Scene: Scrolling through social media

Katy Emslie-Smith August 23, 2025 1 0

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Luke 12: 49-56 (NIVUK)

49 ‘I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

54 He said to the crowd: ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, “It’s going to rain,” and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, “It’s going to be hot,” and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

Look over my shoulder while I scroll through a social media site for just one minute:

a friend is selling upcycled furniture, a photo of the Edinburgh Festival two years ago, three friends express opinions about a prominent politician, sleep advice, psychological advice about ADHD, an  American TV medical show, an advert for outdoor clothing, five video shorts made by AI, a new profile photo of friend,  five appeals for aid to Gaza, how to upcycle a pallet, news about a road accident, retirement advice, cleaning kit, storm warning, five holidays to Norway.

Bombarded? Connected? Probably both. Influenced? Certainly. I am a child of my age. I am shaped by my current culture, in significant part by what the internet and now AI bring my way.

Jesus said “Learn to read your times.” He encourages us to interpret our culture, to understand our place in it and our contribution to it. He prompts us to use our common sense to sort through it all, trying to live justly and well, as we write together, globally, this next chapter in human history.

But more than that, he says listen for the crackle of the fire and watch for the flames of the greater narrative which burn across every page. He was encouraging his followers in his own times in this passage to wake up to what was happening over his coming crucifixion. To us he says “Don’t miss the message of the gospel”.  Hear in your times of God’s mercy to us, shown in the perfect love of Christ on the cross, of his compassion and enduring love, his forgiveness and gift of hope which disrupts and subverts every settled expectation of what our current times tell us life must be.

The gospel of Jesus calls us from our own culture and age into a greater loyalty to his way of living, shaped by his sacrifice and suffering. At the same time, he calls us into a deeper engagement with and understanding of our times in order to serve him better there.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves as we navigate our way through all the fears and opportunities of our current times. May we be faithful at all times to the good news of Jesus Christ and live into that message in this, our own, part of history.