The overthrow of the repressive ruler of Tunisia earlier this month
and present uprising against long-time president Hosni Mubarek in Egypt
are reminders of the potential for political instability, especially in
places where the mass of the people feel disenfranchised from their
leaders. Ordinary people in Tunisia and Egypt are standing up against
injustice in their own countries, and that puts the U.S. in an awkward
position. Egypt is generally regarded as America's strongest ally in
the Arab world, and until recently Tunisia was marketed as a sterling
example of how democracy can take root in a Muslim nation. It reminds
me of a similar situation more than thirty years ago, when America's
strongest ally in the region was Iran, led by the Shah of Iran, a man
widely considered the richest man in the world, but one who was opposed
by the majority of his fellow citizens. Because of historical U.S.
support of the Shah, the government that emerged after the Iranian
revolution was hostile toward the U.S., and that hostility persists to
this day. Pragmatists will insist that we have to deal with the leaders
other nations have, not the leaders we wish they had, and that's true
enough. However, while it may be not only expedient but necessary to
deal with those currently in power, it is incumbent upon us as a nation
that claims to stand for certain principles in the world to always
champion the cause of justice. Unlike those today who confuse
patriotism with unconditional support of all government policies (unless
the other party controls the reins of government), the prophet Micah
didn't hesitate to point out the ways in which Judah's rulers failed to
live up to divine principles of leadership. God has a case against the
nation's rulers, Micah says, because their actions don't match their
rhetoric. What does God demand of the people? To do justice, to love
covenant-faithfulness, and to walk humbly with God. The word
traditionally rendered "humbly" is a hapax legomenon, a word
appearing only once in the Hebrew Bible. In addition to association
with "humility," scholars have proposed that the word carries the
connotation of caution, wisdom, or attentiveness. A related word
appears a few times in the wisdom books and is generally rendered
"humble" or "clever." In the context of Micah, perhaps the word may
best be read as meaning "circumspectly." The overall passage then
offers the following counsel: work for justice, strengthen the bonds
that connect you with other people, and walk with great care before the
Almighty.
Psalm 15 (first published 30 January 2005)
One of the most characteristic activities of God's people is worship.
We gather for worship on a weekly basis, sometimes more frequently, and we
raise our songs, our prayers, and our hands to God. In the Old Testament
law, worshipers were supposed to purify themselves before offering a
sacrifice to God. Psalm 15 alludes to this practice and explicitly lists
certain types of behavior that are involved with living a pure life, one
worthy of offering worship to God. First, the psalm says, one must walk
blamelessly and do what is right. This is not a requirement that we
achieve perfection before approaching God, but it does suggest that
worshipers should live their lives in a way that is consistent with the
words and deeds of worship they offer to God. Sacrifice is no substitute
for proper behavior. Second, worshipers should speak the truth from their
hearts. Truthtelling is important to the faithful, because without
integrity, our testimony to other suffers greatly. Third, worshipers will
be careful what they say. Slander, or the intentional telling of lies in
order to cast aspersions on another person, is not consistent with the
true worship of God. Fourth, acting in a way that is harmful to one's
friends, presumably because of some short-term advantage it offers the
person acting in this way, is forbidden. If an individual, or even a
nation, wants to keep one's friends, it must always treat them with
honesty and respect. Fifth, one should not unduly criticize one's
neighbors. These are people you have to live with, and while a neighborly
request or occasionally a gentle rebuke may sometimes be appropriate,
building a spite fence--or causing your neighbor to build one--is
counterproductive and, more importantly, a violation of your covenant with
them (the requirement to treat one's neighbors with respect applies to
nations as well as individuals). Sixth, the psalmist says that those who
worship God will despise the wicked. I disagree with that. We should
oppose the wicked, and we should work in constructive ways to promote
justice, but we should never despise those whom we consider wicked. Our
ultimate goal with reference to our adversaries should be
conversion--theirs, ours, or both of ours. We don't want them to remain
our adversaries, but we want them to become our friends. Despising them
won't get the job done. Seventh, we should honor those who fear the Lord.
We should respect those whose lives reflect their commitment to God, even
if they belong to another denomination or even another faith tradition.
