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"The Cutting Edge"

by Rev Tim Zingale, St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Fort Dodge, IA

Scripture: Luke 12:49-56

I would like to tell you this evening about a family – a father, mother and three children. This family sat around the dinner table one evening. Ruth, the middle child, began the conversation by telling about a friend at school. Her friend had told her that Jesus was the Son of God and that salvation was free to all who would trust in Him.

Immediately an argument started. John, the older brother said, "I don’t want any of that church stuff at supper."  The father agreed. He had a coworker who was always trying to "corner someone on religion." He did not want any of that nonsense in the house.

Mother raised her voice saying, "A little religion would do all of us a lot of good. The least we can do is get a Bible and check it out." She had a Bible that had been given to her as a child and would help Ruth look it up after supper. Little Bill, the baby of the family, suggested that they should also go to church and ask the Pastor.

After supper, the father and John left the table in a "huff’ to watch the football game. Mother, Ruth and little Bill gathered with the Bible to look for some answers. After reading for a while, they decided they would go to church the following Sunday and talk with the Pastor, which they did. In time, they came to experience the love of Christ in their lives. They did find that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life for them. These three became regular attenders in church. The other two?--Still watching TV.

Jesus says in our gospel lesson this evening, "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be 5 divided, 3 against 2 and 2 against 3."

There is a cutting edge for a person who has experienced the love of Christ in their lives. That cutting edge may mean that indeed families can be divided as in our story. That cutting edge may mean that you might be ridiculed for your faith; it may mean that you might stand apart and alone for the convictions you hold; and it may dictate how you will live your life, how you will treat others, and how they will treat you.

Jesus is telling us that he demands a commitment that just might cut across family ties, that just might cut across at how others see us, a commitment that says as a Christian, you are different in this world. At this time in his ministry, Jesus sensed that his disciples were not taking his claims seriously in their lives.

He wanted love, loyalty, obedience, a sense of commitment, but they were merely curious, seeing what this poor country preacher was saying and doing. So Jesus tells them about the obedience, the commitment, the loyalty he demands from his followers.

And that same commitment is demanded today in the 21st century by those who would follow Jesus. But many have asked, does Jesus really want that kind of commitment from me? Won’t Jesus sell himself better to society by watering down his demands? Does it have to be that radical and decisive??

Yes, it does. Christ, over the last 2,000 years, has not watered down his demands upon our lives. There are no red-hot deals, no easy sales, no close out bargains, no end of the month clearances with Jesus. The cost to follow him is still and will always be full surrender of one’s life. The cost is high, but the prize is life -- abundant and free. Live in and through Him who bought and paid for our lives with the surrender of his life on the tree at Calvary.

Now how does one go about living this life that is lived on the cutting edge? How does one develop such a loyalty to Jesus? We can see this development in 3 steps: conviction, courage, and testing.

Conviction may be called rebirth, or conversion, or getting to know Jesus;  whatever it’s called, it’s God’s action in our lives. It is God opening the heart and mind of a person to God’s promises and then letting that faith or conviction grow. Conviction is a quality that produces a certainty, a self-assurance, an attitude of confidence in one’s life. Take Paul, for example, after the experience on the road to Damascus, Paul was convinced that Jesus was his Savior. In his writing, Paul uses the terms, "I know,... I am sure" many times. Paul had a conviction.

Or take one of the many Old Testament figures, say, Daniel. He was forbidden to pray to Jehovah. Violation would result in being thrown into the lion’s den. It wasn’t a tough decision for Daniel to make; he already had some strong convictions concerning his relationship with God. He kept praying. He was thrown into the lion’s den.

Or the movie "Chariots of Fire" which is about a man who eventually became a missionary and won a gold medal running for the 1924 British Olympic team. But it happened that Eric Liddell almost lost his chance for that Olympic gold because of his conviction in Christ. One of his preliminary heats was to be run on a Sunday morning, when he would be in church. Eric announced that he would not run. He was brought up before the British Olympic committee, but he still refused to run on a Sunday. However, another runner voluntarily withdrew from another heat and let Eric run in his place. Eric ran and won and eventually won the gold medal. He had his eyes on a goal, that of Christ, and was willing to lose the medal he had trained for because of his convictions. There was a cutting edge to his life.

The next step is that of courage; the inner strength one draws upon when the going gets tough.  And a Christian living a life full of conviction needs the strength which comes from God through his Holy Spirit. It is God who gives us the strength, the courage, the fortitude to keep that trust and faith in him strong.

The Bible says, "No one who puts his trust in him will ever be disappointed; no, not one." The inner strength is available for everyone who is willing to call upon the resources of God to give them the courage to stand by his or her convictions.

It is like a story told by Lou Little, the football coach at Columbia University. He had a guy on his squad who didn’t play very well, but who had a spirit that lifted the morale of the entire team. Little was proud of the boy and marveled at how he and his father would walk arm and arm around the campus after the football games. The boy’s father died unexpectedly, and after he returned from the funeral, the boy asked if he could play in the game on Saturday. He said he wanted to play for his father. The coach thought he would let him start the first few minutes, then replace him with a regular player. But to the surprise of everyone, the boy played the entire game. He played 60 minutes of inspired football. After the game, the coach sought him out. "What got into you out there?", he asked.

The boy replied, "Do you remember how my father and I used to walk around arm-in-arm after the games? He didn’t want people to know, but he was totally blind. This afternoon was the first time he ever saw me play football."

The inner strength we receive from God is JUST like that. We know as we live, God is watching us and giving us the will, the strength, the inspiration to live for him.

Now that brings us to the third step, the testing, or as Jesus says the division, or the cutting edge to one’s life. This cutting edge is not for the purpose of hurting others, but for the purpose of healing. Sometimes that calls us to take a stand that cuts across lines that tend to separate us from others. If something or someone is destroying our relationship with God, it must be stopped. Sometimes we must separate ourselves from situations or people in order to remain true to our convictions, true to our faith.

Take for example Jacob’s son, Joseph. The king’s wife had designs on this young man and thought it would be great fun to seduce him. She tried with all of her charm, but Joseph refused. He said no to this woman and said, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"  Joseph paid a price for this rejection; she brought false witness against him, and he was persecuted for his righteousness.

This is the kind of life Jesus is calling us to live. A life with a cutting edge that chooses the costly price of ultimate loyalties to the cheapness of easy thrills or momentary relationships. It is a life that holds onto abiding joys, instead of reaching for instant gratification and easy pleasures. It is a life that is called upon to weigh the consequences, to think first, then react. To react in the way that puts God first and our desires, our aims, our pleasure second. It is a life that even sometimes calls us to stand apart, to stand alone, maybe even in a family. But know and believe that this life full of loyalty, full of commitment, full of Jesus is an abundant life. It is a life that is truly rewarding, a life worth living.

Jesus calls us to live for Him. He calls us to a life of loyalty, a life of commitment, a life that is lived on the cutting edge of society. He calls us to live with conviction to a life in faith. He calls us to live with courage, to draw on His strength, and he calls us to be tested. Jesus calls us to make a stand, to live by our convictions even when those convictions might bring separation or pain into our lives.

For we know that Jesus is truly the way, the truth, and the life for us.

Amen