are you scared?

It’s hard truth time! I have been reading Luke, and while I bask in the familiarity of many parables, I am continually being struck with the serious tone that Luke brings to his account of events. The parables that seemed easy and applicable as a child, now feel heavier and more fear-inducing. I can clearly see the heart Luke has for the life-and-death nature of the Gospel, how he didn’t want anyone to miss the point and jump on the wrong wagon. Interspersed between daily living parables and stories of miracles are metaphors for judgement. Does this sound like the story of the Jesus you know? Maybe, and maybe not. But this book is ripe with information about God. I think that is something we need to keep in mind when we think about Jesus; we need to remember just how much a part of God he is.

Chapter 19 of Luke contains the Parable of the Ten Minas. If you are not familiar with it, I encourage you to go read it now, to the very end, verse twenty-seven.

Have you done that? Good!

Ok, so now the question; are you scared? Because I am! And not in a terrified way, but in a respectful way; kind of like when I was little and bad and waiting in my room for my dad. You know, the spoon rattling around in the drawer, the listening for the footsteps, the crying because you know that you were wrong and you hope that you can evade punishment kind of fear. Its an important respectful fear. It helps us to understand consequences and work to adjust our behaviour accordingly. This is what Luke wants us to understand about Jesus in this story. Jesus has been appointed King, whether we are happy about that or not. It is what it is. We cannot ignore it. Step one; acknowledge it even if it chafes against our self sufficient beliefs. Jesus is God, they are part of a trinity that is intrinsically linked. We need to understand that, as loving as the story of Christ is, He is not going to be forgiving forever, there will come a time when He will be present at judgement and will intercede for only those who faithfully followed. Step two; understand that we need to have the same respectful fear for Christ’s position as we should for God. The hardest part, at least from what I see around me in the world, seems to be the actual living it part. We, like the servants in the story, have been entrusted with things that are of great value to the King. Are we using them? Are we digging into the Word so that we can use them to increase the kingdom? Are we working to understand God so that our knowledge can affect our lives as we live a testimony to the people around us, especially our children? Are we living with the knowledge that Christ could return at any time? Luke talks about that just two chapters back, in 17 verses 26-35, where Christ is reminding everyone that life was continuing as normal before the flood of Noah, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Are we taking that seriously or living like it is still far off? It is a dangerous thing to claim Christ and live willfully in sin. It is a dangerous thing to think we can toe the line and still evade punishment. The truth of our faith is written on our hearts and bleeds into the way we live our lives. What we grant space in our hearts cannot help but spill into our living. Are we aware of that? Are we living in persistent, continual, repetitious sin? Are we failing to allow the Spirit to make us aware, to make us feel remorseful, to help us live better? We are fooling ourselves when we think that it doesn’t matter, that God will give us a pass because we post bible verses on social media or share links to church services. We forget that God sees our hearts and cannot share that space with so much sin. He is working to cleanse us, but it is only successful when we allow him the space to do so. I am fearful for my generation. For the duplicity at work. For the way so many have bought into prosperity gospel and “feel-good” Christianity. The truth is that it’s hard work, work that will only be rewarded when we pass from this life. But the reward is eternal while this is just a quickly evaporating vapor. Do you know which side you stand on?

The scariest thing to me is how many times we are warned that to know the truth and not live in it is the same as signing a first class ticket to hell. Does that sound harsh? Because I want it to. I want everyone I know to understand how serious this is. I want you to know that I love you enough to be honest even when it’s hard. We all need to be doing an honest evaluation of our lives. We need to lay ourselves before God, like David did, and ask Him to reveal to us what it is that is reprehensible to Him. We need to make time for the work of the kingdom, the real work, the heart work. I don’t want to end up like verse 27 of Luke 19

But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them- bring them here and kill them in front of me. 

It is easy to look at that verse and think only of unbelievers. But that verse is something that we, who profess Christianity, really need to look at. We say we love Christ, but are we really letting him be King? Are we really living for Him? Have we really cast off this world for that which is eternal? I know it is something I struggle with, on a daily basis, as I work to rid myself of earthly things I enjoy for the better things of heaven. It is a hard battle. But a necessary one. And casting off my ties to worries of this world creates so much more space for joy in my life. It might sound less fun, but I promise that the opposite is true. I find greater joy, lighter living, brighter fun, sharper awareness of beauty, when I stand at the feet of my Father and let him work in me. And is it really any harder than pretending we find contentment in things that will never make us happy, and were never meant to?