God acts for justice in the world: 19th after pentecost

The holy gospel according to Luke (16:19-31)

Jesus said:

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen

      and who feasted sumptuously every day.

²⁰And some poor person, named Lazarus,

      was lying by his gates, covered with sores.

      ²¹He longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table;

            even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

²²The poor man died

      and was carried away by the angels

            into the bosom of Abraham.

The rich man also died

      and was buried.

      ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented,

            the rich man looked up and saw Abraham far away

                  with Lazarus in his bosom.

            ²⁴He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me,

                  and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water

                        and cool my tongue;

                              for I am in agony in these flames.’

            ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child,

                  remember that during your lifetime you received your good things,

                  and Lazarus in like manner evil things;

                        but now he is comforted here,

                              and you are in agony.

                  ²⁶Besides all this,

                        between you and us a great chasm has been fixed,

                              so that those who might want to pass from here to you

                                    cannot do so,

                              and no one can cross from there to us.’

            ²⁷The rich man said, ‘Then, father,

                  I ask you to send Lazarus to my father’s house—

                        ²⁸for I have five brothers—

                              that he may warn them,

                                    so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

            ²⁹Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets;

                  your brothers should listen to them.’

            ³⁰He said, ‘No, father Abraham;

                  but if someone goes to them from the dead,

                        they will repent.’

            ³¹Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,

                  neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

Throughout this summer, we’ve talked quite a bit as a community of faith about privilege, specifically white privilege, and racism.  Martha called us to reflect throughout our day-to-day interactions on the way a situation would be different if we weren’t white, helping us to understand more concretely what white privilege is.  Carrie encouraged us to reflect on the importance of welcoming immigrants and refugees.  And we have been working on deepening our relationships with the beloved children of God working at the local farms.

In Bible studies we’ve learned stories of immigrants and the struggles they face.  We’ve learned that there are levels of violence and the violence we see in the news is most often a result of structures set up so that people of color have fewer opportunities—less access to good jobs, economic stability, and quality education, all of which make it harder to live.

We’ve talked again and again about violence in this country and around the world.  We’ve talked about mass shootings and attacks.  We’ve talked about police killing people of color and police being shot.  And we are still talking.  This week, within a 24 hour time period, Terence Crutcher was killed by police and called a “bad dude” based on nothing but the view from the helicopter of him following instructions, all as a result of him having car trouble.  And Keith Lamont Scott was shot while waiting to pick his son up from school because police were “trying to apprehend an unrelated suspect.”[1]  And those are just the ones that make the news. 

There are more shootings and more details, but I want us to think on a bigger level.  Rather than getting caught up in the details of what could have been different or who should have done what, look at the picture of city after city after city in which people of color have been killed by police.

It’s in light of this reality that we encounter Lazarus and the rich man today.

The rich man is the picture of the most extreme wealth and privilege, expressed in unnecessary extravagance.  He wears the most expensive cloth, and linens of the type the priests wear only when they are serving in the Temple.  He dresses up soo nicely—to feast—to enjoy an abundance of food, drink, and entertainment day after day all for himself.  There is no mention of even a wife or children who might also feast.  Just him.

Likewise, Lazarus is the epitome of poverty.  Jewish New Testament scholar, Amy-Jill Levine points out that Lazarus is placed at the gate of a rich man in the hopes that the rich man would honor the Torah—the first 5 books of the Bible, ascribed to Moses—and the prophets, which call the people of God to care for the poor and the oppressed.  Lazarus is not only poor, but receives nothing from the rich man.  His sores, in need of medical attention, only receive care from the dogs that lick them.  The dogs know better how to follow Moses and the prophets than the rich man does.

Jesus makes both Lazarus and the rich man huge exaggerations of wealth and poverty, privilege and oppression.  This is no accident.  Because we, like the original hearers of the parable, are neither Lazarus nor the rich man—nor, for that matter, Abraham.  None of us here are obscenely wealthy and concerned only for ourselves, nor are any of us completely without privilege.  We can afford a roof over our heads, food and clothes, and maybe an extra coffee or treat occasionally.

