The Real Kind--January 31, 2020
"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." [Luke 9:51-56]
Jesus is at his greatest when he chooses to limit his power.
Consider that for a moment, and let it sink in, because that is the key to everything else in the Mystery of Christ. Jesus is at his greatest when he chooses not to exploit the full potential of his divine power for his own self-interest... even if someone could make a case that he is "allowed" to use his power that way.
The more I think about it, the more I think we church folks, we Respectable Religious people, need to be reminded of stories like this one, because we sometimes forget that Jesus' kind of greatness (which, we confess, is the true greatness, and not some phony knock-off covered in gold paint) is not primarily about shows of force. We are all too tempted to sell out to whoever or whatever promises us a little more influence, or a little more access. We are tempted to believe that God will let us use any means we choose if it is in the service of furthering our agenda--because (of course) we assume that our agendas always line up with God's.
But then there's Jesus, who stops that thinking cold in its tracks. Jesus chooses, over and over again, not to push the limits of his power--even for things you could argue would be "good" for him and his cause, or would expand the reach of the Kingdom. And it is that self-restraint--in the choice NOT to call down fire from heaven (even though he "could")--that his true greatness is visible.
This is what James and John just don't get. (That seems to be a repeated issue for them, if the other stories about their conversations with Jesus are any indication.) They see the rejection of these Samaritans as a threat to Jesus' reputation (and theirs, too!), and they think that the way to show "those Samaritans" that they have messed up royally is to call down shows of supernatural power, like old Elijah did centuries before, with a prayer for heavenly flames to burn up the people who said "No" to Jesus. In their minds, the way to respond to the hostility of the townspeople is with more hostility. And they believe that for the sake of furthering Jesus' glory, what the Kingdom really needs is a divine show of force like that. It's about furthering the Kingdom (they would say)... and it's also about furthering their own reputations, too (after all, they don't want to "lose face" by being associated with a Messiah who gets run out of town by those rotten Samaritans, do they?). So, with a fair amount of self-interest, and a smattering of thought for the good of the Kingdom, they think the appropriate response is to call down pyrotechnics of condemnation to zap the folks who rejected Jesus.
Now, in fairness to James and John, the conventional wisdom would have patted them on the back for their plan. Even today, there are an awful lot of voices who think it's OK to act in your own self-interest if you also think it is in the service of your noble goal. The ends justify the means, right? And so long as James and John think that it is in Jesus' interest to be seen as a powerful guy, and that if Jesus is seen as a powerful guy, then more people will believe in him and his message about the Kingdom would gain popularity, too, then their plan to summon fiery judgment must be a good one. Right?
But Jesus says, "No."
In fact, as your own Bible might note, some ancient manuscripts of this text include an additional sentence of Jesus, where he says to James and John, "You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them." Jesus' response is that even if he, as the almighty Son of God, would have the power to call down fire from heaven to destroy his adversaries, that is not his way. He has not come to destroy life but to restore life. Jesus rejects the zapping option, not because he can't or doesn't have the authority, but because true greatness is most clearly revealed when it doesn't exploit all of its perks. Jesus won't budge on this, even a little, because to him, it is simply not OK to use his position of divine authority for his own self-interest--not even if his right and left-hand guys James and John think it is acceptable as part of some greater good.
It is vitally important that we see and understand Jesus' choice here. He is offered the chance to say, "Anything I do in my own self-interest is OK, because my self-interest is also good for the Kingdom of God," and from there to unleash fire and fury against the townspeople who rejected him. He does not--not because his power isn't great enough to do it, but because his greatness is not revealed in destroying life, but in saving and restoring life. Jesus will rise from the dead to reveal his glory, but he will not kill for the sake of his reputation. Jesus will promise paradise to the dying and desperate thief on the cross next to him, but he will not climb down off the cross because it is in his self-interest not to die.
The question for us, then, if we take stories like this seriously, is whether we will trust Jesus' call on what we will--and will not--do for the sake of the Kingdom he brings. Instead of just assuming anything we think will give "the church" more power, more prestige, more money, or more influence is automatically OK, maybe we will ask, "Is this the way of Jesus?" Maybe instead of thinking our job is to smash down those who reject Jesus or to make life harder for those who do not share our faith, we will simply keep going on our way in love when we run into hostility. Jesus and his troublemaking will go merrily on, as Andrew Greeley puts it. We don't need to attack or destroy those who aren't interested in our message about Jesus--Jesus doesn't, anyway, and our mission is simply to represent Jesus to the world.
So today, keep offering the love of Jesus to the world around you. Where people are eager to hear more, keep on offering it. And where people reject the offer, it may be worth asking first, "Am I part of the problem here--am I being a jerk somehow rather than a faithful witness?" and even if we think we've done everything right, just to keep going on our way rather than to respond with rottenness.
Jesus had the power and the authority to call down fire in his own self-interest when he met with opposition, but he didn't. That was a choice of his, and he calls us to follow that same way of life. He has come, not to destroy what opposes him, but to save what he loves. He has come, not to rain down death on humanity, but to raise us to new life.
That's his kind of greatness--the only real kind there is.
Lord Jesus, let us follow your way even if it looks foolish or weak to others around us. Let us embody your kind of greatness.
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