Families Fight (Reflections on Pentecost Thirteen, Year C)

One of my favorite TV shows is the CBS crime drama Blue Bloods. I mean, who doesn’t like a good crime drama, am I right? But what I love about this series is that it tells the tale of a family of Irish Catholic New Yorkers who are all in some way involved with law enforcement. Every episode features a scene around the dinner table of the Reagan family patriarch as the clan gathers for their weekly Sunday post-mass meal. Invariably, the adult children find themselves arguing over some issue which reduces them to squabbling eight-year-olds in very short order. There is something undeniably honest about this depiction, because—face it—families sometimes fight, and bitter disagreements with the ones we love the most are as natural as drool from a bulldog.

Jesus knew this, and in the gospel lesson appointed for Pentecost Thirteen in the Revised Common Lectionary (Luke 12:49-56) he goes as far as to tell us that he has not come to bring peace but division (v. 51). This might be disconcerting to good American church folks who find conflict as welcome as a dead roach in our potato salad. Nevertheless, Saint Paul has told us that

“Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.” (1Corinthians 11:19)

Yes, Jesus can bring us comfort, but Jesus also brings us challenge. Without challenge, we will become a stale social club—what Nadia Bolz-Weber called “the Elks Club with communion"—and our life expectancy as an institution will not be hopeful.

Of course, people don’t always like to talk politics, especially not in church. Truth be told, not every religious issue is a political issue. But every political issue is a religious issue because, if we truly take our faith seriously, every issue is a religious issue. Every choice we make relates to our sense of value, and we are constantly weighing our values against the teachings of Christ.

Do you want to inject a little liveliness into your next holiday dinner? Invite Jesus to the family table. Open the discussion on the “Black Lives Matter” movement, and ask what Jesus would have us do. Would Jesus value law and order over mercy? What would he who was beaten and tortured by ruling authorities say about the use of deadly force?

Or, you might ask what Jesus would have to say about Syrian refugees coming to the US. Would Jesus want us to turn our backs on the hungry, the homeless, and the destitute for the sake of national security? (See Matthew 25:35 for a clue to this question)

How would Jesus react to the “America First” movement?  Would Jesus advocate for free trade or fair trade? And by “fair trade,” I mean trade policies which might lead to higher prices in the US but would insure sustainable incomes for peasants in the developing world. How would Jesus come down on that question, do you think?

Where exactly do you think Jesus stands on the role of government and taxation? Would Jesus want us to keep our hard-earned cash, or voluntarily relinquish some of it so others might afford food and healthcare and live comfortably in their old age?

And what would Jesus say about our churches?  Would he accuse us of favoring comfortable tradition over active discipleship? Would he ask us to read the signs of the times? There seems to be a great deal of passion in America today over politics, but where is the passion in our churches? Where are those eighteen to thirty-four-year-olds who seem so ready to throw themselves into causes? Why are they not here in church?

If you have these kind of discussions, be prepared to be disagreed with. We’re not all going to see eye-to-eye on these questions. Families fight. But that’s really okay. If we are fighting over whose vison of Jesus’ teachings is correct, at least we’re in dialogue with Jesus. If we’re brave enough to enter into conflict and engage the ways of this sinful world, we might just be on our way to bringing the fire of the Holy Spirit to the earth.

Be bold, friends! Stir up a little controversy this week, okay?

PS-If you want to read a good book which asks some really tough questions for American Christians, let me recommend Red Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo (Thomas Nelson: 2012). Click on the title to learn more.