So the question that Jesus’ parable poses is: if we are neither the rich man nor Lazarus, how do we interact with others, especially those who are not as well off as us?  Do we even recognize them?  Do we ignore them?  Do we welcome them in? Shoo them away? Join in their struggle?

This is what our conversations this summer especially have been about.  We have proclaimed that #BlackLivesMatter.  We have talked about privilege and what it means to live in this country as we hope it stands for freedom, even while we witness around us the epidemic of people of color not only being discriminated against and lacking the opportunities many of us benefit from, but even being killed by police.  We’ve talked about how to make this country live up to our high ideals.

But we are not the body of Christ just so we can use our mouths and ears, talking and listening.  We as the church are the body of Christ because God is active in the world.  We are the body of Christ because God works through us in the world.  We are mouths  and ears and eyes and feet and hands and hearts of Christ.  Together, the whole Church, all the people of God are the whole body of Christ for the sake of the whole world.

God’s justice, peace, and love is active in the world through us.  Today we are doing the prayers of the people differently from usual.  Instead of sharing joys and concerns and praying aloud as a group, we will have more contemplative options.

We will also have some more information about and pictures of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott so that we can pray for their loved ones and all who are impacted by their deaths.  On the back table, along with origami paper to write out prayers will be a couple of sheets of ideas of what you can do to work against racism, a book list of books you can read and if you want, we can read together.  As well as some policies that you can advocate for with our elected representatives, both local and national and things that you can do in your daily lives to combat racism.

There are many different ways that we can show up, that we can care, that we can live out our callings as the body of Christ, caring for and with those who are being killed, and working against racism.  These are some ideas.  There are many others that are also important.  As we reflect on Lazarus and the rich man, on Terence and Keith and all whose lives have been taken from them and from their families, friends, and communities, we get to choose how we respond.  God’s love will be active in the world no matter what.  God will always be working for justice for those who are oppressed and marginalized.  God will always be reconciling the whole world.  How will you be a part of it?

---

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/24/video-keith-scott-shooting-charlotte-police

Squandering wealth, praising God: 18th after pentecost

The holy gospel according to Luke (16:1-13)

Then Jesus said to the disciples,

      “There was a rich man who had a manager,

            and charges were brought to him

                  that this man was squandering his property.

            ²So the rich man summoned the manager and said to him,

                  ‘What is this that I hear about you?

                  Give me an accounting of your management,

                        because you cannot be my manager any longer.’

            ³Then the manager said to himself,

                  ‘What will I do,

                        now that my master is taking the position away from me?

                  I am not strong enough to dig,

                  and I am ashamed to beg.

                  ⁴I have decided what to do so that,

                        when I am dismissed as manager,

                              people may welcome me into their homes.’

            ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one,

                  he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

                  ⁶The debtor answered,

                        ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’

                  He said, ‘Take your bill,

                        sit down quickly,

                              and make it fifty.’

                  ⁷Then the manager asked another,

                        ‘And how much do you owe?’

                  That debtor replied,

                        ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’

                  He said, ‘Take your bill

                        and make it eighty.’

            ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager

                  because he had acted shrewdly;

                        for the children of this age are more shrewd

                              in dealing with their own generation

                                    than are the children of light.

      ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth

            so that when it is gone,

                  they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

¹⁰“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;

      and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.

            ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,

                  who will entrust to you the true riches?

            ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another,

                  who will give you what is your own?

      ¹³No slave can serve two masters;

            for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,

                  or be devoted to the one and despise the other.

                        You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

There was a rich man, who had so much wealth that he couldn’t keep track of it on his own. In fact, he didn’t even know what was happening with it until someone told him his manager was squandering it.  So then, the manager of the wealth, who himself couldn’t keep track of it all, called the debtors together and before he could make deals, had to actually ask the debtors how much they even owed!

