THE SOWER

When Jesus spoke about kings and fathers and masters and landlords in his parables he was not alluding to God. He was speaking about kings and fathers and masters and landlords. (How the early church and the gospel writers appropriated these parables as allegories for their concrete life setting decades later is topic for another post.)

Sunday's lection is about a sower. Yes, a farmer. Then, like now, farmers were among the poorest of the poor. Displaced. Dispossessed. Disenfranchised. During Jesus's time, almost 90% had no land to call their own. Life was so hard half of the population was slowly starving to death. Life was so hard the average life expectancy was 28!

The parable is not about a farmer who did not know how to sow. The parable is about farmers who had no access to agricultural land; farmers who had to sow where it would take a miracle for the seed to actually grow. Along the path, among rocks, among thorns. And the seed that fall on good soil? The good soil owned by the rich, the powerful, and the privileged? They all grow, bringing a yield of a hundred, sixty, thirty fold. A bountiful harvest indeed. For the rich, the powerful, and the privileged.

Do not forget this. Ever. Parables are subversive speech. Parables got Jesus executed.

*art, "The Parable of the Sower," JESUS MAFA 1973 (Cameroon), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

THE GIFT OF REST

The reality of burn out, of running out of steam has been described as akin to battle fatigue, the feeling of being drained, the feeling of being spent. Thus arose the need for an integrating and rejuvenating spirit, the same breath of life coming, blowing as a second--or third--wind. Those in the struggle need support systems and mechanisms for re-charging and for re-animating. Those in the struggle need to be re-assured that they are not alone. They have to be able to draw strength from the collective reality that--despite being separated by time and space--they have sisters and brothers who have walked, are walking and will walk the same hard road they have chosen to follow.

Few get the opportunity to go on sabbaticals and retreats. Jesus is reported to have gone on retreats when he prayed alone. The transfiguration has been interpreted as Jesus' way of seeking his "second wind" in light of what lay before him at Jerusalem.

How does Jesus himself get the energy to face death? He rests.

How about the majority of people who have to face the nitty-gritty details of struggling through today? How about those who will never, ever, get the luxury of a sabbatical leave or even a weekend free? How about the people who have to confront the violence of poverty as a daily experience of life? Where do they get their first, or second, or third wind? By resting.

The religious leaders in Jesus' time accused him of being a "drunkard and a glutton," no doubt because he loved to host fellowship meals in the homes he stayed in. He loved attending weddings and other community gatherings. Most of his parables centered on these gatherings. It is within the struggling communities' celebrations, not outside, that we receive this "rush" of life. Rest.

Tired and weary, laborers on strike sit down together to have a round of drinks. It is here where people share their frustrations, their dreams, their hopes--amidst the bubbles of beer and the cigarette smoke--that the spirit blows. Soon they are back in the picketlines. Empowered by the brew? No. By rest.

High school students attending a murdered activist's funeral march stop for a little rest. A few are ready to quit because of the heat. Some are ready to quit because of the long 20-kilometer march. A lot more are ready to quit because of the presence of truncheon-wielding police. They share a loaf of bread. It is not much but everyone gets to have a bite. And they continue. Strengthened by the dough? No. By rest.

*image, "My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light," photograph from Ecuador (2007), from the vanderbilt divinity library archives.

A CUP OF WATER

What do I think about Sunday's lection from Matthew? As aphorisms (one-liners) from Jesus, I believe these reflect his particular bias for those whose only hope is God. The stranger who needs our welcome, especially the little ones--orphaned children who were considered nobodies. The most vulnerable, for whom the Kingdom of Heaven is for.  

As a Jesus tradition orally transmitted, these aphorisms serve as a daily reminder to care for others. And caring for others does not mean big acts of generosity, but little acts of compassion--a cup of water, a piece of barley loaf. Love is always in the details. 

As a part of Matthew, specifically of chapter 10, it acts as another chord in the hymn of Immanuel that permeates the whole gospel. What does God-with-us really mean? 

We often forget that the best way to experience God's presence in our lives is to be God's presence in someone else's life. Yes, an offering: a cup of water or a piece of barley loaf.

