Scorching Heat and Wooly Caterpillars
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Luke 12:54-59
54. He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, `A shower is coming'; and so it happens. 55. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? 57. "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58. As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59. I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper."
Jesus used a lot of references to nature and natural things of earth in his lessons. In the time he lived, people were much more in tune with nature. They predicted the weather by the wind direction -- in this story, the western wind would have been blowing from over the Mediterranean Sea; wind from the south from across the desert. It would have been pretty easy to predict the temperature and humidity level based solely upon the direction from which the wind blew. I don’t know if most people are in touch with the sky and the elements today. We’re all so busy and often our lives are such a whirlwind we forget to look up!
My walking buddy and I are very conscious of the sky and the heavenly bodies therein. She has told me that her Grandmother allowed her to sleep on a sofa by a window that afforded a clear view of the moon when she was a child. In fact, her grandmother taught her a great deal about how to plan activities based on the signs in nature. Each morning that we walk we comment on the moon, the cloud formations, and yesterday we’re pretty sure we saw a weather satellite (at least we hope that’s what it was!) My dad taught me about the constellations when I was a child and I still recognize a few of them and have taught those to my kids. I wanted them to see the wonder of the skies -- the stars and the clouds and all of nature.
Every year we wait for the groundhog to tell us if we’ll have an early spring. We listen to reports on wooly caterpillars and squirrels to determine how cold the winter will be. We listen to the stock market reports and hear the “experts” give us their best bet -- notice no 2 of them ever agree?! Already there are predictions about what economic impact Katrina will have on the entire country--spiked gas prices, and other economic factors. Jesus is saying, “Guys, you spend all this time and energy; you do all this research and comparison analysis; you argue with each other and accuse each other--about things that do not matter in the big scheme of things. None of this has anything to do with eternity!”
All this experience. So much technology. All these brilliant minds. What if they spent that time and energy evaluating the spiritual crisis in this country. What if we stopped arguing about whether or not the founders of the constitution would have wanted the Ten Commandments displayed in our court houses. What if we opened the bible, and page by page, word by word, evaluated our own lives. What if we changed the way we think and how we live and how we treat others. That’s what Jesus was saying. Do it now or you’ll pay the price later! Take a long hard look at what you value and determine if it’s worth the cost.
So I guess I would sum up this commentary by saying, “Look up!” God is in the heavens, and in the grass and trees. And look around. He’s in each of us--you and me and those residents of the Gulf Coast states. He’s in the air and in your soul. We are all connected in some cosmic way that makes us seek that which is outside ourselves. God is within us--that’s where we need to go. We need to learn to trust that part of us that wants good for us. But we have to slough off all the stuff and the noise and the lies of this world to find it. We need to look at the moon in the sky an hour before sunrise and the sun before it breaks onto the horizon. We need to see the leaves curled up and know its going to rain. We need to look around and see the signs of the time. In Revelation Jesus testified, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
My prayer today is that you turn to God and the example he gave us through his son. And that you read the signs of the time in order to turn your life toward heaven.
Mary
