Ordinary 15C – July 14, 2019

Luke 10:25-37, Amos 7

At a pharmacy, a woman tried to use the infant scale to weigh the baby she held in her arms. The pharmacy technician explained that the device was out for repairs, but said that she would figure the infant’s weight by weighing the mother and baby together on an adult scale, then weighing the mother alone and subtracting the second amount from the first. “That won’t work,” countered the woman. “I’m NOT the mother, I’m the aunt.”

Bef0re the dinner party the thief instructs his wife, ” Do not use the silver spoons.” The wife responds,”Why, are you afraid that the guests might steal them.” “No,” he answers. “I am afraid that the guests might recognize them.”

Sometimes when Jesus tells a story, he scatters pieces of information that allow us to identify ourselves, our lives in the story. Sometimes we do not like who we are when we are the shallow ground on the path where the seeds cannot take root, or we find ourselves in the older son. We would readily identify with all of the good religious people in this parable in any other context. Here, we want to say, but this is not about me. Or we want to ask, how do we know when we need to step out of our normal routine. One answer might simply be, because someone is hurting.

Hope that you can find the humor helpful! Have a blessed week. – Laurin