Blessed are the Righteous (Matthew 5:6)

Blessed, peaceful and saved are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. The word righteousness in this context includes the concept of justice. It speaks to those who long for wrongs to be made right and for those who cry out for salvation from the injustices of our current socio-economic-political structures. I studied Restorative Justice through Simon Fraser University. Did you know that in the US, our closest neighbour in more ways than just geography, one in three 'African-American' men has been disenfranchised; 1/3 of all 'Black' American males have been locked in jail at least once? This is just one symptom of the myriad racial injustices south of the line. No wonder there have been race riots for long periods of time. We also have injustices here, racial, other and especially economic discrimination. Jesus says that those of us who stand against injustice and those of us who stand for His righteousness will be filled. We will be satisfied. As Jesus’ reign takes hold in our life and our world, those of us who intercede for those in need will be satisfied. Blessed, peaceful and saved are those who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness for they will be filled.

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Hosanna! The Triumphal Entry into Holy Week (Matthew 21:1-11)

Today is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is when we commemorate the Sunday before Jesus’ death. Jerusalem was occupied then, like it is now; now it is occupied by the Israelis, then it was occupied by the Romans. The Judeans in the first century didn’t like being occupied then any more than the Palestinians like it today. The Romans were harsh, not nearly as brutal as modern Israel, but harsh enough that the first century had their version of … (Remember the suicide bombers of the ‘70s and ‘80s?) …suicide bombers: the Sicarii (zealots), Judean terrorists / revolutionaries would walk into crowds with daggers looking for Romans to kill –. One of Jesus’ followers, Simon, was arguably a Sicarii or zealot. Passover is the commemoration of ancient Israel’s birth as a nation. The Angel of Death passed over Egypt and the nations of Isreal and Judah were created through the Exodus. Passover, in the Roman period, was a time when many people of Judean descent descended upon Jerusalem. I ...

Luke 24:38-34: Revelation of a King

James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country disguised as a common person. That is because he wanted to meet the everyday people of the country not just the rich and powerful. He wanted to see how the normal people lived. One day he was dressed in very old clothes and was going by a place known as Cramond Brig, when he is attacked by robbers who don’t know who he is. There is a fierce struggle and he is nearly overcome when, at just the right moment, a poor farm worker - Jock Howieson - hears the commotion comes to the disguised king’s aid. Now Jock, the poor labourer, who works on this portion of the King’s land, Cramond Brig, unawares takes the undercover king home and gives him a dinner of broth and Jock - as the king is recouping – naturally asks the man who he is. The King responds ‘I’m a good man of Edinburgh.’ ‘And where do you live in that city and where do you work?’ ‘Well,’ says James, ‘I live at the palace and I work there too.’ ‘The palace, is it?...

Lanterns (Matthew 25:1-13, Psalm 146)

The topics I chose from our Lenten list for today are “God has rescued us from the Dominion of Darkness”; “He has Freed Us from the Power of Sin”; the Kingdom of God is at hand. Do we believe that? Do we live that? In theology we use the term ‘prolepsis’ to refer to the time when the Kingdom of God begins, which is now, the time between the resurrection of Christ and His return at the eschaton. This is the time in which we are living and as Christians it is our responsibility to be willing instruments of God to display what it means that He has rescued us from the Dominion of Darkness; He has Freed Us from the Power of Sin, that the Kingdom of God is at hand. But do we even actually believe that He has already done this? And if He has why does it not seem that the Sin and Darkness still reign? We know the parable of the bridesmaids (holy ones) in the Bible who needed to keep their lanterns lit – because lit lanterns were to be there when the Bridegroom Jesus returns...

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