The good news here is that it is Jesus who takes away the sin of the world, not you and me. It is Jesus who scoops up all the ways that we have fallen short, all the ways that this broken and violent world falls short of God’s intention, all the horrors of war, criminal behavior, illness, and despair, and takes them away. The good news is that forgiveness is not a burden placed upon us, but a gift.
If we see our relationship with God in the world’s transactional framework, we are doomed. We can never earn our way to freedom.
The good news here, hidden between the pack of dogs and the flames of Hades, is that the word of God may come to us, surprise us, from anywhere and anyone.
The church, I think, has spent too much time asking for sad money, for obligation money, for “Please give now so we can pay the bills” money. But, that’s not what Jesus talks about when he talks about money in the present age. He talks about the power of giving away money and stuff to change the world, to break the power of Mammon.
