Category Archives: Uncategorized

F is for frankincense (and myrhh), from the story of the Magi who visited Jesus, and presented him with gifts. From a master gardener’s article: at

“Frankincense is a gummy resin from the non- descript Boswellia Thurigera. The deciduous tree is a low twisted, thorny shrub without a central branch. Today, almost all frankincense comes from Somalia, where the trees grow along the coastline, without soil, growing out of rocks. The young trees give the best gum while the older trees yields are less desirable. To harvest frankincense, a deep cut is made into the bark and a 5-inch strip is peeled off. A milk-like juice exudes and is hardened by exposure to air. In 3 months the resin hardens into “yellowish tears” which are then scraped off and harvested.

Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned; it was used in worship where it was used as a pleasant offering to God. Medicinally it is seldom used now, though formerly it was much sought after. It was thought to be an antidote to hemlock!

Myrrh is also a gummy resin. This pale yellow resin, which dries to brown even black, is from the Commiphora shrub. The Commiphora shrub is a large shrub or tree found in East Africa, Yemen and the Red Sea countries. The shrubs yielding the resin do not grow more than 9 feet in height. The shrubs are sturdy with knotted branches that stand out at right angles. There are ducts in the bark, which fill with a granular secretion that drips when the bark is wounded or has natural fissures. The myrrh drips from the gray bark, forming irregularly shaped grains of resin. Dried myrrh is hard and brittle with a bitter taste.

Myrrh was one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil and also of incense. It served as a fumigant in the temple and was a burial spice. Myrrh was valued as a perfume as well as for its medicinal properties. It served as local anesthetic and was given to both mother and child for postnatal care, perhaps one reason the Wise Men brought it to Jesus.”

http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/2005/frankincense.htm

Frankincense resin hardens into “tears”. Myrhh was a burial spice, and taken to relieve pain. The symbolism is hard to ignore. Even at the beginning there is the scent of death in Jesus’ story. Whatever else we believe about Jesus, he shared with us the condition of being mortal. We are born to this life in which there is pain, and death.

What would it have been like for Mary and Joseph to receive visitors from the East, who bore such extravagant, and disturbing gifts? As a parent, I still check on my kids every night, before I go to sleep, to make sure they are still breathing. We want to protect our children, and save them from harsh realities.

The infant mortality rate then was much greater than in our time. How many children survived their first few years? (The story of the visit of the Magi is intertwined with the story of the “slaughter of the innocents”- that describes Herod, King of the Jews ordering the death of all male children under the age of two.)

As I get older, and experience loss and grief, and work with families who have buried loved ones, thoughts of death are more a part of this season. I think of those who face their first Christmas, or their twentieth, without their loved one. I think of the people I have shared Christmas with, who have died. I also think of changes to life, and relationships that happen over the years. I tell myself these losses underline the need to acknowledge, and cherish what I have in life. I believe those who have died are safe with God. It does help to think of that. But even so, grief is painful, and loss and death are hard to accept. We might on occasion enjoy the exotic odours of all that frankincense and myrhh. There are also times when it just stinks.

As part of your Advent preparations for Christmas, give yourself time, and space, and permission to grieve. Light your candle, and remember, and give thanks for people, and places, and times in life that you have loved.

The Advent Alphabet is a ministry offering from Rev. Darrow Woods, at Trinity United Church in Oakville, Ontario. Each day in Advent, a different letter of the English Alphabet is a jumping off place for a reflection.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

That’s from Isaiah 9:6. Many recognize it as part of Handel’s Messiah. It may be that Handel has done as much as any preacher or teacher to reinforce the connection between these words from the 8^th century B.C.E. and the birth of Jesus. To be fair, Handel followed the lead of the early scholars of the church, who scoured the Hebrew Scriptures (what we tend to call the Old Testament) in search of references which seemed to look forward in hope to a Jewish Messiah.

The poetry in the Isaiah passage is beautiful, and it is easy to see why it came to be used in reference to Jesus. After the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in the year 70, relations between the Jewish Christians and the Jewish leadership were more than strained. Leaders of synagogues began to expel the followers of Jesus, and declare some of their teachings to be heretical. In response, and in defense of their faith in Jesus, the early Christians looked to the Jewish Scriptures to fortify their claim that Jesus was the long-expected Messiah.

