Lent
April 14, 2019
Scripture Reading: Luke 19:28-40
As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
‘Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!’
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ –Luke 19:36-40
What happens when the stones seem silent? Prophets warned the Israelite of pending doom and few if any paid attention. Exile resulted. For many years, experts have warned of the impact of climate change and are ridiculed by political leaders, while coastal areas deal with rising water and we all deal with unusual weather. A policy of reducing taxes for the wealthiest with the idea that wealth would trickle down to the poor failed in the 1920’s resulting in the Great Depression, failed again in the 1980’s leading to a recession, failed again at the beginning of the 21st Century resulting in another recession, and was implemented once more in 2017. The result is the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the stabilizing middle class shrinks. People with diabetes are dying because they cannot afford insulin. A patient with Type 1 diabetes incurred annual insulin costs of $5,705, on average, in 2016. The average cost was roughly half that, at $2,864 per patient, in 2012, according to a report released on Tuesday by the nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute*. This essentially is the same insulin produced a hundred years ago.
Greed lies at the heart of all these major problems we face. As followers of Christ made in the image of God, we are called to emulate Christ in loving God and loving one another. In the simplest of terms, love means wanting the very best for another. Greed is the antitheses of love.
Are we destined to find ourselves in exile because we have failed to listen to the prophets of today? Are we unwilling to turn around from the greed that seeps into our every day life? Are we willing to speak for the voiceless? Is God waiting for a signal from us that we are ready to deal with the realities of our world? Christ followers in our story above raised their voices in celebration of this One sent by God. It is in that context that Christ said if you do not listen to these you will hear from God on their behalf.
God made the earth and all that is within it including us. God calls us into partnership to build a better world. When God sees we are ready to act God can and will bring the entire weight of and earth to complement our efforts evening to having those stones shout.
Prayer: Lord, empower our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees** as we step forward in faith to love away greed. Amen.
*https://www.nbcnews.com/health/diabetes/u-s-insulin-costs-patient-nearly-doubled-2012-2016-study-n961296
**Derived from Hebrews 12:12