Saturday, August 14, 2010

Weather Watching

Hot enough for ya? Sorry about the cliche. But I’m serious. It’s been hot. I know this because on our vacation I painted the deck. In the heat and humidity. For days. On vacation. Now some of you are thinking: “You painted the deck on vacation? Man, you need a better travel agent!” But we chose to stay home this vacation, because of how late it was before we were free enough to get away, and school registration and stuff. We were planning to just relax and do day trips and watch movies and eat out - all of which we did (ever been to the Pickle Factory? Pretty cool really, in a pickle-y sort of way). But in one innocent moment La Donna says “So, what’s the plan for finishing the deck?” Which after thirty years of marriage, I know really means “Finish the deck!” So, I did. As each day got hotter and more humid. I was thinning the paint with the sweat off my brow! But, it’s done. And we did some fun stuff along the way too. Just can’t think of any right now because my brain is still addled from, you know, the heat. In which I was painting a deck. And sweating. A lot.

None of which has anything to do with the bible study this week. Except that it give me an opportunity to say “I’m glad to be back!” You know how when people say that they are glad to be back after vacation and you never quite believe them, because it’s, well, vacation! You can believe me when I say “I’m glad to be back.” Because it was hot.

That is the link here. Which means all that whining - I mean, deep personal sharing - does have something to do with the bible study after all. And that something is weather prediction. Not something usually listed with the gifts of the Spirit, but Jesus talks about it. Well, sort of. Take a look:

Luke 12:49-56 "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress 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?

Well, there at the end Jesus is talking about weather watching. But he presents it as something everyone can do. He has been in enough small talk situations to know that the one safe topic everyone gravitates toward is the weather. And folks are more than willing to toss in their opinions. It’s gonna rain! Or it’s not going to rain. Or it going to change, or not change. Or hot enough for ya?!?!

But he’s not in the frame of mind for small talk. There’s an agitation in this passage that troubles those of us familiar with who Jesus is. The Prince of Peace is talking about division. The builder of community is talking about broken relationships. And this brokenness, this division is because of him and not in spite of him.

On the one hand, we could and probably should read this warning as descriptive and not proscriptive. Jesus doesn’t say that his intention is division, he is saying that the result is division. And we can’t help but agree with that. Even within the closest of relationships, living out of the faith can cause upset. One who hears the call to hospitality to include even those of another race, of another faith, of another sexual orientation, often finds themselves in conflict with those closest to him or her. It is not just between believers and non-believers - though that is often a cause of much pain and conflict within families, particularly in the non-western world. But even within families of professing Christians, division on how one goes about following Christ can cause major strife.

Bishop William Willimon tells of a phone call he received from a distraught parent when he was Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. This parent was accusing him of filling their daughter with wild ideas about how she should spend her life. She was talking about giving up her career aspirations to go and work in a place of devastation like Haiti. This father was angry and wanted Willimon to talk her out of it. But Willimon refused to take the blame. “You took her to Sunday School when she was a kid, didn’t you?” “Well, yes.” “You sent her to confirmation where she pledged to follow Jesus with her whole heart and soul and mind and strength, didn’t you?” “Well, yes.” “You probably even gave her her very own bible, filled with these radical ideas, to read as a child, didn’t you?” “But we were only trying to make her a Presbyterian!” “Well, way to go, you’ve made a Christian out of her.”

Following Jesus does not always make for happy, contented family life. And it seems from this passage that Jesus is OK with that. We’ve tried to tame Jesus, into this stereo-typical wimpy social worker who just wants every one to be nice and get along. It shocks us when he expresses this level of passion; when he admits that faith is not just prozac to help you make it through the day, but a matter of life and death. It startles us when he attempts to let us in on the fact that this stuff matters, that our souls matter, that our journeys matter, that our choices matter. In fact they matter so much that it is worth the risk of upsetting people to get it right. What he really wants is for us to stop talking about the weather as though it was the most important thing in our lives, and start talking about what really is the most important thing in our lives.

The problem with that is we don’t always know what they are, those most important things. Or we don’t know how to talk about them. Even with those closest to us. Even with those we love. We just assume they know. This really isn’t another passage about the end times when Jesus says “you not know how to interpret the present time.” It is about knowing what really matters. It’s about taking the time to talk to loved ones about who you really are inside, about where your allegiances lie, about what you would really like to spend your life doing.

Jesus wants us to use our discernment for more than just guessing at the weather. So, maybe what we really ought to be asking is what about that fire he talks about at the beginning of the passage? Did you notice we begin with fire and end with heat? Must be a theme here.

Granted, Jesus says he is stressed here, but I don’t think he is just blowing off steam. I think he really wants to start a fire. But what kid of fire does he want to kindle? I think we can rule out the fire that obliterates. The last time fire was mentioned in Luke’s gospel was in chapter 9 when James and John want permission to call down fire to destroy those who were rejecting them. And Jesus rebukes them. So, even stressed, I can’t imagine that three chapters later he will want to do the very same thing here.

If not the destroying fire, what then? Maybe it is the refiner’s fire that Jesus wants to call down here. Let’s get rid of that which makes us impure. Or maybe he is calling for the fire of Pentecost, the fire that ignites and inspires, the fire that launches hope and possibility. Maybe that’s the heat wave we need to be watching for. Light us up, Lord.

Shalom,
Derek

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