Scholars ask hard questions about whether or not all the passages that were caught in the net of this fishing expedition should be applied to Jesus. When history is read backwards, and assumptions are made about the meaning of a text, the original meaning, in the original context is simply ignored, or set aside as unimportant.

The words from Isaiah 9:6 were most likely, in their original setting, meant to refer to the hope of Israel for an actual king, a military/political figure who would take the throne, and run the country: “the government shall be upon His shoulder”. In context, this passage was probably aimed at King Hezekiah. Isaiah the Prophet was calling upon the new king to remember his sacred responsibilities to God, and to God’s people, to govern faithfully, and fairly, with righteousness and justice.

That’s mostly what prophets in the Old Testament were about. We have this mistaken idea that prophets were like oracles or seers, or wizards, who somehow saw the future. Prophets in Israel’s history tended to be more like a “loyal opposition” in the house of commons. Their role, ideally, was to support the legitimate government, and at the same time remind them of their commitment to be faithful. The prophets also admonished the people of Israel when it seemed that they were losing their way.

For the most part, the closest the “prophets” came to predicting the future would be to say “If you carry on this way, there will be trouble to come” or “if you can mend your ways and return to God, things will get better”. Which I guess is a bit like what Jesus came to tell us.

These Letters from the Advent Alphabet are a ministry offering by Rev. Darrow Woods of Trinity United in Oakville, Ontario.

D is for December. Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25^th? It is not as if we can check Jesus’ birth certificate! There are a few (mostly negative) references to the early Christians to be found in histories written within a century of the earthly life of Jesus, but outside of the New Testament, there are no documents that tell us anything about him.

The contents of the New Testament, as we have it today, were collected about 300 years after Jesus’ earthly life. Scholars think the earliest parts of the New Testament were written at least 40-50 years after the first Easter. The Gospel stories do not indicate the date or the season of Jesus’ birth. All of which is a long way of saying we don’t have much to go on, to determine the actual birthdate of Jesus.

What about the census? You may remember that Luke’s Gospel says, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.” (Luke 2:1-3)

The Roman Empire had a well-developed bureaucracy, which left detailed documents historians find incredibly helpful. There is no record of the census that Luke mentions. (Scholars question whether the Romans ever had a census that required people to travel to their places of origin.)

I would highly recommend an article found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas for a detailed summary of the history of the celebration of Jesus’ birthday on December 25. It offers a depth and breadth of discussion on the topic I can’t duplicate here.

Another site I recommend is:  http://www.interfaith-calendar.org/2016.htm

This link will take you to an interfaith calendar, which lists many of the diverse religious and cultural celebrations that happen this time of year. What strikes me is how many of them are about light. It seems like people all over the world have need of a hopeful celebration in the season of the Winter Solstice.

The December 25 date for Jesus’ birthday is not historically supported, and not even biblically suggested. Does that in any real way diminish our celebrations?

God is at work in the world every moment of every day, helping give birth to love and hope and new possibility. Every day that we open ourselves up to the presence of God can be for us a holy day.

I continue to encourage you to take two minutes each day for silent prayer, and open yourself to the living presence of God. If it helps you to settle in, light a candle, and think of Jesus as the light of the world.

The Advent Alphabet is a ministry offering from Rev. Darrow Woods, minister at Trinity United Church in Oakville, Ontario.

C is for carols. Do you have favourite carols? As I edited this “Letter”, my children were at the piano, practicing their duet of “Angels We Have Heard on High”. This is one of my top five favourite carols. As they play the instrumental part, I can hear the words in my head:

Angels we have heard on high

sweetly singing o’er the plains,

and the mountains in reply,

echoing their joyous strains.

 

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

When we get to M is for Magi I will write about how “We Three Kings” perpetuates the myth that baby Jesus had royal visitors. I think a fair amount of what people think they know about the birth of Jesus is drawn from carols, and pageants (and the Peanuts Christmas special). Is there anything wrong with that? Maybe not. As long as we pay attention to the way that additions are made to the story (stories) we find in the gospels (more about the different stories in another letter).

Angels “sweetly singing o’er the plains” is a wonderful image, but it came from a writer’s poetic imagination, and not the Bible. In the second chapter of Luke you will find angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) The text does not say the angels were singing. It also does not tell us that they were speaking Latin. (Gloria, in excelsis Deo!)

