Jer 38:4-6, 8-10 / Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18 / Heb 12:1-4 / Lk 12:49-53
A hefty, middle-aged woman was browsing in a book store. She was in a foul mood and was taking it out on one of the clerks. She complained about the air-conditioning, the lighting, and the height of the shelves. She accused him of never stocking the books she wanted, and always being out of the best sellers. After several minutes of this continuous barrage, the clerk finally managed to get in a word, "Please, madam, just tell me what book you'd like to purchase."
The dowager huffed, "I want a copy of HOW TO REMAIN YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL."
"But, of course, madam," replied the clerk with cool courtesy. I'll place your order for HOW TO REMAIN YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL at once — and I'll mark it ‘urgent'!"
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Revenge is sweet, but not very pretty. Surely it can't be what Jesus wants for US. And yet, Sunday's Gospel certainly makes it seem so. Jesus says he doesn't want peace for us, but division, "two against three, three against two." He's saying something important, something we usually miss. So we'd better pay close attention and try to unravel it.
Real peace is the Lord's hope and expectation for us. But real peace is more than just the absence of war. It means being at one with ourselves (that means, not conflicted inside), at one with God, and at one with each other. Real peace, at-oneness, communion, is the very purpose of life. It's the only thing that makes life worthwhile.
So what is Jesus talking about? He's warning us that it's all too easy to mistake the absence of visible hostilities and explosions for real peace, and to mistake the absence of overt conflict and disruption for real at-oneness.
Phony peace is like sitting in an expensive car – in the garage. The car is beautifully appointed and squeaky clean. There's no road noise, no disconcerting bumps or swerves, and no danger of accidents. But the car isn't going anywhere. It looks terrific, but it's not engaged in doing the one thing it was made to do, driving. And as long as it stays in the garage, it's useless, no matter how good it looks, no matter how comfortable it feels.
When Jesus speaks so graphically about father against son, and two against three, he's not urging us to go out and stir up new troubles or start new battles. He's calling us to face up to the old ones, the conflicts and the lack of at-oneness that already exist inside us and in our relations with others. He's calling us to set about dealing with those inner and outer conflicts, and not to hide from them or cover them over any longer. He's telling us that "sitting in the garage" may look safe, but, in the long run, it's the most dangerous thing we can do. Because it will never get us where we want to go.
If our friendships and marriages, families and communities are to live up to our high hopes, and if our life's work is to be worthy of us, then we have to let the Lord set us on fire with the energy we call "grace" — which is one part courage and one part love. With that holy fire warming and strengthening our hearts, there is no part of ourselves we cannot confront, no inner dissonance we cannot face, no failure we cannot deal with.
With that holy fire warming and strengthening our hearts, there is no person — man, woman, or child — to whom we cannot speak the whole truth without fear or shame, for we speak it in love. We give the truth as a gift, and do not use it as a weapon.
As we speak the truth in love, and as we accept the challenge both of changing ourselves and of helping others to change, the peace, at-oneness, and communion that God desires for us will slowly come to be. Having named in love what divides us, we will have begun the process of building peace and true communion.
So we pray: Lord, set us on fire and give us the strong, warm hearts of peacemakers. May we build here a peace that lasts and that welcomes all people inside the circle of our love. Amen.