*photo from UNICEF

#ChooseJustice

#GodWithUs

#JusticeForMyanmar

#FreePalestine

#Immanuel

NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD

What does this sword that Jesus brings do? It disrupts, it divides, it disturbs...the Peace. 

The peace founded on war. The peace defined, justified, legislated and imposed by the powerful, propertied, and privileged. The peace built on the blood and bodies of the displaced, dispossessed, disenfranchised, and disemboweled.

The peace where the father was head of the family and everyone was his property. The peace where the rich got richer and declared heaven-blessed, while the poor got worse and judged accursed and destined for hell! 

Historians tell us that Christians were never called peacemakers in the earliest days of the Jesus movement. 

They disrupted. They divided. They were disturbers of the Peace of Rome. Like Jesus. 

Today, the powerful, propertied, and privileged keepers of the Peace call them criminals, rioters, dissenters, communists, and, yes, terrorists! They remain disturbers of the Peace. Like Jesus. 

*image, "The Time Jesus Started a Riot," copyright, Brendan Powell Smith, from Reboot (WordPress). 

Sodom and Gomorrah

Given the breadth and depth of the hurt, discrimination, and senseless deaths brought about by the homophobic reading of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is critical to go back to what Jesus said about the matter. And what other Biblical passages say. 

Sunday's lection has Jesus telling the disciples, "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." 

The prophetic tradition describe what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah as God's judgment against the people's pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease while neglecting the poor, the needy, and strangers. 

One word: inhospitality. Over and over in the Bible, God calls God's people to always care for and to welcome widows, orphans, and strangers. Sodom and Gomorrah failed to do these. Many in Jesus's time failed as well.

Are we guilty of the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

*art, "Sarah and Abraham offer hospitality to the Visitors," mosaic, Ravenna, Italy (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives). 

THE GIFT OF TOUCH

Like many people I know, I was nurtured in a "touchy-feely" culture. Many of our pains-- physical or otherwise--were soothed and massaged away by the healing touch of our loved ones. Holding, hugging, and kissing were all integral parts of our growing up years. 

Many times, Vick's Vapor Rub was part of the ritual. "Haplos ng pagmamahal!" Touching helped in making us feel safe, loved, and not alone. We learned the science behind all these "touching moments" much later. 

Many of the healing narratives in the Gospels involve touching. Sunday's lection has two sections: the first part has a woman suffering for twelve years who touches Jesus's cloak; in the second part, Jesus touches a twelve-year old girl's hand and tells her to rise up.

Many of the quarantine protocols we've had to live with for three years were anti-poor because these assumed that everyone had a home to work from, that everyone had work, and that everyone had online access. 

Physical distancing has made so many socially distant. Alone. Depressed. Afraid. Ill. Desperate to touch someone or be touched. And experience healing. 

Friends, please let us go and help someone heal. Today. 

*art, "Woman with the Flow of Blood," Frank Wesley (1923-2002) available at vanderbilt divinity library archives.

**read "How to Hug During a Pandemic" (The New York Times) 

IMMANUEL

William Carrey's 87-page pamphlet, "An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen," was an exposition of Matthew 28: 19-20. Published in 1792, it is considered as the first published work on the theology of missions. Centuries later, interpreters of the passage, which is Sunday's lection, still resonate with Carrey's exposition. Many missions dedicated to convert the "heathen" continue to be grounded on Carrey's exposition of "The Great Commission."

I have always argued that Immanuel, "God-with-Us," serves as the thread that binds the 28 chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel, in 1.23, proclaims that Mary's son will be called Immanuel, meaning "God-with-Us" (echoing Isaiah 7.14). At the end of the Gospel, in 28. 20, Jesus proclaims, "I am with you always..." God-with-Us to the end of the age! The Gospel has one promise. We will never, ever, be alone.

One can ask, "What does it mean to experience Immanuel, to feel God's presence in our lives?" And, more often than not, the answer is, "Be God's presence in someone else's life!" Matthew's Jesus was.

Friends, our great commission is to do likewise. Do what Jesus did. Feed the hungry. Visit the prisoners. Welcome the stranger. Befriend the lonely. Let people know for sure that they are not alone, and then they will feel God's presence.

*art, "The Mission to the World," (JESUS MAFA, 1973, Cameroon), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.