Words of Welcome

  Luke 16:19-31 At Christmas time our family watches as many versions of A Christmas Carol as we can. In Dickens’ tale, we see a man consumed by money. As time goes on, he turns everyone around him into an object to be used and abused. Scrooge’s life story reflects the word we hear in 1 Timothy 6. According to that word,  “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” ( 1 Tim. 6:10 ).  While the pursuit of wealth plays a central role in the Christmas Carol and in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, there is one major difference. Scrooge doesn’t spend his money on himself. However, neither Scrooge nor the Rich Man, show any concern for the needs of their neighbors. Scrooge has only one goal in life, and that’s to fill his vault with gold. Even though he’s the richest person in town, he’s also the most miserable. Since he’s miserable, he makes everyone else’s life miserable. Fortunately for Ebenezer Scrooge, he receives a visit from the ghost of his former partner, Jaco

  Luke 15:1-10 There are “in crowds” and the “not-so-in crowds.”  It’s always better to be part of the in-crowd, even if that means living on the margins of the group. At least you’re inside the circle! Unfortunately, not everyone gets to live inside the circle. Even churches have cliques that by design exclude certain people. These cliques might not have secret codes or handshakes, but they do send signals letting people know they’re not welcome.             We see this played out in the 2007 movie Hair Spray. In that movie, John Travolta plays Edna Turnblad, the obese mother of an overweight but determined daughter named Tracy. Edna watches as her very talented daughter is kept from achieving her dream of dancing on the Corny Collins Show. Although Tracy is a very good dancer, she doesn’t fit the youth-oriented variety show’s image of a dancer. So, the “powers that be” collude to make sure she doesn’t get on the show. Even when a slip of fate lets her get on the show, her detrac

  Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 The Psalmist invites us to sing God’s praises  because we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Not only is God the creator of the universe, but God has formed our inward parts and knit us together in our mother’s womb. That means we matter to God.  The first creation account reveals that we are created in God’s image. Then in the second creation account, in Genesis 2, it’s revealed that God’s hands got dirty when God created the first human. Jeremiah reinforces that message when he describes God’s relationship to Israel in terms of God the potter. While Jeremiah uses that image to speak of God’s judgment on Israel, we can also read into that imagery a sense of God’s intimate relationship with creation. So, it appears that God isn’t concerned about dirty hands! ( Jer., 18:1-11 ) All of this suggests that life is sacred. Just as the Psalmist speaks of God’s intimate relationship with God’s creation, the prologue to John’s Gospel reinforces that message.