HARSH WORDS - GOOD NEWS (46 OF 49)
Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
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Harsh Words - Good News (46 of 49)
Lectionary, Year C, Advent 3
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 3:7-18
Harsh words and good news would seem to be contradictory. After all, the birth of a grandchild is wonderful! Then, again, gestation and birthing are not exactly pleasant, or so I am led to believe. We celebrate the end of a war with parades and festivities. Meanwhile, those living in areas ripped apart by the violence of war can't patch everything up overnight. We may celebrate profits and the increase of portfolios, but the same may have come at a cost to others. One team wins the game, while the other crawls home in defeat. One survives cancer, only to be left with life-long repercussions. Perhaps good news and harsh words might be tied closer together than we are wont to believe.
A few years back, I embarked on an economic study of the Hebrew Scriptures. I wanted to discern what the Bible actually taught on issues of economics. It was not something my seminary classes had addressed. It was not something I had ever heard tackled from the pulpit, or in any of the various seminars and workshops I had attended over the years. It was not a chapter in our systematic theology texts. Sure, we talked about economics from the standpoint of how to encourage giving from people sitting in the pews. Sure, we prepared budgets, discussed financial goals, and mentioned tithing as a Biblical standard. I knew as well, that those topics did not do justice with some other things I had come up against over the years.
My father had mentioned at least once that the Hebrew Scriptures required more than just tithing. Tithing was supposed to be on top of other required offerings and sacrifices, like produce for the Feast of First Fruits or the various sacrifice days where animals were slaughtered at the Temple or Tabernacle, allowing the entire nation to eat meat on those feast days. Then there were the refrains in Job's comments about his treatment of the orphan, widow, and imm ...
Lectionary, Year C, Advent 3
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 3:7-18
Harsh words and good news would seem to be contradictory. After all, the birth of a grandchild is wonderful! Then, again, gestation and birthing are not exactly pleasant, or so I am led to believe. We celebrate the end of a war with parades and festivities. Meanwhile, those living in areas ripped apart by the violence of war can't patch everything up overnight. We may celebrate profits and the increase of portfolios, but the same may have come at a cost to others. One team wins the game, while the other crawls home in defeat. One survives cancer, only to be left with life-long repercussions. Perhaps good news and harsh words might be tied closer together than we are wont to believe.
A few years back, I embarked on an economic study of the Hebrew Scriptures. I wanted to discern what the Bible actually taught on issues of economics. It was not something my seminary classes had addressed. It was not something I had ever heard tackled from the pulpit, or in any of the various seminars and workshops I had attended over the years. It was not a chapter in our systematic theology texts. Sure, we talked about economics from the standpoint of how to encourage giving from people sitting in the pews. Sure, we prepared budgets, discussed financial goals, and mentioned tithing as a Biblical standard. I knew as well, that those topics did not do justice with some other things I had come up against over the years.
My father had mentioned at least once that the Hebrew Scriptures required more than just tithing. Tithing was supposed to be on top of other required offerings and sacrifices, like produce for the Feast of First Fruits or the various sacrifice days where animals were slaughtered at the Temple or Tabernacle, allowing the entire nation to eat meat on those feast days. Then there were the refrains in Job's comments about his treatment of the orphan, widow, and imm ...
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