And all of this            is lifted up as an example by Jesus.

These men who clearly have more wealth than they need, are not so caught up in it that they count every single penny, holding it close to their heart.  In fact, the Greek verb for squander also means scatter—just as the farmer in an earlier parable who scatters seed without caring where it lands.  The manager is already scattering the rich man’s property, his wealth, without care about where it lands.

When he is called out on this and can tell that his access to wealth is quickly coming to an end, he is confronted with a couple options: 1-Labor he is not physically capable of doing, or 2-begging.  In considering these options, he has an epiphany of self-awareness.  Scattering and squandering wealth is all well and good when you have ready access to it, but he doesn’t have any relationships with anyone because of it.

Without access to that wealth, without his identity as the rich man’s manager, who is he?  Where does his value come from?  What does he want his priorities to become?

The manager’s realization is clear—relationships matter.  Relationships matter more than the wealth he is squandering.  So, he squanders more wealth for the sake of strengthening relationships with those who are in debt to the rich man.  The manager realizes that wealth, and access to it, is not—is never—the point.  At its best, it is a useful tool.  When scattered, it can strengthen our dependence on God and our relationship with others. 

Scattering wealth reminds us that our value comes not from the wealth we claim ownership of, but from God.  Holding wealth loosely reminds us that we are God’s beloved children, and that God brings us into relationship with each other to grow together.

When we hold wealth loosely, when we scatter it, it lessens the risk that it will takeover our life.  When we scatter it, it opens up access to wealth and resources for those who don’t have the same access as us.  When we hold wealth loosely, it creates more space for relationships that might not otherwise exist.

Most of all, when we hold wealth loosely and scatter it far and wide, it reminds us that the wealth we call our own is first and foremost God’s.

Out of God’s great abundance, we receive, manage, mismanage, scatter, and hold tightly to wealth.  God’s abundance in love, in creation, in resources is meant for scattering and squandering as wide as possible.  It is meant for relationships.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations recently about money and one person pointed out that for them money is meant, like the gifts and talents we have, to be used in service to God and others.  In scattering wealth, we honor God.  Holding wealth loosely and holding more closely our relationships with God, each other, and people we may never meet                        honors God.  It is a way of offering our thanks to God.  It is a way of praising God.

As individuals we do this with our tithes and offerings, we do this by giving to non-profits whose missions we support, we do this by buying some one else’s coffee or lunch, sharing the bounty of our gardens, surprising others with gifts or time, and helping when another person is struggling to make ends meet, trusting that as we help them in their hunger, we also will be fed by God’s abundance through others in our own hunger.

As a community of faith we scatter and squander wealth, holding it loosely by sharing our per capita and mission support with John Knox Presbytery and our mission support with the Southeastern Minnesota Synod and local and regional organizations.  We do it by having grocery and gas cards available for anyone who might stop by and ask for them; by baking cookies for first responders, the folks who work on the area farms, and bringing snacks to the staff here at Good Shepherd. 

We do it by opening our building to folks in recovery from addiction.  We scatter and squander wealth by supporting Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Presbyterian Church usa good gifts, disaster response programs, and other relief and immigration organizations, as well as the Rushford Backpack and Meals on Wheels programs.  We do it by repurposing t-shirts to make quilts and diapers for Church World Service.

We are already doing this and we don’t do it because God needs us to.  People need this, but we do this in response to God’s love, which is already poured out in abundance on us all.  When we do these things it is because God is already at work and it is a way for us give thanks and praise to God.

These are all ways that God is held more closely and wealth more loosely.  These are ways that God works through us and in us. 

As we engage in these opportunities, as we scatter the wealth we call our own, the Holy Spirit forms and strengthens relationships and spreads God’s love, squandering and scattering it more broadly than we could ever know.

Thanks be to God.

God's joy is fabulously, over the top, nonsensically extravagant - 17th after pentecost

The holy gospel according to Luke (15:1-10)

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.

       ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying,

              “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³So Jesus told them this parable:

       ⁴“Which man of you,

              having a hundred sheep and losing one of them,

                     does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness

                     and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

              ⁵When he has found it,

                     he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.

              ⁶And when he comes home,

                     he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,

                            ‘Rejoice with me,

                                   for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

              ⁷Just so, I tell you,

                     there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

                            than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

       ⁸“Or what woman of you having ten silver coins,

              if she loses one of them,

                     does not light a lamp,

                     sweep the house,

                     and search carefully until she finds it?

              ⁹When she has found it,

                     she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,

                            ‘Rejoice with me,

                                   for I have found the coin that I had lost.’

              ¹⁰Just so, I tell you,

                     there is joy in the presence of the angels of God

                            over one sinner who repents.”

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

How many of you have sheep?  Have ever had or interacted with sheep?  What are they like?

Shepherding is still an important part of Slovak culture, so while I was living in Slovakia, I would see sheep similarly to how we see cows in this neck of the woods.  Cartoon sheep were even part of Slovak tourism!

But here’s the kicker—and I think about this every time Good Shepherd Sunday rolls around or Jesus decides to bring up sheep again—sheep are not smart animals!  And they’re not well-behaved either!  They don’t know not to wander off!  They just wander!

Not to mention, have you ever tried counting 100 sheep—or even 100 cows or 100 of anything—at one time?  Let’s be honest, how does this shepherd even know that he didn’t just miscount and there really are all 100 sheep still with him?  It takes a lot to make sure one sheep out of a hundred is actually missing, or to even notice anything is amiss in the first place!

Then, once you figure it out, are you really going to leave the 99 to wander off themselves?  Because you know that the second you head off after that one, all the other 99 will spot butterflies or greener fields or something and head off on their own.

You may get that one that you’d lost back, but to do that, you’ve now lost the other 99.  But say the 99 miraculously stay put, then you go throw a party celebrating the one you lost and then found again.  And what do you serve?  Mutton!  So you kill that sheep, and probably more, to feed your party guests!  This all seems pretty pointless and nonsensical to me.

But perhaps it makes more sense with the woman and her coins.

How many of you have ever made stacks of coins to count them more easily?  How easy is it to tell if a stack has one coin or two?  How about 5 coins or 6?  9 or 10?  Once they get that high, unless they’re two stacks right next to each, it’s hard to tell that one is missing, so kudos once again to the woman, who actually noticed that a coin was even missing in the first place.

As for the coins themselves, these were not just nickels or dimes or even silver dollars.  Though our translation calls them “silver coins,” the Greek identifies them as drachma.  A drachma would’ve been about or just below a day’s worth of wages.  So, the idea of having two weeks’ wages lying around, like the idea of having 100 sheep just hanging out with you, is a bit extravagant for us and the folks Jesus is talking to, and probably means that losing one would not be quite as big a deal as losing a day’s wages might be to many.

But the woman sets out on a search for the missing coin anyway.  And while I would tear my house apart, making a huge mess, in my search for something I lost, she seems much more orderly in her endeavor.  She even manages the bonus of getting the house all swept while she looks!

Once she finds the coin, what does she do?  She spends it—and probably more—celebrating with her friends!  More nonsense!  Over the top, extravagant celebration with all the neighbors and friends!

The last part to make sense of is that after each parable, Luke throws in the line about sinners repenting, but it doesn’t really fit.  The shepherd’s the one who lost track of the sheep and the woman’s the one who lost the coin.  The sheep and the coin don’t do any repenting.  So maybe the stories aren’t actually about repentance.  Maybe they’re really about this nonsensical, extravagant celebration.

15 years ago, terrorists took over planes and attacked, or tried to attack, some of the more prominent and symbolic buildings of this country.  I’m going to date myself here a little: 15 years ago today, in my first year of high school, I spent almost every class period watching and rewatching the same short amount of footage of the attacks and their after-effects.

