soul health

Thursday November 12^th, Mark 12: ³⁸As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, ³⁹and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." I heard an interesting sermon on vacation. It was an ELCA church with the text of the disciples arguing who was to be the greatest. The basic premise of the sermon was that Jesus was a good leader who set them straight, we need good leaders, that is why we need to support the CEO’s making the big bucks. Needless to say, I don’t agree. We have way too many examples of groups like Goldman-Sachs looking for way of making a quick buck at the expense of the widow’s houses. The drive for the quick buck at the expense of others has become for some the American way. It is not American, and it is not new. These scoundrels were around in Jesus’ day wrapped in the flag of the church. Jesus called them out for the health of the community as well as the health of their very souls. The church should do nothing less.