Bring Fire to the Earth                    

by James R. Tramel

Fire is a powerful, elemental symbol in the psyche, and it has been present in virtually every religion known to humanity.

I have both a fascination with, and a fear of, fire. For as long as I can remember, I have been able to lose myself in the wispy flicker of a candle flame. There is something so meditative in that point of light that it compels the rest of the world to momentarily fade away. I am drawn to the ritual of building a campfire, and even of stacking logs in the family hearth. Last Saturday morning, I watched a group of Native Americans build a fire to heat rocks for their sweat lodge and I was reminded of how central fire is to our existence: both physically and spiritually. When I walked by, I could feel the warmth of the blaze... and it drew me in to its circle of embrace. Fire has been a constant in human history: it has cooked our food, warmed our bodies, warded off predators and banished the darkness, for as long as our collective conscious can remember. Fire is a powerful, elemental symbol in the psyche, and it has been present in virtually every religion known to humanity. When I see the candles that frame the altar at church, I know, and feel, that fire has significance in my spiritual life.

But for all of its comfort and benefit, for all its power to nurture and protect life, fire is also dangerous and potentially very destructive. The evening news has recently been filled with stories of wildfires touched off by lightning in the nine Western states. Thousands of acres have been scorched; the homes of a hundred families have burned to the ground; countless animals and two firefighters have died. Fire, so capable of sustaining life, can quickly bring death when it is not contained. I have a friend, Brian, who was burned over eighty percent of his body while trapped in his car after an accident. The fire grossly disfigured him. His fingers, ears, nose and lips were burned off, and his skin is a mass of twisted scars. I can only begin to imagine the horror he experienced in that fire, or the agony he suffered during reconstructive surgeries in the burn ward. Fire scares me, even though I am attracted to it. I am afraid of dying in a fire, like those firefighters; and I think I am even more afraid of being badly burned, like my friend Brian. I am afraid of what fire can do when it is unleashed... uncontrolled... undisciplined.

 

We have enough division in the world. Just what kind of fire did Jesus come to bring down upon us?

In the Gospel of Luke, I read an unsettling passage. Jesus tells his disciples, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled" (Luke 12:49). Who is this Jesus, saying that he came to bring fire to the earth? All of a sudden, he doesn't sound very friendly. Isn't Jesus supposed to be all about love and peace? But he quickly tells us, "Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!" (v. 51). 1 don't like the sound of that either. We have enough division in the world. Just what kind of fire did Jesus come to bring down upon us?

Fire is mentioned many times in the Bible--over 450 times. Fire was central in the ritual of temple practice. It was regarded as a means of purification and of sacrifice. In the Old Testament writings, it was a popular tool for judgment and destruction. As a kid, growing up in a Southern Baptist church, I heard many threatening sermons about fire and brimstone, and about God's impending judgment. Perhaps that is why, when I first read this Gospel passage, I thought that Jesus was talking about bringing judgment down upon us. I was immediately thinking about a wrathful God, rather than the one who delivered the Jews from Egypt by the light of a pillar of fire. Just what kind of fire did Jesus come to bring down upon us?

Some scholars say this passage is about purifying judgment. In fact, the Greek word for fire is pur, from which we derive our English words: pure and purify. But I don't think Jesus was talking about judgment for two reasons (although I suspect he might have been talking about purification). First, Jesus made this statement to his disciples while they were journeying toward Jerusalem. A little earlier in the journey, they entered a village of the Samaritans where Jesus was not well received. James and John were angry at this and they asked Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (Luke 9:54). Jesus turned and rebuked them. Jesus came to save us from

judgment, not to bring it down upon us, and he was constantly having to remind the disciples of that fact. Second, in the third chapter of Luke's Gospel, John the Baptist tells us that while he baptizes us with water, one is coming who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist is talking about Jesus, and I think Jesus is talking about a gift rather than a judgment. Just what kind of fire did Jesus come to bring down upon us?

Another interpretation of this passage is that the fire is a metaphor for burning zeal. Jesus has come to light our hearts with a passion for God, and he wished that fire were already kindled. Jesus is anticipating the day of Pentecost, when tongues of fire will divide on a rush of wind from heaven to rest on each of the disciples, filling then with the Holy Spirit. Have you ever burned with passion? Have you ever loved someone so intensely that your thoughts were consumed with them? I think Jesus burned with love for us; he was so consumed with passion for us that he died on the cross to save us. And I think Jesus yearned for us to burn with love for God and one another; for us to be so consumed with passion for God that we would do anything to serve God. Even if that created some division amongst the people we know.

So I return to purification. Several years ago, there were enormous wildfires in Yosemite National Park. The fires were swept by strong winds and huge swaths of land were charred. Recently, PBS produced a documentary which updated the park's progress since the fire. The environmental scientists said that the fire was actually healthy for the forest. It cleared away all of the overgrowth, and dead trees, which had been choking out the light. The ashes for the fire fertilized the soil for new growth, for a new and healthier forest to grow on that land. Perhaps it is like that with us, too. Perhaps Jesus came to light a fire in our hearts to help clear away the debris which has been choking out the light. To cleanse our hearts and make them ready for new growth ... for new possibilities. I'd like to think that is the kind of fire Jesus was talking about in Luke's Gospel. Not a fire that judges and destroys, but a fire that renews and gives us light.

James Tramel is a seminarian and a prisoner in the California State Prison, Solano. To respond, e-mail seanm@gracecathedral.org. Your messages will be forwarded to James.

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