Faith and Figs

Gospel: Luke 13: 1-9

The disciples are obsessed with the idea of divine punishment in the events of their day.  They see in the killing of the Galilean revolutionaries and those killed by the tower accident the hand of God directly at work, creating punishment and sending a message.  Jesus rejects this idea outright.  God is not involved in such events in the way we think.  These events are just random occurrences on which we project all sorts of ideas of our own creation.

If, however, we are looking for how God actually operates in the world, Jesus gives us the parable of the fig tree.  We human beings see no hope for the fig tree.  We would lose patience and consign it to the fire.  But here the image of God is the farmer who intervenes to spare the fig tree and give it another chance.  God even takes the time to cultivate the soil and provide nutrients for the tree, giving it every opportunity to grow and flourish.

If God goes through this effort for our souls, how much more should we do so for others! How often do we consign people to hopelessness and condemnation, and how little effort we place in cultivation and reform!  Today Jesus reminds us that God is not one of condemnation, but one of cultivation and care.  The entire ministry of Jesus reflected that posture, in his constant dialogue and encounter with people in every town and village.  This dialogue continues in the heart of each person.

Today's Forecast

Gospel: Luke 12: 54-59

Human beings have been proficient in forecasting the weather for millennia.  Of late we have been able to add to our forecasting acumen in weather, health, and other natural phenomena.  Our science has enabled many to avoid harm and seek safety, though even here our self-interested egos will override some to commit irrational acts that lead to destruction for themselves and others. Such is the way of doing one's own research...

Jesus tells us that we have the ability to determine what is just and good with even greater accuracy than forecasting the weather.  We have been given this ability as being made in God's image, in being an image of Christ himself, and in being temples of the Holy Spirit.  The teaching and example of Jesus provides us with a clear guide for us in determining what is just and good, and yet again our self-interested egos lead us to our own ruin and the ruin of so many others.  

Jesus gave us the Beatitudes to be our guide: being poor in spirit, meek, empathetic, pure of heart, peace-making, thirsting for justice.  He went about healing people, liberating them from their demons, and bringing people together at table.  No empires, no armies, no manipulative media, no violence of any kind.  The road map is clear for us to discern the good and the just.  If we create any other Christianity than this, it is because we would take the devil's bargain that Jesus himself rejected.

A House Divided

Gospel: Luke 12: 49-53

At first glance, today's Gospel portion is shocking.  How can it be that the Prince of Peace came to bring division and war?  What are we to make of this contradiction?  Consider the entire sweep of the Gospels in reflecting on this dilemma, looking at the various encounters where Jesus receives opposition and incredulity both from the religious leaders of his day as well as his disciples.  There we find a common element where division arises.

In each case Jesus extends mercy through healing and liberation to someone who is regarded as unworthy by the crowd, or the extension of mercy overrides the Law in another matter.  When Jesus heals people on the Sabbath, opposition arises from those who think the Sabbath prohibition on work is more important than mercy.  When Jesus heals lepers, demoniacs, foreigner, and unclean women, opposition and incredulity come from nearly everyone - the crowds, religious leaders, even his own disciples.  

This opposition will extend to the table of fellowship and hospitality when Jesus chooses to dine with tax collectors and prostitutes as well as Pharisees and scribes.  This division and war is an ironic one, as it is our response to Jesus extending mercy to all people, not reserving it for a privileged elite who would control God.  The division and war is our making, not that of Jesus.  So it was then, so it has been, and so it is in our own day.  Will we accept the mercy and hospitality of Jesus for all, or resist his love?