We lost nice, pastoral Jesus somewhere between vs. 32 and vs 49 of Luke 12. He’s done a 180, going from calling us “little flock” to “you hypocrites!” Has Jesus gone “off message” or simply just gone off?
Let’s catch up a bit. In vs. 40 Jesus tells us to be ready because the son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.” What we miss is Peter’s question in vs. 41: Are you telling this parable for us or them? In the verses that follow, you can feel Jesus’ frustration increase
I imagine that Jesus’ shoulders slumped a bit and then he continued with yet another parable about another manager who is hard at work or hardly working. The punch line is to whom much is given, much will be required and to whom much is entrusted even more will be demanded. So, in answer to your question Peter, YES!
Jesus goes on to say, “And not only that I’ve come to bring fire to the earth and I wish it was already burning.” Got it? I believe that what Jesus is not saying but is implied is, “I AM the son of man, the unexpected hour is NOW.” And that is why he says, “I am so stressed out!” in vs. 50. Like I said, cranky Jesus.
So, let’s unpack that word, “fire.” Fire, especially in the Bible, can mean all sorts of things but here it means passion, which makes sense. In Luke 3:16, John the Baptizer proclaims that the one is coming that “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Christ is baptizing us with passion. He wants us to be on fire, to have passion, for the heart of God and to be about God’s work in this weary land.
Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus is so cranky in these verses is that he is on fire to do the work of the Father and that he wished that this passion was already consuming the land. Jesus began this section with “have no fear” – bible-speak for “God is about to do a new thing and he will be doing it through YOU!” Could it be that Jesus wants us to be on fire for the Gospel, too?
Fact is that when God gets involved, really involved, things change. And when things change, someone’s homeostasis, someone’s status quo, is going to be upended and put on its head. And there will be pushback for Jesus all the way to the cross in Jerusalem.
And Jesus is so stressed out because Peter wasn’t getting it, the disciples weren’t getting it and we’re not getting it. So, Jesus puts his “prophet on” and becomes Prophetic Jesus. Prophets are not known for their subtlety. They have a job to do: cast out fear, challenge the status quo and defy convention in unseating the existing power struggle. These were the same things that momma Mary when she found out that Jesus was on the way, sang about in the “Magnificat” in Luke 1:46-55.
The life that Jesus calls us to will cause division and there is nothing to be done about that. Jesus will not bring peace, not the kind of peace where the powerful will remain powerful and the rich will remain rich. Certainly not the kind of “peace” that was the reign of the Roman caesars.
Jesus is not that kind of messiah where the earthly kingdoms will be returned to their “rightful owners” and only the voices of the powerful will be heard. This will be a kingdom where things are equitable, where the least, the last, the lost, the lonely are loved for who they are, no matter race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation or gender. This is a kingdom where sinners are accepted and even honored, where those who were once rejected are invited into relationship with those who once looked down upon them.
And their voices are heard.
In Jesus’ kingdom, love and forgiveness are the order of the day and as such we are expected to do the same, especially with those who are different from us.
The most important part of Jesus’ message is that the time is NOW. It’s time to imagine what this world would be like and then go live into that reality. Love God, love people, make disciples! Live differently now! Love, honor, listen, hold space for and care for God’s children now, not as souls to be saved or threats from which to hide. And when we come together for worship, not only is it a time to give thanks and praise to the most high God, but also take seriously the learning and fellowship that encourages us to live and love like Jesus.
Jesus asks in vs. 56 “why don’t you know how to interpret the present time?” It’s because we’re scared. Who wants to change? Who wants their homeostasis and status quo up ended, especially if we find ourselves at the top or middle of the heap rather than lost somewhere at the bottom.
Also in our heart of hearts, we want our faith to matter. We so desperately want our faith to make a difference in our lives, in the way we think work, deal with our families, hand money and influence the decisions we make. We want the faith that we have on a Sunday morning to still be there on the following Saturday evening. That’s authentic Christianity.
And I for one will tell you from personal experience and counting myself sinner-in-chief, that it’s really hard to do much less do alone. That’s why it’s important that we come together weekly. Here we are equipped, encouraged and engaged to be sent back out into the world (This could be another shameless plug for our upcoming study Real Faith for Real Life: Living the Six Marks of Discipleship – #2 weekly renewal through worship but I won’t.)
Living authentic Christianity, living the marks of discipleship, loving God, loving people takes courage. People will not care for hearing that black lives really do matter because they are hurting so very badly. People will not want to know how the justice system in American doesn’t work for everyone in an equitable fashion. People will not want to hear that 1% of the population has the majority of the wealth and refuse to share with those who have none. People will not want to hear about children who go to bed hungry every day in this country because they are food insecure.
Living into our Christianity authentically mandates that we advocate for the least, the last, the lost, the lonely and the left behind. Be bold in speaking out against in justice. And to welcome in all those that society has chosen to leave out. Expect push back. People just don’t like prophets all that much.
Let the fires of justice burn. It’s go time, love like Jesus, get your prophet on and change the world.