God Wants Everyone To Be Happy
August 17, 2025
Pastor John Hering
Luke 12:49-53
Luke 12:49-53
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
You can imagine the thrill if for one day, everyone would be happy! There are people who believe that is the meaning of life. Go out on the soccer field behind our church and you will see parents watching the game. Some of those parents are frustrated because playing time is based on ability and their kid is standing on the sidelines with just average soccer skills. Or when you drive from my house to church you have to drive through a sewer construction zone. There you see drivers who are impatient and shaking their fists at the orange barrels. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if everyone would just be happy? If we bring this idea to the spiritual realm we understand why some religions believe it would be so much better if we would remove our differences because, “We all worship the same God anyway. We just call him by a different name.”
These are the open doors that Jesus slams shut today. Jesus really gets our attention when he speaks words that cause wounds such as
“29 If your right eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you” (Matt 5:29).
“6 But, if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matt 18:6).
And today Jesus says,
“51 Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
We compare these statements to the idea that we should all be happy. However, the Holy Spirit will guide us today to see there are Wounds That Heal (series theme). So, there will be difficult times, but we can have confidence that in Christ
God Wants Everyone To Be Happy
When Peace Isn’t Peaceful
Jesus speaks these words as an answer to Peter’s question about being ready when Jesus returns. Being ready might mean NOT being happy. Jesus states his mission for us.
“49 “I came to throw fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already ignited.”
If this statement of Jesus puts you on the edge of your seat because it is the opposite of peace….Good! Jesus wants to get your attention. Our Savior isn’t pleased with people just sitting back, smiling and pretending everything is happy. But, Jesus yells, “FIRE!” Fire burns, destroys and is deadly. Jesus did not come carrying a flickering torch like you see at the Olympic Games in the hopes of uniting everybody. Jesus carries a nuclear bomb! “I came to throw fire on the earth.” And when did this fire explode? Jesus wishes he could speed up the countdown to detonation and be done with it. Jesus’ mission was not to bring world peace as he explains,
“50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished!”
I don’t think Jesus had a smile on his face when he spoke these words. Neither do I think Jesus’ words made people smile. These words caused Jesus distress because he knew The Peace He Was Bringing Wasn’t Peaceful! God the Father did not send Jesus to this earth to be happy. Jesus is aching with grief and has anxiety about his mission just like we do when we have a looming deadline and a hefty assignment. Jesus knows the conflict and hardship that is coming. Jesus acknowledges his unrest and continues on his mission even though he knows to bring true happiness and peace, it won’t be happy and peaceful.
We know what Jesus is talking about. The Father sent his Son to the world to save us. Jesus would feel the physical pain of beating, whipping, pulled beard and hands nailed. He would also feel the spiritual pain of the fires of hell, death and destruction. Forsaken on the cross. Suffering for the sins of others. Pain! Crying! Blood! How could these wounds bring us peace? The writer to the Hebrews tells us:
“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne”
Hebrews 12:2
Shame that brings joy? Wounds that Heal? Fire kills and destroys but it also illuminates and refines. Jesus’ nuclear fire on the cross was not peaceful, but it brought us peace! And the peace of Jesus brings us life and forgiveness. When a person understands that Jesus’ peace isn’t always peaceful they are on their way to properly understanding that God Wants Everyone To Be Happy. However, the happiness God has in store for us often gets tangled up in Crisis! So, we turn once again to Jesus and his Word that often divides believers and unbelievers, but ends in happiness
When Crisis Is Completed
Jesus speaks about a baptism that must undergo. This is why Jesus stood on the banks of the Jordan River three years earlier. At his baptism we heard these words,
“This is my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with him”
Matthew 3:17
Then the Holy Spirit landed on Jesus to equip him to carry out his mission. And it is here at the cross where that mission as completed. Put those two together and we recognize that Jesus brought peace, forgiveness, hope, joy and happiness When The Crisis Is Completed. Just as Jesus’ baptism wasn’t a one-time event, but a life-time event. So is your baptism. Your baptism made you a child of God and as a child of God you also have responsibility and an assignment. It looks so peaceful when water is sprinkled over someone’s head, but what is going on is not peaceful at all! Being made a child of God means we will face crisis, pain and hardship as long as we continue to live in that Christian faith. Is your baptism peaceful? No. But does it bring peace? Yes. It brings us the power of Christ to have hope and peace When the Crisis Is Complete.
Jesus said,
“51 Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Jesus came to disturb earthly peace for so many who want to feel happy, but for all the wrong reasons. Do you understand Jesus’ statement? The crisis in your life with Jesus is way better than earthly unity and peace without him.
So, how is Jesus creating crisis in your life? Remember “Crisis” in Japanese means “dangerous opportunity.” If you are going to go on a walk and follow a tour guide, he may take you through forest, or mud, or even up a narrow path along the mountainside. If you follow him it might mean experiencing “dangerous opportunities.” Following Jesus is no different. We pray, “Lead us not into temptation” and we know God doesn’t tempt anyone like the devil does, but he will use those times of unrest, trouble, heartache and crisis to test our faith or even purify our faith just like fire does. Trust Jesus to put activities in your life’s journey with determination
“take up [your] cross daily, and follow [Him]”
Luke 9:23
How much determination? Jesus said, “how distressed I am until it is finished!” You also need to know that word Jesus used for “distressed” is also used in 2 Corinthians 5:14:
“For the love of Christ compels [controls, constrains, pressed in from all sides, distresses] us, because we came to this conclusion: One died for all; therefore, all died.”
So, we will be distressed and constrained along the way, but with the confidence that Jesus has already Completed the Crisis for us. Jesus’ death and resurrection focuses us on his love. Don’t go in any other direction!
Then Jesus gets very personal with us.
“52 Yes, from now on there will be five divided in one household: three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided: father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Go to a wedding reception and look at the banquet of food. That food will make some people happy, but not others. So, we dine on the banquet of God’s Word and some will love it and some don’t. That creates crisis (dangerous opportunity). Don’t back down. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid with crisis or division as you join Jesus on his mission. Be afraid of peace and happiness without Jesus. Realize that crisis wakes people up and creates an edge where dangerous opportunities are possible. And our prayer is that when the Crisis is Completed, God’s Word works faith in everyone’s heart resulting in God’s happiness that last forever!
It will be a wonderful day in heaven. There God promises that Everyone Will Be Happy. Until then we will experience fire, water, baptism, Lord’s Supper—body and blood, death and resurrection. On this side of heaven peace may not always look so peaceful. But, through every Crisis we can be sure Jesus is busy working out our salvation, and those with whom we share God’s Word. Have faith that When the Crisis is Completed you will be with God Who Wants All People To Be Happy Forever in Christ. Amen.
