Daily lesson for September 30, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 5 verses 18 through 24:

18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

I once heard Brian McLaren say that the mainstream religion of Jesus' day had become a kind of giant spiritual protection racket. Protection rackets work like this: say you open up a shop in a rough area of town and before too long a guy comes to you and says, "This is a rough neighborhood with lots of robberies and you really can't trust the police to protect you. But for a thousand bucks a month me and some of my boys will make sure this store never gets robbed. We guarantee it. But if you don't let us help you I guarantee your store will get robbed and you may end up getting hurt - bad." Of course, it's a scam. Who you really need protection from is the guy who has come to see you.

Sometimes religion really can be like that. It can be coercive and abusive and vulnerable people can fall victim to exploitation. They will pay whatever it takes to their church or priest in order to feel secure and protected from God's wrath. And, of course, their church and their priest profess to be the only arbiter's of God's forgiveness.

 Part of what made Jesus so many enemies among the religious caste was his rejection of the whole Temple religious cult protection racket. We see it in the story today. Men come bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus and seeing their faith Jesus tells the man his sins are forgiven. The religious scribes and Pharisees are incredulous. "What right does he have to offer forgiveness?" they ask. "He is not authorized to so so." But then Jesus heals the man, showing that He does indeed have the right to forgive sins. "Rise," he says.

There are some reading this who may be suffering under the exploitation of a spiritual protection racket. You desire to have your sins let go but somebody has told you have to go to church, tithe, walk the aisle, pay the priest, sleep with the priest, kill a chicken, or do anything else in order for it to happen. If that's you, hear this: You don't have to live in fear of God. You do not need protection from God. Your sins are forgiven.

Now rise and walk -- away from that system of exploitation and all the fear-based thinking that goes with it.