(With thanks to Trevor Dennis who strongly inspired these thoughts!)
The little story of Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus 1 is an amazing little incident. Here are the Israelites in Egypt, long after the time of Joseph. You remember the Joseph story. He ended up in Egypt as Potiphar’s slave, having been sold off into slavery. Falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, who was annoyed because he wouldn’t have an affair with her, he ended up in gaol, where he gained something of a reputation as a dream-interpreter. News got round and, when the Pharaoh had some strange dreams, Joseph got called upon. Cutting a long story short, he ended up as prime minister, overseeing the preparations for the famine that he had foretold.
And it was during that famine that his family, searching for food, ended up moving to and settling in Egypt. At that time the Egyptians were more than happy to welcome the family of the one who had saved them from starvation – and Joseph and his family were re-united. For the time being it was a happy-ever-after story.
But now we have moved on a considerable period. Joseph and his contribution to the Egyptian economy has long since been forgotten. All that’s bothering this Pharaoh is the increasing number of Israelites. He’s scared that one day they’ll plan an uprising – and take over. It’s actually not very likely. They’re kept in a pretty subservient position. But this Pharaoh’s not one for taking chances. He’s scared all these Israelite baby boys will grow up to be strapping soldiers.
And so he takes a pre-emptive strike. He calls in the midwives. Now, we perhaps have to say that this story, as we have it, is a mix of the plausible and the implausible. It seems unlikely that there would have been only two midwives, and so the two specified in this story symbolise all then carrying out this profession. It also seems unlikely that Pharaoh would have given a personal audience to them, no matter how concerned he was about this issue. Surely he would have instructed one of his minions. Another thing that’s not clear is whether these midwives worked just amongst the Israelites, or amongst the Egyptians as well. But none of these elements really matter. We need to remember that this account emerges from a story-telling society and should be seen as a story told, rather than a chronicled history.
But that, in no way, diminishes the truth, nor the impact of the story, which is packed with a powerful punch. Perhaps the first amazing thing in this story is that their names are recorded, Shiphrah and Puah. In the Bible women basically take a subservient role to men. That’s not the Bible’s fault. It’s reflective of the kind of society whose story is being told. But one of the things it does mean is that relatively few women are named. This is a tiny incident in the Biblical scheme of things. It only takes a very few verses. It’s quite remarkable that we’re given the names of these two women.
Anyhow, they are given the task of dealing with this problem. What they are to do is pretty horrific. They are to ensure that any baby boys don’t survive. Baby girls are O.K. Now, actually this probably wouldn’t have been quite as horrific to the original hearers of the story as it is to us. It would not be unknown to do that to a baby. The surprise would be getting rid of a boy.
So Shiphrah and Puah are sent off to do Pharaoh’s dirty work. But they don’t want to do it. It’s against God. It’s against what they are trained for. It’s against all their instincts. It’s against everything. And so, they don’t do it. But Pharaoh has his secret police out, and he gets to know that what he’s commanded is not happening. And so he summons the midwives again and asks them to explain themselves. And what they do effectively is – they tell him a joke. They tell Pharaoh that they can’t do this because, though they get there as fast as they can whenever they hear that one of the Israelite women is going to deliver, they are always too late. These Israelite women always have their babies so quickly than it’s done and dusted by the time we get there. It’s nonsense, of course. Every midwife would know that. Every woman would know that. But old Pharaoh is not too sure. He doesn’t know much about women having babies – and it sounds plausible. Also, he quite likes the idea that the Israelite women are different from the Egyptian women. That appeals to his racism. He accepts the story, and dismisses the midwives.
Pharaoh, of course, finds another way of dealing with the problem – but that’s not our concern here. What does concern us is the amazing faith and courage of Shiphrah and Puah. In an age when the Pharaoh was regarded as divine, they were prepared to defy him, with all the attendant risks, because they were convinced that the opposite was what ought to be. Their loyalty was to God and they do not back away from deceiving Pharaoh. Their story certainly challenges us about loyalty and commitment and risk and the whole question as to whether we are ready to do those things to which God calls us without counting the cost.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Jude on Leadership - Jude vv. 12, 13, 19, 20
Jude verses 12 and 13 and verses 19 and 20 – Jude is referring to dodgy leaders and the negative impact they can have and encouraging his readers to take a different track, and he writes:
These people are a danger at your love-feasts with their shameless carousals. They are shepherds who take care only of themselves. They are clouds carried along by a wind without giving rain, trees fruitless in autumn, dead twice over and pulled up by the roots. They are wild sea waves, foaming with disgraceful deeds; they are stars that have wandered from their courses, and the place reserved for them is an eternity of blackest darkness. ...... These people create divisions; they are worldly and unspiritual. But you, my friends, must make your most sacred faith the foundation of your lives. Continue to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, and look forward to the day when our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy will give eternal life.
