Luke 9:54-56
New International Version (NIV)
54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
This passage sort of steps on my toes. I have realized recently that I tend to be snarky. Like, really snarky. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I turned into a super-hyper-critical person. I remember once, in high school, I was griping about how stupid somebody-or-other was, and my mom said, "Lori, you have no compassion. Zero." I didn't agree with her at the time. Now I realize how right she was.
She was (and still is) much more Christlike than me in her love for other people. In this story, Jesus is rejected by the Samaritans. The disciples' first reaction, which is probably similar to what mine would have been, is knee-jerk. I'm not sure I would call down fire on someone, but I can certainly see myself wishing I could. And that's the problem, isn't it? The wishing? As Jesus informs us so many times, wishing and doing are the same thing.
So I'm working on it. Every day. And it's hard. Changing the way you feel in your heart is very hard. But we have to - I have to - get Grinchlike and grow our heart size. We must not wish bad things on others because of the way they have treated us - even secretly - but instead wish for them the love and mercy of Christ.
Jesus rebuked his disciples for having the wrong attitude toward those who did them wrong. I have a sneaky suspicion he would do the same to us.
This passage sort of steps on my toes. I have realized recently that I tend to be snarky. Like, really snarky. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I turned into a super-hyper-critical person. I remember once, in high school, I was griping about how stupid somebody-or-other was, and my mom said, "Lori, you have no compassion. Zero." I didn't agree with her at the time. Now I realize how right she was.
She was (and still is) much more Christlike than me in her love for other people. In this story, Jesus is rejected by the Samaritans. The disciples' first reaction, which is probably similar to what mine would have been, is knee-jerk. I'm not sure I would call down fire on someone, but I can certainly see myself wishing I could. And that's the problem, isn't it? The wishing? As Jesus informs us so many times, wishing and doing are the same thing.
So I'm working on it. Every day. And it's hard. Changing the way you feel in your heart is very hard. But we have to - I have to - get Grinchlike and grow our heart size. We must not wish bad things on others because of the way they have treated us - even secretly - but instead wish for them the love and mercy of Christ.
Jesus rebuked his disciples for having the wrong attitude toward those who did them wrong. I have a sneaky suspicion he would do the same to us.
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