20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our world is divided. Politically: there are blue states vs. red states. Socially, we have racial and economic division. Even among families, there is division and a lack of peace.
But we need peace, harmony, and unity. 

So why does Jesus in today’s Gospel say that he did not come to establish peace on the earth, but division? At first glance, it seems out of place, and contrary to what we really need. But to understand the meaning of Jesus’ challenging words, we must go back to their original context.

In the time when Jesus lived, the Roman Empire reigned. Jesus himself lived in a distant part of this empire, in Galilee. For all men who were citizens, it was a time of unprecedented peace. Or so it seemed, at first glance. When you looked beyond the surface of those in power and influence, the Roman Empire was anything but peaceful. Many were victims of great injustice, especially slaves, women, unwanted infants, and elderly persons with no one to care for them. It may have looked like peace on the outside, or called the Pax Romana in history books, but Jesus’ world was anything but peaceful.

But he chose to come into this world. Jesus our Merciful Messiah, came as the Prince of Peace. Angels announced his birth with tidings of peace in Bethlehem. He spoke of peace to those he encountered. He says to us at every Mass through the priest, peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. We share that peace with one another at Mass. Yes, Jesus came for peace. But to bring about peace in a time as unjust as the Roman Empire, it first required that he wake people up, get their attention, even bring division, if it meant establishing a true and lasting peace. 

Jesus says in the Gospel that he came to set the earth on fire. This fire is the fire of love: self-giving, self-sacrificing love that puts the other first. This was a radical idea in the Roman world. Love like this was like Jesus holding a torch shining in a dark cave, leading us out to His bright new day.

As Jesus began to call people out of their daily routines, they realized that there was something much better than “going with the flow” of society. The followers of Jesus began to make a decision, an intentional act to follow Him. And they began to set the world on fire! Slaves began to be honored as human beings, equals. Women were taught about God and treated as beloved sisters, not the property of men. Infants and the elderly were treasured. This was radical, and it disturbed the peace of society!
To an average parent in the Roman Empire whose child became Christian, the change would have created lots of division. They might ask their son or daughter, “Why do you act so differently now? Why can’t you just be like everyone else, and go with the flow?” And that son or daughter might answer, “How can I be like everyone else, when I know a peace like Jesus, experience a change that Jesus has brought me? How can I not share that love with others?” It divided families, and even tore some apart. THAT is the context of the words that Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel. Jesus had to bring division so that people could make a decision to follow Him. But that decision shattered the shallow peace of their complacency to establish a deeper and lasting peace, the Peace of Christ.

And with that in mind, we can begin to look at Jesus’ words in our own lives. We reflect how easy it is to just go with the flow, to keep peace and not engage in conflict. We can so easily avoid the decisions that might lead to division, even if we might really benefit from a change for the better. This is true in our work lives, at home, and in our social lives:

Maybe we have a friend or group of friends we associate with that we know lead us into sin, but we haven’t had the courage to address the situation.

Maybe we have unaddressed family dynamics, and cover up the real problems, avoid them, so as to “keep the peace,” even though everyone is suffering. We may need help addressing difficult family dynamics, whether from trusted friends, or from one of the Stephen Minister’s at our parish. But we need not be afraid of addressing the need for deeper peace in our families, even if it means initial division, a decision to engage difficult dynamics.

Maybe we have made an uneasy peace with the world in certain ways? Have we turned a blind eye to certain sins, even sins we see in our society? Might we seek an unsustainable peace with the values of the world on certain moral issues, or in our moral habits, themselves? Are we unwilling to rock the boat, hesitant to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, just because it’s easier to “go with the flow” in society?

Jesus reminds us today to take stock. To look at where we have gone with the crowd, where we have sought to keep peace with the world and avoided the path to the Peace of Christ, with all the divisions that entails. 

The Peace of Christ can be ours, it flows when we make a conscious decision to follow Jesus. This decision will lead to division, because people won’t always understand us or our actions. They will be confused why we’re not going along with the crowd, why we are different for following Jesus. But only by dividing from that which is not of God can we actually find the peace of God. 

So for us, we might respond to Jesus today by taking one step. One action-item in our lives. We might look at one aspect of our lives, something we’re currently doing or something we’re not doing. What is one thing, one area, one aspect or person in our lives that we can bring to Jesus. We can make a conscious decision to divide from our current practice, and choose something better. We can decide to follow Jesus more closely in this area of our life. Only when we begin to make a decision for Jesus, and be intentional about following Him, will we experience the Peace of Christ, the peace the world cannot give. This peace can be ours, even if it brings with it … division.