Neli ML

Proper 26. October 30, 2022 Lucas 19:1-10 Rev. Neli Miranda    As you may recall, l ast week’s parable was about a tax collector, and again, today’s gospel brings us a story about another tax collector, a sinner who found God’s favor. Remember, tax collectors, though wealthy, were among the most hated and despised social figures in Jesus’ time. Yet, Jesus broke with this practice of exclusion. He welcomed and socialized with all those despised and marginalized, and proclaimed them the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ practices of inclusion attracted the opposition of the religious leaders: And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (5,2). These religious leaders could not conceive that God’s grace is inclusive. Therefore, Jesus used the image of the despised, such as tax collectors, to teach that God’s grace is not exclusive to a religious group but open to all, particularly to those who live a broken life—the lost. Remem

Proper 25. October 23, 2022 Luke 18:9-14 Rev. Neli ML   “Praised (be the Lord) that He did not make me a heathen, for all the heathens are as nothing before Him… praised be He, that He did not make me a woman, for woman is not under obligation to fulfill the law; praised by He that He did not make me ... an uneducated man, for the uneducated man is not cautious to avoid sins.” [i] This was a prayer taught by Rabbi Judah (second century C.E.) to be said every day and portrays a Jewish mentality of exclusivity amid humanity. Notice that it excludes all those who are not Jews and all women from God’s favor.   In today’s Gospel we read a similar prayer coming from a Pharisee, “ God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector…” (18:11). In the parable told by Jesus two persons, a pharisee and a tax collector, approach God in prayer. From the beginning, we are told that this parable is addressed to those who believ

  Proper 23. October 9, 2022. Luke 17, 11-19 Rev. Neli Miranda Borders are intricate places where various human groups intersect and where harsh living conditions prevail. Although borders are points of transition, there are many people living there under extreme vulnerability. At the borders there are poor and sick people, migrants, and beggars; there one finds violence, prostitution, drugs, and human trafficking, among other issues. In today’s Gospel, Luke tells us that as Jesus heads toward Jerusalem, he goes through a borderland between Galilee and Samaria, which did not exist when Samaritans and Galileans were one people, the people of Israel. However, now there was division and a feeling of mutual rejection. Of course, there was no border control between Samaria and Galilea, but there was a social and religious boundary which created an uncomfortable situation for Jesus and his disciples. It was at the border, one of insecurity, vulnerability, and misery that Jesus brough

  Proper 22. October 2, 2022 Luke 17:5-10 Rev. Neli ML In the preceding verses of today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his first disciples how to be a community of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. First, he warns his disciples against causing the “little ones” to sin, that is, to keep the vulnerable, the poor, and those in need from a relationship with God. “ It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin,” Jesus warns his disciples (17:1). Jesus, then, teaches the disciples how to deal with offenders in the community through a process of reconciliation and forgiveness, which begins by rebuking an offender. The action of rebuking involves telling a fellow believer that he or she has done something wrong. It is expected that after being rebuked, the offender asks for forgiveness and receives it from the one who was offended. Thereafter, the community returns to peace. The p