2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 (first published 16 July 2006)
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones races against the
Nazis to be the first to discover the fabled ark of the covenant. Jones
sees the immense historical value of the ark. The Nazis believe it is a
magic box full of power that can be manipulated against their enemies.
The U.S. government, which hired Jones in the first place, is primarily
concerned that the power of the ark not fall into enemy hands. All the
major players in the movie share the belief that the ark is a source of
tremendous power, which potentially can be used to further one cause or
another, if only the secret to its manipulation can be learned. The
primary source of the film's mythology concerning the ark comes from the
account of David bringing the ark to Jerusalem. (Jones's contention that
"The Bible tells of it leveling mountains and wasting entire regions" is
entirely fanciful.) After capturing Jerusalem and making it his capital,
David decides that the presence of the ark in the city will strengthen it
immensely (by making it invincible? by ensuring God's blessing?). He
makes elaborate preparations to bring the ark with honor into Jerusalem,
but suddenly tragedy strikes. Uzzah, an attendant of the ark, tries to
stabilize the ark when the oxen pulling the cart it is on stumble, and he
is struck dead immediately. David, angered by God's outburst, stores the
ark temporarily in the house of Obed-edom, a foreigner, for three months.
When he sees the blessings that Obed-edom receives, he revives his plan to
bring the ark into the city, and he does so with great fanfare. Many
Christians today are like David. We desire the blessings of God, but we
are wary of encountering God's holiness. Churches of all stripes, not
just the health and wealth churches, promote a relationship with God as
the key to a life filled with blessing, sometimes of a financial nature,
sometimes of a spiritual nature. What churches often forget to mention is
that an encounter with God is a dangerous thing. Yes, we may receive
blessings, but we may also suffer because of our proximity to the holy.
It is not that we might be struck dead because we touch a holy relic or
partake of the Eucharist unworthily. The primary danger we face in our
encounter with the holy is that we cannot come close to God and escape
unscathed. When we truly see God at work, we will either be compelled to
join in or we will have to reject God altogether. When we join God's
work, our attitudes and opinions will be changed, and suddenly our
convictions may be anathema to others. Society teaches us to seek revenge
against those who have harmed us, but an encounter with God will push us
in the direction of mercy and forgiveness. The world encourages us to
"look out for number one," but an encounter with God compels us to
consider others more important than ourselves. The collective wisdom of
this age advises us to seek the adulation of our neighbors and friends,
but an encounter with God urges us to speak and act prophetically,
eschewing popularity in favor of justice. David wanted the ark's
blessings, but he wasn't sure he wanted the dangers associated with an
encounter with God. Are we willing to take the risk?
Psalm 24 (first published 16 July 2006)
For several years a piece of legislation called the DREAM Act has
been introduced in both houses of Congress, but its opponents have made
sure that the act has never made it to the floor of either the House or
the Senate for a vote. DREAM stands for Development, Relief, and
Education for Alien Minors--it's one of those acronyms that were chosen
first, and later words that fit the acronym itself were tacked on (i.e.,
a backronym)--but it's really about the dream that the vast majority of
young people living in our country have, the dream of growing up,
getting a good education, and becoming productive citizens. The DREAM
act allows children of undocumented aliens, who are undocumented
themselves, to gain legal status, and eventually citizenship, by
finishing high school, staying out of trouble, and attending college or
joining the military. What law could be more fair than that? Who in
the name of simple decency could oppose such a law? Apparently there
are many members of Congress who oppose it, and they are supported by a
large number of their constituents. What motivates people to oppose a
law that would be so meaningful and give hope to so many deserving
people? One word: xenophobia, the irrational fear or hatred of
foreigners. The psalmist says, "The earth is the Lord's, and all that
is in it, the world, and those who live in it." He didn't say, "All
those who live north of an imaginary line in the dirt belong to God,"
nor did he say, "All those who were born in certain countries belong to
God." No, all the earth belongs to God, as do all its inhabitants. The
imaginary lines we draw in the dirt or on the surface of the water may
help us subdivide the planet into manageable chunks of land, but we must
never forget that they are human inventions, even human illusions. The
border that separates the U.S. from Mexico, or Israel from Lebanon, or
India from Pakistan is artificial. It does not divide one group of
people who are favored by God from another group that is not. All the
people of the earth have the right to a good education, to a home in the
country of their choice, to a form of worship that is meaningful to
them. The DREAM Act is a step in the direction of a more just, more
merciful world. It is fully consistent with both the Christian faith
and the sentiments of the psalmist. Those who advocate treating people
from other countries as though their lives were less important than
their own have failed to understand the teaching of scripture, and they
stand against the idea that "the earth is the Lord's."