Jude is concerned about there being right leadership within the church. That’s why he bothers to scribble this note.
Here, in verses 12 and 13, we have that kind of scenario which I am sure we have all sometimes used of taking the negative approach. We say something like – well, the easiest way I can explain things is to tell you how it shouldn’t be. Jude here uses images of disordered or useless natural phenomena to press home his argument. If we were to look at the whole letter, we would see Jude moving from depicting his opponents as misguided human who rely on dreams to describing them as irrational animals – “brute beasts” – and now they exhibit the chaotic behaviour of some parts of the natural world. They are like clouds without rain, like waves that drive foam up on shore. Jude here grabs five such images and uses them to describe what leadership should not be.
First, they are described as shepherds who take care only of themselves. There is an element of brazen rejection of what should be here. They are not shepherding the sheep. They are shepherding themselves. Shepherds frequently provide a Biblical image of leadership. The shepherd models the care and investment that the leader must make for the nurture and growth of the followers. But this lot corrupt the image by being out only for themselves. Leadership is about influence and service.
The second image is equally potent – clouds carried along by a wind without giving rain. Travellers in the Middle East are often exasperated by heavy clouds which fail to produce rain and serve only to increase the excessive heat. The suggestion is that these leaders are all show and no substance. Leadership is about vision. It is about what we are going to be doing tomorrow. It’s about hope.
The third image is of trees fruitless in autumn, dead twice over and pulled up by the roots. Trees without roots are absolutely useless. They are never going to produce fruit. This again focuses on the results we might expect – but it’s not a good picture. It’s a picture of failure. Leadership should produce growth. In commercial terms, there should be a product.
Fourthly, Jude identifies this useless lot as wild sea waves, foaming with disgraceful deeds. When I lived in Panama I once ended up in a small boat in a storm being tossed around. Not an experience I would seek out. Scraps of debris collect and are cast up by the foam on the shore. It’s a picture of unharnessed power. Leadership is about power – but good leadership uses that power to produce and enhance good relationships.
And then the fifth of these images is of stars that have wandered from their courses. Ancient thought recognised that the planets moved, but they did so in set and fixed patterns. Comets and meteorites were rather terrifying phenomena, apparently out of control. Leaders can be like shooting stars, streaking on to the scene with flash and excitement, but quickly fading and disappearing. Quick fix leadership doesn’t really do what’s necessary. Leadership needs to be about accountability and dependability.
These people are a danger at your love-feasts with their shameless carousals. They are shepherds who take care only of themselves. They are clouds carried along by a wind without giving rain, trees fruitless in autumn, dead twice over and pulled up by the roots. They are wild sea waves, foaming with disgraceful deeds; they are stars that have wandered from their courses, and the place reserved for them is an eternity of blackest darkness. ...... These people create divisions; they are worldly and unspiritual. But you, my friends, must make your most sacred faith the foundation of your lives. Continue to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, and look forward to the day when our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy will give eternal life.
Jude is concerned about there being right leadership within the church. That’s why he bothers to scribble this note.
Here, in verses 12 and 13, we have that kind of scenario which I am sure we have all sometimes used of taking the negative approach. We say something like – well, the easiest way I can explain things is to tell you how it shouldn’t be. Jude here uses images of disordered or useless natural phenomena to press home his argument. If we were to look at the whole letter, we would see Jude moving from depicting his opponents as misguided human who rely on dreams to describing them as irrational animals – “brute beasts” – and now they exhibit the chaotic behaviour of some parts of the natural world. They are like clouds without rain, like waves that drive foam up on shore. Jude here grabs five such images and uses them to describe what leadership should not be.
First, they are described as shepherds who take care only of themselves. There is an element of brazen rejection of what should be here. They are not shepherding the sheep. They are shepherding themselves. Shepherds frequently provide a Biblical image of leadership. The shepherd models the care and investment that the leader must make for the nurture and growth of the followers. But this lot corrupt the image by being out only for themselves. Leadership is about influence and service.
The second image is equally potent – clouds carried along by a wind without giving rain. Travellers in the Middle East are often exasperated by heavy clouds which fail to produce rain and serve only to increase the excessive heat. The suggestion is that these leaders are all show and no substance. Leadership is about vision. It is about what we are going to be doing tomorrow. It’s about hope.
