A psalm of praise to begin our time together, Father! All praise to You!
The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield;
My heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him. Psalm 28:7 AMP
Luke 17:22-37 (<<click here to read the passage)
Many may think it strange but although I was a child of the 60s and 70s, I was an odd duck when it came to music. I don’t remember my dad saying I couldn’t listen to popular music of the day but in our home, beyond Gospel music, I remember listening to The Carpenters, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, The Lawrence Welk Show, lots of easy listening music, with a bit of classical music thrown in for good measure. Some of my fondest memories are of me and dad laying down in front of our big console stereo and starting a stack of albums with the volume turned up so that’s all we could hear!
Anyway, as I read this passage a song came to mind – and from an unusual source to boot! As I thought of rain and fire found in the verses, my mind flipped to a song in which those words factored in prominently. When I typed them into Google of course up popped James Taylor’s well-known hit, Fire and Rain. I was 7 years old when it was released but I remember several of my high school friends, about a decade later, being pretty big James Taylor fans.
So, once again, you’re probably thinking, “How in the world does this connect to what Jesus is saying in this passage?” Well, let me tell you!
In Jesus’ discourse, he speaks of the flood in Noah’s day (brought on by rain) and the destruction of Sodom (brought on by the rain of fire and burning sulfur). In both instances, calamity was brought upon mankind… judgment was brought upon mankind. When these events took place, life was going on as it seemingly always had.
…the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage… v27 AMP
People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins] v28 AMP
For as verse 27 concludes, [they were indifferent to God]
That is a perpetual mentality for mankind. Many are indifferent to God throughout much of their lives.
Taylor’s inspiration for writing Fire and Rain fits in well here, too. Wikipedia says,
The first part of the song was about Taylor’s friend Suzanne, who died while he was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. Friends at home, concerned that it might distract Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him and he found out six months later.
The second part details Taylor’s struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression.
The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him to where he was at the time.
Life. Death. Struggles. Celebration. Perspective. We all experience these things – variations on a theme, for sure.
Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. v30 NLT
But in verse 33 Jesus brings everything into focus.
Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God] AMP
We for sure experience those variations on a theme, but most importantly amongst all the other things in life, we must focus on the most important thing – Christ and our relationship with Him. In the end, that is all that will really matter.
Oct 13th, 2020, Tues, 7:24 pm
