And Jesus sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. Luke 9:52-56

The Samaritans were an easy lot to hate, especially if you belonged to the first century Jewish community. The disdain was, of course, mutual. Historians might tell us many deep-rooted reasons for this animosity. The truth of the matter is that we don’t need much to hate. Anything simple and even foolish can trigger off this passion within us to harm and desire evil for our neighbor. We able to conjure up hate because some people face a different direction than us when they pray. We think that it is justifiable to kill someone because they dress differently than us or organize their economy in a different manner. Unfortunately, I don’t have to dwell on this too long. We understand it all too well. As human beings, we have a propensity for hatred. In a way, we need it. It unites us. When we recognize this weakness in us, we can see why Jesus was quite radical and relevant for all ages. He proposed something different. He proposed to unite us through Love and He showed us how to do it. There was no room in His ministry for hatred.

He wanted to enter a Samaritan village because He had a message of healing and grace to share there. The villagers rejected Him instead because He was going the “wrong” direction. Jesus accepted this rejection whereas His disciples wanted revenge.

A young man who once volunteered with the homeless youth said that he disliked the work. He found them to be ungrateful and disrespectful. He is not wrong but he is not absolutely right. The children and teens are just like any other teens. Being homeless in the streets doesn’t make them into angels but they are not demons either. They are just humans. This young man gave up trying to help them. He is not the only one. There are countless people including missionaries who left this ministry or something similar to it and said that they would never return to it. Some are even harsher in their criticism. They think the homeless are a bunch of good for nothings.

It is easy to hate the people that you are trying to help and serve especially when they don’t respond positively to all your good intentions. I understand perfectly. Some days I feel mad and feel like saying something to these teens and children who appear to just waste their lives away sniffing paint thinner. Sometimes I feel a little offended that they would prefer drugs instead of spending time with us. I get upset. I feel like yelling at them. All these are sentiments are human. I am sure that Jesus felt these sentiments too. It is good to be in touch with such sentiments and recognize them as what they are. They are just mere sentiments that inform us that we don’t like what is before us. The fact is that we shouldn’t like seeing homeless children and teens losing their lives to drugs and crime. It should make us mad and angry to see these things. The disciples were allowed to feel angry that the Samaritans rejected a message of peace and love.
However, the disciples wanted to do something different. They wanted to use the power given to them for healing and use it to destroy the Samaritans. This is something entirely different. It is almost demonic; using something good to commit evil.

The disciples were feeling powerful. Jesus had sent the twelve to go out and preach and heal. They had a taste of the power that Jesus possessed. It was something Jesus used with fear and trembling. Now, the disciples were allowed to participate in it. Their self-confidence was elevated but their wisdom was still lacking. They did not understand the nature of their power. Hatred still ruled their hearts. All the preaching and healing that they performed did not transform their hearts. They did not understand the message that they preached. Unfortunately, we don’t have to look far to find preachers and believers with a similar attitude. They believe in the powers of Jesus, or God. They believe all the benefits that come from the gospel message. Nevertheless, they are not partakers of the ministry of Jesus. In order to participate in that which Jesus is doing through the Holy Spirit, Love has to reign in our hearts. Power without Love is tyrannical and violent. We don’t need any examples or illustrations for these kinds of manifestations of power. They permeate this world. The disciples wanted to take the power given to them through grace and mercy and turn it into something dark and sinister. Jesus rebuked them.

Apparently, nothing is said of the content of this exchange between Jesus and his disciples. We can imagine that the ignorance and evil intent of the disciples must have added to the pain and suffering of Jesus.

When Jesus calls us to serve Him among those who are the least in our society, we are empowered to do this task. God never calls us to do something without first empowering us. However, it doesn’t mean that we will be recognized for it or be immune to rejection. These are all part and parcel of the calling to be a Christian. Most importantly, we should never use this power or influence to promote ourselves or our prejudices. The power does not belong to us. It belongs to the One who would rather die a criminal’s death than strike out in defense for His own life.

We waited in our usual spot. No longer focusing on the rejection but the reason why we are here. We are here to give the Love that we received. We are not here to be accepted or even loved. It goes without saying that we like to be appreciated and loved but these children and teens are not in the spiritual place to reciprocate yet. We just wait patiently, and, perhaps with a renewed mind. Then, Kelly shows up. We haven’t seen her for months. She is one of the most affectionate teens in the street. She came to us and gave us a hug and a kiss. She told us that she had been looking for us for weeks and our paths always crossed. She wanted to try to do something that would help her be more independent and maybe even leave the streets. However, she told us that she lacked the courage to do it alone. She wanted us to do it with her. She sat and talked with us for a long time and then another young boy, Jonathan, came up to us. He saw us and put away his paint thinner so that he could spend time with us. Kelly, before she left, kissed our hands and asked us to wait for her in the same place tomorrow. She wanted to spend more time with us. Jonathan asked us if we could bring different games because he wanted to do more activities with us. It is strange when we took our focus off the rejection and focused on Love, things changed. We were able to see that rejection is only temporary but Love always triumphs.