Fr David Sermon notes - 17th August 2025. Trinity 9 (proper 15)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When we picture Jesus, our minds often go to the gentle shepherd who gathers lambs in his arms, or the teacher who says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest.” And rightly so. Yet today’s Gospel jolts us out of that picture of quiet comfort. Jesus says: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! … Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

These are not easy words. We may prefer to skip over them. Yet they are the Word of the Lord. And they remind us that the Gospel is not meant to leave us untouched, unchallenged, unchanged. The presence of Christ in the world is like fire. Fire consumes, purifies, transforms. Fire cannot be ignored.

Jeremiah’s prophecy helps us here. He lived in a time when people wanted comforting lies instead of God’s hard truth. The prophets in his day promised peace and prosperity, but their words were hollow, not from God. Through Jeremiah, the Lord asks: “Is not my word like fire, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

The Word of God is not like a soft cushion. It is fire that burns away illusions, hammer that breaks through stubborn pride, light that exposes what is hidden in darkness. To hear God’s Word with devotion is to welcome its power to unsettle as well as to console.

This is why in our devotional life we cannot simply select the “easy” passages—the soothing promises—and ignore the more demanding ones. The same God who promises comfort also calls us to repentance, to courage, to new life. Real devotion allows the Word to have its way with us, to burn, to break, and then to rebuild.

The writer to the Hebrews gives us another picture: the long-distance race of faith. He describes a great “cloud of witnesses”—men and women from Israel’s history who endured hardship and trial because they trusted God’s promise. Then he turns our eyes to Jesus, the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” He ran the race before us, endured the cross, and now sits at God’s right hand.

This image is deeply practical. Faith is not a sprint of enthusiasm, but a marathon that requires perseverance. There will be moments of exhaustion, times when the road is lonely, days when we wonder if we can carry on. The encouragement is this: we are not alone. The saints are cheering us on, Christ himself is our forerunner, and the Spirit gives strength for each step.

So when we hold these three passages together, what do we see?

• From Jesus in Luke we learn that faith is not comfortable respectability, but fire and division. Christ comes to challenge, to transform, to ignite.
• From Jeremiah we learn that God’s Word is not always gentle but is like fire and hammer—truth that exposes, purifies, and rebuilds.
• From Hebrews we learn that living by such a faith is not easy but requires perseverance, eyes fixed not on ourselves but on Jesus.

Together, these scriptures call us into a deeper, braver devotional life: not just a few private prayers that soothe us, but a daily walk of being refined, challenged, and strengthened by God’s Word.

What does this mean in practice for us, here and now?

1. Read Scripture with Honesty

When you open your Bible, don’t come only for comfort. Come also with the courage to be challenged. Ask yourself: What does this passage affirm in me? What does it question? What does it call me to change?
Keep a small notebook where you write one line each day: “Today’s Word challenged me in this way…” This simple habit will help you welcome the fire and hammer of God’s Word, rather than avoiding it.

2. Pray with Openness to God’s Fire

Our prayers can easily become lists of requests for safety, health, and blessing. These are good things to bring before God. But true prayer also asks God to kindle his fire in us. Try praying: “Lord, purify my heart. Burn away selfishness. Strengthen me to do your will.” Such prayer may lead us to surprising places, but it is the prayer that truly transforms.

3. Persevere in Small Steps

A marathon is not won by sudden bursts of energy, but by steady, regular steps. The same is true of devotion. Build small habits: five minutes of Scripture in the morning, a pause for thanksgiving at midday, an examination of conscience before bed. Over time, these rhythms strengthen faith and keep us steady when trials come.

4. Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Hebrews tells us to “look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” When discouragement comes, when we feel dry in prayer, when life is complicated or divided—our hope is not in our own ability to run well, but in Christ who runs before us. Begin and end each day by consciously turning to him: “Jesus, walk with me today. Jesus, receive this day just past.”

5. Draw Strength from the Cloud of Witnesses

You are not alone in the race. Read the stories of the saints, ancient and modern. Remember their struggles as well as their triumphs. In parish life, support one another by sharing testimonies of God’s grace. When you see others persevering, your own courage grows.

The Christian life, then, is not lukewarm. It is a life in which Christ sets fire to our hearts, the Word burns away falsehood, and we persevere in the race of faith. It may sometimes bring division, even within families, as Jesus warns—for not everyone welcomes the fire of truth. Yet it also brings the deepest peace, the peace of knowing that our lives are being refined and guided by God himself.

So today, let us not fear the fire of Christ. Let us welcome it. Let us open ourselves to God’s searching Word, to the hammer that breaks our hardness, to the Spirit who strengthens us to run. And as we run, let us keep our eyes fixed not on ourselves, but on Jesus—the one who endured the cross for us, the one who perfects our faith, the one who waits to welcome us at the finish line.

A Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you came to bring fire to the earth. Kindle in us the flame of your Spirit. Let your Word burn away what is false, and give us strength to run with perseverance the race set before us. Keep our eyes fixed on you, that we may endure with faith and joy, until we share the glory of your kingdom. Amen.