 Does the Biblical story suffer because of all the additions, and filling in of the scenes that have happened over the centuries? (Innkeeper and his wife, cattle, singing angels, and a drummer boy come to mind.) I would love to strip away the extra brush strokes of all the artists who were eager to make the painting more beautiful, and just look at the original sketches.

It can do us good to just read the stories as we find them in Matthew and Luke. The challenge may be to read what is there, and not what we expect to be there.

But here is something else about the stories about Jesus’ birth. Where did they come from? We don’t have Mary’s diary, or Joseph’s memoirs- we have Gospel accounts written at least a generation after the events. Did the Gospel writers take oral history they had gathered, and then exercise artistic license in how they shaped the story, and what elements and characters they included?

The Gospel writers faced the challenge that any of us face when we have had a profound experience, or been witness to something amazing. How do we use words to convey the meaning and the power, and mystery of a direct encounter with God?

Take some extra time today. After your silent prayer, read the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Follow this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%202%20;&version=31;

The Advent Alphabet is a ministry offering from Rev. Darrow Woods, minister at Trinity United Church in Oakville, Ontario. 

B is for Bethlehem. There are, I think, at least 2 Bethlehems. The one we know best is a fairly romanticized place, the setting for pageants and Christmas specials. The other is a place where Israelis and Palestinians live as uneasy neighbours, under the watchful gaze of religious tourists and other visitors from around the world. Here is a prayer written by the Very Reverend David Giuliano, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada.

Bethlehem Prayer

O Mystery as grand as the universe

O Mighty Force of all creation,

O Power beyond all our power,

You have come to us as an infant.

Vulnerable, fragile, beautiful.

You have come to us

in the midst of poverty,

powerlessness and longing.

 

Come again, O Promiser of Peace.

Come again, to the city of your birth

mired in fear, oppression and injustice.

Come again, where bullet holes

still pock the walls of Sanctuary.

Come again, where Children dream

of homes they have never seen.

Come again, where a single key

or the number 194 cry out again

of forced journey to Bethlehem.

 

Be born again in the camps.

Be born again in stables and homes.

Be born again in many cities and languages.

Be born again among nations.

Be born again in places of injustice.

Be born again a promise of hope,

a sign of love and joy to the world.

Be born again in our hearts,

that we too might be called

Makers of peace

and Children of God. Amen

Notes:

The “single key” refers to the many Palestinians in Bethlehem who still have keys to homes from which they fled in 1948.

The number 194 appears in many places in Bethlehem, and refers to United Nations Resolution #194 granting Palestinian refugees the “right of return” to their home villages.

The Church of the Nativity is still pocked by Israeli bullets that ended a 42-day siege in 2002 after Palestinian soldiers had taken refuge there.

A is for Advent. Advent is an old word. Not so old that you will find it anywhere in the Bible- but that is true of a surprising number of words and ideas that have become part of our Christian tradition.

Our English word Advent is derived from the latin word “Adventus”, which means coming, or arrival- so this is the season in which we await the arrival of Jesus. There is a connection between this word and the word “Adventure”, which is often defined as an enterprise that involves danger and risk. Can we think of this time of waiting for Christmas as an adventure?

How can it be an adventure without some element of danger?

The earliest known manuscripts of the “books” that make up the New Testament were written in Greek- which was the common language of much of the Roman Empire. When the Greek manuscripts were translated into Latin, “Adventus” was the word chosen to translate the Greek word “Parousia”. Parousia is a more nuanced word than arrival or coming. It was used to talk about official visits of royalty.

Parousia is the word the early Christian writers used when they were talking not about the birth of Jesus, but about the return of the Risen Christ, an event often called the Second Coming, or the Second Advent. From earliest times, the Christian tradition has included the expectation of Christ’s return, in an event that would mark the end of an age, and possibly the end of the world as we know it. On the Sunday before Advent began, many congregations celebrated “Reign of Christ”, or “Christ the King” Sunday, and listened to a reading from Matthew’s Gospel that described “the day of the Lord”:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-32)

As 21^st Century followers of Jesus, what do we make of the expectation of a Second Coming? If we do not take it literally- what other meaning does it have for us?

