Don’t Yell Fire in a
Crowded Theater
During our adult education study of this week’s
Gospel, someone asked, “Why are the people in the Gospel mad? Why are families
divided?” Maybe, we can find the answer.
The messiah, the one known as the prince
of peace spoke: “Do you think that I have come to
establish peace on the earth?” Jesus said to his disciples “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were
already blazing!”
Fire is something you don’t joke about; you
don’t yell fire in a crowded theater. If you do, there is going to be problems.
That’s what happened in the Gospel.
Jesus was man of peace; but, the fire of His
word is divisive.
God’s Word can set our world on fire and His
truth tends to turn our world upside down. God’s Word has always done this.
Jerimiah was sent to do bring the word of God to
the people. Jerimiah turned people’s lives upside down. Bringing God’s word to
the people, he set the world that he lived in on fire. Jerimiah saw the things that
were happening and gave them the truth of God’s word of what was to come.
And, people didn’t like that. People don’t like
to be told the truth that what they are doing is wrong. People want their own words
and beliefs to be God’s truths.
The people didn’t want to hear God’s word. They wanted the prophet dead so they threw
Jeremiah into a well.
Prophets came, and prophets died. And, God’s
word does not change. People still did not listen to the truth. Because people
would not change and hear what God asked of them; He sent his Word in human
form.
Jesus is the truth of God’s word. And, people
didn’t like that. People don’t like to be told the truth that what they are
doing is wrong. People want their own words and beliefs to be God’s truths.
They wanted Jesus dead so they nailed him on the Cross. Still, God’s
word does not change.
Christ Jesus sets us on fire by the Holy Spirit;
by the Holy Spirit has given us the Gospel. For believers, the Word of God sets
us on fire.
For the world, the gospels are a pain for there
are those who don’t want the truth of the Word of God. This is where division
is found.
If you believe in Christ, it changes you. It
causes a divide between you now and who you used to be. In Jesus’ time, an
individual was identified by their family, their religion, and their politics.
If you crossed these lines by following Christ, you divided your family.
Today, we’re just like that. In our world, our
country, our state, our city, and our community, people are divided by
politics, by religion, even by the variations in people. We are divided by the
truth of God’s word in Jesus Christ. That truth is love.
The problem is humanity wants to define its own
truth. The world doesn’t want God’s love. It wants a human idea of love based
in the spark of human passions and desires, this type of love fuels conflict in
human hearts. The love for money, power, and even a certain lifestyle is a counterfeit
love humanity created.
The truth of Christ’s love is a blazing fire of
fidelity, justice, and peace. Do not grow weary and
lose heart because it is stronger than any spark of passion made-up in
the human heart.
This fire for Jesus Christ is not a scheme. Jesus
is not a social order but discipleship. It is the love that sets hearts on fire
to share our faith in Jesus Christ with the world. By the fire of Christ
through the Holy Spirit, we love what God loves. It helps us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of
faith.
In us, Christ continues to set the world on
fire. We keep it blazing. Remember the questions, “Why are the people mad? Why
are families divided?” It’s because
of love, the love of Christ.
All my life I have been told don’t yell fire in
a crowded theater. But, if it is a fire that comes from love of Christ, yell about His
love at the top of your lungs.
Y’all be good, y’all be holy and preach the
gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.
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