Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10/ Hebrews 12:1-4/ Luke 12:49-53
There was a TV advertisement in the 1980s for a particular brand of stout that had this catchy phrase: “Are you afraid of the dark?”
Because the colour of that particular brand of stout is dark, almost blackish.
So, when ordering drinks, this catchy phrase will go around “Are you afraid of the dark?” and of course who would want to say he is afraid, and so they will order that dark bitter stout.
It was an innovative advertisement because it played on the two aspects of human nature.
Yes, it played on the male ego to say that they are not afraid of anything.
Yet, it also highlighted the human primeval fear of the dark.
So, just put the male ego and a primeval fear together and we get an advertisement for a stout.
But the fear of the dark is a reality for men, women and especially children, and even faith and courage are called upon to address the fear.
There is this joke about a little boy who was always afraid of the dark and he wouldn’t go outdoors alone after sunset.
One day, he forgot to bring in his badminton racket from the garden and since it was already dark, he asked his mother to bring it in for him.
His mother wanted to help him overcome his fear of the dark, so she told him:
Don’t be afraid, Jesus is out there even in the dark! So, just go and get your badminton racket back.
So the little boy opened the door a bit and said in a loud voice: Jesus, if you are out there, please bring in my badminton racket!
Oh yes, Jesus is out there everywhere, especially in the dark.
Jesus is the light of the world and He came to scatter the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome Him.
Oh yes, where there is darkness, let there be light, let there be the Light of Christ.
And we love the light, in every sense of the word, because it gives us security and clarity.
But in today’s gospel, Jesus seemed to be saying much more than just being the light of the world.
He said to His disciples: I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were burning already.
It is just a metaphor, just an image. But it is also a powerful image.
Fire is not something that we can remain indifferent to.
Fire is not a weak, pale, lifeless thing. Fire is alive and it gives out warmth and comfort.
And it has the power to burn up what is useless and refine what is impure.
Jesus said that He is the light of the world and that light comes from the fire that He is bringing with Him.
And He is not talking about a small fire. He is talking about a big fire that will set the whole world ablaze.
Well, so far so good, and all of that is very nice to hear.
But what follows after that is what is considered to be a hard saying of Jesus, hard and disturbing.
Because Jesus said: Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
And then He goes on to talk about a division that will cut right down to family ties.
But peace is what we want and more so we want peace in our family.
Yet it also cannot be denied that every family has got some burning issues that need to be addressed.
One example of a burning issue that would cause division in a family would be when a member of the family wants to convert to Christianity.
If there is opposition, that person could choose to hide it from the family in order to avoid tension.
But just as light cannot be concealed, burning issues must be addressed, be it in the family, or in the Church community or in the society.
We may remember the story about Moses and the burning bush in the book of Exodus.
While looking after his flock of sheep, Moses happened to notice a bush that was burning but not consumed by the fire.
He went to investigate this strange thing, and then God spoke to him from the burning bush.
Well, one thing led to another and in the end, Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
It all began with a burning bush and what a fire it started in Egypt.
Well, the burning bush may have evolved into burning issues and it is up to us to look at them and to address them.
But strangely, we fear to address burning issues, just like we fear the dark.
But just as Jesus is the Light that will pierce through the darkness, Jesus also wants to speak to us in the burning issues that we see around us.
When we face these burning issues and address them, it will become a fire that will burn up what is useless and refine what is impure.
But it is a fire that will also give comfort and warmth and light.
Because it is a fire that comes from Jesus who is the Prince of Peace and the Light of the world.
So let us not be afraid of the fire from the burning issues of our lives, because the fire will scatter the darkness of our sins and our fears.