Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
I sometimes feel like a broken record. Saying the same things again and again. Too predictable. Not, I suppose, as predictable as the former Presiding Bishop who was the subject of a Bingo card made by fans of what he is likely to preach with “love” as the free space in the center. But maybe in the same basic ballpark. We’re going to talk about the things we read about in the gospel and some of those themes run throughout the whole book. Love for sure. Listening to Jesus, yes. The primacy of the threat to the children of God is power and wealth. Yeah . . . that’s the one.
There is something to be said, however, for the volume of what Jesus speaks to in the gospels. To look at what Jesus spends most of his time dealing with and it isn’t the stuff we associate with Christian piety. Most of it involves living in and working with a world that isn’t in alignment with the dream of God — and how beautiful it would be if it were. He talks about that possibility and teaches his students to live like it is already here.
He also confronts the people who are keeping the distortion present: primarily those who preside over the injustice and inequity or defend it, who personally gain from exploiting their neighbors and hamper the blessed community.
And at the center of all of this is wealth and power. Literally money and politics. All of this is easily three-quarters of the gospel. And its important to remember this at a time when our politics is volatile and we are looking for how to be within it. The gospel has a lot to say to us now. Especially when it sounds like we’ve heard it before.
With love,
Drew+
