"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed".
Jesus is bringing fire. This is no warm and cuddly Jesus. Fire! This is a prophetic fire that will consume injustice, suffering, and institutional domination of political & religious nature. This is no gentle Jesus but a Jesus who is outraged by the burden of sin that is driving him to a baptismal cross that waits for him in
This next weekend, I am going for an over night campout with some college friends. Just the guys will get together and in the evening, we will add newspaper to match and sticks and wood and we will have FIRE. Last year we talked until 2:00am around the fire, rekindling the friendships and encouraging one another as we struggle with our daily lives. The fire will be rekindled and the flames of discipleship will be stoked as we gather around that fire of faith.
We gather here at worship around the fire of the altar, with these two candles (lights are dimmed) on the altar reminding us of the fire that was used on raised structure, with wood placed around it and an animal sacrificed as a sin offering. That offering which was burned by fire, incense added was meant to be a sweet smell to please a God that burned with righteousness.
We need that fire for the journey as we. Our daily walk will not always be easy as we carry the burden of following Jesus. Hebrew, chapter 11 reminds us of the many people who have journeyed before us, who were tortured; killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented; wandered in deserts & mountains, & in caves and holes in the ground. Like the six miners who journeyed into the darkness daily and have now been missing for almost two weeks 1500 feet below the ground in a
The fire leads again to “look to Jesus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus is the pioneer of our faith, leading us forward on a journey where we must carry our cross and not all the stuff we hold so closely. As we look to Jesus, the fire of our faith, we are called to “lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely”. As a pioneer, we carry so many things for the journey. My family did a pioneering trip this summer in our Coleman Utah Camper. This way of camping is not a roughing it adventure. We carry many things with us for our journey camping. Perhaps you have been burned by religious institutionalism or relational dysfunction. Perhaps, we carry to many past weights that cling to us as we journey; either past hurts that you have caused or have received. Perhaps you carry past hurts that are sins that prevent you from living more fully and loving more deeply and growing a deeper faith through Bible study; prayer; and service sacrificing with more intentionally that others would benefit.
We bring these weights and burdens again to the altar and see Jesus, the “perfecter” of our faith and the fire of our faith, stripped of encumbrances and able to bear the only burden for us that ultimately matters. As Hebrews stated, “. . . who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.”[1] We may even get lost, but the fire of faith has a way of finding us when we are lost by rekindling a fire in us or around us to find our way through the darkness to the light of Christ for our journey. We are the kindling, Jesus is bringing the wood (point to cross) and that is a great match to strike!
[1] Jesus’ Death:
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