Fire Changes Everything!

Reference: bpr.berkeley.edu

In the summer of 1988, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming caught on fire. The fires began in June and continued to burn until November. In the end, 1.2 million acres were scorched, leaving the impression that the world’s first national park had been destroyed. But the doom and gloom prophesies about the destruction of Yellowstone proved to be wrong. What many failed to understand was that fire, even a fire of this magnitude, was necessary to maintain the overall health of Yellowstone’s ecosystem. The Lodgepole pine tree pine cones are sealed with a waxy resin, and only open once temperatures reach above 113 degrees. In other words, the trees need the heat of those fires in order to reproduce. The 1988 fires undeniably changed everything about Yellowstone’s landscape, but it didn’t destroy the park.

With all of the fires burning in California, some might be tempted to think that today’s Gospel (Luke 12:49-53) is coming to fulfillment. At first glance, it might seem alarming with Jesus’ proclamation that he has come to set the earth on fire and create division between people. Of course, he’s not talking about being some sort of radical arsonist or political extremist. Jesus is talking about his mission of purifying and refining the world.

In the Bible, fire often changes everything. Moses is just a normal guy going about his business until he encounters God in the burning bush – and his whole life changes. John the Baptist tells the people that Jesus will come to baptize with fire, and sure enough, flames appear above the heads of the disciples at Pentecost. Once the disciples receive the Holy Spirit, their whole lives are different. The disciples on the road to Emmaus; how their hearts were burning within them because of the fire of Jesus’ words. After these encounters with fire, these biblical figures can never go back to life as it was before. It is as if everything from the past got burned away. This is what it means to really take Jesus into our lives! Once we have chosen to follow Jesus, we can’t go back to our former ways of sin. Following Jesus might sometimes even lead us into conflict with those who don’t believe or who want us to do things we know we can’t do.

Why is it that our society seems to be not only non-Christian but anti-Christian? Maybe it’s because we Christians have not lived out our baptismal commitments. The fire that Jesus speaks about casting on the earth is the fire of the Holy Spirit, which should inflame our hearts with a passion to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the ends of the earth. As Catholic-Christians, we MUST be people of fire!

Too many of us want to keep our faith in nice, neat little boxes. We pray only at certain times, we go to church for an hour on Sunday, and that’s about it. We really don’t think that our faith should have much of a role in the rest of our lives. Politicians will say things like, “I am personally opposed to (fill in the blank: abortion, capital punishment, etc.) but I cannot impose my personal beliefs/faith on others.” THIS MAKES ME SICK!!! We are not talking about IMPOSING, which would involve some sort of force to make another person do something against their will. But rather, we are talking about WITNESSING to the faith! Why can’t politicians witness to their faith? Why do we struggle with witnessing to our faith?

Our faith must transform everything in our lives. That is the fire, that is the passion that we must have to truly be called Christians. It’s all about how we treat others, our actions, our words, our behaviors. Do we lift people up or do we tear them down? Do we help or hurt? Are we self-less or selfish? Are we self-centered or Christ-centered? Are we living the gospel or just going through the motions?

It’s been said the only thing that must happen for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Maybe the evil that we see in our society is because most Christians are not burning with the passion of the Gospel. They are not witnessing to the faith. They have not allowed their encounter with Christ to transform them into a new creation. Does this define us? Is this who we are?

Fire changes everything! This is our opportunity to leave behind those things that got burned away, to start anew, and to encounter Jesus in a whole new way. Let us pray for strength and courage, that we can stoke up the fire of our faith, and set the earth on fire with the Good News of Jesus Christ. If we can do this, our lives will be changed forever!