Reasons I am Going Homeless This Wednesday Through Saturday

I have been part of a church small group that is led by my friend Jill Carmichael (who will be joining us on the streets as well) and focuses on social justice issues for a little more than a year now.  In August of last year this small group took a trip to visit The Simple Way located in one of the poorest parts of Philadelphia known as Kensington.  The Simple Way is…well it is hard to explain exactly what The Simple Way is other than to say that is a group of subversive friends that have a heart for social justice.  Shane Claiborne is one of the founders of the group and has called Kensington home for more than 10 years now.  He is also a best-selling author.  Our group read one of his books together and we were interested in learning about how The Simple Way approaches Social Justice.  It was on the ride home from this trip where I mentioned, to Jill, “You know, it would be a good, potentially life-changing, experience to see what it would be like to be homeless.”  Jill, being a social-worker for Friendship Place, immediately responded with, “You know National Coalitionfor the Homeless (NCH) does something called a “homeless challenge” where you do exactly what you have mentioned.  You should try to get this approved as an A1:8 trip.”  A1:8 based off of Acts 1:8 and summarized by National Community Church as: “Ordinary people, empowered by God’s spirit, doing what Jesus did, together, wherever they are” is the title for their missions programs.  I did not have to think more than a second at Jill’s chiding.  The next day I was pushing my pastor about doing the trip.

I have several reasons for wanting to do this trip.  Personally, the more I study scripture as a Christian the more I see Christ as a social revolutionary who was relational and had a heart and passion for the poor as well as someone that welcomed interruptions to his daily routine.  Oddly, I have called myself a Christian for more than 20 years, but only in the past couple years would I say that I have seen, or at least gotten glimpses of who the real Jesus is.

I see myself as someone unique in that I am pretty much a classical type A personality and an introvert at the same time.  I am not all that comfortable initiating relationships—I run from most of them.  Also, I am someone who is very task-oriented and who really dislikes being interrupted from my tasks.  These are two personality characteristics that I do not see at all in Christ.  I see the Homeless Challenge as a huge interruption to my daily routine as well as a huge opportunity for initiating relationships with homeless people in my own city—a chance to develop qualities I see in Christ that I lack in myself.

Also, our church is incredibly missional, locally, nationally and internationally.  I believe our faith community can be much more involved than we are locally though.  However, if I make a statement like that, than the finger-pointing needs to be at myself.  My hope is that this trip will be something that our church does every year.  Perhaps, together with NCH, Street Sense, Mariam’s Kitchen, Loaves and Fishes and every other NGO working with the homeless in our city we can put ourselves out of business!  What can I say…I wear a bracelet that our lead pastor had made that reads: “Dream Big, Pray Hard, Think Long.”

Lord Help Me Be More Polychronic

A little more than two years ago I was required to read Brian Fikkert’s When Helping Hurts for a trip to Israel/Palestine.  I recall there were differing opinions about much of the content of the book within our group.  What those differing opinions were has become hazy with the two plus years.  However, there is one section the book that has remained with me and had an impact on how I see people of other cultures, faiths, and walks of life in an amazingly positive and inclusive way.

Last Wednesday I had just parked my car at the Silver Spring parking garage and was walking to the metro station.  I was also a bit behind schedule to get to “The Living Room,”  a gathering of friends that meets in the basement of Ebenezer’s Coffee House in Capitol Hill, DC.  Our group is a gathering of misfits, one might say, that share a meal and study the Bible together.  There are a few of us currently living on the streets, a few of us who formerly lived on the streets, some that have never lived on the streets.  Regardless, come to “The Living Room” long enough and it starts to become an extended “dysfunctional family” as Bobby, one member of our group, likes to remind us each week.

So, back to my short walk to the metro platform to catch the Red-Line heading in the Shady Grove direction for the 5 or 6 stops—I have been doing this ride somewhat regularly for years and one would think that I would know the exact number of stops, but I don’t—To Union Station.  There is frequently a paper vendor outside of the Silver Spring Metro Station selling copies of Street Sense.  Street Sense is a non-profit based in Washington DC assisting the homeless and trying to put an end to homelessness in the city.  One thing that Street Sense does is employ homeless folks as street vendors for their newspaper of the same name.  The paper is about 30 pages long with stories that mainly focus on homeless issues. Many of the articles are written by the vendors.  It is pretty cool to buy a newspaper from someone who may have written one of the articles!  Anyway, Earl is the name of the vendor at the Silver Spring Metro.

