Luke 9:37-48
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
41 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
I can vividly remember the day I gave up my privileges at UT Hospital to deliver babies. I had planned a Cesarean section on a High-Risk patient there on my afternoon off. I figured I could get there by 1:30 so I scheduled it for 2:00. By 9:00 that evening I was still waiting to do it because they kept bumping me for other emergencies or potential emergencies even though they had 3 operating rooms. Their policy was that one had to stay open at all times for an emergency so effectively they were down to two. Then when one was dirty it took them forever to have it cleaned and resterilized. And then they were delivering all premature babies in these OR's and UT was a preemie referral center. Finally by 9:00 with no end in sight, I asked the high risk doctor if they would deliver my patient. I apologized profusely to her - she hadn't eaten or drank for 21 hours - and went home and resigned the next day. Before leaving, I told the young man in charge who has since left, "I've practiced at 8 hospitals in my life and this is by far the most inefficient one I've been at. I'm not telling you this to ream you out, I'm telling you this so you can improve this place. There are better ways to do things because I've witnessed better ways and you need to make changes. This is the last time you will see me."
I felt kind of bad about that until I read this passage. Jesus was up on the mountain. He was allowed for a moment to shed his human, confining shell, visit with Moses and Elijah, hear affirmation from His father and get a taste of Heaven. He was reminded how things should and could be. Then He went down the mountain and saw how things are - sickness, demons, injuries, desperation, hopelessness, unbelief, and basically preoccupation with everything that 100 years from now wouldn't matter. But certainly the men whom He handpicked and had spent all his time with and demonstrated His power to - they would certainly be a bright spot in the midst of this, right? No! They were just as bad as the others and even were arguing about who would be greatest. Plus, when He told them about the future, they didn't comprehend it. Jesus, in a rare moment of frustration, rebukes them all for their unbelief and lack of faith and exclaims, "How long am I going to have to put up with you!" Unlike me, though, He doesn't say ,"I'm leaving". He comes back and graciously puts up with their power struggles by giving them a gentle talk about servanthood.
What's my point? I guess it would be, it's ok to get frustrated occasionally. It's ok to even get mad sometimes as Jesus did at the sellers in the temple. This world is not the way it should be. We look at God's word and we see a better future in Revelation. We see ideal behavior in The Sermon on the Mount. We know there is a better way, yet all around us people are bickering, complaining, gossiping, hating, lying - we have an election in America right now where both candidates are evil. What do we do? Unlike me at UT, we can't throw up our hands and say, "I quit". With longsuffering given to us by the Holy Spirit, we dig in our heals and gently and graciously continue to serve and teach about the Kingdom of God as we eagerly await for His return. Unlike Jesus, though, we don't have to die on a cross to see that day - He did that for us. Trust in Him and you will see the Kingdom of God.
Lord, give me longsuffering. It is not in me. And help me to be the solution to the problem, not the problem itself. Amen
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