Malice or Mercy

 

Luke 9:51-62

Proper 8 / Year C

“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven?”

We join Jesus as he begins his final journey to Jerusalem.  Now, there are two main ways to walk from Galilee to get there.  The longer route follows the Jordon River south to Jericho, then turns west and climbs upward to the Holy City.  The shorter option, which most Jews avoid, loops south and west but requires a traveler to pass through the region of Samaria.

The divide between Jews and Samaritans is deep and long-standing.  Although the history is complicated, at its root lies the divinely chosen place to worship.  Jews hold Abraham offers his son to God on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  Samaritans believe it in happens at Mt. Gerizim right in their own backyard.  Think of this as being like the debate between Virginia and New England about the first Thanksgiving, only on a massive dose of steroids.  There is a lot of bad blood between these two peoples, and, over the ages, a lot of blood has been spilled.  Jesus opts for the more direct route which leads to an inevitable clash of cultures.

It is not at all unusual a Samaritan village refuses to welcome Jesus and his walking companions as they pass through town.  Still, in Middle Eastern culture withholding hospitality is an insult and offense of unimaginable proportions.  Brothers James and John – two hotheads given the nicknames “Sons of Thunder” – have the strongest reaction.  They want to call down fire from heaven.

It is unclear if they are drawing upon a popular expression in their day or think of this as a literal possibility.  But this we know, their response is rooted in Scripture.  Ahaziah, who ruled of the region of Samaria 900 years earlier, sends fifty of his guard to arrest Elijah.  When they come for him, the prophet calls down fire from heaven which consumes them.  This happens a second time.  A third platoon is spared only when their officer repents and begs Elijah for mercy.  It is not the first time the old prophet calls on God to light up the skies in judgment.  Do you remember how he once contested with the prophets of Baal to see whose God could bring down fire to consume a sacrificial offering.  While the followers of Baal come up empty, Elijah’s fire incinerates not only the offering, but also the false prophets.

James and John are so inflamed they want to call down the same heaven-born inferno on the people who will not welcome them.   Then, as now, anger coupled with religious fervor and the strength to dominate your foe is a potent combination easily perverted by our worst human instincts.

What exactly is driving James and John?  Here are some possibilities they desire:

·    Retribution: punishment for an offense suitable to the wrong done.  Think the Last Judgment when God imposes what a person deserves.

·    Reprisal: an act of retaliation in response to a harm suffered.  Think one country responding in kind to a negative action of another, say a tariff war.

·    Vindictiveness: the desire to harm another for a harmful act you are not willing to forgive.  Think of a politician in the minority party who turns the tables when his party comes into power.

·    Spitefulness: seeking to hurt someone who has hurt you by actions not at all related to the offense.  Think of a coworker constantly undermining others because she was passed over for a promotion.

·    Vengeance: a punishment inflicted for an injury or a wrong.  Think Clint Eastwood’s character in every western he ever filmed.

Of this list I suppose vengeance is the most apt description for what James and John seek.  Still, what they seek violates the ancient moral and legal principle of “lex talionis” – the idea justice demands the severity of punishment to be directly proportional to the harm or offense committed.

The text tells us Jesus rebukes the thunderous brothers.  In fact, the whole of Jesus’ teachings and his actions throughout the gospels calls on his followers to forgo retribution, reprisal, vindictiveness, spite, and vengeance in all their forms and potential applications.  It is one of the most difficult things he teaches and yet his words and witness have brough serenity to countless millions who have heeded his counsel and concord to countless situations where his ethic has been applied.  When you are motivated by malice mercy has its merits. 

Well before he sets his face toward Jerusalem, Jesus holds forth on a mountainside over-looking the Sea of Galilee, preaching a sermon which addresses a wide variety of subjects.  Here is how The Message Bible translates one:

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults – unless, of course, you want the same treatment.  Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.  Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.  Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing.  Giving, not getting, is the way.  Generosity begets generosity.”  (Luke 6:8)

Many bibles end this verse with the phrase, “the measure you give is the measure you will get.”  I counsel folk there are times when, after suffering over and over and over at the hands of another, you must stand up for yourself and draw a line, like when God gives the unrepentant Pharoah the measure he deserves for his long-term enslavement and mistreatment of the Hebrew people.  But the episode here with the Samaritan village is not like that.

As you move forward, when facing a potentially volatile situation, how I hope you will ponder how James and John reacted and how Jesus responded to them.  And, as always, I hope you will pray seeking his presence and power in your life in order to respond as a faithful disciple of his word and a provocative witness of his wisdom.

Anger coupled with religious fervor and the strength to dominate your foe is a potent combination easily perverted by our worst human instincts.  When you are motivated by malice remember mercy has its merits.