I remember beginning my descent down the stairs toward the entrance of the metro station thinking, “hmmm…I wonder if Earl will be there with his newspapers today?”  I was excited about saying “hi” and getting a paper.  However, this thought instantly changed to, “Man, I am running late I really hope that Earl is not selling his paper today so that I am not late for ‘The Living Room.’”  In that instant I was filled with guilt and simultaneously reminded of Fikkert’s When Helping Hurts.

When Helping Hurts introduced me to two words that have forever changed, as stated in the opening paragraph, how I see those of other cultures and faiths and how I believe we, as people, should interact with them.  In his book Fikkert describes two very different cultures.  One is a monochronic culture and the other is polychronic.  If there was a poster-child for monochronic  culture the United States would be it, and much like DC is the capitol of the United States it makes a strong case for being the capitol of monochronic culture as well. 

People living in a monochromic culture tend to: concentrate on the job, commit to the job, be timely and efficient, and adhere religiously to plans.  On the other hand, those living in a polychronic culture tend to: allow distractions and manage interruptions well, change plans often and easily, be committed to people and human relationships—things that drive most westerners crazy including this one. 

However, I have had the privilege to spend time in Mali, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt and see polychronic culture up close!  I was and am humbled and convicted by the love these people had for one another and how much more important relationships rather than tasks were to them. 

Of course, there are positive and negative aspects to both of these cultural leanings, but we need to recognize that one is not right while the other is wrong as well as recognize that both exist.  I would argue that living on the far end of either spectrum can lead to a less fulfilling life – whether by being so task-oriented that relationships suffer or even fail to be developed, or by being so people-oriented that nothing ever gets accomplished.  I know that for me personally to be less focused on tasks and more focused on relationships is something that should be incorporated into my life. 

Sadly, Earl was not selling papers that day so I really do not know if my monochronic leaning would have pushed me by Earl without saying “hi” and getting a paper in order that that I could obtain my goal of making it to “The Living Room” on time, but I certainly hope not!

Disappointed with Robison's God of All Creation

It has been several weeks since I have finished James Robison’s God of All Creation.  If there was one word to describe how I feel about this book I think it would be ambivalent.  Robison’s uses his pet dachshund and other wildlife as his lens for how we can live Godly lives or at least attempts to show life lessons that can be learned through animals.  

Waterbrook Multnomah provides me with books free in exchange for fair and honest reviews and this is one of those books.  I chose this book to review frankly because I thought there was a strong possibility that I might really like it—I have really disliked the recent books that I have received from Waterbrook and it is much more fun to write a positive review than it is a negative one.  Moreover, despite not owning any pets of my own I have many friends who have dogs and cats and I was hoping that this would be a good book to recommend to them.  Sadly, this did not turn out to be the case.

I did manage to break the string of disliking books from Waterbrook.  There were things I liked about this book which were pretty balanced with the things that I disliked hence my ambivalence.  I would first like to share three quotes/stories from the book that I found either convicting and/or applicable to my life.  Then I will share a few things that I did not like.

Robison writes “It’s easy to say that we believe the Bible, but sometimes it seems difficult to live by it.  Which raises the question: What do we really believe?” (Pg. 84).  I think Robison is being a bit too gentle here actually.  If we say we believe something and then do not actually live it out in our daily lives I think there is a word for that.  That word is hypocrite.  Moreover, all of us at some point in our life, regrettably, will say one thing and do another.  Paul was no stranger to this and writes about it in Romans 7.  Robison gets it on acting out what you believe.

Perhaps the best corollary to animals and lessons regarding God is Robison’s comparison about rattlesnakes and sin.  Most people will generally be more scared of a large rattlesnake than a baby rattlesnake, but it is the babies that are more dangerous because they are quicker to bite and they do not always have control of how much venom they inject when biting.  Robison writes “Sin is like that too. People tend to look at the ‘big’ ones, such as murder, adultery, or theft, and ignore the ‘small’ ones, such as pride, bitterness, or envy.  This tolerance of the ‘small snakes’ leads to a lot of pain.  Just because something isn’t out in the open or punishable by law doesn’t mean it can’t destroy a life.  To the contrary, the sins that tend to go unnoticed can be the most poisonous to our souls” (Pg. 102).

