Homily for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

“I Have Come To Set The earth On Fire”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Sisters and brothers in the Lord, once again, we have gathered together to worship the only true, living and faithful God. Today’s gospel taken from Luke 12:49-53 begins with a shocking declaration of our Lord Jesus Christ: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished. Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No! I tell you, but rather division.”

You know, to those who have been taught and who were learning to see Jesus as the Messiah, God’s anointed one, these words would come as a profound shock. It would shock them because the Messiah is supposed to be the conqueror and the king of the earth, and his rule would usher in “the year of God’s favor”, that is, the golden age. His reign is supposed to be a reign of bliss, peace, reconciliation forgiveness and harmony. But in today’s gospel passage, Jesus says he has come to set the earth on fire. The Jews considered fire almost always as the symbol of judgement and punishment. When a city sinned so much, it was destroyed by fire. So, when Jesus says that he has come to set fire on the earth, does it mean he has come to destroy the earth? Not at all! Fire is also a symbol of purification. This purification is made possible by the action of the Holy Spirit working through the words and deeds of Jesus. It is a revolutionary purification that takes place in the life of a believer who accepts the message of Jesus Christ. This fire is to purify each of us just as gold is purified by fire. It is not a fire of destruction like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the fire of love, the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit that sets the heart of a believer aflame and ablaze to become a firebrand disciple of the Lord. It is this fire that drove St. Paul to say: “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  

Some Christians will not associate “fire” with God. Whenever the word fire is mentioned, their first thought would probably be hell-fire, the Lake of fire or Sodom and Gomorrah. But then, the word “fire” and its attributes of light and heat speak more of God and his goodness than of a destructive force against God’s enemies. It is true that the writers of the Bible employed the use of fire in many different ways; however, when it comes to spiritual use of fire, it is usually attributed to God. God manifested himself in various forms of fire on many different occasions. Christians who allowed the fire of God to enter into their lives will see it as being purified, corrected and cleansed, rather than being utterly destroyed by it. God’s fire brings forth from within a love that desires to bring healing and restoration to all humankind. 

Jesus says he has come to set the earth on fire and that he yearned that it was already blazing. There are many Christians today who yearn for God to judge the earth by destroying it with physical fire. Was that the yearning of Jesus? There are some Christians who implore the Holy Spirit to set their enemies on fire- that is, to destroy them completely. Was that the yearning of Jesus? Not at all! Yes, there are evil people around us. There are people who make life very uncomfortable for us and for others. There are people who have vowed not to relent until they either harm us or destroy us. But even when we have correctly identified our haters and enemies, is it Christian to call down fire of destruction over them? Jesus’ prayer for his executioners was: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” When a Samaritan town refused to allow Jesus and his disciples to pass through their town, James and John were upset. And in their anger, they asked Jesus: “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus rebuked them and went through another town. We all wish there are no bad person on earth or around us. We all wish everyone would love us. We all wish there would be no haters or crime committers. But we have them around us! Each of these categories of people present us amazing opportunities to practice our faith, to be like Jesus, to forgive, to love, to heal and to reach out.