Eighth, the psalmist says that we should not lend money at interest.
Such an idea seems foreign to those of us who live in capitalist societies
that are built on money-lending at interest, but maybe we can make a
distinction that makes sense in today's world. Lending money at interest
to someone involved in a business venture--that is, someone who plans to
use the money to make more money--might be justifiable. However, lending
money at interest to those who need the money to survive cannot be
justified. Credit card companies and pay-day lenders that prey on the
poor should be shunned by God's people. Moreover, rich countries that
lend money to poor countries should not expect to make a profit off of the
misery of people in poverty. Why not just donate the money? Ninth,
worshipers of God will not take a bribe against the innocent. This
requirement seems pretty straightforward when applied in a criminal or
civil lawsuit, but I think it is also applicable in the context of special
interest money that is spent on political campaigns. When a candidate for
office accepts money from a corporation or industry, that corporation or
industry expects payback, no matter how much they deny it. A system that
allows corporate donations to candidates is inherently corrupt, because it
encourages pandering, and God's people should work to change such systems
where they exist. All people are welcome to worship God, but true
worship, as the psalmist reminds us, involves much more than singing,
praying, and reading scripture. True worship involves one's whole life.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (first published 30 January 2005)
The tsunami that struck Southeast Asia last month was the direct result
of an earthquake that was caused when two tectonic plates slipped past
each other. Scientists now recognize that the great land masses of the
earth, both the continents and the ocean floors, rest on giant tectonic
plates that are in constant motion (albeit very slow motion). Over
millions of years the shape and especially the relative position of the
continents change. 225 million years ago all the continents were joined
together in a great land mass called Pangaea. In another 225 million
years, who knows where the continents will be? All scientists today
accept plate tectonic theory, but when Alfred Wegener proposed the idea in
1912, most people--scientists and lay people alike--dismissed the idea as
ridiculous. It wasn't until the 1960s, when further evidence supporting
the theory was discovered, along with a mechanism for causing the
continents to move (convection currents in the earth's mantle), that plate
tectonics became accepted as scientific fact. Why would God choose an
obscure group of people on the edge of the Roman empire as the vehicle for
self-revelation in the person of Jesus Christ? Those steeped in Greek
philosophy would have expected divine revelation to come through one of
the students of Plato's Academy, or perhaps a student of one of the Stoic
philosophers of the day, such as Seneca. The Jews--who considered
themselves God's chosen people, not an obscure group of people at
all--would have expected God to speak through someone born in the holy
city of Jerusalem, or maybe through someone born from the lineage of the
Hasmonean kings (the Davidic line having all but played itself out), or
maybe a great military leader associated with one of the leading rabbis:
someone like Simeon Bar Kochba. To the Greeks, Jesus and his early
followers were illiterate peasants spreading silly superstitions among the
masses. To the Jews, the early Christians were troublemakers who rejected
the teachings of the Jewish elders and led the faithful dangerously
astray. To most people of the day, the good news about Jesus Christ
seemed foolishness. The early Christian movement certainly appeared weak.
Where were power and wisdom to be found? Not among the Christians! Yet
strangely, inexplicably, the movement grew. Ordinary peasants heard a
message that gave them hope. Merchants and artisans spread the word as
they traveled from city to city throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.
Even some of the wealthy saw value in the teachings about Jesus. What was
foolishness to many became wisdom to many others, and within 300 years of
the time of Jesus, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Roman
Empire. It is true that Christianity spread by the sword after it became
the official religion of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and later the
reconstituted Holy Roman Empire, but in its first 300 years, it spread in
spite of official opposition and sometimes persecution, in spite of the
ridicule and scorn of accepted religious leaders and philosophers, and in
spite of the fact that the majority of its adherents came from the lower
classes. What was it about the life and teachings of Jesus that so
inspired the earliest believers? Many answers could be given, but one
that Paul hints at in today's reading from 1 Corinthians is that in the
Christian gospel, the masses of people encountered a God who was not
ashamed of their lowly estate. They met for the first time a God who
loved them despite their weakness. They experienced a God who loved them,
not a God who threatened to annihilate them if they didn't offer the
correct sacrifices or follow the proper rituals. The God of early
Christianity was a God of the masses, a God who cared about them, a God
who stood traditional "wisdom" and "power" on its head and called the
uneducated wise, who proclaimed the weak powerful. Is this still the God
of Christianity? If it isn't, we'd better look for that God again. It
won't be a problem, though. God is always accessible to those who seek
with humility and sincerity.