The third image is of trees fruitless in autumn, dead twice over and pulled up by the roots. Trees without roots are absolutely useless. They are never going to produce fruit. This again focuses on the results we might expect – but it’s not a good picture. It’s a picture of failure. Leadership should produce growth. In commercial terms, there should be a product.
Fourthly, Jude identifies this useless lot as wild sea waves, foaming with disgraceful deeds. When I lived in Panama I once ended up in a small boat in a storm being tossed around. Not an experience I would seek out. Scraps of debris collect and are cast up by the foam on the shore. It’s a picture of unharnessed power. Leadership is about power – but good leadership uses that power to produce and enhance good relationships.
And then the fifth of these images is of stars that have wandered from their courses. Ancient thought recognised that the planets moved, but they did so in set and fixed patterns. Comets and meteorites were rather terrifying phenomena, apparently out of control. Leaders can be like shooting stars, streaking on to the scene with flash and excitement, but quickly fading and disappearing. Quick fix leadership doesn’t really do what’s necessary. Leadership needs to be about accountability and dependability.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
The Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31
Jesus thought money was pretty important. Indeed, it was His number two subject, according to the Gospels. The only theme on which He spoke more often was, not entirely surprisingly, that of the Kingdom of God. So money, wealth and riches figured high on Jesus' agenda. That surely makes it seem as though Jesus is likely to touch a chord with contemporary life. Money fever certainly seems to be prominent in our society. Money, it often seems, is what makes the world go round. Price wars, interest rates, sale prices, and so on, have us all interested.
But the parable of the rich man and Lazarus reminds us that there is a whole lot that is more important in life. I hope that baptism also reminds us of the same thing. It speaks to us of the sheer love of God towards us, and also of the need for us to respond and make some kind of commitment. The parable focuses our minds on the question of what really matters.
If we look back to verse 14 of Luke 16, ahead of the actual beginning of the parable, we can see that all this is addressed to those who loved money. There's very few of us, I suspect, who wouldn't like a bit more money; so it's quite likely that there something for us all here. The parable is certainly set in a chapter that is dedicated to the theme of wealth, and it offers a powerful commentary on two basic and crucial affirmations of Luke's Gospel, these being the comment in chapter 6, verse 20: happy are you poor, and the statement of the opposite which appears just four verses later: but how terrible for you who are rich now. Luke reflects a deep concern for the poor; and his gospel is always quick to condemn those greedy for money. So, just what can we learn from this interesting little story?
We can divide it into two parts. The first part, verses 19 to 26, tell us about the reversal of situations between the poor man, Lazarus, interestingly the only character in any parable to be given a specific name, and the rich man, who has been so bound up in his selfishness. Actually, it's probably intensely significant that the rich man remains anonymous while Lazarus is named. In life, probably lots of people knew Lazarus as 'the beggar', but didn't know his personal name. The rich man probably had a prestigious name, well and widely name. The use, and not, of a name is part of the reversal of the parable.
Traditionally, the rich man has actually been given a name, for convenience. He has become known as Dives; but that's not really a name, it's just the Latin word for 'rich'. The perspectives of God's Kingdom have an amazingly transforming effect. Those who, according to normal human, worldly standards, are the ones with the power and the prestige are the ones who really matter; and the important ones become nameless and anonymous. This passage, then, is inviting us to change our perspective. It is calling us to recognise the importance of the little ones and those who are so often rejected. The Gospel message is indeed that the last will be first.
The second part of the parable, verses 27 to 31, emphasises the point. There is no room for doubt here. The unnamed rich man tries to help some of his friends. And it's interesting to note that this rich man must have had a religious department in his life. It seems that his life was such that he would have regarded himself as pretty upright. But it is also clear that his righteousness was subject to fairly clearly defined limits. He was not prepared to engage in costly compassion. He's worried about some of his friends in like position. He thinks that they would stop from making his mistake, if only it was made just a little bit clearer to them. But "Father Abraham" answers with a dismissive 'forget it', or something like that. He points that they have all the help they need available to them, and that, if they choose to ignore it, that is their problem. The Bible is clear that those who ignore the poor are rejected by the Lord. The prophet Amos is one of those who describes the situation of the rich with amazing clarity. In Amos 6:4-7 he proclaims: How terrible it will be for you who stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end. The apostle Paul, rather more bluntly and succinctly points out, 1 Timothy 6:10 - for the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.
There is something very challenging in all this, and it is relevant for all of this. I don't think the prime attack is on money. It's on greed. I don't think the main point is to do with whether you've got a lot or a little. It's to do with priorities. The key point about money is that we should use, and not abuse, it.
