Luke 16: Citizenship in the Kingdom
Good Friday, April 19, 2019
This a chapter in the story of Christ as told by Luke where we hear and see Jesus explaining mysteries; we also hear and see his followers trying to understand and to follow his instruction. The chapter is book-ended by two parables: the Dishonest Servant – followed by an explication – and the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus – which is so clear it needs no further comment. It only must be believed.
Sandwiched between these stories, Jesus speaks to the sneering Pharisees who are ardent followers of the Mosaic Law and the Prophets yet do not understand the concept of Jesus’ New Kingdom which the Prophet Isaiah has so clearly predicted. In the heart of the chapter is are brief verses regarding marriage and divorce which are often held against those who must – for one reason or another – seek civil and church sanction to annul a bond thought to have been made in reverence. We read these two simple verses in the context of Paul’s instruction on marriage in his letter to the Ephesians 5:21-32. These words follow Paul’s thinking on our duty to live in the light in God’s kingdom. They speak of mutual respect, mutual holiness, and mutual love. They give us a view on reciprocated union as read differently in Colossians 3:18-25 where Paul writes about The Christian Family and Slaves and Masters.Here he speaks about the significance of obedience to one’s vocation; and they reflect the thinking found in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-17 where he writes about holiness in sexual conduct, mutual charity, and hope for the Christian dead. To the people of Colossae and of Thessalonica he speaks of the reciprocal character of all holy relationships, and the honor we bring to others, ourselves and our creator when we consider all relationships with the gravity they are due. Jesus reiterates this idea.
When Moses gave permission for husbands to divorce their wives, he did so in order to prevent the murders which happened regularly when men grew tired of the women they had taken into homes and beds. This sort of casual disregard for life and the lack of a mutually nurturing relationship is what Jesus addresses here in Luke and again in Matthew 5 and 19, and Mark 10. He warns that flitting across the surface of our relationships will not prepare us properly for the life we are to live in this New Kingdom of which he speaks.
As we read this chapter, we might consider two thoughts here that will bring us to something new: perhaps the divorce which ends an abusive relationship is a saving moment of blessed grace, and perhaps each relationship into which we enter is as holy as a marriage in that it is meant to be nurtured in order to glorify God when the two parties strive to imitate God’s love rather than a superficial, self-serving demand on one another.
The lessons brought to us in this chapter of Luke remind us that kingdom work is constant; and it is present in every breath we take, every gesture we offer to one another.
During this time of introspection we might want to consider the times we have been called to be stewards of not only money but of our emotional and spiritual resources. Have we allowed our physical, spiritual and psychological assets to drain dangerously low?
During this time of examination we might also want to consider the many divorces we have entered into in our lives. Have we walked away from organizations, communities, families and friends without following every avenue open to us at the time for remediation in ourselves and others?
During this time of Lent, we might want to spend time reflecting on the Laws we obey, the Kingdoms for which we seek citizenship. What do our gestures tell us about what we hold important? What air do we long to breath? What prophets do we read? What master do we follow?
Are we people who are trustworthy in small things so that we might enter into great ones? We will find the answers to these questions by examining the fruit we bear back to the one who created us.
A re-post from March 5, 2012.
Image from: http://www.lifemessenger.org/html/Ministries/
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