I’m discovering that the tone and the words my teenage son uses in responding to me has more to do with his emotions and circumstances than what I’ve actually said in addressing him. I can’t be alone in this epiphany, right? I’ve heard teenagers can be emotionally capricious.
But I’ve also been thinking about my responses. Both to other people and to God when I’m approached. Why can the same words that brought enlightenment one day bring me to tears another? While it’s possible that perimenopausal women can be emotionally capricious, too, I’m thinking it also has something to do with the state of my heart, i.e. whether I’m humbly seeking God and His glory or if I’m wearing myself out with my own agenda.
In reading through the gospel of Luke, I was struck by these very different responses to God’s activity in someone’s life. Admittedly, I found a little of myself in each of them and I wonder if you might, too. Take a look:
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. (Luke 3:19-20)
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. (Luke 4:38-39)
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:1-11)
In these passages from the gospel of Luke we see three varying responses to God’s activity in someone’s life. Herod was rebuked by John concerning his illicit relationship with his brother’s wife and he had John put in prison. Later, when he is besotted by this same woman’s daughter, he agrees to have John put to death. (Matthew 14:1-12) Herod seems resistant to God’s movement in his life, to say the least. It might be more accurate to say that he’s immune to it and goes to any length to quiet the voices God sends to bring him to repentance.
Simon’s mother was one of many who were physically touched and healed by Jesus when He walked the earth. Her response? She got up at once and began to wait on them. Was this a mere adherence to the accepted customs of the time? Or was it her worshipful response, out of gratitude and understanding, to having God come into her life and relieve her suffering? Was her spontaneous action directly related to her comprehension of the One who had come into her life and responded to her needs?
And what about Simon Peter? This sometimes impetuous, passionate man made his living as a fisherman, going out nightly, looking for a catch to bring in some money. After one of these nights he’s approached by Jesus, who tells him to go out into “deep water”. Different water than Peter had just been in? Or just to try the same thing again with a new attitude? Peter is dubious but has enough faith to try. What he brings in from his act of faith blows away all his preconceived notions and parameters of Jesus’ identity, and it forces Peter to ask for help to carry the abundance Jesus has provided. His response? “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” In other words, Peter has not only caught boatloads of fish; he’s also caught a glimpse of who Jesus is and who he is in comparison to Him. God’s power and holiness have been revealed and so has Peter’s sin.
How do I respond to God’s movement in my life? When I’m rebuked or when I hear the Holy Spirit whisper words of clear conviction to my heart, do I run or do I embrace the message? When a trusted friend challenges my motivation, do I resist or do I lay it before God and ask Him to reveal the truth so I can be further transformed into His image? Is my consistent response to Jesus’ healing Presence in my life to give Him everything in worshipful service? Or do I hold back because I place too high a priority on my comfort and my agenda? Does my understanding of God’s holiness cause me to fall on my knees in humility when I realize the depth of my sin? Am I even willing to look at it?
Most of us won’t go to Herod’s extremes in his desire to cover or justify his sin. But we may go about it in more subtle and socially acceptable ways. Spending less time or sharing less personal information with people who won’t let us get away with it is one way. We may also just tweak the story a tad to paint ourselves in more flattering light. Sometimes the temptation is to silence the one trying to point out truth by defending ourselves or accusing, maligning or lashing out at them. Purposeful alienation or misrepresentation stems from the same place Herod’s actions did: placing a higher priority on self than on God’s truth.
Conversely, what if we took a page from Simon’s family book and responded to God’s activity in our life – pleasant or not – by looking at our own sin and humbling ourselves in His Presence, worshipping Him in reverence and awe? The process may be painful as we turn our gaze inward so that we can be freed to respond to God with abandon. But the end result will always be deeper understanding, relationship and transformation. What wouldn’t I do to get to that place?
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