Satisfied Living (21)
Lectionary, Year C, Pentecost Sunday
Christopher B. Harbin
John 14:8-17
It has been said there are plenty of resources to feed everyone the world over, if only we could satisfy the rich. I like to think I get an exclusion on that count, as I am not rich by US standards. Then again, I am part of this society comprising 4% of the world population and consuming 25% of world resources. Median household income would put me far ahead of the majority of the world’s population. It does not exempt me from my own attachment to greed, to wanting more, to not being satisfied, to measuring my comfort and welfare against my perceptions of people I think are better off than I. Many US households earning $250K a year claim to live paycheck to paycheck. Can we ever have enough? Can we ever be satisfied financially, socially, or even spiritually? Why do we always want more?
The disciples had just spent three years with Jesus. Wow! Wouldn’t that be great? Some of you may have traveled to Israel to see first hand some of those same places Jesus likely went, where he slept, where he preached, where he healed, where he taught, where he stilled storms and walked on water. In the case of these disciples, however, they weren’t just visiting the Holy Land, they were living there with Jesus, hearing his very words in the Aramaic they spoke, smelling the same smells, walking the same roads, and encountering the same people. What a blessing that would have been! I know many who dream of taking a trip to Jerusalem to see first hand what it looks like today, some 2,000 years later. These guys were right there with Jesus, not as front row spectators, but part of Jesus’ very band!
Then we turn to John 14, listening in on their conversation that last night with Jesus, and Philip tells us he is not satisfied. He says none of them were satisfied. They all wanted a bit more from Jesus. They wanted not only to see Jesus, to share bread and living quarters with him, n ...
Lectionary, Year C, Pentecost Sunday
Christopher B. Harbin
John 14:8-17
It has been said there are plenty of resources to feed everyone the world over, if only we could satisfy the rich. I like to think I get an exclusion on that count, as I am not rich by US standards. Then again, I am part of this society comprising 4% of the world population and consuming 25% of world resources. Median household income would put me far ahead of the majority of the world’s population. It does not exempt me from my own attachment to greed, to wanting more, to not being satisfied, to measuring my comfort and welfare against my perceptions of people I think are better off than I. Many US households earning $250K a year claim to live paycheck to paycheck. Can we ever have enough? Can we ever be satisfied financially, socially, or even spiritually? Why do we always want more?
The disciples had just spent three years with Jesus. Wow! Wouldn’t that be great? Some of you may have traveled to Israel to see first hand some of those same places Jesus likely went, where he slept, where he preached, where he healed, where he taught, where he stilled storms and walked on water. In the case of these disciples, however, they weren’t just visiting the Holy Land, they were living there with Jesus, hearing his very words in the Aramaic they spoke, smelling the same smells, walking the same roads, and encountering the same people. What a blessing that would have been! I know many who dream of taking a trip to Jerusalem to see first hand what it looks like today, some 2,000 years later. These guys were right there with Jesus, not as front row spectators, but part of Jesus’ very band!
Then we turn to John 14, listening in on their conversation that last night with Jesus, and Philip tells us he is not satisfied. He says none of them were satisfied. They all wanted a bit more from Jesus. They wanted not only to see Jesus, to share bread and living quarters with him, n ...
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