Remember Lot's Wife
Read Luke 17.
Last summer, I emptied out our over-crowded shed and sorted through all the totes and boxes that we had shoved in there when we moved to Terre Haute. Some of the boxes had not yet been opened (after three years), and though I thought we had done a good job of sorting through things when we moved, I found we still had a lot of unnecessary items. It took a good part of our summer, sorting through the items from our past, figuring out what should be kept and what we could part with. It reminded me of just how hard it is to let go of the past.
As Jesus is responding to some Pharisees' questions about "the kingdom of God," he begins talking about the "coming of the Son of Man." While some people like to see a timeline here, Jesus actually seems to be talking about a lot of different things all at once. He tells them, "The kingdom of God is in your midst." Like...right now, here, in this place. But then he's also talking about when he returns, and about how ordinary life will go on right up until the time he shows up. Despite the promises of certain preachers, it won't be as easy as we think it will be to discern exactly when the end is coming.
Then there's this odd reference to "Lot's wife." Jesus is referring back to Genesis 19, where Lot and his family are given the chance to escape from Sodom, which is about to be destroyed. The angel tells them to run and not to look back, to go toward the future God has for them and ignore what is happening in Sodom. But, as the story goes, Lot's wife (who doesn't even merit having her name recorded in the Bible) can't resist the temptation. As the fire is reigning down on Sodom, she turns around and is instantly transformed into a pillar of salt. (There are pillars of salt today around the Dead Sea that people designate as "Lot's Wife." None of them likely are.)
Sodom, throughout Scripture, represents the life of sin. For us, you might say Sodom is our life "B.C.," Before Christ. It's the addictions, the habits, the stuff we hold onto that is not honoring to Jesus. And when we turn around, when we go looking to see if those things are "still there," we end up paralyzed (and often right back in the middle of the addiction). When Jesus tells us to "remember Lot's wife," I think he's certainly making a reference to the time of the end (or perhaps the time when the Temple was being destroyed, scholars are divided), but I wonder if he isn't also reminding us that when we decide to follow him, we have no business looking back toward those old addictions, habits and things. They no longer matter to us. We have been set free and need to move forward, not backward, toward the new life God has for us.
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| Lot's Wife in Israel (there's also a "Lot's Wife" pillar in Jordan) |
Last summer, I emptied out our over-crowded shed and sorted through all the totes and boxes that we had shoved in there when we moved to Terre Haute. Some of the boxes had not yet been opened (after three years), and though I thought we had done a good job of sorting through things when we moved, I found we still had a lot of unnecessary items. It took a good part of our summer, sorting through the items from our past, figuring out what should be kept and what we could part with. It reminded me of just how hard it is to let go of the past.
As Jesus is responding to some Pharisees' questions about "the kingdom of God," he begins talking about the "coming of the Son of Man." While some people like to see a timeline here, Jesus actually seems to be talking about a lot of different things all at once. He tells them, "The kingdom of God is in your midst." Like...right now, here, in this place. But then he's also talking about when he returns, and about how ordinary life will go on right up until the time he shows up. Despite the promises of certain preachers, it won't be as easy as we think it will be to discern exactly when the end is coming.
Then there's this odd reference to "Lot's wife." Jesus is referring back to Genesis 19, where Lot and his family are given the chance to escape from Sodom, which is about to be destroyed. The angel tells them to run and not to look back, to go toward the future God has for them and ignore what is happening in Sodom. But, as the story goes, Lot's wife (who doesn't even merit having her name recorded in the Bible) can't resist the temptation. As the fire is reigning down on Sodom, she turns around and is instantly transformed into a pillar of salt. (There are pillars of salt today around the Dead Sea that people designate as "Lot's Wife." None of them likely are.)
Sodom, throughout Scripture, represents the life of sin. For us, you might say Sodom is our life "B.C.," Before Christ. It's the addictions, the habits, the stuff we hold onto that is not honoring to Jesus. And when we turn around, when we go looking to see if those things are "still there," we end up paralyzed (and often right back in the middle of the addiction). When Jesus tells us to "remember Lot's wife," I think he's certainly making a reference to the time of the end (or perhaps the time when the Temple was being destroyed, scholars are divided), but I wonder if he isn't also reminding us that when we decide to follow him, we have no business looking back toward those old addictions, habits and things. They no longer matter to us. We have been set free and need to move forward, not backward, toward the new life God has for us.
I have decided to follow Jesus...
No turning back, no turning back!
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