Savior Not Broker: a Reflection on Psalm 5, Isaiah 42:10-17, Ephesians 3:1-13, and Mark 2:13-22

I will not forget my reaction when Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called out Citibank. Elizabeth Warren sides with the underdog. “Who does Congress work for?” Warren asked. “Does it work for the millionaires, the billionaires, the giant companies with their armies of lobbyists and lawyers?” I said, “Amen, sister, without missing a beat.” Sen. Warren’s “no” vote on the spending bill last December was to no avail (56-40); or was it.

The psalmist cries out for God to listen; to give heed to his voice. And God comforts the psalmist with an answer that evildoers will bear their guilt.

Isaiah challenges the people to sing a new song; the song of God’s salvation. Even in the midst of their suffering, judgment, and pain, God wants the people to sing the new reality; the new vision; the new truth; the new song!

I believe Christians need to become more like Elizabeth Warren. No, she is not the savior. But, she speaks her conscience and she speaks for the majority of Americans who are tired of the wealthier getting wealthier on the backs of the poorer.

Paul was a prisoner of Christ for the sake of others. He lived his life to show the way…the plan of salvation in Jesus. Jesus’s preference was always for the marginalized, oppressed, outcast, and sinner.

I need salvation. And so do many of the nearly 300 million citizens in the United States…the over 6 billion citizens of the world. We need to be reconciled with our Creator. We also need to eat, not be homeless, receive medical care, and take responsibility for our actions.

Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy. Let’s look in the mirror and respond to Jesus the physician, not the broker.

Scripture readings are taken from the two-year daily lectionary cycle which follows the liturgical calendar and begins on the First Sunday of Advent.