Personally, I take the stories about “the end of the age” as a reminder that we are not ultimately in charge of life on earth, or even of our own lives. I find the idea a cataclysmic age-ending event on a global scale hard to accept, but have come to recognize that we each face our own mortality, and the end of particular phases or stages of our lives, all the time.

What changes are you facing? What losses have you already endured? Christmas is often a time when we are more deeply aware of the absence of people, and the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams.

In the midst of these smaller scale “end of the age” events, do you have the sense that God is with you? In yesterday’s “letter” I suggested taking two minutes each day this week for silent prayer. If you allow yourself to silently wait on God, you may get a glimpse or a feeling of something new that God has for you- something that is waiting to be born.

The Advent Alphabet is a ministry offering from Rev. Darrow Woods, minister at Trinity United Church in Oakville, Ontario.

 

 

 

The information website for Canadian immigration services crashed Tuesday night, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of inquiries received while the results of the American presidential election rolled in.

Facebook friends from the U.S. have asked if they can pitch a tent in my backyard. Some of them may not be kidding. I wonder what our neighbours would think.

We like our neighbours. They have their own way of doing things, and we do not share all their interests or preoccupations. We make friendly conversation, without being close friends. We care about each other, and lend a hand, or lawn furniture, as needed. (Even when they have a loud party!)

We don’t talk politics, and have never posted lawn signs at election time, but I suspect we would not support the same candidates or policies.

My neighbour and I just contracted to rebuild the fence between our properties. Neither of us really wanted to spend the money, but sometimes you have to fix what is broken. The posts were rotted and the fence was falling over. It did not feel right to just tear it out. It was there before either of us moved in. The guy we hired put on the finishing touches as the world was digesting the election news.

When I woke on Wednesday morning the sun was shining, but there was a fall chill in the air. We had a fresh dump of leaves on our lawn. The cold wind knocks them loose. We are blessed to have stately oak trees and noble red maples on our street. Our front yard is graced by a young white birch with brilliant yellow foliage. This time of year I could be raking every day.

Many leaves on my lawn come from other people’s trees. The wind takes them, and they land where they land. The new fence, even though it’s a little higher than the old one, won’t change that.

The election results are like a cold wind to many people, and things they don’t want are landing on them. That was going to be true for a lot of folks, no matter which way the electoral breezes blew.

My hope and prayer is that despite the November chill, my American neighbours will make the efforts needed to tear out what needs to be torn out, mend what needs to be mended, and work together to clean it all up.

 

This is a version of the opening devotion for a meeting of the Trinity United Church Council, held on Wednesday, June 22:

Tuesday, June 21 was National Aboriginal Day, first proclaimed in 1996 by then-Governor General Roméo LeBlanc, to recognize and celebrate the heritage, diverse cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. There is conversation about it becoming a statutory holiday.

Last year, the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission completed its work, and issued its final report. In the introduction to summary of recommendations, the first paragraph says:

“For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada.”

As public policy, it was both shameful, and a failure, and we all live, consciously or not, with the social, spiritual, political and moral consequences. The TRC completed its work with 94 calls to action, many of which are meant to educate, raise awareness, and to promote right relations.

The United Church of Canada has issued formal apologies for its role in the darker chapters of our shared history, and is committed to being in good relations, and to seeking justice together on the issues impacting Indigenous Peoples in Canada today.

One small but important symbolic action many governments, school boards, and church bodies have taken is to acknowledge when they meet, that they are gathered on traditional territory.

I would like us to begin our meeting tonight with gratitude for the land where we live, and where we are free to worship, and follow our own traditions. We acknowledge that all the land is sacred, and a gift from the Creator, and that long before we were here, this land we are on is part of the traditional territory of the Mississaugas.

The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation are part of a much larger civilization of people known as the Anishinabe. This word means “human beings” in the language of the Ojibway.

They are the original people who resided on the traditional territory of what we now know as Halton. The Oakville land was part of the 1805 Toronto Purchase and 1806 Head of the Lake Purchase between the Crown and the Mississaugas.

It would be good for our congregation to think about other occasions when we might make this acknowledgment.

 

(I am still catching up on posting my teaching times from past Sundays, but given the events of the last week, I wanted to put my effort for Father’s Day ahead of the others.