I think that today, and every day, Jesus wants to challenge us to think about what is really important to us. He wants us to be sure that there aren't idols that we've gone off to worship - and there are plenty of them around, trying to grab our attention, money being one of the chief candidates. Jesus wants us to share what we are, that we may indeed create the kind of community that He envisaged.
I believe that one of the great Christian words is 'potential'. When we bring an infant for baptism, we cannot know how that child's life will turn out. We will have hopes. We may have worries - and concerns. We will certainly see possibilities. Our prayer is surely that the child will fulfil its potential, but that doesn't mean that the child will be great or wonderful. It might do! But what matters is that we each do just what God has in mind for us.
This story startles us - because the potential that is ultimately realised is the opposite from that expected. You can't necessarily blame a person for having a lot of money, but you can certainly blame them for what they do, or don't do, with it. Greed, selfishness and hardheartedness have no place in God's Kingdom. So let us learn to share, even those of us who think we know how, let us learn to really share. Let us learn to care and to love in God's Name. Let us learn to welcome those whom society discards and marginalises. Let us knock down the barriers and build God's Kingdom.
But the parable of the rich man and Lazarus reminds us that there is a whole lot that is more important in life. I hope that baptism also reminds us of the same thing. It speaks to us of the sheer love of God towards us, and also of the need for us to respond and make some kind of commitment. The parable focuses our minds on the question of what really matters.
If we look back to verse 14 of Luke 16, ahead of the actual beginning of the parable, we can see that all this is addressed to those who loved money. There's very few of us, I suspect, who wouldn't like a bit more money; so it's quite likely that there something for us all here. The parable is certainly set in a chapter that is dedicated to the theme of wealth, and it offers a powerful commentary on two basic and crucial affirmations of Luke's Gospel, these being the comment in chapter 6, verse 20: happy are you poor, and the statement of the opposite which appears just four verses later: but how terrible for you who are rich now. Luke reflects a deep concern for the poor; and his gospel is always quick to condemn those greedy for money. So, just what can we learn from this interesting little story?
We can divide it into two parts. The first part, verses 19 to 26, tell us about the reversal of situations between the poor man, Lazarus, interestingly the only character in any parable to be given a specific name, and the rich man, who has been so bound up in his selfishness. Actually, it's probably intensely significant that the rich man remains anonymous while Lazarus is named. In life, probably lots of people knew Lazarus as 'the beggar', but didn't know his personal name. The rich man probably had a prestigious name, well and widely name. The use, and not, of a name is part of the reversal of the parable.
Traditionally, the rich man has actually been given a name, for convenience. He has become known as Dives; but that's not really a name, it's just the Latin word for 'rich'. The perspectives of God's Kingdom have an amazingly transforming effect. Those who, according to normal human, worldly standards, are the ones with the power and the prestige are the ones who really matter; and the important ones become nameless and anonymous. This passage, then, is inviting us to change our perspective. It is calling us to recognise the importance of the little ones and those who are so often rejected. The Gospel message is indeed that the last will be first.
The second part of the parable, verses 27 to 31, emphasises the point. There is no room for doubt here. The unnamed rich man tries to help some of his friends. And it's interesting to note that this rich man must have had a religious department in his life. It seems that his life was such that he would have regarded himself as pretty upright. But it is also clear that his righteousness was subject to fairly clearly defined limits. He was not prepared to engage in costly compassion. He's worried about some of his friends in like position. He thinks that they would stop from making his mistake, if only it was made just a little bit clearer to them. But "Father Abraham" answers with a dismissive 'forget it', or something like that. He points that they have all the help they need available to them, and that, if they choose to ignore it, that is their problem. The Bible is clear that those who ignore the poor are rejected by the Lord. The prophet Amos is one of those who describes the situation of the rich with amazing clarity. In Amos 6:4-7 he proclaims: How terrible it will be for you who stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end. The apostle Paul, rather more bluntly and succinctly points out, 1 Timothy 6:10 - for the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.
There is something very challenging in all this, and it is relevant for all of this. I don't think the prime attack is on money. It's on greed. I don't think the main point is to do with whether you've got a lot or a little. It's to do with priorities. The key point about money is that we should use, and not abuse, it.
I think that today, and every day, Jesus wants to challenge us to think about what is really important to us. He wants us to be sure that there aren't idols that we've gone off to worship - and there are plenty of them around, trying to grab our attention, money being one of the chief candidates. Jesus wants us to share what we are, that we may indeed create the kind of community that He envisaged.
