Good Fruit

Matthew 21:43 - "Therefore, I tell you that the kin-dom of God will be taken away from you (plural) and given to people who will produce her fruits."

Ouch. Now all doubt about who Jesus was talking about has been removed. He is talking to the chief priests and elders, but also to us as well. The chief priests were heirs to the kin-dom and let that go to their heads so much, they convinced themselves they had all the answers ... for everyone. They began producing bad fruit or no fruit at all. Therefore, they were in danger of losing their inheritance.

This is because the inheritance was the result of the covenants God made with Abraham and all his offspring. A covenant differs from a promise in that a covenant requires specific actions from both parties. If either party fails to fulfill their obligations, the other party is free to ignore the covenant. The chief priests and the elders forgot or failed to fulfill their obligations to produce good fruit and instead began enjoying the perks of their office, to the detriment of their fellow Jewish people. Jesus tells them they're producing bad fruit - they are the tenants who killed the landlord's only son.

So are we, to the extent that we fail to produce the fruits of the kin-dom. Over this past weekend, the news was saturated with students from Stoneman Douglas High School pushing back against 45's egregious and heartless tweets and organizing walk outs and marches. They are energizing people to continue to push back against the NRA and Republican death-dealing agenda. I encourage us all to stand with these young adults in any way we can as they work to produce the fruit of God's kin-dom. We can find out when and where they are marching in our cities and try to be there in solidarity. We can send money if that is possible. We can pray, too. Although, that comes with a caveat that we must follow our prayer with action.

Also, we should push back against the constant narrative that all white mass shooters are mentally ill. Most mentally ill people, like most mentally healthy people, are not violent. Just because these shooters have such resentment and anger, does not mean they are clinically mentally ill. This is a slur against people experiencing such illness. Please push back against this word usage and narrative and call these people what they are - terrorists.

We are lucky here in America. We have a system of government that - theoretically - gives us all a voice. Jesus lived under the Roman occupation of Israel, so he did not confront Rome directly. We, however, can do so without consequences. In fact, we have a duty as citizens to hold our elected representatives accountable to us - not the NRA. Unfortunately, the Republicans have forgotten or just plain don't care about their duties to the American people and are worshiping at the altar of mammon, which the NRA bestows liberally. Yet, they are not sacrificing anything of theirs; they are sacrificing our children on that altar. How many more will it take for us to speak out more boldly? How many children dying is acceptable? How many children will we condemn to feeling unsafe at school? or worse, being shot?

All of us, no matter what age, deserve to feel safe in our schools, homes, offices, and outdoors. We won't achieve that perfectly, but we can and should do better. Let's not follow the example of the tenants, the chief priests or the elders. Instead, let us follow Jesus in producing good fruit.