I saw the same horrific images over and over and over again, so that by the time I went home from school, I was numb and felt as traumatized as if I had actually known someone in New York, even though I was thousands of miles away in Colorado and had only been to New York once in my life.

In the past 15 years we have experienced tragedy after tragedy in this country and around the world,            sometimes, because of the attacks 15 years ago and our country’s response to them.  Each time a mass tragedy strikes, especially if it happens in this country, we get the same oversaturation from news shows, showing the same 30 seconds of video and going over the same limited facts until again we are too numb and traumatized to do anything.

We lose our ability to respond at all, let alone responding with love.  We lose our sense of joy and wonder at the world.  We lose our sense of safety.

For perhaps the first time in my life, this summer I had to turn off NPR.  I just couldn’t handle the constant news coverage after the attack at Pulse, the gay night club in Orlando.  I was losing my hope and I needed to plug into a deeper source of hope.  I needed to keep myself from spiraling into yet another cycle of numbness.

So, I prayed.  A lot.  And I spent time with friends and we went to Pride in the Twin Cities and we celebrated the gift of each other and of God’s fabulous love in our lives.  We celebrated the joy of who and how God made and continues to make each of us.  Pride’s extravagance is a celebration on par with the woman and the shepherd’s celebrations upon finding what they’d lost.

Celebration.  Not repentance.  Is at the heart of today’s parables.  That is the witness we have for the world.  That is what we practice, as church, each week.  In the face of every excuse to despair, to become numb, to sink into depression, we silence our phones and focus on God and each other. 

We gather to sing praises to God, to receive and celebrate God’s forgiveness in our lives, to share in holy communion, being fed by Jesus who is the Bread of Life.  We gather to share not only our concerns and real tears and fears, but our joys as well, sharing in brief signs of God’s peace with each other, and then being sent out for joyful service to the world.

The Gospel is celebration.  It is joy in the face of a million reasons to despair, to be sad and numb, and to give up hope.  It is God’s love for each of us and for all of creation, poured out with extravagant joy.  Because God is extravagant and the celebration, the feast awaiting us all will be fabulously, over the top, nonsensically extravagant to match God’s joy at being with us all.

Thanks be to God.

choose life! - 16th after pentecost

The first reading is Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

The second reading is Philemon 1-21.

The holy gospel according to Luke (14:25-33)

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus;

       and he turned and said to them,

              ²⁶“Whoever comes to me

              and does not hate parents, spouse and children, siblings,

                     yes, and even life itself,

                            cannot be my disciple.

              ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross

                     and follow me

                            cannot be my disciple.

              ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower,

                     does not first sit down and estimate the cost,

                            to see whether there is enough to complete it?

                     ²⁹Otherwise, when a foundation has been laid

                            and the builder is not able to finish the building,

                                   all who see it will begin to ridicule the builder,

                                          ³⁰saying, ‘This person began to build

                                                 and was not able to finish.’

              ³¹Or what monarch,

                     going out to wage war against another ruler,

                            will not sit down first

                            and consider whether with ten thousand

                                   to oppose the one who comes with twenty thousand?

                            ³²If it is not possible,

                                   then, while the other is still far away,

                                          the monarch sends a delegation

                                          and asks for the terms of peace.

              ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple

                     if you do not give up all your possessions.

The gospel of the Lord.

-----

These texts are tough.  There is nothing easy or exciting about Jesus’ words to the crowds following him—unless you’re an adrenaline junky who gets a high from risking or losing your life, I suppose.

These words are a hard truth for those of us who live in a world that is not black and white—a world made not only of various shades, but of an entire rainbow spectrum of colors, shades, and hues; of jewel tones and ring tones; of family and friends whom we love; of houses, buildings, books, and toys that we cherish; of questions, ambiguities, and endless options.

While there is some nuance to how we translate hate and how we interpret Jesus’ words in particular, the message comes through loud and clear.  There’s no mincing words.

