In today's gospel, Jesus surprises us in saying, “I came to bring fire to the earth.” That doesn't sound like good news, not like the “comfortable words” we long for; it sounds ominous! Fire can be dangerous, and the prospect of a fire raging out of control is terrifying, as many of our neighbors across the country have experienced this summer. On the other hand, a controlled burn, forest managers tell us, is a good thing. Not only does it help a forest to grow properly, it also prevents unplanned fires from getting out of control.

This is the kind of fire God sends into our lives. The Divine sees the dry brush we have allowed to accumulate in our lives, the debris of our choices we have ignored, the detritus we have failed to haul to the landfill. God knows we cannot continue to grow and thrive in such an environment. The Holy One also knows that all it takes is a flash of Lucifer's lightning to set off the tinderbox we have allowed our lives to become. Before we knew what had happened, we would have lost everything precious to us. But the Divine has mercy on us. To prevent that disaster, God employs a controlled burn to help us get rid of the problem material in our lives.

A controlled burn represents the pattern of the cruciform life that Christ Jesus has modeled and prepared for us, to die daily to self in order to rise to a new life in Christ, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” We needn't fear the fire of God's love. The Holy One uses it to bless us, to bring forth healthy new growth out of the ash of our self-centered past, and to inflame the passion of God's love deep within to burn through us, into the world around us, lighting the way into the Divine Presence.