Time for Some Christmas Reconciliation
Luke 12:54 ¶ He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.
Luke 12:55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.
Luke 12:56 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?
Luke 12:57 ¶ “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
Luke 12:58 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.
Luke 12:59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
The people that are all around Jesus are seeing things that the world has been waiting thousands of years to see. Since Adam, God’s people were waiting for a Messiah to come and reconcile fallen humanity to God.
Jesus is laying it out to them right here. “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” My kids all know that if they go to bed with the rain pounding and the wind roaring, Daddy might wake them up for a party in the basement later. They aren’t even scared. They grab a flashlight and house shoes, and go to sleep.
So what if you saw stuff happening that signaled the end of an era? Would you react? Would you take advantage of the time you had left and do the thing that you knew you needed to do during that era of time?
It’s funny that the thing that Jesus says in this example is to make reconciliation with others. Instead of rushing out to get bread, milk, and a bunch of DVDs (that’s what you did in the Blockbuster days) Jesus says to rush out and be reconciled to those you hurt.
We all know an ‘end timer’ that likes to talk about the end of the world a little too much. Eyebrows up, shaking a finger, talking about all the sinners that are in for a rude awakening… God bless those guys. They are a part of the Body of Christ. Instead of bullhorning some people this Christmas about how bad 2020 was and how they’d all better repent, what if we just tried some reconciliation?
From seeing some of y’all’s Facebook feeds, it looks like we could use some reconciliation 😀 Maybe I have to ask your forgiveness after joking like that.
Reconciliation is just like volunteering in the kids’ Sunday school classes. It sounds good, you plan on doing it, but the day comes and you get wet feet and hate the idea, but then when you go through with it and it’s over you just had the best day ever!
Spend some time praying about who needs a special Christmas text or a whole box of cookies from you. They might not expect it, and they probably don’t deserve it, but according to Jesus, the signs say it’s time.
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