We began the Father’s Day service with a joyous celebration of new life, the blessing of a child. Just before the blessing, I showed the congregation a music video of the song “humble and kind” by Tim McGraw.)

humble and kind

I came to church last Sunday in a state of blissful ignorance. I had not turned on the radio, or looked online, and had no idea what had happened in Orlando the night before. Part of me wishes that I had heard the news. Another part of me rebels against this kind of information. I don’t always want to be reminded of the hate, and the violence of which humans are capable.

It is not too late a week later, to take a moment in silence, to pray for all the lives ended early, all the wounded survivors, and the first responders, and all the grieving families and friends.

 

Moment of silent prayer.

 

Last Saturday afternoon I was at a conference at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus. One of the speakers was a young man named Shane Claiborne. Shane is a founding member of an intentional Christian community in Philadelphia.

He brought with him from Philadelphia the garden tool you can see in the picture.

This simple trowel was made from the recycled metal of an AR-15, the same type of weapon used in Orlando last Saturday night.

I have a video clip of Shane talking about a project he has been involved with, that follows the biblical idea of making peace. They take instruments of violence, and turn them into something useful.

swords into plows

I love what they are doing. I also love why they are doing it. They believe in transforming the world, a little bit at a time. Very much like Jesus as we see him in most of the Gospel stories, working with people one at time.

In the video Shane said what is needed is a movement of life, a movement of people committed to the idea that every person is precious. What a basic, simple idea. What a good idea, to remember, and to live from the conviction that every person is precious.

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines “precious” as an adjective that describes something that is: rare and worth a lot of money; very valuable or important; too valuable or important to be wasted or used carelessly; greatly loved, valued, or important.

In God’s eyes, we are all precious, and our lives are far too valuable to be wasted or used carelessly. As a father, whatever else I may desire for my children, I want them to know they are loved, and they are blessed, and they can be a blessing to others.

When some of Jesus’ friends argued over which of them was the greatest, he showed them a child, and said, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

This was a beautiful way to break them out of their awkward scrambling for attention and praise. It was as if Jesus was saying to them, don’t worry about so much about being the richest, or strongest, or most popular. You don’t need to walk over other people, or push them out of the way.

As Tim McGraw said in the lyrics of his song, “Always be humble and kind”. It is easier to be both of those things, when you know that you are loved, and blessed.

Of all the stories that came out of Orlando this week, the ones that touched me in the deepest were about families who were called and told that their child, their grand-child, their nephew or cousin had died, and it turned out that this was the way they learned that their relative was gay.

What a way to find out. What was going on in that family, and in their hearts, that made it so hard for their child to be open with them about who they were?

Organized religions, including the Christian faith, still have a lot to answer for, for the way we have reinforced and preserved prejudice and discrimination. Religion has too often been part of the problem. We need to pay attention to the ways that the message of God’s love has been distorted, and misused, to exclude people, rather than letting them know they are precious, and loved, and blessed for who they are. We need to hammer away at those hateful messages, and transform them into something better, something useful.

We need to be daring, and take risks, and be willing to be vulnerable and weak. We need to admit that we don’t have all the answers, about anything. We need to be humble and kind, and to take every opportunity available, to celebrate that we are blessed, and to look for ways to be a blessing others. Amen

 

 

 

 

“Hit the road, Jack”. That’s basically what people in Jesus’ home synagogue said. Actually, they went beyond hit the road, to hit whatever’s at the bottom of the cliff they wanted to toss him over. So what happened to Jesus on that day? Things started out well. Jesus read a familiar passage from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:

”God’s Spirit is on me;     he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and     recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free,     to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

So far, so good. The people seem happy. But Jesus went on, and said, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. “

Jesus also mentioned 2 stories from Israel’s past, in which prophets came to the aid of someone in need. Elijah helped a hungry widow in Sidon, and Elisha healed a leper named Naaman, who was from Syria. The common element is both people who experience God’s mercy through a prophet are foreigners. They are not Jews, and definitely not from Jesus’ hometown.

Jesus seems to say, “Don’t think too highly of yourselves.” Because it was Jesus’ hometown, he would know who was living justly, who beat their wives, who traded fairly, who charged outrageous interest, who cared properly for servants and slaves, and who treated them poorly. He would know what these folks were like all week, not just when they came for worship.

