Billions of dollars had been invested. The returns were unbelievable. More and more people hoping for extraordinary returns sought to get in. The atmosphere was like an exclusive club- you had to know someone. Then in an instant, the lie came to light- the returns were indeed unbelievable- the money was all gone. It had been a sham from the beginning. The work of years, their hopes for the future, their ability to support charitable works of all kinds- all of it went down to the dust. One man held these dreams in his hands and he crushed them. That sad chapter is now closed. But it was not the first and it will not be the last. Even now others are creating tempting traps in the darkness of their hearts. Is there no end to the evil men will do? Is there no hope for the greedy, the gullible and the ignorant?

Remember all the stirring words that have come from podiums, pulpits or reviewing stands over the years? Good rhetoric always stirs people's hearts. With one voice the crowd shouts acclaim, backs the proposal, affirms the course and follows the leader down the road to which he or she has pointed. Sometimes it turns out well… but not always. Sometimes it never has a chance because the premise is flawed. Sometimes the leader is flawed and cannot deliver. Sometimes the leader is not just flawed, but false - and never means to deliver on the promises he or she has made.

And sometimes it becomes clear that isn't really about the leader at all, because we are all flawed - afflicted with limited vision, patience and self-control - but we want to pretend this isn't so and so we distract ourselves with scapegoats. When our expectation of perfection is not met, we turn on our leaders seeking a human sacrifice to offer to the gods of our rage and frustration. Is there no one strong enough to hold a vision and follow through - to bear our blindness, and our blows but to persevere to the end - to persevere for us? Is there no one who can save us from ourselves?

Jerusalem is the city that stones the prophets… but not Jerusalem alone. Prophets are those ones who speak of God's sense of right relationship among people, places and things. The words of the prophets show shadows not seen by the lights of men.

But we do not want to see our shadows. We do not want to hear of our failings and misdeed. We do not want to be called to account for our actions much less for our unspoken desires. There are so many things done or left undone - in our hearts, in our families, in our civic life - that the burden of them is intolerable. But we are reluctant to participate in a general confession, so we agree to be silent, to be polite….to not even think about the things that trouble us.

People have known for centuries that it is easier not think about difficult things, or people who trouble us, if we can't see them. So we turn away. Or we find gentile ways to move troubling sights far from the paths in which we walk. We allow sinkholes of poverty to grow deeper and deeper even as we offer eloquent explanations of why this is acceptable or whose fault it is.

We elevate our preferred system of government, or school of economic theory, to a place that is too high for it. We fall in love with ideas and ideals and forget to love all of God's people. We treasure "isms" and discard the lost, the least and the last.

But God does not love ideas or systems of government- God loves people, especially the poor who have so little and need so much. There is one God - all else is lesser, lower and open to discussion, conviction and conversion. But when the foundations are being shaken we displace the word of God with phrases we find more comfortable to hear.

We prefer words that will let us stay as we are - that do not make us examine the status quo, see the not-very-distant sufferer, or move closer to help the beaten man lying by the side of the road.

When we ask, "Are we our brother's keeper?" in so many words (with one hand on our wallets) we invite a quibbling scribe to take up residence in our hearts. "Who is my neighbor," such a scribe asked Jesus in hopes of limiting his liability. Jesus answered with the Parable of the Good Samaritan in which a non-believer, with no legal obligation, does good for no reason other than love.

This parable is an invitation to go and do likewise. It is both a costly and a priceless invitation, but it threatens our view of ourselves, our grip on our possessions and our desire to control events around us in the world.

And so, each year we stone the prophets, turn from the life giving words of God and we crucify Jesus anew in the halls of power and in the marketplace. What are we thinking? Why do we participate? What makes us yell out?

"Crucify him," we say of the one who asks for more money from us to help people we do not even know. "Crucify him," we shout when asked to yield some privilege. And there is always some figure that offers the same tired choice- "Whom shall I release to you, Jesus, or Barabbas?" Who shall I let walk free among you to whisper to your heart?

"We want Barabbas," we answer. "Give us a bandit, a general, a politician or a king, just take this Jesus away from us. He asks too much of us, away with him. Crucify him," we cry.

And Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of God, loves us so much anyway that he stretches out his arms on the hard wood of the Cross and dies for our sins… and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world.

Behold the man, and weep. It is finished.