Pentecost 10 – 2025
Luke 12:49-59
Marian Free
In the name of God Earth-Maker, Pain-Bearer, Life-Giver. Amen.
On Thursday, (August 14) the church marked the Feast of the Twentieth Century martyrs. One of these was Manche Masemola from South Africa who at the beginning of the century converted to Christianity against the wishes of her parents. When the medicine of a Sangoma (a traditional African faith healer) failed to undo the ‘spell” which her parents felt had her in its grasp, her parents murdered Manche. She was only 14 or 15 when she was killed. Apparently, before she died, she had said that she “would be baptised in her own blood.” Manche was recognised as a martyr by the church in. South Africa within ten years of her death and she is one of the martyrs commemorated above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey.
There were more martyrs in the 20th century than in any century prior and Manche’s story is far from unique. Pakistan for example, has strict blasphemy laws the punishment for which is death[1]. Christians can be accused of blasphemy by those who have a grudge against. Them and while the death sentence is rarely carried out by. the judiciary people often take the matter into their own hands, beating and sometimes killing those whom they believe have offended Allah.
“I have a baptism with which to baptised!” Jesus declares this morning before he goes on to say: “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Many people today find these words of Jesus deeply disturbing and out of sync with their understanding of a Jesus who heals and forgives faith which provides comfort and assurance. The problem is that we read this passage from the perspective of a faith which, in the West at least, has been the predominant faith for close to seventeen centuries and which, since its adoption by Constantine as the religion of the state has come to be almost indistinguishable from many of the communities in which it finds itself. (Sometimes it is difficult to determine which societal values have been influenced by the Christian faith and which Christian values have taken on attributes of the society in which it finds itself.)
In the ancient world it was very different. No one was born a Christian – they had to convert. Conversion often came at a great cost – loss of family and friends, loss of income and the attendant loss of social status. Members of the Christian community were frequently ostracised by friends and family and harassed by neighbours and fellow citizens.[2] To those in the Greco-Roman Empire, worshipping the local gods built community – everyone participated in the local festivals, ate at the local temples and so on. A Christian could no longer join in the festivities or eat food sacrificed to idols and thus could be seen as a source of social division. Further, local gods were understood to protect the community, so refusal (by the newly converted) to worship the gods put the whole community at risk. Likewise, a refusal to worship the Emperor would place the whole community in jeopardy. A Christian who refused to worship the local gods, and who was opposed to Emperor worship was seen as endangering the whole community. Christians were not a seen as a benign presence but as a very real threat to the safety and stability of the community in which they found themselves. They would have found themselves resented at best and reviled and “persecuted” at worst.
A further cause of isolation and deprivation for a convert was the inability to work. Tradespeople had to belong to a guild, and guilds were associated with a particular god and temple. Christians, being unable to participate in temple worship, were excluded from the guild and often found themselves unable to work. On top of the social isolation and harassment, converts experienced unemployment and therefore no income.
For the same reasons, families were divided when a family member converted to Christianity. Believers were no longer able to participate in family events (usually associated with religious festivals) and they were deemed to be troublemakers because of their refusal to conform to local norms and to behave in ways that protected the city.
The situation was only slightly better for those who converted from Judaism, but they too found themselves cut off from family and friends who did not agree that Jesus was the Christ.
“From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:53)
Words that are shocking and confrontational to us, were simply expressing the reality of the time, and for many in the world today, expressing the reality of our our own time. According to a study carried out by the House of Commons last year, one in seven Christians in the world is persecuted. [3] In many places, making an active decision to follow Jesus still comes at a great cost. Conversion divides families (even communities), leads to social isolation and in the worst case scenarios can result in death.
When Jesus says that he has come to bring fire to the earth, he is simply stating what he knows to be true – that the message he brings is dangerous and will be divisive and that those who accept the gospel will be considered as dangerous troublemakers by many and will suffer the consequences.
In our cosy “Christian” world it can be difficult to understand that faith in Jesus is dangerous and costly, hard to grasp that something that (to us) as socially acceptable as holding the Christian faith could cause our friends and neighbours to see us as a threat. It is impossible for us to associate baptism with Jesus’ wish to bring fire to the. earth [4], but this is a reality for many and should challenge us to not only think of those who suffer for their faith, but to ask ourselves whether or not we have in fact become too comfortable.
[1] To discover which countries have made conversion illegal, and in which countries Christians are persecuted check this link https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-where-christianity-is-illegal..
[2] Paul speaks about being persecuted, but. there was no state censured persecution till much he is probably referring to isolation and harassment.
[3] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2024-0017/#:~:text=1%20in%207%20Christians%20are,fragile%20states%20to%20support%20FoRB
[4] Jesus here, is probably looking forward (not in a positive sense) to his crucifixion and wishing that ti could be over and done with. It would not be unrealistic for those undergoing persecution to apply these. Words to thm
Swallowsrest 