Holy Monday

Isaiah 42:1-9

Hebrews 9:11-15

John 12:1-11

We all have that thing that motivates us, that thing we cannot resist. For some it is money and the ways to make it, legal and illegal. For others it is the thrill that comes from escaping a dangerous situation like skydiving. For others, it is chocolate! Each of us responds in a certain way given a certain stimulus and varies in intensity with each of us. Just as on Palm Sunday we saw a variety of events that sparked the leadership to respond, but they only capped growing fear and resentment in those who were threatened by Jesus’s ministry. The passage in John takes place prior to the triumphal entry, but sets the stage for much to come.

Isaiah and Hebrews reference covenants of God with humankind. In the Isaiah passage, the author celebrates benefits of being the people in covenant with God. The Hebrews author presents the supremacy of the covenant that came through Christ. The differences between the covenants so drastically changed religious practice that the entire economy around worship was demolished while the reward for those following the new covenant exceeded that for those following the old.

The passage in John takes us to Jesus visiting close friends in Bethany just before making his journey into Jerusalem. At dinner with Mary, Martha,  Lazarus, and at least some of the twelve apostles, Mary with passion and humility does the most meaningful thing she can think of doing. She take the very best of perfumes and spreads it over Jesus’s feet with her hair. As the author of John presents it, Judas feigns disappointment in suggesting a donation to the poor would have been a better use of the perfume while internally coveting the money for his own use. Various passages present the weakness of various apostles and here is Judas’s fault.

The message Jesus gave of his coming death, in the home of the one he raised from the dead, went unrecognized by those present. Judas’s greed and the apparent obliviousness of the others present reflect typical human nature. For Jesus to say he was going to die, while sitting at the table with one he had called from the grave, was beyond what those present were able to imagine. It is not that they were not paying attention, they could not believe Jesus could die.

The crowd who gathered to see Jesus also came to see Lazarus. People Jesus cured could be found all along the routes of his ministry, but Lazarus represented the ultimate miracle. And the ultimate threat to the religious establishment. John reveals the determination of the religious leadership to not only kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus who was proving the convincing evidence for Jews who had up to now resisted the teaching of Jesus. For those chief priests and religious leadership barely holding on to power in the midst of an occupation by a culture hostile to the Jewish faith, a competing religion threatened their hold on power more than the military. Their position and livelihood could disappear as quickly as their followers.

Even today we see people in all walks of life responding to greed and power as did those in the passages today. Even we respond to these basic urges. Our responses to those urges define us regardless of who we claim to be. Those responses label us old covenant, new covenant, or no covenant. When faced with the challenges of life, I need to stop and consider which covenant my response reflects.

September 29 - Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Amos 6:1, 4-7 Psalm 146 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31

Today’s Reflection: I confess: I can be one of the most stubborn yahoos on the planet. It is in my nature. Once I have studied and made a decision about something, anything that contradicts that viewpoint is simply wrong - I know it is because I have made my decision and my perspective is fixed. Convincing me otherwise is futile. Actually, convincing me otherwise is frustrating; I can be persuaded - which is good. As today’s scriptures demonstrate, when we become too fixed on a perspective, we often find ourselves at odds with God’s expectations. When God has to step in to correct an injustice, the consequences are not good for those who find themselves in conflict with holy judgment. The prophet Amos came at a time of dramatic inequality between the wealthy and the poor. The law was in place, but the powerful had turned from it and abused their wealth, creating situations of desperation among some parts of the population. The wealthy were so far removed from the desperation that they either did not or could not recognize the circumstances of the people. Amos reminds those with plenty that the Promised Land, which gave them their plenty, was a gift from God and they had responsibility for all within it. He does not fault them for their wealth; he faults them for their abuse of wealth. He grants no quarter: they know the law and God’s expectation and those who failed to honor it would be the first into judgment. Paul calls the faithful into contentment when we have our basic needs met. He encourages Timothy (us) to develop spiritual tools rather than bank accounts. Paul’s teaching about money in this passage leaves little to interpretation. Like Amos, he makes it clear that money and having money themselves are not bad things. Those who have wealth should share it rather than let it separate them from others. However, he knows human nature and that those who are not able to find contentment with what they have find themselves drawn into temptation and separated from God by the determination to gain more wealth through whatever means necessary. Verse 10 is often misquoted as “money is the root of all evil,” when it is the three words that precede the quote, “the love of,” that get to the heart of the matter. The parable in Luke personalizes the fixed ideas of those who get stuck in the idea that social status gives them an elevated standing with God. Even in Hades, the rich man could not grasp that he was there because of the life he lived. He was not in Hades because he was rich and neither was Lazarus in Heaven because he was poor; they were at their appointed places because of their relationship with God. Our opportunity to live as God wants us to live happens when we are alive. Those opportunities are not repeated in death. We must in life operate on faith and not wait for some mystical proof as the rich man sought for his siblings. For both Lazarus and the rich man, the results came not from what they had but what they did with what they had. A superficial reading of these and similar passages makes it easy to demonize the wealthy, but the lessons are for all of us and our stewardship with what we have. The rich provide the example in the passages, but we cannot afford to ignore the lesson because we are not rich. No passage condemns wealth, but they all condemn the abuse of it and caution about the attitude toward it. Regardless of the quantity of our means, we all have our attitudes toward it and that is why the lesson is universal.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

