- Activist Feedback
- Commentary on the Lectionary for March 3, Luke 13:1-9; A Parable
for Our Time
- This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
1. Activist Feedback
John, who leafleted at Third Day
inFairfax, VA, writes:
This event went well! Thank you all for
the support. I gave out about 220 CVA booklets and about 25-40
Vegetarian Starter Kits (From where I work, PCRM) during about 1 hour
and 15 minutes at the west entry of the Patriot Center. It was
pretty cold but I had on several layers and wore my t-shirt underneath
my coat. I had my coat unzipped so hopefully people might see the CVA
shirt =) I had about three people tell me that they were already
vegetarian. Being a fan of Third Day, I also had purchased a
ticket and was very blessed by the show!
Thank you for another
opportunity to work on behalf of CVA.
Upcoming Activist
Opportunities
3/7 MS
Tupelo
Winter Jam Christian Concert
3/8
LA Bossier City Winter
Jam Christian Concert Tour
3/8
WV Morgantown Brandon Heath 3 in 1 Tour
3/8 MO Maryland Heights
WOF Celebrate What Matters: Up Close
3/8-9
IA Des Moines Acquire the Fire 2012-2013
"Relentless Pursuit"
3/9 PA
Philadelphia WOF
Revolve Tour This Love
3/9 OK
Tulsa
Winter Jam Christian Concert
3/10 AR
Little Rock
Winter Jam Christian Concert
3/10
PA Lancaster Brandon Heath 3 in 1 Tour
3/14-16 FL Orlando
Joyce Meyers
3/15-16 SC Greenville
Extraordinary Women's Conference
3/15-16 CA San Diego
Acquire the Fire 2012-2013 "Relentless Pursuit"
3/15-16
OK Tulsa
Acquire the Fire 2012-2013 "Relentless Pursuit"
3/15-16
IL Normal
Hearts at Home 2013 National Conference
3/16
NY Syracuse WOF Celebrate
What Matters: Up Close
3/22-23 NC Winston-Salem
Acquire the Fire 2012-2013 "Relentless Pursuit"
3/22-23
MN Minneapolis
Acquire the Fire 2012-2013 "Relentless Pursuit"
3/24
NY New York
Veggie Pride Parade NYC 2013
3/21
IA Davenport Brandon Heath BranDisa Tour
3/23 OR Tualatin
WOF Revolve Tour This Love
3/28 MO
Springfield Winter Jam
3/29
KS Wichita
Winter Jam
3/30
TX San Antonio
Winter Jam
4/12-13 AL Birmingham
Extraordinary Women's Conference
4/20
TN Knoxville TABLE EarthFest 2013
4/21 CA San Diego
San Diego Earth Fair
5/19 CA Lake
Balboa TABLE
WorldFest 2013 Earth Day Festival
2. Commentary on the
Lectionary for March 3, Luke 13:1-9; A Parable for Our Time
In
this passage, Jesus says the following parable:
A man had a
fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and
found none. And he said to the vinedresser, “Lo, these three years I
have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it
down; why should it use up the ground?” And he answered him, “Let it
alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And
if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it
down.”
As I see it, humanity is much like the fig tree. Just
as the fig tree was given water and good soil to grow and flourish, so
too has modern humanity been blessed with abundant resources with
which humanity may thrive. Just as the fig tree was expected to bear
fruit, so too should God expect humanity to live respectfully and
peacefully with the rest of Creation. Humanity has the intelligence
and the resources to live harmoniously with the rest of Creation, yet
humanity has chosen the opposite path, harming nonhumans almost as
much as humanity possibly can. Indeed, nearly all of humanity’s
remarkable technologies and access to natural resources have been used
in ways that harm the greatest number of animals in the most abusive
manners possible.
So, if God delivers judgment and justice,
how would God respond? If humanity is lucky, God would give humanity
one last chance, just as Jesus gives the fig tree another year to
produce. Personally, I am skeptical that God intervenes in human and
world affairs in this way. However, I don’t think divine intervention
is necessary here. Humanity’s selfishness and callousness – the
attitudes that underpin humanity’s brutal exploitation of nonhumans –
has generated unsustainable, self-destructive practices that include,
but are not limited to, depletion of non-renewable resources, global
warming, intensive farming practices that displace sustainable farmers
and result in extreme poverty that is an impetus for war, and animal
agribusiness practices that generate resistance to antibiotics and
facilitate spread of deadly diseases from nonhumans to humans. If
humanity is granted another chance, will humanity show thanks for the
gift?
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and
Mary Hoffman
Do We Believe and Trust in God?