I believe that one of the great Christian words is 'potential'. When we bring an infant for baptism, we cannot know how that child's life will turn out. We will have hopes. We may have worries - and concerns. We will certainly see possibilities. Our prayer is surely that the child will fulfil its potential, but that doesn't mean that the child will be great or wonderful. It might do! But what matters is that we each do just what God has in mind for us.
This story startles us - because the potential that is ultimately realised is the opposite from that expected. You can't necessarily blame a person for having a lot of money, but you can certainly blame them for what they do, or don't do, with it. Greed, selfishness and hardheartedness have no place in God's Kingdom. So let us learn to share, even those of us who think we know how, let us learn to really share. Let us learn to care and to love in God's Name. Let us learn to welcome those whom society discards and marginalises. Let us knock down the barriers and build God's Kingdom.
Monday, 9 March 2009
For Just Such a Time as This - Esther 4:12-17
The story of Esther is a fascinating one. In some ways it is interesting that this one made the Bible at all. One of the distinguishing marks of this bit of writing is that it is the only book of the Bible that doesn’t mention God at all.
The story is set not in Jerusalem, but in Susa, one of the three great royal seats of the Persian Empire, the other two being Babylon and Ecbatana. It centres on just five characters. There is the king of the time, Xerxes, who, in some versions has his name translated as Ahasuerus. Xerxes reigned from 486 to 465 BC and it is stated that the events of the book of Esther took place towards the beginning of his reign. There is Queen Vashti, who disobeys her husband, and so is banished. There is Esther who becomes queen. There is Mordecai, an exiled Jew living in Susa, Esther’s guardian and mentor, and her cousin. And there is Haman, the prime minister, an ambitious and arrogant man who plots against Mordecai and the exiled Jews.
The story really centres on this plot and Esther’s courageous efforts to save her people.
We get to the point in chapter 4 where the Jewish people, a significant community within the empire are under a fairly substantial threat. Mordecai is desperate on behalf of his people for Esther, now queen, to intervene. Esther herself, on the other hand, is, by no means, sure that she should. Catch the king on a bad day and that’s it – goodbye Esther!
But Mordecai challenges her, verse 14: Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. And maybe we need to say to ourselves more often: could it just be that God has put me here for just such a time as this? Is there something that God has in mind for just me to do? What faced Esther certainly involved risk, certainly involved courage – but offered the possibility of really making a difference. Esther had the chance to make an impact. Now, of course, it might have all gone horribly wrong – but, in the end, though she did need a bit of persuasion from Mordecai, she got on with it. Of course, it is difficult to stand up and stand out, as Esther did – but maybe she is where she is “for just such a time as this”.
And sometimes we find ourselves surprised by what God asks of us.
The story is set not in Jerusalem, but in Susa, one of the three great royal seats of the Persian Empire, the other two being Babylon and Ecbatana. It centres on just five characters. There is the king of the time, Xerxes, who, in some versions has his name translated as Ahasuerus. Xerxes reigned from 486 to 465 BC and it is stated that the events of the book of Esther took place towards the beginning of his reign. There is Queen Vashti, who disobeys her husband, and so is banished. There is Esther who becomes queen. There is Mordecai, an exiled Jew living in Susa, Esther’s guardian and mentor, and her cousin. And there is Haman, the prime minister, an ambitious and arrogant man who plots against Mordecai and the exiled Jews.
The story really centres on this plot and Esther’s courageous efforts to save her people.
We get to the point in chapter 4 where the Jewish people, a significant community within the empire are under a fairly substantial threat. Mordecai is desperate on behalf of his people for Esther, now queen, to intervene. Esther herself, on the other hand, is, by no means, sure that she should. Catch the king on a bad day and that’s it – goodbye Esther!
But Mordecai challenges her, verse 14: Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. And maybe we need to say to ourselves more often: could it just be that God has put me here for just such a time as this? Is there something that God has in mind for just me to do? What faced Esther certainly involved risk, certainly involved courage – but offered the possibility of really making a difference. Esther had the chance to make an impact. Now, of course, it might have all gone horribly wrong – but, in the end, though she did need a bit of persuasion from Mordecai, she got on with it. Of course, it is difficult to stand up and stand out, as Esther did – but maybe she is where she is “for just such a time as this”.
And sometimes we find ourselves surprised by what God asks of us.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
The Earth Will Be Filled - Habakkuk 2:14
Habakkuk 2:14 – "But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." On the whole today we make a thing about seeing and putting things in context, and that’s absolutely right. Context is important. When we don’t take it into account we run the risk of being irrelevant. When we do take it into account we have a much better chance of engaging with the particular situation.
