Luke 12:1-3
Strange Encouragement

Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. So, you, my friends..."

New Revised Standard Version

This approach was never in any of the management journals I've ever read!

Jesus has seen yet another multitude gathering, and he needs to give his disciples encouragement, a "pep talk" if you will, to get them ready for all the hard work of ministry that they will be asked to do for many hours to come. And what does he tell them? Everything you've ever done, every secret you've ever told, will be made public! If I heard that said to me, the phrase I would expect to follow would be "Run before they see you!"

I want to read messages like this as a warning, that all my evil actions and all my hypocricy will catch up with me some day and I will be very ashamed of what I have done. But when I read this passage in that way, I completely miss the point.

Jesus wasn't talking about "some day," he was talking about here and now.

Now, Andrew, John, Thomas, James, Peter, as you are preparing to do my work, you need to know that God already knows every dirty secret you have.

Now, as we are toeing the line, ready to do our part and serve others, we have to face that God already knows all our shortcomings and failures.

Now, as we're trying to muster up all the "good vibes" and "positive energy" we can gather to take on challenge after challenge, God already knows what a failure we have been in past challenges.

Now, when all we want to do is just "look on the bright side", God already knows everything that we have tried to banish to the dungeons of our memory so we never have to be reminded of them again.

And, friend, none of that keeps God from using us in His service, from being infinitely close to us, and from blessing us with His peace, joy, and love!

No matter what, God still loves us. Not with that kind of hurt, pained love that we look at our children when they've done something we told them not to do, but with the arm-around-your-shoulder hug that says God is so glad that you, just you, especially you, are right here right now! Jesus isn't telling his disciples to minister to these crowds in the least pathetic way they can, since they are all such failures. He's calls them companions, fellow ministers, close friends as together they do God's work. Nothing you have ever done, or will ever do, will ever take away that friendship with Jesus!

That, too, is a point we miss in the story of the Prodigal Son. We see the father welcoming the son back, ignoring his plea to be a servant, and restoring him to full membership in the family. What isn't there is what we expect to be there - the mixed emotions of a mother whose young son ran away in the store, who find the boy, hugs him for joy that he's safe, scolds him harshly for running off, then hugs him again. There is no discipline here, no warnings, no disappointment.

Can you start to imagine how it felt to be the prodigal son? After swallowing what was left of his pride, there he was, stunned, left speechless, by the message that danced in his father's eyes: "I know where you have been. I know every evil, hurtful, shameful thing you've done. I know how you threw away in weeks what it took me years to earn, and I know how you discarded every tradition and teaching you learned from me. And none of that will ever matter to me! See, you are my son!"