Introduction

Here is ‘hard-talking’ Jesus in action, not gentle Jesus, meek and mild. These words from the ‘Rabbi with a cause’ must have caused discomfort, some distress, and squirming for his listeners! As The Message version puts it: ‘Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront!’ (v.51) Harsh and perhaps threatening, the question is, why?

 

In the news

We all yearn for ‘good news’, as distress, fear and insecurity continue to be the order of the day. The list is long: the mighty pound is falling and the predictions continue to create more insecurity. Does Britain really wish to have her Brexit cake and eat it? And what about the continuing loss of lives in war-torn Syria, elsewhere and through the evil intent of terrorists. While the labour party in Britain is in turmoil, the Republicans in the US seem set to implode. What about the honours list and cronyism? And, what really is happening in Turkey – is it a witch hunt? Job losses in the UK means that many cannot even pay their rents, while some top CEOs received a 10% pay rise! Anxieties are real and despair/fear is certainly the mood of many, but such circumstances call for engagement. Perhaps, the prophetic Jesus and his hard-talk can offer us some clues!

 

Reflection

Minding designed unawareness

Let’s start by acknowledging the real world around us. In spite of living in an age of over-information it is easy to ‘live’ unaware. We all read the world and events around us through our own experience(s) which will determine what we wish to see and what we would rather not see. The hard-talking Jesus pushes us to see what to engage with. Our preference may be different given our selective awareness. Things are not the way God intends. And Jesus invites us to see and name the injustices, the scandalous disparities, and the suffering of so many. Let us mind all that conspire to make us unaware!

 

Calling out injustice divides

Try going against the dominant flow to name anything that is wrong. You will most likely find yourself alone ‘up the creek’, with division a stumbling block. The ‘status quo’ will either wish to make a case for ‘the unity of all’ (meaning their well-being), make life unbearable for you, or will find all sorts of excuses not to see the injustice. They will plan to find a way to silence you. Too much is always at stake for the status quo! Justice is a bad word. But, we are in good company: Jesus knew and experienced that there can be no peace without justice.

 

Peace will be painful

Taking on systemic evil is costly. Peace that lasts seldom comes without a painful process of being honest about the real issues. There will be conflicts. Jesus was keen to let those who wish to walk his way of ‘abundant life’ to know this. His message is clear: peace cannot be separated from truth, justice and equality. It is not about allowing those in power to keep the status quo for their own interests. 

 

In the fire with Jesus

While ‘fire’ rages around us, words such as (supposedly from Jesus) ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!’ will not be comforting. Can it be that this is an invitation to ‘trust God’s grace and goodness’, even as ‘things are falling apart’, to be shaped and reshaped into new life. I am confident each of us can tell stories of such re-birthing moments: God at work breathing life into, tending, and caressing new life out of charred ruins. Where we see hopelessness, God sees possibilities for new life!

 

Prayer

God-who-disrupts-our-neat-boundaries,
you whose truth is larger than we are,
by your presence and through your Spirit
enlarge our minds and hearts so that we may seek truth,
catch a glimpse of truth, hear truth, learn truth, tell truth, live truth –
your truth of the way of full life for all.
We pray in the name of the one full of love, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

 

Questions to consider

• Consider the words of Jesus for today. Do they make you feel uncomfortable? Why? Where can you find grace and goodness in what Jesus has to say?
• Reflect on times when ‘truth-telling’ brought conflict and division. Can you also recall times when truth-telling have brought renewal and a turn-around in your life together as community?

 

Action

• Consider one or two issues that your church/community would rather not speak of or discuss (elephant in the room). Give some thought to practical ways in which you can constructively name such issues that will bring change and renewal.

 

Young people

• Consider any of the points above. Additionally, get a conversation going on what young people would perceive as some of the injustices around them that they think the Church should take on.
• This may also be an opportunity to reflect on the use of ‘hypocrisy’ in the reading!

 

Michael Jagessar facilitates the United Reformed Church’s work on Global and Intercultural Ministries.