Scott AndersonExodus 12:1-14 † Psalm 149:1-9 † Romans 13:8-14 † Matthew 18:15-20
Do you remember the Somali pirates? They made news about 5 years ago with a spate of ship hijackings off the horn of East Africa. The story gained some traction in the news and lots of mixed reaction, even inspiring the 2013 movie “Captain Phillips” played by Tom Hanks. The movie tells of a 2009 Somali hijacking—the first of an American cargo ship in 200 years. I remember because it was one of those stories that seemed to appear in the news out of nowhere, and then disappear almost as quickly. Piracy in the modern world? Where did this come from? And why? And why now? It turns out political instability—essentially a decades-long civil war had resulted in a missing-in-action Somali government. In the vacuum of leadership and the dismantling of the local navy, foreign ships began to exploit the coast, invading local fishing grounds and poisoning the waters with illegal waste that further decimated the fishing population. It effectively ended the fishing trade that had provided a living for these Somalis and their families. They turned to piracy out of desperation, holding crews hostage for ransom.
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Scott AndersonGenesis 45:1-15 † Psalm 33 † Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 † Matthew 15:10-28
Mother Teresa used to say, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” I don’t know what you think of this. It strikes me at first, like a claim from a more innocent time. It seems inadequate in the face of the recently amplified voices of white supremacy, of oppression and intolerance and hatred—perhaps most unnervingly, from the occupant of the White House whose role is supposedly to speak with a moral voice, to represent all the people, not an intolerant few. It seems inadequate in the echo of extremist voices reviving the language of racial purity and ethnic intolerance. It seems inadequate given these beliefs led to the systematic murder of 7 million Jews and people of color by the Nazi Party of Germany—of people with physical and mental disabilities, and of lesbians and gays and transgendered people who were only trying to be their true selves. It seems inadequate given the long history of slavery, of overt and covert oppression and malicious intimidation of people of African ancestry these past 400 years. It seems inadequate given the ebb and flow of government policies over the life of our troubled nation that have further privileged the interests of the already protected insiders. Perhaps a quick reminder of legislative history in the United States might help us to keep things in context here:[i] Scott Anderson
Franklin and a team of researches visited the scorched slopes of Mount St. Helens after the volcano exploded with the force of multiple atomic bombs in 1980. William Dietrich tells the now familiar story in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Final Forest.[i] The blast laid trees over like a giant comb, burning off the needles and covering the mountainsides with logs like matted brown hair. Ash covered the duff of the forest floor. Humans and large animals caught in the blast were suffocated and roasted. But scientists were surprised at how many small creatures and plants survived the searing heat and began immediately to repair the ecological fabric. Fireweed poked through the ash. Ants scuttled across the gray powder. Gophers burrowed to the surface, beginning to mix the old soil with the new deposits. Insects and seed began to blow across the moonscape. Scott AndersonIsaiah 60:1-6 † Psalm 72:1-7,10-14 † Ephesians 3:1-12 † Matthew 2;1-12
There seems to be some debate as to whether 2016 was a good year or a bad year when you stack it up against others. I don’t know what do you think? A shorthand list makes the case for a pretty disappointing trip around the sun: Syria, Zika, Haiti, Orlando, Nice, Charlotte, Brussels. Or take this angle: Bowie, Prince, Ali, Cohen, Fisher, Reynolds. There were quite a few people who weren’t too happy with votes in the U.S. and Britain, not to mention a few other places. We’ve had our share of personal tragedies and disappointments too. It can wear on us. Make us wonder about things, doubt, despair. I confess to this at times. I lose hope. Of course, there are arguments for the other perspective. Take some 2016 headlines from a recent article:[i] British Columbia protected 85% of one of the world’s largest rainforests. In February, Peru and Bolivia signed a $500 million deal to preserve Lake Titicaca. In March, the U.S. government abandoned its plan for oil and gas drilling in Atlantic waters. After almost 13 years of negotiations, Malaysia established a 1 million hectare marine park. More than 20 countries pledged over $5 billion for ocean conservation this year by creating 40 new marine sanctuaries covering 1.3 million square miles. New research showed that acid pollution in the atmosphere is back down to the level it was before industrialization in the 1930s. Scott AndersonJeremiah 18:1-11 | Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 | Philemon 1-21 | Luke 14:25-33
There is no escaping faith. This is important to understand. You have to believe in something. When Jesus spins around and confronts this large crowd who is following him with a word that sounds harsh and confrontational and impossible, he is at least making this truth plain. There is no such thing as neutral living. If you choose not to give yourself to something, you have given yourself to something else by virtue of your choice. If you choose to be inactive about something you are, at the least, supporting the status quo. No matter what you do, you are giving yourself to something. The question is to what. |
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