What Spirit do you have? - Part 2.

Intro

Greetings, dear spectators. Welcome to another episode of the series “Isusov život.” My name is João Relić Macedo and, this weekend, I am your host, as we study a crucial - even if not so well-known - text in the Gospel of Luke. The passage I am referring to is Luke, chapter nine (9), from verse fifty-one (51) to verse fifty-two (52). Last night I focused just on the first verse of the whole passage, and I tried to highlight how the text is trying to tell us that, even though Jesus knew what was waiting for him in Jerusalem, he still decided to leave behind a life of relative success and recognition to go to Jerusalem and to die for our sins. Tonight, however, we are gonna focus on a few more verses and we are going to look at the immediate consequences of Jesus’s decision to go to Jerusalem. In order to start I would like to read from verse fifty-one (51) to verse fifty-four (54). Today I will again be reading my own translation, which might slightly differ from the translations you have. But please feel free to follow up my reading. Luke nine (9), from fifty-one (51) to fifty-four. The text says the following:

51 And it happened, when the days for his ascension were fulfilled, that he set his face to travel to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers before him. The messengers went into a Samaritan village, to prepare for his arrival. 53 But the villagers did not receive him, because he was set to travel to Jerusalem. 54 Having seen this, James and John said: “Lord, do you wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?”

Body

The day was the tenth (10th) of June, one thousand nine-hundred and ninety-one (1991). My parents and I were spending the weekend at my grandparents’ house, in the lovely Portuguese city of Tomar. At that time, like today, Tomar was, generally speaking, a very calm city. But, contrary to this, the city was buzzing with activity on that expanded weekend. There were loads of people on the streets and parks, there was a lot of traffic, there was a lot of reporters and a lot of police and military on the streets. The reason for all of this activity was actually relatively simple: the Portuguese President of the time, Mário Soares, was visiting the city for the commemorations of the holiday of the tenth (10th) of June — the Day of Portugal. So, the crowds had come into the city.

Now, I was just five (5) years old and I don’t remember too much about that day, except for two moments. The first occurred somewhere during the morning. I have a vague recollection that my dad had taken me and my brother out to play in the park. And, while we were walking in town, either on our way to the park, or coming back from it, all of the sudden there was a big buzz in the street we were at. I remember seeing a relatively big group of people walking down the road. Some of them were walking normally, but some were walking backwards, with photo cameras pointing to the place they were coming from. And then, when this group of people passed by us, all of the sudden there he was: Mário Soares, the Portuguese President, walking down the road in my direction. I was little, but I definitely recognised his face from the TV. And one moment later, this famous guy from the TV had his arm extended in my direction, and a big politician’s smile on his face. “Young man, what is your name?” “João,” I said, as I shook his hand. “Very nice to meet you, João,” he said, as he continued walking down the road.

This is the first moment I remember from that day. The second one happened that same afternoon. On the day of Portugal, it is usual for the commemorations to include a big military parade, overseen by the president. And, of course, this military parade tends to attract a lot of people. My family was no exception. So, on that day, we went to see the parade. But when we got there, there was just one problem: there were no seats anywhere. And you probably know that five (5) years-old don’t normally like standing up and being still for a long time. So, I immediately tried finding a solution that would allow my family to watch the parade from a seating position. I looked around and I realised that there was actually a stand with seats right next to the place where the military parade was happening. And so I asked my dad: “Dad, why don’t go and seat in that stand?” He replied: “No, son, we cannot go there. Those seats are reserved for the friends of the President.” And then I said: “Well, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem — we shook hands today, so I am also a friend of the President.”

My expectation that afternoon was that, since I had shook hands with the President, we were now friends. And, since we were now friends, we too deserved sitting where the friends of the President sat. Needless to say that my expectations were too high.

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When I read the passage we read a few minutes ago, I wonder if, just like me, the disciples also created too high of expectations for their situation at the time. I’ll explain why I think this in a second, but let me start by addressing the issue of the relationship between the Jewish and the Samaritan peoples.

If you have been in the Church for a while, or you are at all familiar with Christian theology, you might have already heard many things about the people of Samaria in Jesus’s time. And probably you heard that Jewish people and the Samaritan people did not like each other. If that is the case, then it might be very easy to jump to conclusion, when you read this text, that the reason why the Samaritans did not receive Jesus was just because Jesus was a Jew. A Samaritan town would obviously not receive a Jewish preacher and healer, because they hated each other so much.

However, theologians nowadays are moving away from this kind of interpretations of the biblical text. Yes, it is likely that there was a bit of tension between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people. But their relationship was probably actually closer to the relationships we have here, among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia — yes, the tension is there. But, at the same time, there is also a certain sense of collective unity that transcends the borders of our countries — not only in terms of the languages we use, but also the food we cook, and many cultural aspects we share. So far, in Croatia, I never met someone who wouldn’t sit down and have food, coffee or just a good conversation with people from Bosnia or Serbia — let alone someone who would refuse to receive them in their town.