Finally, Robison shares a story about some neighbors that would feed feral cats by placing food outside but do nothing more.  “They treated them as unwelcome guests, putting out a token dish, but not taking in the animals as their own…Christians can treat God like a stray.  Like our neighbors with the feral cats, we may give God a token gift when it’s convenient but never invite Him in.  Sure, let God visit, but stay?  Not a chance.  That requires giving up some things, taking on responsibility, and admitting ownership in the relationship.  But God is not looking for a place to visit; He is looking for a place to live.”  

Within Christianity today it is troubling to me that so much interpretation of Scripture is simplistic.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a believer that keeping things simple is a good practice.  However, there is also a danger with always opting for the simple answer or interpretation to things, particularly Scripture.  I have read the following observation in two books the past year.  There are three stages when it comes to faith: orientation, disorientation and reorientation.  Many of us enter the orientation stage of faith and remain there for the entirety of our faith journey.  Why?  Because we are too uncomfortable or scared to enter the disorientation phase.  Frankly, I believe these people lack authentic faith. I call their faith shallow because they are not willing to allow their faith to be tested—they see the status-quo interpretation of scripture and accept it blindly, without embracing the tension; a tension that while frustrating will ultimately lead to growth.  If this remaining in the orientation stage is what is meant by keeping things simple then I believe that is where the benefits of keeping things simple cease to exist.  I believe that Robison has lived his life and faith stuck in the orientation phase.

For example, Robison shares the quote from John 9:1-3: “Why was this man born blind?  Was it because of his own sins or his parent’s sins?  It was not because of his sins or his parent’s sins.  This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” And has this to say about it: “This is not to say that suffering is always the result of someone’s sin” (Pg. 51-52).  In an orientation paradigm one sees that suffering can be something that God does to someone merely so that his glory can be revealed and it ends there.  This passage for me is a great example of disorientation.  I literally have a problem with a God that needs to cause someone to suffer in order to demonstrate his glory—this passage creates questions for me.  Jesus does not say that “God caused this…” but, “This happened so…”  Did God cause it?  If so, why?  Why is anyone born blind at all?  How do our parents sins cause us suffering?  Do our  parents sins cause us suffering?  How do our own sins cause us suffering?—for me this is a disorienting piece of Scripture.  I believe that God desires and wants us to seek him—I believe Jesus spoke in parables and never answered a yes-and-no question with “Yes” or “No” during his entire ministry because he knows that growth comes through disorientation.

Another example is Robison’s classic interpretation of the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-18—the classic interpretation that so well fits our capitalistic culture where the master is seen as God and praises those that have a good return on their investment while chastising the servant that buries his talent.  There is an alternative interpretation to this parable that Robison does not even consider—perhaps he has never heard it but it goes like this: the Master is the oppressive Roman Empire and the servant that hides the talent is Christ who is rejected by the system. 

Obviously these two interpretations are diametrical to one another.  And the two interpretations definitely create disorientation.  My faith is more or less in the state of disorientation.  Honestly, it is a really difficult stage to be in but it does not end there.  I also believe that bits and pieces of my faith are beginning to reorient themselves and I must say that it is the light at the end of the tunnel.  It is in the reorientation that we begin get to see slivers of light, that are Jesus, shine through—it is where we really get to know what it means to love and serve Jesus.

THIS PEN

About a month ago, in the thick of the Christmas season, I sat in the performance area of Ebenezer's Coffee House located in the basement.  Ebenezer's is located in Capitol Hill, DC and is a former crack house that my church (well not my church it is God’s, but I do attend there) National Community Church (NCC) purchased.  For a number of years now NCC has been doing something called “InService.”  Every Wednesday the homeless are invited to share in a meal, Bible study and fellowship with other followers of Christ.  The homeless in my city now have a Bible study in a former crack house!  I love that!

