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Followers of Jesus Love Rather than Impress

Followers of Jesus Love Rather than Impress

Last updated on: August 20, 2022 at 9:12 pm by Joris

Followers of Jesus Love Rather than Impress 2022-08-20T21:12:05-05:00 Joris

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The Gospel

Jesus was passing through towns and villages, teaching as he went, heading for Jerusalem. Someone had a question, “Sir will only a few be saved?” He answered*, “Work to get in through the less comfortable gate, the one that blocks so many people. I’m telling you, many will try to get in but will not manage to.*

Once the head of a household has gotten up from his bed and locked his front door, then you folks will stand outside, knocking, saying, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

He will tell you in reply, ‘I have no idea where you are coming from!’

You will say, ‘We used to eat and drink with you, and you taught in our publicly in our places.’

In his final response, he will say to you, ‘I just don’t know where you are from. Go away from me, all you people who have been so many things wrong!’ You will express your frustration and regret ’when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and all the prophets – in the kingdom of God while you yourselves have become outsiders.’

And people will arrive from the East and the West, from the North and the South, and they will share the banquet in the kingdom of God.

Look! Some who are last are going to be first, and some who are first are going to be last.” (Luke 13) [my translation]

In reading Scripture, many, if not most, people tend to view it as history. In this case, Jesus is talking – historically – about recalcitrant Jews era and their failure to accept him as their Messiah.

Working to Understand Jesus as Not Just History

While there is certainly truth in the view that Jesus is talking to fellow Jews as the ancient literature suggests, it is also true that the eternal, permanent value (and the deeper truth) is not history, docudrama, or any reporting at all. What happened then in Judea happened, yes – but the permanent truth, the inspiration, and the real point is about your and my present lives, as well as what was happening and.

Jesus offers a challenge here not just to hear , but to do, not just read but to act, not just see – but to integrate what he says and what is read into our lives, our instinctive behavior.

A tree does not try to impress. It just IS. Some trees have lived before Jesus and are still alive. Many trees will exist long after you and I are gone. In some way, they are beyond history. That image–a tree that just IS–and lives beyond your life or mine– illustrates the point today. They do not broadcast themselves, They just are.

The Challenge

People who follow Jesus know that both when he was alive and since then, some people claim to be religious but do not get it at all. They imitate external actions, quote thoughtful sayings, and claim for themselves the label of Christians one way or another – and they may lead great congregations, even work miracles, and spend their lives clothed in that reputation.

Their very sincerity may be driving some of us to inspire others, while failing the basic tests of following Jesus–with private prayers, reflective repentance, the pursuit of solitude and quiet, and the sense of gratitude that it is all God’s giftedness. Success creates traits that build a sense of “I’m doing fine,” –and then we gradually lose sight of the real Love of God, and intimacy with our Inner Spirit, . We fail to stay rooted in the contradictions of faith and the humbling experience of doubt.

Self-correcting humility, charity unseen by others, self-denial and repentance – in other words the way of the cross may become foreign to me. I may fail to see the core of Jesus – how He knows Himself to be the Beloved Son, and so loves others with the very love of God the Creator. Until the day they die we may–self-deceiving–cry, “Lord, Lord” and miss altogether the love of God – the true love of God.

“Will Only a Few Be Saved?”

Jesus knows that this is one of those useless, academic questions–with a subtler question under it–a REAL question. The real question by the speaker is something like,

“Will I be saved? Will it be so hard I won’t make it? Will I survive?” In that day, the speaker is almost certainly not discussing life after death–reaching heaven once he dies. The question is far, far more complicated. “Will I survive the militant apocalyptic upheaval of the Coming Messiah? Will my family and me die escape violence and die in peace?” Again, you and follow Jesus; we focus on the eternal now–the current spiritual existence that is the context here–and Jesus is pointing out that “salvation, safety & security” lie not in appearances, but in partaking of the loving, on-going, mutual nourishment–the “heavenly banquet” where we join Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their world of faith.

Numbers are completely irrelevant here. Doing the Will of our Father is what counts. Not impressing others, not success of any kind, not leadership or reputation, not “greatness” of fame and fortune. It is loving and growing in love. It is faith and growing in faith. It is transformation from the child I was impressing adults, to the adult impressing God.

Reflections

“First and last, last and first.” This concluding generalization is an effort to touch your mind, heart and soul–that it is not what other people think of you, not your popularity and reputation, your prestige and honors. These transient things pass on and you leave them like bubbles in the wake of a boat. How many actors and politicians, priests and athletes in recent times have lost their fame and position for some fatal flaw someone suddenly discovers so that their popularity evaporates like fog.

The way rises and falls, goes up and down-life. Sometimes, we do well, and people praise us. Sometimes, we are failures and frustrated, and people avoid us.

No matter. No matter–the discomfort, the “narrow gate,” or the problems and challenges. It is what lies beyond appearance, beyond our mask of personality or popularity. In the end, it is our wordless doing the will of our Father.

You and I follow Jesus, asking people not to broadcast the good we do, not to label us as “great” or even “good”– but, like Jesus Himself, who saw and understood himself as a Child of God–nor more, not less. It is enough for you and me.

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