“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” – Luke 16:31

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 29, 2017): Luke 16

Melania Trump has been replaced with a body double. The nose on the new Melania is different, and the face is a little shorter. Or, at least, that is what the latest conspiracy theory is trying to sell. The “Melania has been replaced” theory reminds me a little about the “Paul is dead” theory regarding “The Beatles” left-handed bassist back in the late 1960’s. (What is amazing about the “Paul is Dead” theory is that the Beatles were able to find someone who looked like Paul, sounded like Paul, played the bass like Paul, and wrote Beatles-like songs just as good as Paul, all so that Paul could be replaced and no one, except the most observant, would ever know the difference.)  Or, maybe, the replacement of Melania Trump is the extraterrestrial visitor’s way of taking over the world. They are starting with Melania. In fact, that might be the how behind Donald Trump’s electoral win. It wasn’t the Russians who conspired to sway the election; it was the extraterrestrial influence that swayed the election because they already had an extra Melania hidden away in “Area 51” (because every good conspiracy theory needs an Area 51 connection).

As people, we seem to fluctuate between the “ever-so-skeptical” and the “we will believe anything.” The truth is that we will believe whatever is in our interest to believe, as “fake news” and “click bait” articles on the internet prove. If successful marriages offend us, we will believe that Dr. Phil has divorced his wife. If we believe that Hillary Clinton is evil, then her involvement in selling human beings from the back of a Pizza place is believable. But first we believe, and then we consider the evidence. We interpret facts according to the beliefs that we already hold. If something supports our point of view, we accept it. If it violates what we believe, then we become skeptical. But the condition exists inside of us, and not outside.

In Jesus story of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man is sure that his family could be saved if only Abraham would send Lazarus to his brothers. Abraham responds that his brothers already have what they need to believe, but the rich man pleads that sending a dead man to them would be all the proof his brothers would need to change the way that they were living their lives.

Abraham responds that even rising from the dead is not enough. Scrooge, in “A Christmas Carol,” is atypical. Most would not change their behavior even if someone from the dead were able to rise to meet them. If they did not believe already, rising from the dead would not do anything to change their mind.

Of course, the words of Abraham foreshadow Jesus’s rise from death, and yet still people, both then and now, have found a reason not to believe. Most often we just dismiss the risen Jesus as just another conspiracy theory – one that makes no sense and, so, we refuse to believe.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 17