As we continue with the journey of Jesus in the Lukan Gospel, scripture scholar Luke Timothy Johnson declares that Luke portrays Jesus in a prophetic way, speaking as He journeys with different audiences, which we learned last weekend were comprised of (1) the crowds, (2) the disciples, and (3) those who are against the Lord.

To the crowds He issued warnings and calls to conversion, to His disciples He gave positive instructions, a sort of “how to” on discipleship; and, to the ones who resisted His calls He gave parables of rejection. His was a journey of teaching Truth to all. In the end, whether we are the wandering crowds, the faithful disciples or the resisting “enemies,” the point of the journey and His prophetic teachings is conversion to a faith that will last forever.

However, conversion is not just of the mind. Rather, conversion into discipleship means that we have to transfer the “knowledge” we learn into lived experiences. We must make our faith applicable in the world in which we live by being practitioners of faith experiences; this is where the “rubber meets the road” so to speak.

The gospels call us to live what we claim to believe. What does today’s Gospel mean when the Lord says: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Is it speaking to the end times and the fire that will purify the earth, or is it speaking to the Holy Spirit coming upon the earth and transforming us into the men and women God created us to be?

The point of this Gospel is to compel us to both learn and live the Truths of Christ. To consider His journey, from Galilee to Jerusalem, for our Eternal benefit so that we prepare for the Life that is to come by living out our faith as best we can with the gifts we have received today.

Question to consider: How will I prioritize the daily activities of my life—all the things I do each day— not to collect more items or build bigger storage units for them, but rather to take those “items” and share them with those in need, making my community and my life a better existence?

The “daily activities of life” are numerous and different from life-to-life, but in the end it is less the “item” and more the doing, for even the smallest kind act or gesture of help is equal in the eyes of the Lord to the “greatest” works. What really matters is the “doing.”