THE Rant Jesus Continually and Adamantly Shares as Gospel

 The Inclusive Bible translation begins today’s Gospel:

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of our inheritance.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who has set me up as your judge or arbiter?

Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Avoid greed in all its forms. Your life isn’t made more secure by what you own ---even when you have more than you need.”

 

This is Jesus’ schtick. Little does the question asker know that Jesus’ buttons have been pushed. This is Jesus’ opportunity to continue THE rant.  Luke records THE rant in detail. An embodied rant articulated in parable after parable, healing after healing, confrontation after confrontation. From the moment of birth, in a stable, surrounded by shepherds- Jesus has been saying the same thing!

THE rant  -embody kindom  - live and bring God’s kindom now; right now! Always!

 

THE rant specifies NOW.

Jesus states I am not judge or arbiter… who cast me in this roll?

Humans, the church, theologians, preachers preaching judgement, that to live is to work toward one’s meeting their maker with a clean conscience, accumulating treasures in heaven, for some day when the next life will be better than this one, where all will be set right. 

Hogwash! That is not THE rant Jesus continually and adamantly shares as Gospel.

This statement, “I am not your judge,” is the clue that THE rant is about now and not some far off day or whenever your day of death comes.

Later on, THE rant embodied comes full circle in the Gospel’s telling of Jesus on the cross, not judging the criminal beside him, rather extending solidarity, hospitality, welcome, NOW - even in the messiness of suffering and dying. Right then in that moment kindom is embodied, lived, and brought.

 

THE rant uses parable to draw listeners in and to point out natural human impulses and their folly. This story explores the human impulse of greed.

THE rant, however we hear and interpret it, is not about greed.  Before the story Jesus clearly says, “Avoid greed.”

So avoid greed, attune your ears and heart to hear what THE rant is about.

There was a good harvest, better than good; there was an over-abundance.

In the background I hear the words from Psalm 107:

God has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.

But only, if more barns to store the excess are not built; only when people embody kindom -

Commonwealth. One body. Global community – is thirst satisfied, the hungry filled NOW; always!

THE rant Jesus is reiterating is embodying, living, and bringing kindom. There is abundance, the kindom embodiment and response is to avoid greed, the opposite of which is generosity.

Generosity; now! Always!

 

 

Psychology Today states that, “Greed is the disordered desire for more than is decent or deserved, not for the greater good but for one’s own selfish interest, and at the detriment of others and society at large.”

 

Greed is so bad…. How bad is it?... it is so bad it has a psychiatric diagnosis; according to an article on truthout.org greed is labeled Wealth Accumulation Disorder.

Greed comes with friends; well more like a gang – bringing stress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, despair; behaviours that include gambling, hoarding, saving things for a rainy day, trickery, theft/fraud; addiction; consumption.

Oh, that humans would be cured of Wealth Accumulation Disorder.

Oh, that there was a psychiatric diagnosis for generosity; like Distributive Wealth Quotient or Collective Abundance Spectrum.

 

Embodied Greed – each of us embodies greed. We work in systems constructed on greed, participate in a culture fueled by greed, and live in a society built on a history of greed.

Emancipation day, the Doctrine of discovery, climate catastrophes, war in Ukraine, destruction of trees in the Public Gardens, et cetera… greed connects them all.

 

Jesus’ words throughout Luke are a retelling of ‘love God, love your neighbour.’ Avoid greed, Jesus says. Doing so is keeping the commandments: no killing, no stealing, no adultery, no coveting- all sins wrapped up in greed.

 

THE rant – the Gospel Jesus is preaching – is abundance and generosity; every story contains these things; every one of them… read the Gospel of Luke from beginning to end hunting for abundance, generosity; you will be amazed. And every encounter in the Gospel has God-embodied, kindom, in the person of Jesus – that’s why Luke’s Gospel contains the Advent-Christmas stories; so that we get it from the start.  God became human and dwells among us. God’s kindom has come near. Right then; right NOW; always.

 

THE rant – embodied kindom – embodied generosity – embodied abundance – pops up here there and everywhere there is greed; spewing Gospel on power, empire, systems, history, and disordered desires.  THE rant is not about judgement, it is not a future day, it is not preparing for death; THE rant is --- living embodied and generous lives in God’s abundance; NOW; always.

 

If you are the sort that likes a to-do list or a person who likes to make an action plan; do it – create a list and/or plan based on how to live generously and seek out abundance.  You can make a chart that reflects how embodied in kindom you feel; record what actions you take. Do what you need to do to live passionately the Gospel Jesus embodied and continually preached.

 

Avoid greed. Live embodied and generous lives in God’s abundance.