m not going to worry about this one!” But these are words worth listening to… especially when God uses such wounds to heal us! 

            Perhaps the easiest way to understand these words is to focus on verse 50 of our sermon text, and feel free to follow along with our Gospel reading in your bulletin. Notice what Jesus says, I have a BAPTISM to undergo, and how DISTRESSED I am until it is finished!  Usually, we think of baptism as something good, but Jesus talks about this baptism as causing him distress, even as something he has yet to undergo.  Here ge cannot be talking about our water baptism, which he had already received from John the Baptist earlier in his ministry.  Instead, Jesus is talking about baptism in a different way: he’s using this word as the Bible sometimes does, in a figurative sense to picture being flooded or overwhelmed with something bad…  In this case, he’s talking about the cross, which was starting to loom over him as he set his eyes on Jerusalem near the end of his ministry.  And that would cause anyone distress: “baptism” in the fires of hell!  But that’s what Jesus was willing to go through, all because these were WOUNDS THAT HEAL.  Jesus knew that only through his perfect sacrifice as the Son of God could he save us from the fires that he talks about in verse 49!… And by the way, THAT’S the context. It’s only after that where Jesus goes on to talk about how he would bring division, even among the closest of family members.

            That really is key to understanding this whole text, because it reinforces the truth that Jesus DOES want us to have peace: in particular, peace with God, which is what that Christmas passage is all about: “glory to GOD and peace to men on whom HIS favor rests.”  But that also implies to a second, much more terrible truth: the whole reason we needed Jesus to be born in the first place is because without him we lack this peace, we have sin that would otherwise divide us from God… and ultimately, that sin will divide us from others as well.

            It’s just not how people see it.  It’s why many people started abandoning Jesus by the end of his ministry when he started to speak words like these that cut to the heart.  They didn’t want to hear about their real problem that they were sinners in need of a Savior.  It’s why some people – like the Jewish leaders – instead thought they could earn their way to heaven: “my sin isn’t so bad, I can do enough good things to balance it out!”  It’s why many more people – like the crowds who initially followed Jesus – sought to make Jesus a bread king: “my biggest problems aren’t the spiritual problems I face inside of me, but physical threats that come from the outside… Likewise, aren’t we prone to think the same? “My sin isn’t too bad, I can overcome it on my own, with enough effort!”  Or, “There are bigger problems in the world around us, that’s what the church should be focused on!…”  When we think this way, we miss the whole point. Jesus didn’t come down from heaven to earth to pat us on the back for doing such a good job, nor did he come to fix all the problems we see around us… He came to undergo a baptism of fire for us.

            With that in mind, return to our topic today and the DIVISION that Jesus talks about in the final verses of our sermon text.  It calls to mind the biblical teaching of church fellowship, which is all about how we should practice our faith with others who agree with us on ALL of Christ’s teachings.  This was once the practice of many Christian denominations, but now our church body is almost unique in following this.  And I get it, it’s hard!  “You mean we shouldn’t always pray with other Christians?  We really should have Lord’s Supper only with the members of our own church body?  But shouldn’t Christians be more UNITED!?  How can we let a few things DIVIDE us when we agree on so much!?…”  When we think that way, do you realize it’s the devil working on us?  He’s trying to get us to think that our sin isn’t so serious, and our differences (caused by sin) aren’t so divisive, so we can ignore what God says about how he wants Christians to come together; after all, we can overcome these differences on our own and maybe focus on other things!  No, to BREAK us of that –  in love, to heal us! – Jesus cuts us to the heart with words like these… He came to divide.

            After all, that’s what will happen anyway.  Think of it, for a world that preaches, “united we stand”, there sure is a lot of division!  In the news or on social media, how often do you see someone who is an “ally” to a cause – who agrees with the group think on EVERY. OTHER. THING. – but they get “cancelled” over just ONE thing?  It’s not just there where we see it, it also strikes close to home.  How quickly do you see even the closest of relationships face conflict – husbands & wives, parents & children! – and even in our own families?  That’s because sin is still there in each and every human heart, and it will always ruin that peace like it first did in the Garden, that’s just what sin does!… So, Jesus must also DIVIDE; that is, divide us FROM sin!  And because Jesus alone brings healing for our sin through his death on the cross, He must be the ultimate dividing line!… even if it comes at the expense of unity with others.

            That’s the fine line we need to walk as Christians.  We want peace and unity – of course we do, we should always want that—but it can never be at the expense of Jesus and what he teaches!  So we do what Jesus did: we sacrifice for others (at great loss to ourselves) and love them (even when the world no longer will).  Jesus never came to divide in those ways… but we uphold all of Jesus’ teachings, even when it DOES divide.  That includes teachings about fellowship and prayer and Lord’s Supper; or teachings about the law and sin, speaking up and warning others when these things rear their ugly head; and especially, teachings about the gospel, and witnessing to friends and family about God’s love.  We do all of this, and we don’t let fear of division prevent us from doing something God says or prompt us to do something differently.

            Because again, there will always be division in this world. That’s not the question, whether or not we can get rid of it.  The real question is this: will you face division with or without Christ?  Because that’s the one place where it’s truly reconciled: at his cross – in that most infinitely terrible baptism where Jesus was engulfed in all the fires of hell for you and for me, so that we could have unity with him and with each other in the resurrection of the dead.  That’s what Jesus meant when he says he came to bring division: it wasn’t to hurt us – it was never to hurt us! – it’s to heal us.  And he wants us to heal us by helping us find true peace.  When we can’t find that, he doesn’t want us to settle for a cheap replacement.  Instead, he wants us to let heaven be heaven – free of sin and division entirely – and whenever we don’t find that here on earth, don’t pretend it’s something it’s not. If it’s division, it’s division… then, long for something better someday, and look to Jesus to provide it, which he is so glad to give to us.

            So… DIVIDED WE STAND, Yes!…  Divided from sin, so that we can be united in an even better way: without sin, without the division, without the pretending and the lies that we so often put on.  Instead, we are united by Christ and his teachings, and we practice real forgiveness with others.  And when you find that kind of relationship with your loved ones and friends and other Christians, not even Satan will be able to divide you!  On the other hand, when you don’t find that, thank God for the many blessings he still provides through these people, but working towards that goal, and never compromise on Jesus.  Only with him do we stand.  Only by him are we healed.  That’s worth it, even if it leads to some division here. Amen.