I don't know about you but I find James and John's reaction to Jesus being denied entry to the Samaritan village in today's gospel reading just a little bit of an overreaction! “Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Was there anything that they’d experienced of Jesus that might have made them think that he would think this was a good idea?
I've said it before but the disciples, who lived alongside Jesus and shared his life, get things wrong so often that it gives us hope for ourselves and our ability to so often get things wrong.
During ordination training, and in life in general I guess, there's a lot of time and energy that goes into discerning what makes a good leader- in churches, business and communities. There's leadership books, conferences and courses. Very little time and energy goes into asking what makes a good follower, because after all that’s what we all are.
I feel that all three of this morning's readings are exploring discipleship, or what it means to be a follower, in some way.
Elisha has been chosen by God to succeed Elijah. We see him here at the end of Elijah's life, his mantle literally passing from one prophet to the other. We hear Elijah trying to put Elisha off continuing his journey with him but Elisha will not be dissuaded. He sticks by his teacher and is rewarded by having his wish granted.
In the gospel reading we have two lessons, firstly not to bring down the fire of heaven on those who don't want to hear our message, and secondly being a Christ-follower sometimes means not following societal norms, and sometimes it means making new families outside of our blood ties, and sometimes it means not putting it off when we know God is calling us to something. I had dozens of things I should have been doing when I realised God was calling me to the priesthood, it was in no way convenient, but once I figured it out I couldn't say no.
Paul pulls it all together so beautifully in the reading from Galatians; "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."
As Christ-followers this is what were called to, to examine ourselves and ask “how am I being called to love my neighbour, how am I called to serve my neighbour”. Paul even gives us guidance to help us know if we're getting it right in the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We see none of these in James and John’s response to rejection.
And yet so many times we see this is how Christians respond when they feel attacked or when they find views which oppose their own. As Christ-followers we’re called to love and serve, not just ourselves but all of God's people and the whole of God's creation, and in particular those who would reject us and reject Jesus.
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