ONEFamily
Outreach exists to "Connect
Kids to Community and Communities to Kids." Have you considered having a
mission week for your church? This
is one of my favorite "in-depth" ways of reaching out with the Great News of
Jesus Christ. Activities can include:
Interactive and participative praise concerts for children,
youth, and families;
Morning staff studies on "Authentic Leadership"
and "Building a Culture of Intentional Courtesy"
Brown-Bag Luncheon Studies for your community
focusing on our scriptural call to justice;
In-service for your volunteers or teachers on reaching
today's youth and families with the vibrant, living, message of Jesus
Christ;
Evening parent seminars based upon two of
Jerry's recent books: "Significant Conversations: Helping Young People
Live Meaningful Lives," and "The Deepest Longing of Young People; Loving
Without Conditions."
Local networking with other area groups (secular
or faith-based) regarding prevention and intervention strategies for
high-risk and incarcerated youth;
Humorous and thought-provoking school assemblies
(secular or religious, elementary through high school).
ONEFamily
Outreach is primarily
supported by your donations and by trainings, workshops, retreats and concerts.
[Lk 12:49] “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! [50] “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! [51] “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; [52] for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. [53] “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
[54] And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. [55] “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. [56] “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (NAS)
Luke 12:49-50
[Lk 12:49] “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! [50] “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
“I have come to cast fire...”
People don’t like this Jesus. Yet, this is the same Lord that held children in his lap while teaching, who told the little girl, “Tabitha, rise little lamb.” Was Jesus’ intensity increasing as he neared Jerusalem? Was Jesus becoming less compassionate and harsher as his time neared?
Not likely...
This same Jesus would still heal the blind beggar in Jericho. He would still heal the woman who had bled for 18 years, he healed the man of dropsy and dined with sinners. This was the same Jesus who looked down upon Jerusalem and wept. It was the same Jesus who shielded the poor and placed himself between the seething crowd and the broken adulterous woman.
This same Jesus had a stomach that churned for the vulnerable and yet, seethed with anger at the temple priests who made a mockery of worship. This same Jesus who forgave a criminal on the cross and restored an ear on the soldier who would arrest him would also condemn the religious leaders and even pierce Peter’s pride when the apostle tried to keep him from his destiny in Jerusalem.
Confusing? Not really. Jesus felt seething anger, anger that led him to pull the cords from his waist and whip the temple coin changers, but his anger was never self-righteous. His anger was never self-protective or a “sudden mood-swing.” His fury was an anger of advocacy; directed at any who stood between God’s love and lost sheep.
Is my anger so selfless? And, the anger that I do feel; is it on behalf of the forgotten, the neglected, or the discarded? Do I even feel anger over injustice?
There was a bonfire that the Messiah came to light. But, is there one burning in me? Do I feel any fire beyond the anger at the car that cut me off in traffic? Would Christ look into my heart and find it burning for anything worthwhile?
The word for fire is pur [GSN442]. Is my anger even close to pure? Do I have any fire that has eternal merit? “How I wish it were already kindled!”
Jesus, please kindle my heart for something worthwhile.
“I have a baptism to undergo...”
The incredible intensity of Jesus’ passion is illustrated in these words. “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”
Let’s focus on two words from this reading:
Distressed [GSN4912 sunecho];
This word means he was seized or completely occupied.
Accomplished [GSN5055 teleo];
This is the same word used when Jesus says; “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect [Matt 5:48].” Teleo, from which we get telescopic, means to be perfectly focused.
Jesus was seized with a perfect focus!
It is not unusual to see people seized with a perfect focus; however, in this culture, it is unusual to find people who are not perfectly focused on themselves. The focus of Jesus was not on his baptism. To the Hebrew, baptism represented a ceremonial cleansing; it was used to make things or beings ceremonially pure. Through baptism, normally secular objects would be cleansed for a holy ‘pur’-pose (being clean was never an end in itself). Jesus was perfectly focused on being cleansed for a holy purpose. His purpose was to become a sacrifice for our sins and his baptism was the crucifixion.
Are we consumed by a holy purpose or a self-focus? A holy purpose would be to bring God’s wholeness into the brokenness of our world. A selfish focus makes the world more broken. I’ve often wondered if someone walked ten meters behind me throughout my day, would he find a trail filled with more kindness than if he walked ten meters in front of me? The answer to that question would say more about my purpose in life than any message I could ever deliver.
A fragrance of hope and wholeness followed our Lord wherever he went; even after the cross when the Centurion who oversaw his death said; “Truly this was the Son of God [Matt 27:54]!”
Luke 12:51-53
[51] “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; [52] for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. [53] “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
“They will be divided...”
There is a point when striving for unity often leads to compromise of my personal needs. However, there is a compromise that Christ would find unacceptable and that is a compromise of my values. Christ tolerated Nicodemus’ poor theology and even Peter’s early ineptitude; but he would not tolerate injustice. Here was the consistent cry of the psalmists and prophets:
Amos 5:23-24
[Am 5:23] “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
[24] “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (NAS)
Jesus corrected the foibles and faults of his followers, but he attacked injustice and self-righteousness. Injustice was an affront to God; for which he would even condemn his own people.
Division in the church is commonplace, but rarely have we prompted division over the right issues. The dividing issue to Christ was; “Did you feed the hungry, quench someone’s driving thirst, welcome strangers as if they were family, clothe Jesus in the disguise of a vagrant, or visit our Lord when he was sick and imprisoned?”
Those were the dividing lines to Jesus, are they ours? Justice draws a line in the sand.
Luke 12:54-56
[54] And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. [55] “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. [56] “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”
“Why do you not analyze this present time?”
Christ’s words rise to a shocking crescendo; “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”
He calls the religious leaders hypocrites [GSN5273 hupokrites] – literally, actors who put on a mask – because they patted their backs and fluffed their feathers when they got the weather right. For us, it might be guessing right about an economic downturn or the value of a stock rising in our favor. “Fools!” our Lord cries states. We guess at small things but don’t know how to, “Analyze [GSN1381a dokimazo] this present time.” It means we aren’t even attempting to learn what is important given the signs of our time.
Even those who claim to study the “signs of our times” seem to get it wrong. They look for signs of when the world is going to end wowing people with millennial theories and all sorts of biblical prophecies. Yet, this is foolishness – a fool’s use of time. We are not supposed to know when; even Jesus did not seek the answer to that question.
They pour over the prophecies and tabulate the days, yet lives are being lost all around them. Lives for which we will all be held accountable. It is a state of self-congratulatory complacency in the midst of suffering. We pat ourselves on the back for a great worship service while a block away from our mega-church a child is told how stupid and unwanted she is by a parent who hasn’t had their morning fix.
“Analyze this present time!” heralds our Lord. This present time!
Who did I drive by this morning? Who was I too busy for today that needed a word of encouragement? What person cries out right now in a jail that is less than a few minutes from my house, work, or church?
This Jesus is angry. He is red-in-the-face and stating, “Forget about the ‘end times,’ forget about someday, quit yakking about my return: “Analyze this present time!”
The New Testament Greek Lexicon based on Thayer’s and
Smith’s Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the
“Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” These files are public domain.
The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon is Brown, Driver,
Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon; this is keyed to the “Theological Word Book of the Old
Testament.” These files are considered public domain.