“You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” Jesus, in Luke 12:49-56.
“What did you make today: a difference or an excuse?” Noel Edmonds.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of bringing fire to the earth – Moses’ burning bush, the pillar of fire and cloud which lead the Israelites, Elijah’s chariot of fire and the tongues of flames at Pentecost resonate with this as signs of God’s activity in the world. But fire can also burn and destroy, as John the Baptist warned when suggesting that what is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the flames. Jesus himself also speaks of hellfire in Matthew 25:41 and of creating division rather than peace on earth, despite so often being called the Prince of Peace.
Recently, in nearby Shropshire, the plentiful harvest of straw that one farmer had grown and stored in two barns caught alight in the fourth heatwave this year. The Fire Brigade would usually remove some of the burning straw to take it into the fields to be soaked for the flames to be extinguished but, as the grass was so dry, it could not be done in case that ignited too. The surrounding streams and pools were also too low to use to supply the hoses and so water had to be brought from further afield by bowsers, which delayed the flames being extinguished. Consequently, the farm’s entire straw harvest for use with livestock during the winter was lost, both barns destroyed and the farmer’s livelihood imperilled after so much hard work in vain.
Whether or not this is due to climate change or the earth’s natural cycle is a moot point, although the blackberries are ready much earlier than usual and some trees are already dropping leaves and even branches – signs of the stress they are under after so much heat and lack of water. Jesus, often so observant of nature around him, refers to the signs of changing clouds or winds to indicate forthcoming rain or heat but links this to discerning the signs of the age in which he and his followers live – much more than just the weather forecasting he mentions. As he warns his followers of the strife and divisions of the times, Jesus also accuses some of them of hypocrisy in not recognising the spiritual significance of what is happening. The Prince of the Peace of which angels sang at his birth also blessed peacemakers in the Beatitudes, spoke of leaving peace with his followers before his death and, at his resurrection, reassured his frightened disciples with his first words, “Peace be with you”. But this was in the context of the terrible violence meted out to him at his imprisonment, crucifixion and death – it is not the shallow, false peace of appeasement but the peace bought at so great a cost.
That was reflected in the VJ Day commemorations this week when the Forgotten Army in Burma, a multinational force made from the Commonwealth countries who spoke 100 languages between them, was remembered and the sacrifice made by so many in the war with Japan was acknowledged. The deaths and terrible suffering on all sides brought an end to the fighting, though not necessarily the hostility, as the challenge of the work of the peace began. That challenge continues today, as the signs of the times are interpreted in our generation as well as those in the time of Jesus. Warnings of fire and division are hard and costly to bear – but so is the possibility of a just peace and collaboration across nationalities, faiths and cultural divides if the commitment and will for this can succeed. Which will prevail? Will the example of those who paid the price in Burma inspire us in so uncertain a world and could the fire of which Jesus spoke also enlighten the way forward, whether divided or united? As the King said on VJ Day, the “….courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity’s darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future.”
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.