Hopewit

  (Note: There’s a painting following this text. Please give it a look before going on.) Were Jesus to be listening in on the current conversation in Western politics, and if he were to be asked what he made of it all, given that many who count themselves as his followers are loudly involved, what would his reply be? I, of course, can’t claim to know. I expect he would have replied with a parable like “The Good Samaritan,” or “The Prodigal Son,” and like the scribes, the pharisees and the teachers of the law (and his disciples, frequently) in his time, each would interpret what they’d heard as support for what they’d already embraced as truth. Maybe he’d shrug and say, “It appears subtlety won’t work … again, so here’s a thought: whatever you do or say, I judge on its conforming--or not--to one very simple standard, and that is that your words and actions respond to your love of God and that which he’s created for your benefit, and that it wishes for your neighbour every...

  “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” – Matthew 6:34, KJV   Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal …”- Matthew 6:19, KJV My grandmother’s and my mother’s autumn “laying up of treasure upon earth” included shelves and shelves of jars of canned meats and garden produce. This preparedness for a harsh winter was both their pride and their security. It was an investment of time and effort that paid off in reducing the “what shall we eat, and what shall we drink” anxiety.                Stored food is treasure. Stored money likewise. Not surprising is the feeling that if stored food reduces stress and makes us feel happier, much stored food (or money) should makes us feel super-secure and super-happy. Bu...

Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (Proverbs 21:21, NIV) The collection of aphorisms (sayings) that make up the Old Testament book of Proverbs are seldom used as bases for sermons. Perhaps it’s because the conventions of these aphorisms—how they were used to teach and learn—are not as authoritative in our eyes as are direct admonitions, like Micah 6:8, “…and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Righteousness and love are the prerequisites for life, prosperity and honour in Proverbs 21:21. It’s more than an admonition here; it’s phrased as a promise … but life has told us that nothing is that certain in reality. Our world has a tendency to distribute prosperity and honour to even the unrighteous and the misanthrope. In fact, in our time the proverb might well read, “Deceitfulness and insensitivity toward others are necessary if you’re to achieve prosperity and respect.” ...