The lectionary’s Gospel reading for last Sunday, August seventeenth, is a problematic passage, Luke 12:49-56. In today’s hyper divided world, divisions we so lament and over which we labor, this scripture makes us super uneasy and conflicted. The passage reads as follows:
Jesus, the Cause of Division
49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
Father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Time
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.” 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (NRSVU)
We don’t often think of Jesus as One who casts fire upon the earth like some fictional character from the Marvel comics or movies, Johnny Storm (Human Torch) from Marvel Comics, or Shinra Kusakabe from Fire Force and Ember Lumen from Disney/Pixar ‘s Elemental.
And, were we to be asked the question he puts to his disciples after confusing them with a challenging sequence of parables, how might we respond?
51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
We would probably say “Yes to peace, or maybe unity might be a better description of purpose! But no, to division!” It is division, however, that we have today, an acrimonious division at that, especially within the body of Christ. Moreover, because we do not know how, as Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd, to interpret the present time, we struggle at “repairing the breach” (Isaiah 58: 12). Interpreting the present time from a ‘Christian” perspective is no easy task.
In a recent op-ed for the New York Times titled Christian Cancel Culture Strikes Again (July 24, 2025), David French takes a shot at making a responsible recommendation:
There is no real tension between arguing for your own deeply held values while also recognizing the rights and dignity of people who disagree. Or, to put things even more simply, our country would be far better off if more Americans embraced a version of the Golden Rule — defend the rights and privileges of others that you would like to enjoy yourself.
The application of the Golden Rule should be clear in this case. If Christians want the freedom to participate in the American marketplace without facing reprisals for their faith or their beliefs about God’s design for the family, shouldn’t they extend that same courtesy to those who disagree?
A few days ago, I met with a local pastor who reported on having just finished a Zoom conference call which dealt with the issue of preaching to the ‘Purple’ congregation. I had not heard of the term before, the “Purple Church,” meaning one that is made up of Republicans and Democrats and independents, red/blue, conservatives and liberals. I left that meeting committed to researching the term and what to do with it. My efforts produced the following:
According to the Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins there are three primary rules for preaching to a mixed politics church.
Rule Number One: Prime The Pump
One of the ways I’m preparing my congregation for the silly season is to prime the pump. Before the crux of the craziness is upon us, it is prudent now to occasionally speak in generalities about political realities. For example, you might consider naming the fact that Jesus was political and offer examples from scripture. Remind your people that being faithful to the gospel may occasionally require you to tackle political issues, while simultaneously assuring them that you will never be publicly partisan. Explain the value of the Johnson Amendment, which protects America’s pulpits from being sold to the highest bidder. Ease anxiety in the pews by promising your congregation that you will never sell their pulpit to a political party or candidate. I tried this and my usually non-clappy congregation applauded this point in the middle of a sermon!
Rule Number Two: Tell It Slant
In a poem by Emily Dickenson, she urges readers to “Tell all the truth but tell it slant . . . The Truth must dazzle gradually.” Dickenson’s wisdom has helped me on a number of occasions when I have felt compelled to brush up against a potentially polarizing issue. Instead of naming a current political reality head on, I may try to find historical parallels to use as sermon illustrations. One of my preaching professors, when discussing vulnerability in preaching, said to never preach an open wound, lest you use the preaching moment for personal catharsis. This is good advice I’ve taken to heart. In a purple church, it may be wise to avoid open national wounds most of the time, opting instead for naming comparable scars from history. Every preacher must strike a balance between pastoral preaching and prophetic preaching. In a purple church, the wise preacher will lean heavily into pastoral preaching, earning the right to occasionally broach a tougher topic. A good rule of thumb is this: pastoral always; prophetic sometimes, partisan never.
Rule Number Three: Take Them Higher
I already have my opening sermon illustration planned for July 19, 2020, the Sunday after the Democratic party settles on their nominee. Here’s the illustration: with a “TRUMP 2020” sign in one hand and the Democrat’s sign in my other hand, I’m going to look at each sign briefly in silence. Then I’m going to walk to a side door of the sanctuary and dramatically throw both signs outside, close the door, lock it, and brush my hands together as if shaking off the dirt. “Not in this space,” I’ll say. “Not in this hour. You can give the other 167 hours of your week to partisanship if you choose, but let’s agree to make this one hour each week holy, set apart, for a higher way.” The great temptation in preaching in a purple church is to preach to the center; that’s not what I’m talking about. Aspire to preach not to the center, but to the higher way of faith that calls us out beyond dualism, especially present in America’s two-party system. If preachers have the attention of our people for just a few minutes one day per week, we must point them to think beyond the default that devolves into win/lose dualism. I’m not suggesting that we be or appear apolitical, rather that we be trans political and call people to a higher ideal than any political party can offer. As preachers in purple churches, we must be students of third way thinking that we might lead our people in this higher way. In the words of Ken Wilber, “transcend and include.” Let us preach not to the center, but to the Christ that meets us beyond our zero-sum politics.
Sometimes the ‘rule of thumb’ functions very well. Pastoral always, prophetic sometimes, partisan never is one. And I can think of no homiletic call being better than the trans political call to lead people higher to the Christ that we encounter in the gospels. That Christ requires us to interpret the present time boldly and demands that we address the needs of the poor and powerless, to the low wage earner, those whose voting rights are threatened, whose healthcare will be taken from them, the victims of ICE raids and unjust detention and deportation and all the ugliness that exists in other aspects of our national life. Christ would certainly not tolerate any of it and He calls us all to a higher devotion, that being, to His word and way.
Finally, I am reminded of few words from Paul as written for the Corinthians:
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;[b] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,[c] we no longer know him in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there[d] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being![e] (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
Beloved, whether we be red, blue or purple, Republican, Democrat or independent, conservative or liberal, let us be in Christ together, new creations, living for Him and one another. It is the higher way.