Do you know who said this, “Let no one pull you so low as to hate them. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” (1963)” Martin Luther King said it in 1956 in Montgomery Alabama.  How radical and current this message was then and how radical and current it is for us today. Love is stronger than hate. It is the commandment that Jesus gives to us and that our churches proclaim confidently especially on Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the French word, Mande meaning command or mandate. It has reference to the washing of the Apostles’ feet by Christ on Thursday evening before Jesus’ death and the sacrament of communion comes from that. Jesus says in the gospel of John: Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. [John 13:34]  This is the bottom line of our faith, and it is something that cannot be compromised or sacrificed.

Okay, who said this, “The Canadian loonie has hit parity for the first time in 31 years.” Okay that was a trick question. That was the Winnipeg Free Press business section. It’s a strange system we’ve built in which if the loonie is strong half of Canada is happy and the other half is not. And if the loonie is weak the other half of Canada is happy and the other half of Canada is not. And the bottom line of this kind of system is to make more money.

But he’s right. There are so many unanswered questions in this parable that some preachers call it embarrassing. A sleazy manager is praised as a perceptive, wise and clever guy by acting selfishly to gain a few friends to stand beside him when his job runs out. How could anyone approve of someone trying to weasel himself out of trouble to save his own skin? Is Jesus telling us that cheating is okay as long as in the process you get yourself a few friends? Where are the ethics? I would like to call Jesus in here and watch him tell the parable. I’d like to see his body language. Maybe we would see whether or not he is talking tongue in cheek. Is he saying tongue-in-cheek that we are not to act like this conniving manager acts but that we are to be resourceful in discerning what God wants for us. The bottom line in the parable is ambiguous. But it is there. The dishonest manager quits trying to make money and works at trying to make friends. It’s in there—really.

The bottom line!

When I attended Agassiz Presbytery this past week I heard the following statement more than a few times: “If your mission (i.e. bottom line) is to keep the church doors open then you will fail. But if your mission is to do mission then you will succeed beyond belief.” And I would like to add that whenever we talk about doing mission we need to ask ourselves, “Whose mission are we doing?” Maybe Luke includes this odd parable into the gospel message to show how easy it is for us to be pulled away from loving one another as Jesus has loved us. In the parable, before we know it we find ourselves admiring a slick crook in a crooked world. Sometimes we start out with good intentions but our circumstances pull us away from doing what God wants us to do. Sometimes the way of rural life here pulls us away from our mission. Rural church issues are very real and can pull us so low, away from our main vision or mission. For example:

• Do you feel that you are being dismissed by others? There is a book out called “The Cavalry Won’t Be  Coming” Who cares about those rural folk out in the outback?

• Do you worry that your precious resources that life and livelihood depend on: land, water, air are just there for the taking.

• What about the issue of depopulation? And what about the ones who stay? Some people call it compassion fatigue when we become tired of caring for others because there are so many others who need help and care.

• Do you feel that outsiders pollute the rivers and suck up the ground water, leaving toxic waste strewn across the landscape. 

• And I think one of the biggest issues for rural folk is this thing called shame. It is so easy to start believing the labels that others who are in pain themselves try to project onto us. Shame that comes by way of giving in to the tremendous pressure to consume. Let us be sure that whatever goes on in the empire of consumerism has its quickest and largest impact in here rural areas.

It’s hard to stay focused in rural areas, and not to be pulled down low, away from our central vision of the Christian faith, when all is moving in on us. How do we keep ourselves focused on the bottom line of our faith when we live in a heartless world? Maybe each week we need to read our mission statement in worship along with the creed, and keep it out front and centre.

Well, maybe our weak savior, Jesus Christ can help us out. Our savior who began life dwelling among us as a tiny helpless needy, crying infant. Our savior who calls us out through promise whispered through our hearts saying, “Follow me, and I will give you rest.” Our savior who proclaims that the great power of the kingdom of God lies in washing each others feet. Our savior who even in a horrible death was not pulled so low that he began to hate, but loved right to the end, all the way through to death on the cross and to life beyond the cross. Let no one pull us so low that we hate. Let us love one another as Jesus has loved us. Remember, as Jesus has loved us, love one another!