However, just occasionally, I think, we need a word, or an action, that is out of context, that, to put it another way, bucks the trend. Such a word challenges us in a different way, offers an alternative perspective and can say something really critical.
This verse from somewhere atound the middle of the second chapter of Habakkuk is, I think, such a word – "but the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." It’s a very depressing chapter, chapter 2 of Habakkuk – that’s why I only read a small section. There’s a recurring refrain. It uses different words in English, depending on the translation, but they all mean exactly the same. In the New Revised Standard Version it’s "alas for." It’s there in verse 6, verse 9, verse 12, verse 15, verse 19. The Good News Bible has "you are doomed!" And the Revised English Bible has "woe betide!"
The people are in a difficult situation.
Things are not going well and they are not reacting well. Each little section begins with a wailing lament – woe to .... The prophet is here speaking the prophetic word and, as so often, that is a word full of challenge. It is a word devised to transform the activities and reactions of the people. It is a word that looks for real change in society. The word here is essentially a word of judgment. The people need to change their ways – and that is what the prophet here challenges them towards. The big Biblical – or theological - word for that is, of course, repentance. That is how transformation comes. That is what is needed.
And in the middle of this devastating series of indictments comes this word of hope. The last word does not lie with the unjust structures. Transformation is possible – and that is the vision that must be proclaimed - – "but the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Now it is only fair to point out that this verse should be regarded as a later insertion, and not part of the original comment – and yet that doesn’t prevent it from being a word that we need to hear in such a context. We are people of faith. We are people of hope. And it is faith and hope that ought to be our driving forces.
I don’t want to try and draw too many close parallels, not least because I don’t want to take the time to engage adequately and appropriately in such an exercise. But I don’t think we need to go into too much detail before we accept that we live in a time where there are plenty of what the prophets would call ‘woes’ around. I am not going to try and analyse any such things, but we all know that the news is full of expressions like recession, credit crunch, financial crisis, crash and so on. We know, too, on a slightly broader plain that we don’t have to look very hard to find concerns about knife crime, drugs and so many other things. On a still broader plain there are many concerns about violence and persecution, about debt and famine, about injustice in a whole range of ways.
Let us not avoid the challenge to face and tackle these issues. Let us not try and minimise the pain and horror. But let us recognise that God is with us in every situation – however bad or however good. – "But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
However, just occasionally, I think, we need a word, or an action, that is out of context, that, to put it another way, bucks the trend. Such a word challenges us in a different way, offers an alternative perspective and can say something really critical.
This verse from somewhere atound the middle of the second chapter of Habakkuk is, I think, such a word – "but the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." It’s a very depressing chapter, chapter 2 of Habakkuk – that’s why I only read a small section. There’s a recurring refrain. It uses different words in English, depending on the translation, but they all mean exactly the same. In the New Revised Standard Version it’s "alas for." It’s there in verse 6, verse 9, verse 12, verse 15, verse 19. The Good News Bible has "you are doomed!" And the Revised English Bible has "woe betide!"
The people are in a difficult situation.
Things are not going well and they are not reacting well. Each little section begins with a wailing lament – woe to .... The prophet is here speaking the prophetic word and, as so often, that is a word full of challenge. It is a word devised to transform the activities and reactions of the people. It is a word that looks for real change in society. The word here is essentially a word of judgment. The people need to change their ways – and that is what the prophet here challenges them towards. The big Biblical – or theological - word for that is, of course, repentance. That is how transformation comes. That is what is needed.
And in the middle of this devastating series of indictments comes this word of hope. The last word does not lie with the unjust structures. Transformation is possible – and that is the vision that must be proclaimed - – "but the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Now it is only fair to point out that this verse should be regarded as a later insertion, and not part of the original comment – and yet that doesn’t prevent it from being a word that we need to hear in such a context. We are people of faith. We are people of hope. And it is faith and hope that ought to be our driving forces.
I don’t want to try and draw too many close parallels, not least because I don’t want to take the time to engage adequately and appropriately in such an exercise. But I don’t think we need to go into too much detail before we accept that we live in a time where there are plenty of what the prophets would call ‘woes’ around. I am not going to try and analyse any such things, but we all know that the news is full of expressions like recession, credit crunch, financial crisis, crash and so on. We know, too, on a slightly broader plain that we don’t have to look very hard to find concerns about knife crime, drugs and so many other things. On a still broader plain there are many concerns about violence and persecution, about debt and famine, about injustice in a whole range of ways.