The relief organization Oxfam, released an article that says 62 people control over half the wealth in the whole world. I am pretty sure none of them are here this morning. The report was timed to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. It calls attention to the stark reality that 1% of people own more wealth than the other 99% combined.

I can get pretty worked up when I read these numbers. Partly because I grew up in poverty, and partly because I see on a regular basis what poverty and hunger does to children, and families.

Shouldn’t there be a rule that says no person can have more than their own weight in gold, or platinum, or diamonds? Shouldn’t there be a way to spread wealth around, just enough that babies don’t go hungry, children are not starved for an education, and families aren’t left thirsty for hope and opportunity to make their lives better?

I can still get pretty huffy, and wonder how people live with themselves, when I hear about the next 5-10 % of people that control the next quarter of the world’s money. It gets more personal, however, when I acknowledge that I spend more money at Tim Horton’s in a year, than whole families live on, in some parts of the world. How can I live with myself? What is wrong with me? Why do I not wake up, and smell the human misery, and share more of what I have?

One of my favourite modern prophets is the Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn. He sings truth with this line in a song called Justice: “Everybody Loves to see Justice done On somebody else”

In the last line Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah, it said the prophet has come to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” That’s a rough translation of the original, which says it was time to proclaim the Year of Jubilee.

The Jubilee Year was something called for in ancient Jewish scriptures, that people never actually followed. It would be like a big re-start, or do-over, to the whole economy. Every fifty years, all lands, property, wealth, everything, would be returned to the original owners, going back to the time when the country was first settled. So if your family had grown wealthy over the generations, and gathered a lot of land, it would go back to the previous owners. If your family had gone bankrupt, and lost everything, they would get their original share back. Things would be evened out, so that all slaves would be freed, the poor provided for, and every family, every clan, would have a fresh start.

What would happen if there was a do-over right here, and all the land had to be returned to the original owners, before Europeans settled here?

The Year of Jubilee was a vision of how God sees each person as equal, and equally entitled to live, to grow, to eat, to learn, to thrive. It is the opposite of any sense of entitlement or privilege. No wonder it enraged the people in the synagogue. It slams head long against the me-first, my family-first, my clan-first, my race-first, my economic-class, my club-first mentality that was strong in Jesus’ time, and may be even more prevalent today, in our consumer driven culture.

We love hearing how God loves each of us. We may be less excited to hear God does not actually love us more than other people. God loves all 8 billion of us, we are all members of the same human family. We are responsible for, and involved with, the well-being of all people, whether they are foreign to us or not.

Jesus was telling the people in his hometown, and us, that any system, or political idea, or cultural bias that says some people are more deserving of the basics of life than others, and we have no obligation to those who suffer, is a self-serving lie.

In feudal times, the doctrine of the divine right of kings suggested that those who were in power, even if they had won that power through use of brutal force, were in power because God wanted it that way.

In our time, consumer culture seems to dictate that economic might makes right, and our values are determined by market forces. If something sells, or makes a profit, it is by definition, good. If it doesn’t, it is bad.

Politicians, and big time preachers have handlers to tell them what causes to promote, and what issues to stay away from. If Jesus’ advance team had been on top of things, he wouldn’t have been run out of town, because they would have told him nobody wanted to hear what he had to say.

They would have had him stick to issues that get people excited, but let them point the finger at someone else. Let him talk about sexual morality, or welfare fraud, or the war on terror, or how property values go down if too many low income housing projects get built. Issues that let us blame someone else for the world’s woes.

Getting run out of town is not necessarily proof your message is righteous. There are some messengers we may wish to run out of town, because their narrow vision, their racism, their obvious self-serving agenda just makes us cringe, and we need for their poison to not be spread.

The message of the worth, and worthiness of each human being might get temporarily run out of town, but it doesn’t stay run out of town. It always comes back, because God’s love is bigger than pollsters and spin-masters and the posses that want to scare away the truth.

I love how this story ends. Jesus miraculously, mysteriously passes through the midst of the angry crowd, and moves on, to preach and teach in other places. The message of God’s love, and justice, meant for every one of us, carries on. Thanks be to God for that. Amen