That’s part of what is so tough.  Both in Deuteronomy and in Luke, the words and the call are simple—they’re understandable—“Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”  All you have to do is “obey the commandments of the Lord your God … by loving the Lord your God, walking in the Lord’s ways, and by observing God’s commandments, decrees, and ordinances.” 

Or as Jesus puts it, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate parents, spouse and children, siblings, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” “³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Simple, right?

But simple does not always mean easy.  I give people great, simple advice in competitions all the time.  In fact, if they would just follow my simple advice, they would always win.  You see, to the runners I say, “Run faster than everyone else.”  To those playing sports, my advice is “Score more than the others,” “block all their shots.”

Simple, right?

Easy?  Not so much.

The same goes for today’s texts.  And so together we hunker down to figure out what this choosing life business is all about, especially when Jesus’ call is to take up the cross, an instrument of torture and death that Jesus himself will soon take up.

We will soon find help in figuring this out from Paul in his letter to Philemon, but first in Deuteronomy, Moses challenges the Hebrews, now that God has established another covenant with them and their descendants, to choose where their allegiance, their loyalties lie.  Will they choose life, “²⁰loving the Lord your God, obeying the Lord, and holding fast to your God”?  Or will they choose death, turning away so they “do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them”?

Will they pledge their allegiance to God?  Or to another people, other gods, a nation, or even to themselves?  God, having entered into covenant with them, laying a claim on their lives, waits to see what they choose.

This claim that God lays on all of our lives is a claim of love that we understand through our baptism.  The love that God willingly pours out on us, more abundant even than the water that fills oceans and floods rivers.  This love brings us in our baptism through death with Christ on the cross and into new life and a new way of being. 

This new way of being—this new life—is what Paul calls Philemon to in our second reading.  Paul knows the choices and sets them before Philemon.  This is the real, simple yet not easy, dilemma of choosing life to free Onesimus or choosing death to keep him bound as a slave.

While we may read Paul’s letter as a bit passive aggressive today, in that time, Paul’s rhetoric is understood as a sincere reminder of Philemon’s own call in Christ to this new way of life, this new allegiance.

It would’ve made life way easier, especially when arguing against slavery earlier in our country’s history, if Paul had simply commanded Philemon to free Onesimus, as he is fully capable of doing.  But that’s not how God has ever worked and Paul knows it.  God is always about giving us options and whispering the hope of life to us as we discern.  No matter what, God loves us.  We could do anything and God still loves us.

God enters into a covenantal relationship with us and gives us the choice of how we respond.  As Moses says, “¹⁵See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity” “Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

Paul sets this before Philemon as well.  Affirming the love of God from which Paul, Onesimus, and Philemon all live, Paul is clear as to his hope for Philemon and he is equally clear that it must be a choice.  Paul is not trying to coerce Philemon into anything, but instead, appealing to the love of God already at work in Philemon’s heart and life. 

Paul encourages Philemon to choose life, saying “¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.”

These readings today are not just about whether we cover our heart during the national anthem and pledge allegiance to a flag, the symbol of this country, or refuse and pledge our hearts to God, though those are small ways we choose our allegiances.

Our readings call us to the choice each day in each decision of our lives. 

Do we choose “between what is right and what is easy”?[1]

Do we choose love of neighbor or fear of the “others” who don’t look like us? 

Do we choose to pledge our allegiance to the way of the cross—solidarity and advocacy with the oppressed and marginalized—or to the way of glory—storing up for ourselves wealth and power at the expense of others?

Set before us each day in little ways and in big ways are “life and prosperity, death and adversity.” “life and death, blessings and curses.”

“Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

Choose life so that your neighbor around the world will know peace.

Choose life so that workers will know fair living wages.

Choose life so that the oppressed will know justice.

Choose life so that the outcast will know belonging.

Choose life so that the foreigner will receive sanctuary.

Choose life so that all may freely live.

Choose life as Christ already lives in you.

Amen.

---

[1] Professor Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ch. 37 “The Beginning.”