A Wicked Generation

Gospel: Luke 11: 29-32

Jesus calls his own generation a wicked one for failing to heed the prophetic message he brings.  In this passage Jesus provides two examples that provide context.  The first is Jonah.  At his preaching the people of Nineveh repent - yet the context in which Jonah's mission took place provides more insight.  It occurred at a time when towns and villages throughout Israel were rejecting and executing prophets.  Jonah was not at all optimistic that a foreign city would accept him, and yet they did.

Similarly, the second example Jesus provides is the Queen of Sheba who comes from a foreign land in order to hear and accept the wisdom of Solomon.  Yet, throughout Israel people were not heeding Solomon's teaching.  Solomon himself does not even follow his own advice.  These examples mirror those from Jesus' earlier sermon to Nazareth where he pointed out where God's word was received by foreigners and outsiders while those who saw themselves as God's chosen were hard of heart.

So, the moniker of a wicked generation is applied not to all who live in that time or any other.  It refers to to those who regard themselves as the privileged ones of God and who fail to listen to the invitation to mercy and the command to show mercy to others.  Our own generation is similarly wicked.  When Christians applaud the abuse of immigrants, migrants, and refugees - when they call for public executions, rejoice when food aid and health care is deprived of the poor, and protect pedophiles, the wickedness is glaringly evident.   

Wedding RSVPs

Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14

The king invites people to a wedding.  Those invited are the rich and influential people of the kingdom, as is common in royal weddings.  Those invited refused to attend or respond to the invitation.  They even kill messengers sent to have them come. Why?  Table fellowship, particularly at a wedding celebration, binds people together and obligates them to service to one another.  If these rich folk accept this invitation, they must then do as the king bids.  

And that is the point of this story!  The king is God who invites us to a life of mercy and loving kindness.  The banquet binds us to forgive the debts of others, something the rich are unwilling to do.  After all, crippling debt on others is how they got rich, and keeping people in this debt trap is the way to retain power and wealth.  So, the king invites others - the poor and marginalized, those on the edges of society - and they come.  They are much more willing to accept this fellowship and obligation to one another.  

Each one of us has received  this invitation to the wedding banquet of the king.  It is now our opportunity to respond.  Will we be like the rich who refuse to the point of violence?  Will we be like the man who comes to enjoy the food but does not accept the terms of the king's fellowship?  Or will we be those who have accepted the invitation, partaken of the meal, and go out to provide mercy and loving kindness to those we encounter each day? 

Blessed Are You

Gospel: Luke 11: 27-28

Once again the emotion of the crowd creates a slogan that initially sounds pious: blessed is the woman who bore Jesus and brought him into the world.  It is a holy sentiment and not wrong.  Mary is indeed blessed for this role in salvation history.  Yet, Jesus rejects the sentiment.  To accept the sentiment is to privilege one person for something no one else had the opportunity to do in the biological function of being the mother of Jesus.

Jesus expands the notion of blessing, as well as who can be the bearer of Christ in the world.  Blessed are those who do God's will on earth.  For to do God's will is to bring forth Christ in the world.  It is to give birth to deeds of loving kindness and mercy - feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick and imprisoned, welcoming the stranger.  It is to do the very deeds Jesus did while on earth.  It is to be another Christ to others.

To be a Theotokos - a God bearer - is not the unique privilege of one person, though she did so exceedingly well.  It is the privilege of all people to bear the image and likeness of God, to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, to be another Christ in the world.  The task at hand is to accept that reality and to perform the deeds of loving mercy and kindness that will bring forth Christ in the world.  That is the role of being a God bearer in the world.