Sermon - 12 after Pentecost "I've had it!"

Sermon – 12th after Pentecost
Luke 12:49-56
August 15, 2010
Journey with Jesus sermon series part 8
“I’ve had it!”

These were the words from Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who reportedly had an altercation with a passenger as the plane was landing. The plane arrived to the gate, he cursed over the loud speaker, quit, took a beer then deployed the emergency slide and then used it to exit the plane.
I was listening to a radio program where callers talked about their own creative quitting stories including a woman who put her resignation letter on a cake and made her boss eat it.
Perhaps this story got so much play because we resonate with this “I’ve had it” sentiment.

In the Gospel today Jesus has had enough, he’s had it, he’s fired up and angry.
He’s had it with the way this world is… he’s had it with sin. He’s had it with evil. He’s had it with corruption. He’s had it with greed. He’s had it with violence. He’s had it with oppression.

This is what brings the division Jesus speaks of. It can even divide the most sacred unit, the family.
But Jesus is the prince of peace, is this a contradiction?
We’ve seen division spurred by those oppose Jesus, and finally who kill him.
Other peacemakers (King, Ghandi) received violent reactions.
The Gospel was a threat to the status quo, to the power structure. That’s why Jesus causes division.
So here, Jesus is saying he’s had enough with the way things are. And that offends the status quo.

Jesus came to restore all of creation to what God intended it to be, that the Reign of God, or God’s way would be the way on earth.
He longs for all the mess and strife of this world to be no more. He burns for it.
This is the fire that Jesus brings, it is a cleansing fire.
We continue on our Journey with Jesus. And we’ve discussed the urgency of Jesus on this Journey, he is determined that the Kingdom of God would be made manifest. We are called to follow him on the journey, to leave it all behind, and to steer clear of anything that might get in our way or distract us.
We tend to be laze-faire some times, maybe numb to all the terrible things of this life.
But what if we had the same sense of urgency as Jesus? The same passion? If we got fired up?

Have you had it? Are you fed up? Are you tired of the way the world is?
Are you tired of sin and evil?
When you see a child die of hunger, doesn’t it anger you?
When you think about all the wars and violence in the world, abuse, doesn’t it upset you?
Does the fact that more people are turning away from the Church upset you? When you look at these empty pews, does it frustrate you?

We can change it, but maybe it’ll take us getting fired up a bit – to have passion, to have an urgency for the Kingdom.
Are you ready for the Kingdom come? For the world to be restored?
We are called to follow Jesus...To have the same urgency he has for the Kingdom.
So have you had it? Have you had enough already?