Playing With Matches
A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 26, 2022
The Rev. Robin Teasley
When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:51-62
Have you ever been so angry with someone, or maybe a group of people, that you wanted to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Be honest! I imagine there are many people who would like to command some fire to come down right now. It has been a rough week, longer than that really, and consuming anger is a very human emotion when, in our opinion, someone has done something awful; when justice for some looks like injustice for others. There are people on both sides of every issue, and while anger and even rage can be expected reactions, we must make every effort to listen to both sides.
In today’s Gospel James and John are clearly upset. And what is wrong with Jesus? He sounds downright grumpy too – it’s almost like he doesn’t want any followers. No one is having a good day.
Chapter nine is a long one and it's filled with events. Jesus must be exhausted, maybe everyone is just hangry. Jesus has been teaching, preaching, healing, feeding the 5,000, and casting out demons. He has hiked up the mountain with Peter, John, and James in tow where they saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah, transfigured in the cloud. They heard the very voice of God saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Surely these three disciples knew of the mighty power of God made manifest in Jesus.
After that, Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and he sent them out to heal and proclaim the kingdom of God. The disciples had witnessed the power and authority of Jesus, and, it had been given to them.
James and John want to take their newfound power and authority for a test drive. They are ready to command fire to come down from heaven and consume those unwelcoming Samaritans. It’s not for nothing that Jesus nicknamed these brothers the sons of thunder! And it’s an understatement to say that Jews and Samaritans had a longstanding disagreement, lest we think our current disagreements are impressive.
Jesus rebukes James and John, knowing that children playing with matches never turns out well. It seems as if there are a lot of people playing with matches these days, willing to provoke, argue, slander, or as Paul says to the Galatians, bite and devour one another, not even caring that they are consuming one another. Jesus knows that this kind of fire ignites, incinerates, and destroys any attempt to do the work of God’s kingdom, and so he rebukes James and John.
The Greek word that is translated as rebuke means “no”. It’s a firm NO. As in we don’t do that. Stop right there. This is not how we act. This is not who we are. We do not call down fire on people who upset us. Just no. But oh Jesus, how we want people to get what’s coming to them!
Yet even knowing that about ourselves, we rarely consider this image of a disciplining, rebuking Jesus. I wonder if that’s because what we prefer is a kind, loving Jesus who agrees with us. Sunday school classrooms in churches everywhere have pictures of gentle Jesus – knocking on doors, holding lambs, talking to children gathered around him, healing and blessing and feeding everyone.
And while we want to think Jesus is always gentle, scripture proves otherwise, because sometimes Jesus shakes dust off his sandals, turns over tables in the temple, and preaches about end times. Sometimes Jesus rebukes us. Sometimes Jesus needs to save us from ourselves and the bad choices we make. Sometimes Jesus needs to save others from our misguided use of power and authority, from the results of our calling down fire from heaven when we are sure we are right and others are wrong.
It would appear that Jesus does not always agree with his disciples. To quote author Anne Lamott, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
A good spiritual exercise is to think about the people we hate or even strongly dislike and ask ourselves why; ask ourselves what Jesus wants us to know in this moment, and how Jesus hopes we will respond. I have spent some time doing that this week.
I thought about the ways that Jesus saves us over and over from our enflamed passions, angers, and rash judgments. And what I began to see is that rebuking Jesus and gentle Jesus seem to blend, to merge together to become the Jesus who loves me unconditionally, in all of my imperfection. The Jesus who loves the human race unconditionally in all our imperfection.
There were others watching Jesus, James, and John that day, others who were considering following Jesus. What is interesting is that they followed after that rebuke, even when Jesus was clear with them that following would not be easy. Followers might find themselves homeless, away from family at important times, unwelcome in some social circles, or at odds with family and friends on important theological and political issues. Jesus was clear that in all of that, the kingdom of God had to come first.
Being rebuked by Jesus can be unsettling and jarring; it can feel like a kick in the gut, an upending of our plans, or the loss of something we don’t think we can live without. Admitting we have been wrong, saying we are sorry, even being tolerant of those who see things differently is hard work, but it is part of the work of discipleship. Burning things to the ground in rage will not bring us together in unity, it will not honor the God-given gifts of diversity of culture, race, identity, and imagination; things that make our world more beautiful, things that bring about the kingdom.
We are imperfect disciples, and most of us could stand a little rebuking from time to time. Not because Jesus is angry with us, but because he loves us. When we experience anger or disappointments or change, whether it’s in our personal lives, in the parish, or in the world around us, may we respond, not as James and John, with anger, ideas of revenge, and destruction, but with caution. And without lighting matches.
There will be times when righteous anger compels us to action. As disciples we will be called to practice what we have seen Jesus do and say over and over. Sometimes it will look like forgiveness and love and compassion, as we care for those on the margins. Sometimes it will look like striving for justice and peace. Sometimes it will look like taking away matches from children who are not yet able to handle them with care.
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