Friday, February 13, 2009

Love and Thunder

You have to like the disciples James and John, the ones Jesus nicknamed the "Sons of Thunder." How cool is that? Sounds like the ring name for some professional tag-team wrestlers. And they not only had the name - they had the attitude to match. When they experienced rejection from a particular village, their immediate reaction was to ask Jesus, "Do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" Nice. Notice they didn't bother asking Jesus if He was going to call down fire; they were excited about the prospect of doing it themselves. It's pretty clear that this wasn't a case of an opposite kind of nickname, like calling a really big guy "Tiny." The name actually fit them well, and maybe at times, it fits us all too well.

Like James and John, we can find it easy, and perhaps even enjoyable, to call down the thunder. We look out at a world that is broken and depraved, and our reaction is to call for judgment and painful destruction. After all, somebody needs to straighten this place out and give these people what they deserve. And we don't call down the fire just on those out in the world, either. Sometimes we even delight in swinging the hammer of judgment on those inside the church because of what we believe to be misguided notions or methods. It's all with the best of intentions, of course, and with the clear justification of defending what is right and good. And almost without noticing, we cross the line from defending the truth to delighting in the destruction of others. In a passing conversation, I once heard a professing Christian make the remark, "I can't wait for Jesus to return and kick some rear-ends." The "Sons of Thunder" surely live.

Jesus, however, has this tendency to mess up the stuff that seems to come so naturally to us, things like judging others and enjoying it. When James and John wanted to call down the fire, Jesus did not give them a smile and nod, recognizing that they were simply standing for what was right. Scripture tells us that he rebuked them; He told them to knock it off because that type of attitude did not reflect His heart and spirit. You see, Jesus was serious about this love thing. It's not about just loving good people and blessing those that agree with us. The love that Jesus calls us to is one without condition, one that prays for those who hurt us and blesses those who curse us. It does not delight in judgment, but longs for redemption and reconciliation. This love does not rejoice in calling down the thunder.

For the followers of Jesus, the reality of judgment does not equate to the enjoyment of it. The path we follow is not one of taking joy in calling down the fire, but one of lifting up prayers for those who are lost and broken. Instead of crying out for destruction, we must become people who cry out for the redemption and deliverance of those in bondage. Rather than shouting words of condemnation, we are called to empty ourselves and take the place of a servant. This is the way of Jesus, the One who prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

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