Joshua 5:9-12

Lent 3 - Year C

Joshua 5:9-12

Given the need for food and water, what would it mean for us to know that we are to eat the crops of the land and drink the water of this locale? Here we have a high environmental ethic.

We dare not waste or pollute the land – for it will show up as famine or poison and we will die. We dare not waste or pollute the water – for it will show up as drought or poison and we will die.

This ethic can also be extended to the old game show featuring questions about animal, vegetable, or mineral. In specific it can reveal to us our prejudices about people. We dare not waste or pollute any of these natural resources – for it will show up as diminished live or poisoned relationships and we will die.

This responsibility to not waste or pollute can be a Lenten/Exodus reminder of how easily community can become dysfunctional. We can turn on a source of transformation and redemption, oh so easily. We can fear and take advantage of others, oh so easily.

How might we stay away from concepts of manifest destiny and entitlement because of our class or tradition?

We may still need to send someone out on a band-aid mission to find a lost sheep or coin, but even more we will be proactive in not losing parts of our lives. We may still need rescue missions for lost souls, but even more we will be proactive in announcing in experiential ways the expansive and expanding love available, no matter what.