The Pharisees tried to make the Law small and defined so they could fulfill it.

But Jesus wants us to focus on the biggest, most fruitful expression of the Law, one that is so expansive and life-giving that only God can fulfill it.

Luke 19:1-10

God hears our cries. God shares our eagerness for justice.

In Richard Rohr’s daily blog entry “Prophetic Solidarity and Compassion” he wrote, “Empires are never built or maintained on the basis of compassion... Empires live by numbness. Empires expect numbness about the human cost of war. Corporate economies expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation. Governments and societies of domination go to great lengths to keep the numbness intact”. 

What lengths will we go to feel? Will we allow ourselves to feel the anger and the compassion that wells us when we see injustice? 

May we notice and enjoy God’s gifts, and let that enjoyment spill over into praise and thanksgiving.

The gospel’s life force will not be stripped of its wild power to heal and renew. Jesus continues to call people into a way of life that is alive, unruly, and renewing. Each small act—whether a moment of truth-telling, a word of repentance, a gesture of forgiveness, or humble acts of service—becomes a container for the re-wilding power of Love.

The gospel’s life force will not be stripped of its wild power to heal and renew. Jesus continues to call people into a way of life that is alive, unruly, and renewing. Each small act—whether a moment of truth-telling, a word of repentance, a gesture of forgiveness, or humble acts of service—becomes a container for the re-wilding power of Love.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus speaks of a rich man who wore expensive purple linen clothes and ate sumptuous feasts every day, while a poor man named Lazarus begged at his  gate.  Covered in sores which dogs came and licked, he longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  Yet the rich man did not draw near nor show compassion to the poor man.  

As is so often in Jesus’ parables, he turned the table on his listeners: what do we do in the face of suffering? Do we draw near? Do we distance?

This week, Scott Hill shared about his dad, one of his role models in “eco-discipleship”. I wonder who modelled for you how to love and care for creation? 

In our scripture passage this week, Luke 16: 1-14, we find an unlikely role model—a dishonest manager who, after losing trust with his employer by cooking the books, was about to lose his home.  Like the dishonest manager, the collective human preoccupation with getting and keeping more money  has led to the squandering of God’s creation. We, too, are at risk of losing our home.  

It's the beginning of Season of Creation! This year's theme is "Making Peace with Creation" and we are continuing our year-long journey with the lectionary, through the Gospel of Luke. As ever, we are also asking the question "What Does Love Look Like, Now?" Today, we are attending Jesus' parable in Luke 14: 25-33.

This summer, we’ve been practicing table talk. We’ve made space to share and space to listen. As we draw this summer series to a close, pause to remember the many times you’ve sat at Love’s Table. What tables have been memorable in your life? Who sat at them with you? What happened at these table that you treasure?