Compassion and Impatience – Luke 12:49-56

A text – Luke 12:49-56

⁴⁹ “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² From now on five in one household will be divided, 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 mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁵ And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

A reflection:

For readers who are mostly comfortable with the Jesus who is compassionate and kind, this passage may be tough to read. We have to remember that Jesus was compassionate and kind to folks whom other people with power ignored or scorned. His deep love for the lowly and their faith brought miracles into their lives. But his deep love for them means that his impatience and passion for justice were also aroused when he saw them neglected.

Remember Mary’s Magnificat? Remember how she says God will exalt the lowly and pull the mighty down from their seats?  It’s about justice and love, the very things her son came into the world to embody. Mary will not be surprised by this kind of language from Jesus. And Jesus is saying that we are at a pivotal moment, like an imminent change in the weather, when we can change our minds and our actions about these things, too.

The present time is all anyone has, and so now is the moment for us to look at our lives and our world the way Jesus did. We might become impatient for justice. We might become passionate about those who are neglected. We might put our God-given talents to work in whatever way reverses neglect. When we do, Jesus predicts, there will be family fights. If it was true in the first century A.D., it’s true now. Because change is disruptive and costly.  How much can we afford to see things in a new way and to do for others?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank your for Jesus’s fire and passion for our world and our neighbors. Help us to see our life through Jesus’s eyes and to change our minds and our actions in favor of those we don’t notice. Amen.