Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 / Hebrews 12:1-4 / Luke 12:49-53
One of the things that we don’t really feel comfortable about, that we don’t feel at ease with, is the dark.
There is this primeval fear of the dark and it not only affects children, even adults would avoid the dark places.
So as much as we may not say that we are afraid of the dark, our actions often show otherwise.
That 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 of the dark. Jesus is out there even in the dark. So just go and bring your badminton racket back.”
So the little boy opened the door a bit, and then said in a loud voice, “Jesus, if you are out there, please bring in my badminton racket.”
Oh yes, Jesus is out there even in the dark, but what He will do about it depends on what we want to do about it.
And if we were ever thrown into a dark well and sinking slowly into the muddy bottom, it is not going to be very useful to keep cursing the dark.
In the first reading, we heard that the Prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a well which has no water in it, but only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.
We weren’t told what Jeremiah did as he was sinking into the mud, but we know what he did before he got thrown into the well.
He was telling the soldiers and the people living in Jerusalem to give up and surrender to the enemy who were laying siege on Jerusalem.
Certainly, to surrender was quite unthinkable, but Jeremiah’s point was that it would be better to surrender rather than to be in for total disaster.
In other words, in surrendering, there could still be a little light in spite of the impending darkness.
But the king’s leading men could only think of Jeremiah as bad and dark news.
But Jeremiah, being a prophet, should be proclaiming the good news of God’s protection and salvation, and not the bad and dark news of surrendering to the enemy.
But Jeremiah saw what the king’s leading men refused to see, that the people had turned away from God and turned into a people of darkness.
So God let a greater darkness cover them and if they had listened to Jeremiah, then they will realize that even in the overwhelming darkness, the light will still shine. But only if they listened and believed in Jeremiah.
Today’s Gospel sounded more like dark news instead of good news.
Jesus talked about bringing fire and then about a baptism He must still receive, and how great was His distress till it was over.
And then instead of peace, He talked about division and distress, and we might wonder what was His point and what was He talking about.
It was certainly one of those hard and tough sayings of Jesus. But we may remember that Jesus called Himself the Light of the world.
That light was now turning into a fire as Jesus prepares Himself to face the persecutions from the people of darkness, a persecution similar to what the Prophet Jeremiah faced.
And the light from that blazing fire was going to burn way the false securities of a man-made peace and divided those who are in the light and those who are in the dark.
Because the Light of Christ will bring out the truth of who we are and where we stand.
Certainly we want to stand on the side of Truth and be in the light.
But we must also remember that when the light is brightest, the shadows are darkest.
The noblest of intentions can also be tainted with ulterior motives.
Just a couple of days ago, the Hong Kong tycoon Li ka-shing, put a full-page advertisement in the newspapers calling for a stop to the chaos and violence that are happening in Hong Kong.
The advertisement had an interesting header that said “the best of intentions can lead to the worst outcome”. It did not specify what “the best of intentions” referred to.
At the bottom, it said “stop anger and violence in the name of love”.
It was a reminder to all those involved to rethink their intentions as they look at what is happening.
But people can only look and see clearly when there is the Light of Christ.
We are called to bring the Light of Christ to others and be the light of Truth for them.
But what is to give light must endure the burning.
May we let the fire of God’s love burn away the darkness and impurities of our lives so that we can shine with truth and with love.