So, what some theologians are saying nowadays is that the rejection of Jesus by the Samaritans was not an obvious thing. If it was so obvious, why would have Jesus send messengers ahead of them to try and stay in that town in the first place? And this is where I come back to what I was telling you about the high expectations the disciples had. When we read this text, it seems clear enough that not only were the disciples expecting to be received in that town, but they were actually disappointed and angry when they were sent away. They had sent those messengers ahead of them fully expecting for that town to receive Jesus. And when it didn’t, they didn’t react necessarily in the best way.

As we read in verse fifty-four (54), they turned to Jesus and asked him: “Lord, do you wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?” In other words: “How dare they not receive you?” Last night we studied that this passage also teaches us that Jesus was fully aware of the difficulty of the task that was waiting for him in Jerusalem. And that, despite being fully aware of it, he still decided to go to Jerusalem and complete that unpleasant mission. And now the people from this town, fully aware that Jesus was going to Jerusalem, have the audacity of not receiving him? How dare them?

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My friends, I have to say that here I sympathise with the disciples. How many of us have not gone through similar experiences in our lives? Moments in which we put our hearts and souls into a certain project, idea or even mission — hoping that people will recognise the hard work and sacrifices we are making — just to see it failing to produce the results we were hoping for? I know I have gone through a few moments like that in my life. And I am pretty sure that the disciples were going through something similar back then. They were hoping that people would give Jesus the recognition and acceptance he deserved.

What they had failed to realise was that, from now onwards, the mission of Jesus would be met with much more resistance than it had been met with so far. As I argued yesterday, there is a Jesus before this passage and a different Jesus after this passage. While, before this passage, the ministry of Jesus was characterised by relative success and acceptance from others, from this passage onwards, the ministry of Jesus will find much more resistance and rejection. Which might be precisely the reason why Luke tells us, in verse fifty-three (53), that the town rejected Jesus “because he was set to travel to Jerusalem.” In other words: now that Jesus had decided to take this difficult mission, rejection was a part of it.

And, of course, this is something that the disciples were not expecting. Not too long ago, the same disciples that are mentioned in this passage – James and John – had been present in the mount of transfiguration, as Jesus showed himself in his full divine glory. And now, just a few episodes later, he is being rejected by a town that, otherwise, should have easily received him. I don’t know about you, but I can understand the reason why the disciples had their expectations so high. If I was in their shoes, I would probably do the same. And I can also understand the reason why they were so disappointed when things didn’t happen in the way they were expecting them to happen. But, unfortunately, this was now the reality. A new phase of the ministry of Jesus had just begun. And, for Jesus and his disciples, this meant they would face much more rejection from now onwards. So, the disciples definitely needed to adjust their expectations to this new reality.

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My friends, let me ask you: can it be that, just like the disciples, sometimes we set up too high expectations regarding the mission we have for this world around us? How often, just like the disciples, do we set up too high expectations regarding, for example, the number of people that will respond positively to the work of our Churches? How often do we set up too high expectations regarding the acceptance, from others, of the type of programmes we like to do? And how often do we end up being more disappointed than encouraged about the work we do just because we set up too high expectations for ourselves?

I think that the passage from Luke, chapter nine (9), verses fifty-one (51) to fifty-six (56) teaches us that we should try and manage our expectations, as much as we can, in a realistic way. That, just like the disciples needed to adjust their expectations to this new phase of Jesus’s ministry, maybe we should also adjust our expectations to the type of people we are dealing with nowadays, and to the type of ministry they require from us. And, just to be clear, I don’t mean at all that we should stop dreaming big. No! What I’m trying to say is that, as the circumstances in which we are change, we need to adjust our expectations so that, just like the disciples, we don’t end up disappointed and angry at the others for not accepting what we have to offer them.

So, as I conclude my message today, let me pray with you.

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Dear God,

We want to thank you once again for your sacrifice on the cross for our sins.

We want to thank you especially because you decided to take on that mission,

Even when you were fully aware of the consequences.

We want to thank you because you persevered through the resistance and rejection you faced on this world.

And we want to ask you today that you may also grant us the same perseverance

As we face a world that still continues to reject you as that town in Samaria rejected you.

Give us the wisdom to know how to manage our expectations,

So that we may never be disappointed by the rejection we face from others.

Give us the ability to listen to the reasons that rejection is there

And to adjust accordingly,

So that, by doing so, we can always find the best possible ways in which to serve those around us.

Allow us to always understand the circumstances in which we live

So that we can keep on telling your story of salvation to others around us in a relevant way,

Regardless of the challenges we may face while we do so.

We pray for all of this,

In the name of Jesus,

Amen.

Conclusion

Dear spectators, tomorrow, at the same time we will continue studying this passage in one more episode of the series “Isusov život,” here on Hope Channel Hrvatska. Good night and see you tomorrow.