Let us not avoid the challenge to face and tackle these issues. Let us not try and minimise the pain and horror. But let us recognise that God is with us in every situation – however bad or however good. – "But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Saturday, 10 January 2009
An Unexpected Land Purchase - Jeremiah 32:1-15
In Jeremiah 32:1 we find ourselves in “the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah”, and a time when the people certainly faced a desperate situation. In 597 Nebuchadrezzar had taken many of the city’s leaders prisoner. The Babylonians then did what often happened in such circumstances. They found a local who would like the elevation to power and stay loyal to them in order to keep their position. In this case it is Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, who becomes the puppet king and just to emphasise their control, they give him a new name, Zedekiah.
Zedekiah’s reign lasted for eleven years but, towards the end of that time, he, rather foolhardily, allowed himself to be persuaded to rebel against the Babylonians.
Unsurprisingly the Babylonians quickly came and laid siege to the city, providing a pretty uncomfortable environment with the threat of food running out. Jeremiah had been busily proclaiming the doom of the city because of its evil ways, not a message that anyone wanted to hear. But now, just as the siege seems to be reaching its end and everyone else is liquidising their assets because they are so sure that the city is going to fall into Babylonian hands, Jeremiah again goes in the opposite direction from everyone else and invests in a piece of real estate. What is going on here, as Jeremiah buys this field, is just not an economic, legal process, though it is that. But it is also a theological process. The trio of “houses, fields and vineyards” represent the common and characteristic elements of economic life. The affirmation is that these “shall again be bought in this land”. The use of “again” suggests, even confirms, that there is going to be a pause in this economic activity. The invasion will indeed have such an effect. But the invasion will not have the last word. The community will begin to function again and, when that happens, Jeremiah will have staked out for himself a crucial corner. What Jeremiah is doing is a clear statement of hope and of confidence in the promise of God. Brueggemann sums up what is implied here in his commentary on Jeremiah – “In the exercise of family economic responsibility, the prophet enacts the long-term fidelity of God as well. Jeremiah invests in God’s promised future exactly when that future seems completely closed off.”
What can happen does and we need to leave the rest to God. Maybe that provides a model for being church. The story is a bit improbable. I was first really introduced to Jeremiah by Robert Carroll when studying at Glasgow University in the mid to late seventies. In his major commentary on Jeremiah, Carroll, a little cynically, but rather typically, points out – “It would be pointless to speculate on Jeremiah the man of means and property because the tradition provides no hints as to how someone so universally spoken against could also be so well appointed as to buy land with silver on the spur of the moment. The paradigmatic prophet is always adequately equipped and furnished, no matter what the emergency.” But maybe we ought to be grateful for the insight that we ought to be ready to tackle the improbable. And Carroll ends up with the same conclusion as Brueggemann – “the prophet’s action will one day, a long time from now, create Judah’s future because it is the first purchase of land in and for that future.”
Zedekiah’s reign lasted for eleven years but, towards the end of that time, he, rather foolhardily, allowed himself to be persuaded to rebel against the Babylonians.
Unsurprisingly the Babylonians quickly came and laid siege to the city, providing a pretty uncomfortable environment with the threat of food running out. Jeremiah had been busily proclaiming the doom of the city because of its evil ways, not a message that anyone wanted to hear. But now, just as the siege seems to be reaching its end and everyone else is liquidising their assets because they are so sure that the city is going to fall into Babylonian hands, Jeremiah again goes in the opposite direction from everyone else and invests in a piece of real estate. What is going on here, as Jeremiah buys this field, is just not an economic, legal process, though it is that. But it is also a theological process. The trio of “houses, fields and vineyards” represent the common and characteristic elements of economic life. The affirmation is that these “shall again be bought in this land”. The use of “again” suggests, even confirms, that there is going to be a pause in this economic activity. The invasion will indeed have such an effect. But the invasion will not have the last word. The community will begin to function again and, when that happens, Jeremiah will have staked out for himself a crucial corner. What Jeremiah is doing is a clear statement of hope and of confidence in the promise of God. Brueggemann sums up what is implied here in his commentary on Jeremiah – “In the exercise of family economic responsibility, the prophet enacts the long-term fidelity of God as well. Jeremiah invests in God’s promised future exactly when that future seems completely closed off.”
