This sermon was preached for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost at St. Mark's, East Longmeadow. The text for this sermon were: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18, Hebrews 11:29-12:2, and Luke 12:49-56. Today’s Gospel passage landed pretty jarringly with me at first. It is hard to square this Jesus, who declares he has not come to bring peace but division, with the same Jesus who says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The Jesus who tells Peter, “Put down your weapon.” The one who answers violence with nonviolence at the cost of his life. Part of why this Gospel might seem so harsh is that it comes to us through the scorching history of Christian violence - from colonialism to civil war to slavery to the crusades. Could that destruction and terror done in the name of God possibly be the fire and division he meant? At the same time, we must also consider, though, the times throughout our faith’s history when Christians have mistakenly prioritized peace and the avoidance of conflict over taking a stand