July 21 Ordinary Time

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Amos 8:1-12 Genesis 18:1-10a Psalm 52 Psalm 14 Colossians 1:15-28 Luke 10:38-42

Today’s Reflection: The last few weeks have brought regular earnings reports from companies following the end of the accounting quarter. Many of the statements trumpeted positive profits. For those monitoring the broader scope of the nation’s economy those profits indicate the economy’s strength. Profit is good. Unfortunately in the drive for gain, some businesspeople skirt, stretch, bend, and break the rules. Such dishonest profits are not good. There is nothing unchristian about being successful in business; however, practices driven by greed, as we see in today’s passages, not only threaten the broader economy as we have experienced over the recent years, they violate God’s commandment. The passage in Amos described the collapse of the nation’s economy due to greedy business practices that targeted poor and needy. They stole from the most vulnerable by manipulating currency and measurement systems. Amos’s vision of the basket of summer fruit reflected the end of the productive season for the trees and symbolized the end of a productive season for the Israeli economy. God’s judgment disrupted the normal natural order turning day to night, celebrations to sadness, and wealth to poverty. Amos even offered a new order of famine: the absence of God and holy instruction. This famine assured dire consequences for a nation that lost its spiritual compass. The Psalm passages reinforce the prophet’s message. Amos’s Israel lost their connection to God. Genesis, Colossians, and Luke remind us that our relationship with God is direct and personal. Abraham prepared a meal for God (Genesis); Jesus sat and taught in small groups with people in the community (Luke); Jesus became a human embodiment of God to provide a way to reconcile God and humanity. Encounters with God throughout the Bible demonstrate the personal nature of God’s relationship with his creation. Every encounter with God, addressed a need of the person(s) involved. Nothing has changed: our relationship with God remains personal. The personal nature of our relationship with God dictates that our actions outside our place of worship reflect God’s expectations of behavior. Amos gives us the example from business of ways disobedience to God’s way leads to a break from the personal relationship, but the rules apply to all aspects of our lives. In the context of a prophet foretelling the fall of the nation, living according to God’s standards seems restrictive, but when we look at the wholeness of the scripture we find just the opposite. Wealth and fame in this life last only as long as this life. Permanent riches found through God only come with maintenance of a personal relationship. Gaining such security, is anything but restrictive; it liberates. God really does look out for the needs of each of us.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

December 14 - Advent

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 12:2-6 Amos 8:4-12 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Today’s Reflection: “Imagine” by John Lennon Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace   The passage from Amos brings us close to the world in John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Lennon, though, believed it would lead to a world of peace and prosperity for all involved. Unfortunately, history shows us something different. The Hebrews, for whom Amos prophesied, thrived on greed and manipulation of the most needy. They cheated with the weights and manipulated the currency to take advantage of those who did business with them. They cursed religious rules that forbid them to sell on religious holidays and on the Sabbath.   Beyond natural disasters, God promises a famine like no other: he will remove himself from the land revealing that such a famine would be worse than hunger or thirst. The absence of the word of God in the land removes all joy and hope. Those who seek such removal from God do not understand exactly what such a removal mean. God’s law, his presence, does much more than we imagine.   Whenever doing the right thing interferes with what we want to do, we may wish we did not have religious obligations standing in the way of what we want to do. However, we likely challenge the actions of others that impact us in a negative way. The absence of God does not accomplish our desires or bring the world closer to peace. Instead, were God to remove himself, we would find just the opposite. There will be no peace and no hope for joy.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org