This is one of those weeks when I question my “ordering principle” for Water Daily, to reflect on the following Sunday’s appointed Gospel passage. This week's isn’t much fun – it’s more of Jesus’ training talk with his new disciples, and he sets standards for them more stringent even than the Old Testament Law. He looks at the commandments against murder, adultery, divorce and perjury and ratchets up the penalties for merely being in the vicinity of such sins.
Why is Jesus so hard on his new recruits – and by extension, later followers like us? Was he employing the old drill sergeant tactic – break down your troops as you prepare to rebuild them stronger? I don’t know if this is what Jesus was up to – but he did know they would face hostility and adversity. They needed to be focused and strong. So do we, facing suspicion and indifference.
Another way to view this teaching is as pruning. At the end of his time with these disciples, Jesus will say, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2) The teaching Jesus gives here, harsh as it sounds, reflects the work of that Master Gardener, who desires that we bear good fruit.
Jesus is also driving home a point he has already made – that the ways of this world and the ways of God’s realm, or God-Life, are not the same. Those who would be Christ-followers need to learn how God thinks, and what God requires. Remember what Jesus said at end of last week’s passage: “…unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
When Jesus talks about the “Kingdom of heaven,” he’s not talking about heaven as a place we go when we die. He is talking about the God-Reality that is already around us, here and now, which he came to demonstrate and open doors into. That is what Jesus was about. So he’s not being punitive; he is simply stating a fact: Those who would learn to dwell in the God-Life need to be able to perceive things the way God does. His followers need to go beyond the behavior the Law demands, to reflect a heart yielded to God.
What Jesus is offering is discipline, just like a trainer or a coach does. The question for us is, Do we want to be disciples, those who take on a discipline? Do we want to be trained? Do we want to bear fruit?
Here’s my prayer suggestion for today, before we launch into Jesus’ tough teaching: Let’s get in touch with the love of God that has us reading this reflection on a Monday morning in the first place. Get centered as best you can, and invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with love, to surround you with love. Ease into it, as you would into a hot bath. Let it fill your heart, whatever that feels like or looks like. Say thank you for every reminder of God’s love you can think of. And, if you’re willing, say you’re open to being trained.
Whatever else Jesus is up to, he is also presenting a view of God’s love, the way a loving parent minces no words keeping a child from traffic or a hot stove. Let’s remember we are God’s children, in every sense, and be glad God loves us enough to want to see us thrive.
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