BLESSED ARE THE POOR

The Greek word for poor is "ptochos--" people who are destitute, people who are so poor that begging and stealing become options for them to survive. They are drowning in misery.

War, slavery, and indebtedness leave people widows and orphans and strangers. War, slavery, and indebtedness leave people destitute, displaced, and dispossessed.

The Hebrew Bible, over and over and over, challenged the Ancient Israelites and Judahites to care for widows, orphans, and strangers. War, slavery, and indebtedness were all part of the structures and systems of evil that made the rich richer and the poor miserable.

During the time of Jesus, the 1% owned and controlled the land and practically everything else. Half of the population was slowly starving to death. Life expectancy was 28 years.

The poor that Matthew talks about are people who have to beg God in prayer to give them today the food they need because that's how they get to tomorrow.

There are people who love to pray this prayer while they have cupboards--or even storehouses--of food enough for a week, a month, a year, or longer.

These people are not poor. They should stop praying the prayer.



*art, "The Sermon on the Mount," JESUS MAFA (from the vanderbilt diviniyt library digital archives).

GO FISH!

I am pretty sure that many among us used to sing a song that went, "I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me." I haven't heard this song sung in years. Probably because we have stopped fishing for people. Why is that? We have stopped FOLLOWING JESUS.

What have we done instead? We praise Jesus. We worship Jesus. We proclaim, "Christ above all!" We do everything in our power to make other people look like us; pray like us; act like us. We have stopped doing what Jesus actually told us to do in order to fish for people. FOLLOW HIM!

Why is that? Because following Jesus is hard. It is dangerous. It means loving our neighbor, including our enemies. It means taking up the cross. It means going against empire. It means being red-tagged, vilified, and demonized. It means being crucified. It means offering one's life as a ransom for many.

My friends, Jesus is, right now, waiting for you and me to follow him to Galilee. By the sea. To go fish for people.

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*image, "St. Peter and St. Andrerw," by Peter Koenig (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives)

THE LAMB OF GOD

Last Sunday's lection on the baptism of Jesus reminded us that, in Scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth--whether it is God descending on Sinai, journeying with the Israelites via the tabernacle, taking residence at the temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel."

This Sunday's Johannine lection resonates with the same theme: God finding ways to live among God's people here on earth. The number of sermons and commentaries on "The Lamb of God" is voluminous. But contemporary Hebrew Bible scholarship-- especially on the Priestly Tradition in the Pentateuch--can help us better understand the meaning of "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Whether it is about Sinai, the tabernacle, the temple, and eventually ancient Israel and Judah, the blood that is offered as purification (or sin) offerings acts as ritual detergent. "Sins" make God's dwelling place dirty. The offerings and its related rituals (washing hands, bathing, etc.) make sure that God has a place God can call home among us.

In other words, my friends, the blood of the lamb resets God's dwelling place to its "original factory settings" so that God can dwell among us. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason the whole world is cleansed. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason God is not in heaven anymore.

Immanuel.

*image, "The Lamb of God" at the Basilica dei Santi Cosma e Damiano (Rome, Italy), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED...

 

Sunday's lection from Matthew talks about the baptism of Jesus by John. Mark and Luke have parallel versions. Only Mark reports that the heavens were torn or ripped apart when the Spirit descended upon Jesus. Matthew and Luke say the heavens were opened.

There are so many people who are fixated on going up to heaven. There are those who do most of what they do in order to secure themselves a place up in heaven. There are also those who believe that investing their 70 to 80 earth years on "heavenly" endeavors--putting numerous bills in the offertory, donating land, and building air-conditioned churches--will get them a reward in the after-life that spans eternity.

Now, there are those who read their Bibles, pray everyday, and grow, grow, grow in the realization that many times in scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth whether it is God descending on Sinai, journeying with the Israelites via the tabernacle, taking residence at the temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel." Of course, our lection says that the Spirit descended, came down, like a dove. I would like to believe that the Spirit tore or ripped the heavens apart because the Spirit could not wait to leave heaven for earth.

And, do not forget this, ever: the Spirit that came down has not gone back up to heaven. And Jesus likewise. He is still down here on earth, particularly in Galilee where we do not want to go. He is waiting for us to join him as he works among the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the dehumanized, and the silenced.

*art, "John baptizes Jesus," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (Cameroon), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.