⁴⁹ I came to set fire to the earth, and I wish it were already on fire! ⁵⁰ I am going to be put to a hard test. And I will have to suffer a lot of pain until it is over. ⁵¹ Do you think that I came to bring peace to earth? No indeed! I came to make people choose sides. ⁵² A family of five will be divided, with two of them against the other three. ⁵³ Fathers and sons will turn against one another, and mothers and daughters will do the same. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law will also turn against each other.

As soon as you see a cloud coming up in the west, you say, “It’s going to rain,” and it does. ⁵⁵ When the south wind blows, you say, “It’s going to get hot,” and it does. ⁵⁶ Are you trying to fool someone? You can predict the weather by looking at the earth and sky, but you don’t really know what’s going on right now.

Jesus warns against those who think they know everything about the weather – but forget that they know nothing about the rest of life’s conditions!  As many have found out to recent cost, it’s no good knowing it’s going to rain, and not knowing the condition of the drains.

The moral of the story?  Don’t take pride in what you do know, try to take more notice of the things you usually overlook.  Don’t shout loudly about your pet subject, and fail to listen to what others have to say about things that matter to them.  Don’t think you know everything – there is much we all have to learn.

This applies in all situations in life, and in faith.  Never assume we know it all, and have nothing to learn.  There is so much others have to share and teach, if only we listen.  I think it is also a warning to not get so caught up in church life that we fail to see what is happening around us in our community.

We can only truly live out our faith if it is rooted in the real lives of what is going on around us.

Forgive me Lord,
when I think I know everything.
Help me to listen,
to hear,
to learn
and to respond