I have been attending InService for several months now and to be honest it is a challenge.  Building relationships across cultural and economic barriers is not easy, at least not for me.  It takes time and patience.  Perhaps that is true for all relationships though, thus making InService not that unique.

Anyway, getting back to my experience a month ago I was struck by what took place at InService that night.  Struck by the fact that the homeless, the neglected and ignored in our cities, have so much to offer us.  One of our homeless men that comes on Wednesday nights, Ivan Johnson, performed an act that leaves me humbled, convicted and challenged!  He took the last bit of money in his pocket and bought a package of ink pens.  You might ask yourself why would Ivan decide to do this?  Well he showed up to our group, mentioned that it was the Christmas season and that we wanted to give all of us a gift.  He then explained that he wanted to give us each a pen so that when we were reading the Bible and something hit us we would have something to write it down with or if we had spiritual thoughts throughout the day we would have something to capture it so that we could look back on it for encouragement.  And this he did with the last dollar to his name.  Amazing!

Part of me wants to frame this pen as a reminder for what it means to give out of my poverty!

Luke 21:1-4: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

The Story of My Relationship With International Justice Mission

A Little Background

A little more than three years ago I sat in the crowded living room of Megan and Luke.  This couple was leading a church small group that was discussing Francis Collin’s Language of God.  However, this was our last meeting and the week before they asked, “Instead of discussing the book we were wondering if we could watch a video about modern-day slavery next week.”  All of us agreed to this.

The video that they showed was called The End of Slavery and was produced by International Justice Mission (IJM). At the end of the video Megan and Luke informed us that they were recruiting guests for an upcoming IJM benefit dinner.  This sounded really intriguing, relevant and important so I looked into this benefit dinner a little more.  Upon discovering that the event loosely requires formal attire a light bulb went off in my head.

Those that know my wife and I know that we really dig the mountains and that we dress pretty casually almost all the time.  However, we try to do one date a month where we dress up in nice clothes.  This IJM Benefit seemed like it would make a great “dress-up” date.

Fast forward three years later.  Today is the day after our 4^th IJM Benefit dinner.  It has become our favorite date night of the year and we have hosted a table for the past two years.  We tried being table recruiters three years ago, but that is another story all together!

Reflection on Saju’s Keynote Address

When I got home from the event last night I had trouble falling sleep from the excitement of the evening and perhaps even more so trying to process what Saju, IJM’s Director of Operations in South East Asia, had shared with us.  Saju made an argument that identity and the process affecting change are interrelated. Saju used three contrasting vignettes to illustrate his argument of which I would like to share two.

The first was the fictional tale of the Ugly Duckling—a story that he told his kids at bedtime.  I am guessing that most of us are familiar with the details of this story.  So, what point would Saju make with this story?  It was not until the duckling happens upon a flock of swans in a lake and seeing his reflection that the duckling realizes that he is in fact not a duckling at all.  His identity is that of a swan and this realization of identity changes the course of the duckling’s outlook on life.

The second vignette that Saju shared with us began with a harrowing story of woman rescued from slavery in India.  It was heartbreaking to hear that when this women shared her nightmare with an official after being rescued from her persecutors the official began yelling at her and accusing her of lying.  Saju was shocked!  After some thinking about this experience, Saju hypothesized that this official, as a law-enforcement official, was not aware of what his identity should be with respect to helping the helpless.  Saju then went on to contrast this to a story of an experience for him when he was living in Philadelphia.

His son, who happened to be in kindergarten, had come home from school after learning about dialing 911 for emergencies.  To impress his older brother he decided to test out his new learned knowledge and he called 911 in front of his brother.  When someone on the other end picked up he exclaimed, “There is a monster in the house!” and then hung up.  Several minutes later a police officer showed up at the house stating that an emergency call had come from this address.  Obviously, this shocked Saju’s wife who had answered the door.  When Saju’s wife stated that everything in the house was fine and assured the police officer that there was not a monster in the house the police officer was not completely satisfied.  He asked if he could enter the home to confirm this.  Why did this officer of the law not take the mother at her word and just leave?  Because he knew his identity as on officer of the law was to protect the innocent and he wanted to fulfill the responsibility that came with this identity.

