Proper 15 Year C 2025: Luke 12:49-56

One of the most helpful things when looking at sacred art is its use of symbolism. For most of our early saints, like the apostles, we have no real idea what they looked like, so there are various symbols that help us recognize who is supposed to be in an image or an icon. For example, if you see someone holding keys, that’s Saint Peter, to whom Jesus gave the “keys to the kingdom” or if you see someone with a stone, that’s Saint Stephen, who was martyred by stoning - for the most part, martyrs are depicted with the implement of their martyrdom, which is a bummer. So you do have to know something about a saint before you can spot them, but once you do it’s like you’ve cracked a code and it can make it easier to understand sacred art.

But there is a sweet spot for subtlety. Too subtle, and no one knows what you’re talking about. Too on the nose, and it can feel like it lacks creativity or inspiration. A few years ago, I watched The Matrix for the first time. And as a result, the algorithm started feeding me articles about the movie. One of the articles was “Religious Symbolism You Might Have Missed in The Matrix” and I was like, “yesssss this article is for me”. But then the very first symbol in the listicle was that the name of the city for people who have been freed from the matrix is Zion and I was like, “noooo, this is not for me”. Because when I heard them refer to the city as Zion in the movie, I groaned because the symbol was so on the nose. I didn’t subject myself to the rest of the article.

But sometimes a lack of subtlety is part of the point. Sometimes it’s only un-subtle when you know way too much about a topic - like me and The Matrix. It’s not the writers’ fault that they’re writing about something that I have more knowledge about than the general public. And somebody clearly missed the symbol - it was number one in the article.

Our text from Luke today begins with symbolism in its use of references and quotations from both itself and by placing Jesus in conversation with Israel’s prophets. The words of the angel to Zechariah clear back at the outset in Luke Chapter 1 promises that John will, with the spirit and power of Elijah, will go before the Lord, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (1:17) This is a making right of the lament of the prophet Micah, who cries out about how normal human relations, even among family members, have ceased due to lack of trust. He says, “Put no trust in a friend, have no confidence in a loved one; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household. But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” (Micah 6:5-7)

Then in today’s text in Luke, Jesus quotes the prophet Micah, saying, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 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.” (12:51-53) The promise of peace becomes a threat of rejection if the Messiah is rejected. The promise from Luke 1 to turn the hearts of parents to their children is thwarted by that rejection.

The context of Micah is important when placed in conversation with Luke’s depiction of Jesus and Jesus’ mission. Micah was from a pastoral village. His rural roots in the Southern Kingdom of Judah enabled him to understand how the overbearing policies of the political, social, and religious leaders of his time affected the peasant class. A prophet more of the marketplace and town square than the temple or its sanctuary, Micah addressed injustice with passion and poetic eloquence. The entirety of Micah is in verse, not prose.

Here is where it is important to remember that Micah was written over 2500 years ago. Because knowing some details about Micah’s cultural and political environment can make it seem way too on-the-nose if it were written today. At the time scholars believe Micah to have been written, the kingdom of Judah experienced a fundamental economic shift from a bartering system to a monetary system. Wealth, invested in the land, led to the growth of vast estates and the collapse of small holdings. Wealthy landowners thrived at the expense of small peasant farmers. That shift from a bartering to a monetary, mercantile economy increased the gap between the rich and the poor. In alignment with this shift, many priests and prophets viewed their ministry as a business rather than a vocation and acted accordingly. Micah was called to remind Israel of their civic and economic responsibilities as covenant people of God.

We can look to Micah as an example of where we are called. Jesus knew what he was doing when he quoted Micah to remind his followers of what will happen when we allow divisions to come into our homes and communities. Micah understood his task to be a preacher of truth - to expose injustice and inequity, to offer a word of hope and salvation, and to make known a vision of a new and transformed way of life for his community and his world. This text quoted by Jesus today appears in our Sunday lectionary during Epiphany in Year A - the Mathew year - where it is paired with the reimagined world articulated by Jesus in the Beatitudes. Deeply concerned with ethical issues, Micah railed against the political and religious leaders of his day because they had abandoned their divinely ordained responsibility of exercising and maintaining justice throughout the land. The common good was being usurped by personal self-interest on the part of Judean courts of law, large landowners, and merchants. Micah’s biting proclamations make clear God’s disdain for apostasy, idolatry, hypocrisy, and disregard for Torah. He condemned the break in the covenant relationship that led to grave injustices and much suffering. Micah warned leaders about their self-reliant attitudes and smug spiritual pride. At the end of his warnings, Micah ends with an expression of confidence in God, who is merciful and who will exercise justice for the sake of the salvation of all peoples. Micah makes known to his people, and to us, that God is indeed a God of righteousness whose compassion outweighs justice and whose love for all remains steadfast. (Philip J. King, HarperCollins Study Bible)

While we attempt to follow God’s will, to keep our covenant with Jesus, and to go where the Spirit calls us, we can do so boldly in the confidence of God’s steadfast love and the knowledge that God never breaks His covenant. This is why Jesus’ choice of Micah is so resonant and powerful. Micah ends his prophecy making this confession of faith on behalf of his community - the same community he has been warning about their faithlessness: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgressions of the remnant of your possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency. He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.” (Micah 7:18-20). Amen.