A Holy Blaze

 

 

Scripture

 Luke 12:49

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze!  (NRSVUE)

Devotion

Foresters and conservationists can tell you that fire is an amazing thing.  Yes, it can hurt and destroy.  But in the right conditions, it can also cleanse an area of dying/dead trees and choking undergrowth.  This purge fertilizes the earth to make it ready for new life to spring forth.  The intense heat of a forest fire is even what triggers the seed pods and pine-cones of certain trees to open.  Those forests need periodic blazes in order to thrive.

It is this cleansing, purifying, life-giving fire that Jesus came to bring us.  During his earthly ministry, Jesus cleared away certain assumption and tried to cleanse God's people of the individual and systemic sins that were choking the life out of us.  He fertilized us through the example of his words and actions.  .  And as he did so, the heat of his blazing Spirit opened us to a better way of being so that people all around the world could grow into the holy, loving, thriving community God always meant for us to be.  And when Jesus left his earthly realm, he sent the Holy Spirit to burn within us.

So if Christ kindled the Holy Spirit's fire within us, how is it apparent in our lives? Sometimes, it feels like we are more interested in closely guarding some banked embers than in letting the Spirit blaze forth.  Keeping that flame banked and to ourselves feels safe and cozy.  And there are time when we need to rest in that inner security that Jesus is always with us.   But that is is not all we are called to do.  Jesus gave us that holy fire for a reason.  And there are times when we need to fan those banked embers back into a roaring blaze so that it can spread throughout the world.

So let us commit asking how Jesus's Word may blaze in and through us.  And when we find some answers, let us act on them.  May Christ blaze forth in our words.  In the way we treat others.  In the way we address injustice the systemic problems both in our own communities and around the world.  

As Christ's holy flame spreads, let us praise for the way the fire he gave us helps cleanse the world of sin and suffering and provide fertile ground for the Gospel to take root.  And may we look forward to the great and glorious day when our eyes behold how the fire we spread in Jesus's named has helped the Kingdom of Heaven take grow here on Earth.

 

 

 

Prayer

 Jesus, thank you for placing the fire of your spirit within us.  May that fire blaze forth so that all the world may be cleansed, fertilized, and grow into a landscape that is ready for your return.  Amen.