Saju went on to explain how there is a justice system in India where there are laws that protect the poor and the innocent.  Obviously, this system was not working when the official, with overwhelming evidence in front of him to convict the perpetrator in the case of the woman slave, instead lashes out at the victim calling her a liar.  However, Saju then shared with us a recent case where the opposite occurred in India, where the perpetrator was convicted.  He shared with us about programs that IJM has started in India that train the local police force to enforce the laws that protect the poor and vulnerable.  Moreover, the government there is beginning to be pro-active and asking IJM for advice on trafficking issues and how to address them.  Why?  Because with the help of this wonderful organization the justice system is seeing its reflection in the lake and realizing its true identity. Which was the final point of Saju’s address, when we help individuals realize their identities it will begin to change the identity of communities, governmental systems, countries and the world.

The current reality is that there are still millions of people in slavery in India.  Saju, however, believes that India is on the cusp of eradicating this disease from their society.  After hearing his message I share his optimism.

What This Means For Me

This brings us back to me falling asleep last night, or rather trying to fall asleep.  I could not get this identity thing out of my head.  What is my identity?  What is the identity of our systems here in the US?  Do these identities need to change (this is rhetorical hence the next question).  How?

I remember recalling a story with Helene last night about one of my favorite musicians named Phil Keaggy.  I use to be groupy of sorts.  I remember visiting his website years ago—probably ten years ago—and seeing that he had a concert in DC.  There was a number to call for ticket information.  When I called the number a sweet woman on the other end informed me that the show was for a benefit dinner for an agency that fights slavery, tickets were $100, and this was the kicker, Phil would only be playing two, maybe three songs.  I hung up the phone and said to myself, “Well, I guess I won’t be going to see that show, geez, who would pay $100 to see Phil only play two songs?”

Three years ago at that first IJM event was a catalyst for me to realize my identity, something that I was not ready for when I wanted to see Phil years earlier.  I think many of us, perhaps myself above all, plead with God, “Why is there so much suffering in the world?  Why don’t you do something about it?  Then we neglect to listen, because most of the time God whispers back to us, “My child do you not see your identity?  You ask for me to do something about the suffering in the world and I have.  I created you.”

To be honest, I am still very selfish in so many ways but I honestly believe that I have discovered my identity.  My identity is that I am a child of God which makes my purpose simple; allow myself to be loved by God and to share that love with others.

E-mail of Encouragement to a Friend

Yesterday, my wonderful wife and I along with two friends had the privilege to help pack 10,000 meals with Restore Church in Silver Spring, MD.  The meals are to be given to two schools in Silver Spring, MD where 90% of the students are on the reduced –payment lunch program.  Before this event, one of our friends Meg made some awesome chili and invited us over to her place to relax and hangout.  Meg shared with us about her experiences volunteering for the Girls Club and how challenging it was for her and that it was an intentional decision on her part to embrace discomfort.  It was such a great reminder to me that people are not born with innate talent of addressing needs and that God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called when we step out of our comfortable spaces.  I have blogged about this several times in the past, because it is a reoccurring theme in my life.  I decided to write Meg and thank her for her candor and to tell her it was an encouragement and good reminder for me.  Reading over the e-mail I thought it might be an encouragement to others so I decided to share it.

Meg,

Thanks for sharing about the Boys and Girls clubs yesterday!  It was particularly good to hear your honesty about the challenge of meeting with the other--culturally other, ethnically other, affluently other, educationally other, other with respect to age.  That so reinforced a theme that has been re-occurring in my life for probably the last two years.  We are a society that is absolutely obsessed with comfort and frankly there may not be a person more apt to choose and desire comfort in his life than me!  Moreover, to put this in spiritual terms I believe the desire for comfort is a very clever as well as successful ploy of the enemy to severe the hands and feet of Christ. 

It would be an interesting experiment, albeit really difficult to do objectively, to take a week and track where I seek comfort and where I intentionally welcome discomfort with the intent of moving closer to God.

Anyway, I love to see that you have stepped up with and embraced being uncomfortable for Kingdom causes with the girls in S.E.  And the fact that you admitted that you were uncomfortable was an encouragement to me.  I think too often we see people doing great things for the world and to the outsider it looks like it just comes natural for them.  I believe that perception is more often than not false.  I believe that if people knew that the people who are taking a stand with the poor, those with AIDS, the drug-addicted, trafficked boys and girls do so intentionally putting them in a lot of discomfort and these tension-dwelling people shared their struggles openly and honestly others would be willing to see themselves as having the potential to make an impact.