Matthew 5:1-12 (first published 30 January 2005)
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. - Kurt VonnegutWhy is there such an uproar among certain Christian groups who insist on the public display of the Ten Commandments? Why don't they try to get the Beatitudes posted instead, since they represent the words of the founder of Christianity? I believe wholeheartedly in the separation of church and state, so I wouldn't advocate posting either on government property, but I think Vonnegut has a good point. Why the Ten Commandments and not the Beatitudes? One possible reason is that the Ten Commandments are accepted by Jews as well as Christians, so there's a slightly larger group who might potentially support the idea. The problem, of course, is that it seems to be only Christians, not Jews, who are publicly advocating the posting of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, most of the Christians who want the Ten Commandments posted also believe that Jews are all going to hell, so an appeal to the Jews hardly seems likely as a rationale. I think the real reason that some Christians want the Ten Commandments posted rather than the Beatitudes is that the Ten Commandments are a lot less threatening and a whole lot easier to live up to. Plus, they're more black and white. Either you've killed somebody or you haven't. Either you've committed adultery or you haven't. And if you have, you can simply ask forgiveness and receive it. The Ten Commandments, at least if we don't examine them too closely, are pretty easy to follow (but read Elton Trueblood's Foundations for Reconstruction or Joy Davidman's Smoke on the Mountain for more insightful comments on the Ten Commandments). They are the law of the establishment, a set of rules by which to set up a government and control people's lives. The Beatitudes, on the other hand, are subversive, even in the Matthean version (don't even look at Luke's version!). "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom belongs not to the wise or powerful but to those who are "poor in spirit," that is, people who recognize their spiritual poverty and their need for divine salvation. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Those who suffer in this life will receive comfort in the next, but those who have it good now . . . ? "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Now doesn't that fly in the face of modern wisdom? It is the rich who are inheriting the earth now, and it is money that talks, both in and out of the church. But maybe the rich pastor of the megachurch doesn't really have a corner on God's wisdom; maybe it's the bivocational pastor of the innercity mission that we should be listening to. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Those who long for inner righteousness and outer justice (the Greek word can mean both) will see their desires fulfilled. There are few who are truly righteous, and many who think they are, are not. Here's one clue for determining whether you qualify as righteous. If your heart doesn't ache at the injustice in the world--the poverty, the socio-economic inequality, the racism, the hate, the intolerance of one religion for another--you are falling short of the righteousness that Jesus taught and exemplified. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." Are you an advocate of the death penalty? Where is the mercy that Jesus demands of his followers? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Do people sometimes make fun of you because you're gullible? Is your first inclination to believe what someone says, especially someone you've never had dealings with? Do people think of you as childlike (as opposed to childish)? Those are all characteristics of someone who is pure in heart. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Those who support preemptive war worship the war god Mars, not God the Father of Jesus Christ; there is nothing remotely Christian about an unprovoked attack on another country and the slaughter of innocents. The Just War Theory has run its course and proved to be sub-Christian as well. Pacifism is good, but it's not enough. Followers of Jesus should be peacemakers, actively opposing war and violence by peaceful means. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." There are still Christians today, as well as people of other faiths, who are persecuted for their beliefs. I mean beaten, tortured, or killed, not just made fun of. All those who suffer for their faith, who have not committed any crimes or offenses of any sort, are blessed by God. "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Name-calling, slander, and misrepresentation of one's ideas are not as harmful as torture, but they can hurt, and they can hinder the spread of the gospel. When Jesus asked the Rich Young Ruler whether he had kept the whole law, he answered that he had kept the law from his youth, and he proceeded to list several of the Ten Commandments as examples. The Ten Commandments are a high standard, and they are a good standard, but they fall far short of the even higher demands that Jesus puts on his followers. How do you measure up?