Preached by Rev. Erik Kindem.
Scripture: Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
Summary
A trip to the catacombs outside Rome reminds us that the story of Jesus and the experience of his followers through the ages have never been far from adversity.
Today Jesus names a truth about God’s agenda for the world that is hard for our ears to hear: God did not become flesh among us in order to endorse our versions of the truth. God is after something much deeper—a reclamation project that looks the underbelly of human ambition square in the eye and challenges the powers of darkness at their very core. All must be stripped down, the foundations laid bare, before God’s reclamation project proceeds.
The death of the old and the birth of the new becomes GOOD NEWS when we realize we are not alone, but are surrounded by a community of saints and sinners, fellow pilgrims with whom we have been given the Holy Spirit, and with whom we are finding new life.