...while supplies last

God pours the Holy Spirit on all those who believe,

on women, men, and children who would God’s grace receive.

That Spirit knows no limit, bestowing life and power.

The church, formed and reforming, responds in every hour.

---Jane Parker Huber, 1981

*while supplies last. Surely these words were designed to strike fear in the hearts of every red-blooded human on the face of the earth. If you might run out of something, I need one. Who am I kidding?...I probably need two. And if there is a countdown clock in the corner of the QVC screen or the Instagram ad (check your generation), those beads of sweat, and a sudden desire for previously unknown (but now totally life-giving) goods pop out all over.

Is there a better marketing principle discovered than the principle of scarcity? It stands to reason that if something is in short supply, only the real winners will end up possessing it. The rest of us? The waited-too-late, didn’t-pay-attention, stayed-in-on-Black-Friday, don’t-queue-up-for-Ticketmaster-at-midnight, wasn’t-tuned-in-to-the-faint-ache-of-longing-that-was-emptiness ones? Oh, yeah…the losers? Well, we’re gonna lose. That’s the way of the world, baby. Winners and losers—get used to it.

But on Pentecost, the rules go out the window. It’s not that winners and losers switch places, though Jesus used to talk about that scenario sometimes. No, at Pentecost, the only loser is the principle of scarcity. Here in this gathering of believers, inquisitive onlookers, and straight-up gawkers, the Spirit breathed a new sort of energy on God’s love story. And for once, it seemed, there were no losers, and there was no FOMO (fear of missing out). This Spirit was like the wind, or fire, and didn’t have to be measured or conserved. There was plenty for everyone, and more.

Still is. Still is.

...fruit basket turnover!

In darkest night his coming shall be, when all the world is despairing,
as morning light so quiet and free, so warm and gentle and caring.
Then shall the mute break forth in song, the lame shall leap in wonder,
the weak be raised above the strong, and weapons be broken asunder.
---Marty Haugen, 1983

Sweet, smiley-face Jesus. Baby Jesus. Hug-the-children Jesus. Gentle hippie Jesus. What in the world could be so threatening about this guy? What is it that got Jesus on the Wanted: Dead or Alive list with the government, at the same time he managed to alienate the top guys in the religious establishment? What's the problem with a fella trying to bring a little light to the world?

Nothing, really. Unless you've got light. And you're worried Jesus just might be thinking of spreading some of yours around to 'them'. Yikes. Light redistribution. Because, really, when we hear the stories about Jesus preaching relief to the poor, the prisoner, the lost, the downtrodden, people on the fringes, our impulse is to hear Jesus talking to us. But if we're honest, most of us aren't those things. Not here in America. We're the 1% of the world. So Jesus' good news might well have felt pretty threatening to us back then, too.

That's because we buy into a gospel of scarcity, a theory that there is not enough of...whatever. And if there is not enough, we'd better hold on to ours. If there is not enough healing, not enough food, not enough justice, not enough protection --- I'm gonna get mine. And any dude preaching craziness about the first being last, and new kingdoms where everything is turned upside down, and enough love for the unlovable, won't last long in this place, Son of God or not.

But it's a lie. There is enough. There. is. enough. It's dark now, but the dawn is coming. Everything will look different in the quiet light of morning. Everything will change. And that's ok. Good news...fruit basket turnover!

The Currency of Love

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine:
Love was born at Christmas; star and angel gave the sign.
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine;
Love to God and others, love for plea and gift and sign.

In this lovely poem by Christina Rosetti, a world where love is the currency of the realm is imagined. It got me to thinking; what would our world be like if its most valued, most precious, and most plentiful resource was love? What if, instead of money, we threw love at the problems of our world? What if we lavishly spent our love on each other, confident that more could just be 'minted'? Imagine a currency with no scarcity!

In our world, love is available freely to us, with no scarcity or shortage. The thing is, I think it is a little like the manna the people encountered in their wanderings in the wilderness. That manna fell in plentiful supply, with enough for everyone, every single day. Human nature being what it is though, there were those who tried to hoard the manna against some future scarcity, thinking to safeguard or enrich themselves. The thing about the manna, though, is that it was only good if used (eaten) the day it fell; otherwise, that manna spoiled and rotted, tucked away for greed.

Let us trust enough in the Maker of Love to lavishly spend our love on God and each other, confident in its unending supply. Yes, we can 'just print more'!