Text: Luke 4:31-44
Theme: “Living children of the caring God”
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Intr – The Gospel reading for today brings together many of the cures and healings Jesus performed during His ministry on Earth. Adding to that, He casted demons out. Performing this acts of mercy Jesus shows how much he cares about people; about you and me. This is a foundational principle in Christianity: Human beings are worth of God’s Son own life being given for them. We love our neighbour because God loves them(us) all.

That doesn’t seem to be the case for everybody though. I mean, not everyone seems to be fond of humanity in that way.  I’ve noticed that one of the trends on the rise recently is an idea that runs directly against the grain of the Christian essence. It can be summarized in the news piece I read some time ago whose title was: “Clemson Philosopher writes in NYT: Maybe We Should All Kill Ourselves, Or At Least Abort All Future Children To Save The Planet”. The article carried the title ““Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?” The answer of the alleged philosopher is “yes” – but only because we would have done it to ourselves. Not because it would be a loss for the world. His conclusion is something like it would be a tragedy if humans disappeared from Earth, but that it might be a good thing.

Bottom line is: even if this philosopher’s claims seems to be too edgy at this time, there’s still a lot of talk out there questioning the value of human life compared to the rest of Creation, and we are a blessing or a curse on this planet.

When reasoning about the role of us humans on Earth, some say we are just another animal species on the planet. Perhaps not even the main or most important one, because, you know, as the saying goes “the better I get to know humans, the more I love horses/dogs/cats”. However, when it comes to concede that, since we are just another species in this world, we should have: 1) the right to fight for what we need or want just like other species do; 2) that we can utilize our highly developed brain and an opposable thumb as an advantage (like all living beings try to use their advantages over others), with 3) the extra mandate of caring for all Creation around us — then we hit a wall. We are denied this possibility because we are supposedly the ones who only do harm to the planet. The progress and improvements we make which help our blue planet to be preserved are omitted on behalf of smearing humanity. Then, this philosopher comes with the ultimate proposal of eliminating us altogether. We are just another animal species, but we don’t have the right to have our planet like every other animal species there are.

 The Gospel

The Gospel today doesn’t leave room for such type of reasoning. Jesus is before people who are sick. Jesus is before a possessed person, who could wreak havoc all around. Jesus is before a woman in high fever. Jesus confronts Satan’s envoys trying to prevent Him from helping human beings. There you have plenty of reasons to think, “Well, perhaps getting rid of this species wouldn’t be that bad at all.”

And Jesus is the One who would have all the right to eliminate human beings from the face of the Earth. He is the only Perfect, only Wise, the only One capable of doing Good to us and to all the Creation. But there he is, healing people, listening to them, walking with them, suffering and dying for every single one of them. Those were people rejected by many, almost all. Except by Jesus.

Here we see how crazy the Gospel is. While more and more people think that humanity’s disappearance could be the solution, Jesus is the One who wanted to become one of us. To live a life like us, but without sin. To give His own life for every single human being – – even for those who hate humanity, even for those who hate Him. He acted in humbleness and Service to give humans unique worth.

Is it any wonder that Jesus’ words are perceived as one of Authority, as the Gospel reports? That people were amazed, and that reports about Him went out into every place? Is it any wonder that it keeps going, letting people know that their lives are important in God’s hands? Certainly not. This is the wonder of the Gospel that shocks our minds but amazes our hearts.

No, we shouldn’t all kill ourselves for the good of the planet. That’s devilish. We should and we can all help each other in this planet. We can share hope and love from the Word of God. We can help to preserve the environment and to respect every form of life created by God. But we can never lose from sight the fact that only about us humans it is said in the Bible:

_Created in the image of God (Genesis). No other living creature had this honour.

_Psalm 8: “3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

_James 1: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”

These and numerous other Bible passages show God’s immense love for the World to the point of giving His own Son’s life. Jesus came to die for you, a fallen human needing rescue from the devil and hell, to be placed right inside the family of faith, where you are loved, forgiven and saved.

So again, no, Jesus doesn’t want you to kill yourself for the good of the planet.[1]  I know that thinking of ending our existence in this world may come and go at some point of people’s lives for different reasons; depression, fear, lack of hope, mental health issues. Or even as “philosophy”, like the one stated in that infamous article. But remember, Jesus died for you and for every human being to show the value we have before Him, the faith and hope we receive from Him, and the good we can do for our neighbour and the Planet. We can all live in joy and hope, knowing that He heals us from our sins and drives us into a new, full life under His care and Love.

That doesn’t mean a total absence of fear, challenges, pain, loss. That means that amid the chaos of sin, disorder and desolation, Jesus brings His Word to put our heart and soul together, giving us strength and love through faith to endure, to persevere, to walk with Him.

Cc – This is not shallow philosophy. This is the power of God’s Word giving us the real meaning of life, and the reason to live every day as living and loving children of the caring God.

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[1] And by the way, you don’t even know if that would work. It might as well be that in so many centuries from now a given species would start to become humans again…