What Would Jesus Wish?
Does anyone remember when the Sears Christmas catalog came in the mail? Or Penney’s? Or Montgomery Wards? Weren’t they great?
I loved getting those catalogs, those wish-books in the mail. I loved looking at the:
Lincoln logs and tinker toys;
Tonka trucks and Erector Sets;
Monopoly games and Baseball gloves;
Guitars and stereos.
I’d circle the things I’d like to have and then write them on my Christmas list.
What were some of the things you wished for? What did you put on your list?
Now, I need you to work with me here for a minute. Imagine Jesus received one of those Christmas catalogs in the mail. I can see him looking through the pages, admiring the trinkets, then taking a piece of paper and writing down one item. Just one. What do you think he’d wish for? What would Jesus wish?
He’d wish for fire.
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, 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 daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)
It’s not the kind of wish you normally hear at Christmas time. Certainly not the kind of verse you’d expect in a Christmas card.
We’d expect that Jesus’ Christmas wish would be something like this:
My Christmas Wish
If I could have a Christmas wish,
Yes, if such things could be.
There are some things that I’d wish for,
That are just for you, from me.
I know I’d wish when you wake up,
The Christmas day to start . . .
You’d find yourself smiling,
From the peace within your heart.
And I would wish your mind at peace
As you think about next year.
And freedom from all worries,
And freedom from all fear.
I know I may not get my wish,
But if I could, it’s true . . .
A deep, abiding, heart-felt peace
Is my Christmas wish for you!
- Source http://www.fromtheheartpostcards.com/xmas/xmaspoem1.html access 11/30/04
No, Jesus’ Christmas wish would be something different from that. He said he came to set the earth on fire and couldn’t wait to get it started. He said he had to be baptized in a baptism that would not let him rest until it was completed. And he said families would be torn apart because of Him and His message. So much for “Peace on earth, good will toward men!”
So, what did Jesus mean? Why did he have this wish for fire?
In Luke 11:53, we see opposition to Jesus’ message and ministry:
“When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions…”
Luke chapter 12 tells us to …
- Be true to God in spite of opposition.
- Be rich toward God and avoid greed.
- Treasure God above everything else.
- Live ready for the Son of Man’s return
- Choose me - read the signs.
- Choose me - repent.
- Choose me - remember the fig tree parable.
“I came to set the world on fire - choose me.”
So, what does Jesus mean by fire? He doesn’t explain himself. We might have thought that everyone knew what he meant.
But, because Jesus doesn’t clarify what He means, there are a variety of opinions from which to choose.
The fire Jesus mentions could be a symbol of:
- Holiness
- Faith
- Dissension
- Purification
- Judgment
- A source of warmth and light
- A sign of the last days
- A fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3
- The salvation he would bring about by going through his baptism
- Presence of God
Whatever the fire is, it is of God. And it is the undoing of those who reject Him, and the refining of those who believe in Him. (Geldenhuys)
Jesus’ proclamation, his wish for fire, forced everyone who heard Him to examine the implications of their commitments. The fire Jesus desired forced everyone to reconsider their:
- Values
- Priorities
- Goals
- Behavior
It forced them to consider whether they needed to change old patterns of life, and how it would impact their significant relationships. (Culpepper by Stoffregen)
Nothing escapes the effect of Jesus’ fire. It consumes the combustible and purifies the imperishable. (Geldenhuys)
Jesus said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth . . .” and he did. And his fire has been spreading ever since.
All that to say, I have a hunch that if we were to ask Jesus what He would wish for today, I think he’d wish for fire - more fire.
He’d wish that the fire he started through his death and resurrection was burning brighter and hotter than it is.
He’d wish that the fire that he started through his death and resurrection was reaching farther and wider than it does.
He’d wish we’d help spread that fire he started . . . No, I take that back. He wouldn’t wish we’d help, He expects us to help. He expects us to fuel the fire, to feed it, to fan it, so it blazes white hot.
Many of you are familiar with Elton Trueblood’s The Incendiary Fellowship. In his book, Trueblood challenges Christians and the Church to fan into flames the fire of Christ. He says: “The only way to be loyal to the fire of Christ is to spread it.” And I’d add, “The only way to spread the fire is to be consumed by it.”
Trueblood goes on to say:
Evangelism occurs when people are so enkindled by contact with the central fire of Christ that they in turn set others on fire. The only adequate evidence that anything is on fire is the pragmatic evidence that other fires are started by it. A fire that does not spread must eventually go out! This is the point of Emil Brunner’s dictum that “the Church exists by mission, as fire exists by burning.”
“The only way to be loyal to the fire of Christ is to spread it. The only way to spread the fire is to be consumed by it.”
What would Jesus wish? Not only would he wish that we would spread the fire of Christ. He’d wish that we’d become ablaze with his fire - that we’d become fire.
This brings us to the point where Jesus’ original hearers were. His declaration left them with a couple of things they could do.
They could defend the level of their fire. They could explain why the glow of their relationship with God wasn’t what it could be. They could explain how the challenges of life dampened their flames. They could explain how difficult it is to burn for Him like He wanted them to.
Or they could say, simply, that Christ’s fire in them was not what it could be, was not what it should be, and then offer themselves to Him, so he could do what needed to be done, so His fire could consume them.
The same holds true for us.
We can defend the level of our fire. Explain why the glow of our relationship with Christ isn’t what it could be. Explain how the challenges of life have dampened our flames. Explain how difficult it is to burn for Him like he wants us to.
Or we can say, simply, that Christ’s fire in us is not what it could be, is not what it should be, and that He’s free to do what needs to be done, so His fire can consume us.
I heard a Wesley hymn for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It says exactly what we need to say if the fire that Jesus ignited 2000 years ago is to blaze brightly today.
On all the earth thy Spirit shower;
The earth in righteousness renew;
Thy kingdom come, and hell's o'erpower,
And to thy sceptre all subdue.
Like mighty winds, or torrents fierce,
Let it opposers all o'errun;
And every law of sin reverse,
That faith and love may make all one.
Yea, let thy Spirit in every place
Its richer energy declare;
While lovely tempers, fruits of grace,
The kingdom of thy Christ prepare.
Grant this, O holy God and true!
The ancient seers thou didst inspire;
To us perform the promise due;
Descend, and crown us now with fire!
(https://www.invubu.com/music/show/song/Charles-Wesley/On-All-The-Earth-Thy-Spirit-Shower.html)
Jesus said: “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled.”
The Word of the Lord.
Dr. Alan Lyke, NBC Provost
Published: 12/20/2021
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