I pray that as our small group grows and we see each other stepping out and doing things that disrupt our routine and thus creating tension--tension that we embrace rather than run from, it will mold and shape us into who God wants us to be both as a group and individuals.  I also pray that it will become contagious.  I believe openly and honestly sharing our struggles that we have in tension-filled environments is paramount to making it contagious though.

Peace,

Steve

Some Thoughts on Luke 9:51-56

I have been eating in the cafeteria here at work for years.  However, it is only in the last year that I began to add to that time the reading of Scripture.  It forces me to slow down; something that I am finding is more and more beneficial to my life.  I have been reading the Bible for a number of years, admittedly off and on.  However, Scripture has come to life for me in the past year.  It is such a huge book that for much of my life I focused on quantifying my reading rather than qualifying my reading—what can I say I am a Westerner?  In the past if something did not make sense to me I would just look past it, but not anymore.  There are times when I will get stuck on a part of Scripture and sometimes struck on a part of Scripture and I will end up reading it over and over and that, I have found, is when it really comes to life for me.  This is what happened today for me with Luke 9:51-56.

Most of the time when I see the actions of Jesus he seems to be a pretty laid back kind of dude.  For example these guys show up one day with a woman they claim to have caught in the act of adultery exclaiming that she should be stoned and Jesus decides to kneel down and draw in the dirt (I have to share a quick aside here about this).  There have been arguments about what Jesus was writing.  I remember being at an event where Shane Claiborne was talking about sharing this story with some kids and he asked the kids what they thought Jesus was writing.  The best response was, “Hey lady, if what I am about to do does not get these guys from wanting to stone you, you are going to need to run!”  Anyway, after writing in the dirt, Jesus casually states, “Hey, if any of you is without sin feel free to cast the first stone.”  Verse 51 however states that “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” He was a man on a mission, knew where he needed to get to and was focused on getting there.

This passage also mentions that Jesus was approaching a Samaritan village where he was hoping to spend the evening.  However, when the folks from this village find out that Jesus is heading to Jerusalem he is turned away.  Wow!  This certainly gives credence regarding Samaritans and Jews not being the best of friends.  When they are turned away the story starts to take twists and turns.  I have to think that Jesus had to be somewhat miffed that they would not let him stay the night.  James and John however, remove all doubt as to whether they are offended or not; “When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?’” Actually, offended is much too soft of word to describe the thoughts and feelings of James and John—they are really, really pissed off.  So Jesus is sort of put on the spot here—seems to be the life story of Jesus—constantly being put on the spot and from all sides of society.  So how will Jesus respond to James and John’s question?  Perhaps, “You know what, I am the Son of God and those sons-of-bitches actually turned me away from their town…Yes, absolutely you are right let’s call down some holy fire from heaven and destroy them!”  If I were Jesus that would have probably been my response, but his was just the opposite; Jesus turns to James and John and actually rebukes them for their comment!  The story ends with the three of them moving onto a different town for the night.  However, the story does not end there far from it!

If we look to the next chapter, which likely takes the place the day after Jesus, James and John are turned away from the Samaritan village, Jesus will exact his revenge on this Samaritan village. An expert in the law will ask Jesus “Who is my neighbor?”  And Jesus knowing that the night before that he had to walk a few extra miles before he could take a load off because of being turned away by the Samaritans will turn the tables on them and make the actions of a Samaritan the apogee of what it means to be a neighbor.  I would almost be willing to bet that there was someone from the Samaritan village that had heard about this Jesus guy and wanted to know more.  I bet he or she felt bad that his village had turned Jesus away, but was too afraid to take a stand. So taken was this person with the likes of this Jewish-Carpenter-Teacher he decides to follow him.  After hearing Jesus’ story the next day I am betting that he or she went back to the Samaritan village to share Jesus brilliant, just, restorative story that we know as the Good Samaritan!  I am also betting those Samaritans offered hospitality to the next Jew that graced their village.

⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.