Vine & Fig

Beloved:

Language can be so imprecise. If I were to ask a friend to borrow a blue scarf, she might lend me one the colour of a cornflower or a shade of the ocean. If you give a stranger directions to a shop that is “just down the road”, he may not know whether to expect to keep walking for five minutes, or ten, or twenty. Jesus often speaks in parables for this reason – sometimes, by using a lot of words to encircle the idea of something, you can understand it better than if you approached it outright.

Today’s readings seemed vague to me, ephemeral, because of these terms “rich” and “poor”. Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. What do these words mean in this context? Rich does not necessarily or exclusively mean wealthy, it means powerful, and poor connotes not only material lack but also vulnerability. Though our Lord Jesus Christ was powerful, he became vulnerable, so that by his vulnerability you might become powerful. Jesus walked this world not as a god, but as a person. He lived a life of radical solidarity with everyday people, people who had very little, people who were excluded and marginalized by bigoted social norms and brutal state rule. He didn’t do this alone – he was supported by his mother, traveled alongside his friends, and cared for by the communities where he ministered. Through being vulnerable and accepting God’s gifts delivered through others around him, Jesus showed us how amazing we can be, when we work together and with God.

God wants not only for those with means to give to the poor, for the mighty to assist the vulnerable. God’s desire for humankind is to end all divisions – for the lowly from the dust to be seated beside the princes of God’s own people, for us all to be united and equal. This takes more than just alms and charity work, this calls for an end to poverty and an end to all binary models of power. The first reading cartoonishly parodies those who follow religious rules but not their substance – those who are impatient for periods of rest to end so they may satiate their greed, and are not afraid to use dishonesty to add to their wealth. Today’s equivalent might be those among us who would place a dollar in the cup of a homeless man, but protest the building of low-income housing in our neighbourhood. Caring for the poor and vulnerable is about more than adhering to a rule, it’s about enacting difficult social changes to end marginalization. It’s about reimagining a healthcare system that affirms transgender lives, it’s about investing in recovery and rehabilitation instead of institutionalization and incarceration, it’s about making media that’s not just those same three straight white able-bodied love stories over and over again, it’s about making a social culture where sexual assault is unthinkable instead of commonplace.

Serving God and building God’s kingdom comes directly in conflict with worldly pragmatism. You cannot serve both God and mammon. It’s easier to get ahead as an individual or an exclusive group than to do the slow work of being in solidarity with your community and humankind. It’s simpler to accept that your employer gives you a higher salary than unionize with your colleagues so all can be paid fairly. It’s politically “logical” for wealthy gays and lesbians to disengage from LGBT activism post-marriage equality, although the struggles of queer and trans people affected by housing and employment discrimination remain. For some among us, equality is going to cost something – comfort, power, privilege. God invites us to fix our hearts on more than the small goals of the self. God invites us to be vulnerable and powerful at the same time. We have incredible challenges before us in this broken world – but if we are to overcome them, I am certain that we will only do it as all of us, together, as God’s people.

Grab on tightly to me now, and don’t let go. Language can be so imprecise. Put another way what I’m trying to say is, I love you