God is love - a Lenten series 11 Love divides!?!?
Luke 12:49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.
53 ‘Father will be divided against son
and son against father;
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”
54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.
Hey Jesus, what's going on here? Because believers read this stuff and think it's OK to be arseholes and I'm not sure that's what you are getting at here.
Here is what I see in the Jesus story. Every time he heals someone, every time he relaxes the rules for someone who is hurting, every time he widens the circle or knocks down the walls between who is in and out, people get mad. It keeps happening in the church. Want to let African Americans mingle with white Americans in church, they'll force them to sit in the blacks only section. Want to lead in a church but you are a woman, get exiled from the church. Want to treat your Native American neighbors fairly, get exiled from the church. Want to let women lead, want to let LGBTQ people lead, want your darker skin neighbors to have equal rights...there are many churches where you won't be welcomed. Every time the church tries to use St. Peter's keys to loose the gates, people divide.
Many families in America have been divided because some rejected a misogynistic, jingoistic, white nationalist, housing discriminator, among other things as a potential leader, while others said he was God's appointed. Love divides.
Hey Jesus, what's going on here? Because believers read this stuff and think it's OK to be arseholes and I'm not sure that's what you are getting at here.
Here is what I see in the Jesus story. Every time he heals someone, every time he relaxes the rules for someone who is hurting, every time he widens the circle or knocks down the walls between who is in and out, people get mad. It keeps happening in the church. Want to let African Americans mingle with white Americans in church, they'll force them to sit in the blacks only section. Want to lead in a church but you are a woman, get exiled from the church. Want to treat your Native American neighbors fairly, get exiled from the church. Want to let women lead, want to let LGBTQ people lead, want your darker skin neighbors to have equal rights...there are many churches where you won't be welcomed. Every time the church tries to use St. Peter's keys to loose the gates, people divide.
Many families in America have been divided because some rejected a misogynistic, jingoistic, white nationalist, housing discriminator, among other things as a potential leader, while others said he was God's appointed. Love divides.
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