Unfaithful Stewards

Gospel: Mark 12: 1-12

We have grown accustomed to reading today's parable as an indictment on the religious leaders and institutions of Jesus' day, and no doubt this was the intent of the author, understood clearly by the original audience.  No doubt it is true that the religious leaders and institutions of Jesus' day rejected the prophetic voices sent to them, neglected the needs of the vineyard, and conspired to put to death Jesus, seen as the son in this story.  

However, we are much less likely, much less comfortable, seeing this parable as about our own stewardship of the vineyard.  We would rather not talk about the many prophetic voices we have rejected, the many people we have killed who are images of God, other Christs, temples of the Holy Spirit.  We shut our ears when people talk of the abuse and scandals they have experienced at the hands of today's religious institutions and leaders, or the neglect of the vineyard and the largesse of the so-called stewards.

As with so many other things, it is much easier to examine the consciences and behaviors of others rather than our own.  The parable, that sermon about sin - they are about that person over there, not me.  But they are about me. My stewardship has not been any better than that of the original audience of this Gospel.  Today is a day to take stock of our own stewardship, to repent of its failures, and to begin anew more faithfully and lovingly to its care.   

The Trinity

Gospel: John 3: 16-18

The Trinity is ultimately a mystery we cannot hope to ever understand.  However, this doctrine gives us a number of important implications for us human beings.  The first is that God is a community of persons so united to one another in love that they form one single entity.  From this first truth comes the second - that God is inherently relational and communal to human beings and the cosmos at large which God created in a free act solely in love.  

Since the relations of the three persons in God are perfect, we seek to perfect our own relationships in the world.  The Spirit enables us to re-store that which was lost: the sin of Adam marred our relationship with God; the sin of Cain fractured our relationships with one another; the sins of Noah's time separated us from union with the cosmos; and the sin of Babel laid bare the structures of sin we create as humans.  All of these were restored at Pentecost; we are able to have more perfect relationships in each sphere.

We human beings are inherently relational and communal beings as well.  Though our relationships are imperfect, we have a God who inspires and urges us forward each day to renew and re-create our relationships - with God, with one another, with the whole created order, and with that which we ourselves create - so that they may be more just, more loving, and more like the relationships within the Triune God who has created us in this relational and communal image. 

Mocking the Good

Gospel: Mark 11: 27-33

Jesus went about healing people from all their infirmities.  He liberated people from the demons that oppress and hold them bound.  He nourished people at table.  In today's Gospel portion we find Jesus challenging the injustices of the Temple system that exploits the poor for profit.  He calls out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and wealthy of his day who speak of law and order, but oppress the poor and marginalized.

Throughout the Gospels we find Jesus' opponents objecting to the good he does.  In today's portion we find them asking on what authority he does such things.  Neither Jesus nor anyone else needs permission to do good for other people. Permission is not needed to defend the weak and powerless against those who oppress them.  It is truth and goodness that provide all the warrant and authority one needs to heal, liberate, nourish, and challenge the systems of oppression in our world.

In our own times we find the oppressor and hypocrite seeking to appropriate Jesus for their own ends.  They claim his authority in their oppression of the poor, in creating more poor and marginalized people through war, in neglecting and exploiting the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  Here again truth and goodness will be the light that shows us the way to follow the Lord Jesus in the Gospels, the light that will repel the darkness of evil in our world today and always.