What can happen does and we need to leave the rest to God. Maybe that provides a model for being church. The story is a bit improbable. I was first really introduced to Jeremiah by Robert Carroll when studying at Glasgow University in the mid to late seventies. In his major commentary on Jeremiah, Carroll, a little cynically, but rather typically, points out – “It would be pointless to speculate on Jeremiah the man of means and property because the tradition provides no hints as to how someone so universally spoken against could also be so well appointed as to buy land with silver on the spur of the moment. The paradigmatic prophet is always adequately equipped and furnished, no matter what the emergency.” But maybe we ought to be grateful for the insight that we ought to be ready to tackle the improbable. And Carroll ends up with the same conclusion as Brueggemann – “the prophet’s action will one day, a long time from now, create Judah’s future because it is the first purchase of land in and for that future.”
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Gardening Lessons - John 15:1-10
I am no Alan Titchmarsh, so I have to be careful what I say – but I do think the image of the gardener has much to convey to us. Jesus lived and moved in vine country. Grapes were a major crop. The ground was carefully prepared and the vines were planted in rows on sunny hill tops. The vines were pruned in spring and then the grapes grew and ripened. The owner would build a wall round the vineyard and a watch tower to look out for animals and thieves.
The vine and the grapes it produced became a symbol of the good land that God had promised His people – though it is also true to say that this image is often used in the Old Testament to depict the failure of the people and their inability to live up to all that God expected of them. The people are, for example, described in Isaiah 5:2 as yielding only wild grapes. By contrast, Jesus is the genuine, or true, vine.
I want to suggest four things from this image that may help us reflect on the renewal of covenant.
First, I want to think about is the importance of preparation. The gardener who does not make appropriate preparations will soon find the beauty of the garden transforming into a wilderness. We need to plan what we are doing, and prepare for it. We need to have the right seeds, the right tools, to have prepared the ground in the right way. So we need to prepare to adequately do those things that God calls us to do.
The second point to make is to do with pruning. Verse 2 – He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Every gardener knows the value and the importance of pruning.
I believe it’s important to apply this idea to our lives. Too often we ignore the gardener’s pruning technique. Instead, our lives are more like expanding collections. We only add things on. We never do away with anything. But it is better to do a few things well, than to be struggling to do loads of things, all of them totally ineffectively. We all need to look and discover where God would have us prune our lives. God sometimes calls us to new things, and we need to be ready for that call. But he also calls us to give up things, and we need to be ready for that call also.
The key for determining such things lies in our third point, and that is that we must remain united to Jesus. Verses 4 and 5 – Abide in me, as I abide in you. … I am the vine, you are the branches. The branch, cut from the vine, will wither and die. Similarly, we will not survive as we should on our own. As there is no branch without the vine, there is no Christianity without Christ.
And this brings us to our final point which concerns the results of living life in such a way. Verse 5 – Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. This is the promise – and this is the challenge – to bear fruit. The purpose of the vine is to produce grapes. That’s what it’s there for. In a similar way, we are to bear fruit. Fruitfulness, in effect, is the goal of discipleship.
The vine and the grapes it produced became a symbol of the good land that God had promised His people – though it is also true to say that this image is often used in the Old Testament to depict the failure of the people and their inability to live up to all that God expected of them. The people are, for example, described in Isaiah 5:2 as yielding only wild grapes. By contrast, Jesus is the genuine, or true, vine.
I want to suggest four things from this image that may help us reflect on the renewal of covenant.
First, I want to think about is the importance of preparation. The gardener who does not make appropriate preparations will soon find the beauty of the garden transforming into a wilderness. We need to plan what we are doing, and prepare for it. We need to have the right seeds, the right tools, to have prepared the ground in the right way. So we need to prepare to adequately do those things that God calls us to do.
The second point to make is to do with pruning. Verse 2 – He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Every gardener knows the value and the importance of pruning.
I believe it’s important to apply this idea to our lives. Too often we ignore the gardener’s pruning technique. Instead, our lives are more like expanding collections. We only add things on. We never do away with anything. But it is better to do a few things well, than to be struggling to do loads of things, all of them totally ineffectively. We all need to look and discover where God would have us prune our lives. God sometimes calls us to new things, and we need to be ready for that call. But he also calls us to give up things, and we need to be ready for that call also.
The key for determining such things lies in our third point, and that is that we must remain united to Jesus. Verses 4 and 5 – Abide in me, as I abide in you. … I am the vine, you are the branches. The branch, cut from the vine, will wither and die. Similarly, we will not survive as we should on our own. As there is no branch without the vine, there is no Christianity without Christ.
And this brings us to our final point which concerns the results of living life in such a way. Verse 5 – Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. This is the promise – and this is the challenge – to bear fruit. The purpose of the vine is to produce grapes. That’s what it’s there for. In a similar way, we are to bear fruit. Fruitfulness, in effect, is the goal of discipleship.
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