Spiritual Hiccups - More Tolerable for Sodom and Gommorah

"Meek and mild" is one of the popular images of Jesus.  Certainly there is a gentleness to Jesus in many of  his dealings with people, especially people in trouble or in need.  But meek and mild doesn't adequately describe Jesus in full.  His cleansing of the Temple is one obvious example of Jesus behaving in anything but a meek and mild manner. And today's instructions to the disciples don't seem very mild either.

Jesus sends the Twelve out on a preaching, teaching, and healing mission, and he concludes his instructions with this note, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

Sodom and Gomorrah was shorthand for terrible evil and depravity. The cities were destroyed by God in the book of Genesis.  (Although many people associate this depravity with homosexual behavior, that is not necessarily the case.  That the townspeople would demand to rape sojourners who should be extended hospitality is horribly depraved without any reference to sexual orientation.)  And for Jesus to compare those who do not welcome his representatives or listen to what they say with this legendary evil is remarkable.

Now perhaps it seems a rather academic exercise, my trying to figure out what score Jesus gets on the meek-and-mild meter.  But I'm wondering about this with regard to how we American Christians receive Jesus' representatives; whether we welcome them or listen to them.  But if we are Christians, how could this concern us?  I suspect that would have been nearly the same response of those people Jesus sent his disciples out to visit, the covenant people of Israel. 

It seems to me that we Christians often place ourselves in a role very much like the Jews of Jesus' day.  We are the established religion and presume our relationship with God to be reasonably secure based on our status as Christians.  By I have observed that those who speak the message of Jesus without being careful not to step on anyone's toes are often rejected.  Anyone who boldly proclaims Jesus' words about blessings for the poor and the curse of wealth is asking for trouble.  Many will neither welcome nor listen to them.  "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

Hyperbole was and is very much a regular feature of Middle Eastern speech, and Jesus likely employs it here.  Still, I wonder if the traditional American church, so much a part of the fiber and texture of American society, culture, and economics, hasn't at times lost its soul in the bargain.  What if the not-so-meek-and-mild Jesus is talking about and to us? 

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