Ephesians 1:3-14 (first published 16 July 2006)
Everybody loves a mystery. From John Grisham books to The Da Vinci
Code, the summer's best-sellers year in and year out are frequently
mysteries. The Dante Club, The Rule of Four, The
Historian, and many books of the same genre often top the best-sellers
list. We are attracted to mysteries because we like trying to outsmart
the author and figure out what is going on. We like the imagination
involved in creating a mystery. We also like the tension that we feel
while reading the book, knowing that the conflicts we're reading about
will be resolved, but not knowing how. When we finish reading a mystery,
we often feel a sense of accomplishment, or maybe even smugness, because
we know something that our co-worker doesn't, unless she has read the
book, too. Today's reading from Ephesians says, "With all wisdom and
insight [God] has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to
his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness
of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on
earth." The Christian life is a mystery of the highest caliber. It
involves a plan devised by the greatest mind in the universe. The wisdom
and insight that it took to concoct the scenario in question were
undoubtedly great, but they remain largely beyond our comprehension,
regardless of God's revelation. It is a mystery that involves the limits
of time and space, and it is connected to God's ultimate plan for the
universe. Anyone who claims to have figured out the mystery of God is
either deluding himself or others. God's will remains a mystery today
just as it was when the author of Ecclesiastes declared it impossible to
determine (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Christianity cannot be reduced to
a set of propositions, nor to a set of rules and regulations. Even what
we claim to know about God is at best only partial knowledge, so worship
of God is partaking of the divine mystery about which the apostle speaks
in this passage. It may be that some people are turned off by the
irrationality--or better, nonrationality--of Christianity. If it makes no
sense, they argue, why should I believe it? I would argue just the
opposite. If Christianity could be fully explained, it would cease to
partake in the divine. I'm glad, then, to see our relationship with God
through Christ as a deep and abiding mystery, one that will always be
pursued but never solved. After all, everybody loves a mystery!
Mark 6:14-29 (first published 16 July 2006)
In his book Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, Robert R. Wilson uses sociological studies of the institution of prophecy in modern societies to illuminate the phenomenon in Israelite society of the biblical period. He identifies two primary types of prophets on the basis of their relationship with the political power structure. Central prophets are those who are fully integrated into the political structure. They are advisors to the king, court prophets, and temple prophets. They pray for the welfare of the nation, assure the king of the success of his endeavors, and even occasionally warn the king against an unwise move. The second group of prophets are peripheral prophets. They operate outside the central power structure. They are typically critical of government initiatives, and they identify sin both in people of power and in society as a whole. They have their supporters to be sure, but the government usually takes little notice of peripheral prophets, because they serve a useful societal function: they allow the disenfranchised masses to vent their anger in an essentially harmless way. Every now and then, however, a peripheral prophet begins to wield too much influence, to sway the masses too strongly. When things start to get out of hand, the political powers that be identify the prophet as a witch, that is, as a person wielding uniquely demonic, destructive power, in an effort to separate him from his supporters. The accusation itself is often enough to quash the prophet, but if it is not, the government can always step in and have the prophet either arrested or killed. This is exactly what happened to John the Baptist. A peripheral prophet from the beginning, he hit a nerve with a large portion of the Jewish people when he accused Herod Antipas of adultery for marrying his brother's ex-wife. Because of John's popularity, Herod was worried that his influence would get out of control, so he had him arrested. A short time later his wife and step-daughter connived to have John executed. He was a prophet who posed a threat to the power that Herod and his family possessed. Today we also have central and peripheral prophets. Central prophets play an important role in shaping the morals of the nation, if they are committed to truth and justice and if they have the courage to speak out concerning their convictions. Because they have the ear of those in power, they have a unique opportunity to sway the course of the nation. There is a danger that comes with being a central prophet, however. Proximity to power is addictive, and central prophets are constantly tempted to temper their words in order to maintain their position. Peripheral prophets also play an important role in today's society. Unconstrained by associations with power, they are often freer to speak their minds than central prophets. Although they might not have the ear of those in power directly, they have many supporters, so they can influence policy indirectly through the masses. Unfortunately, witchcraft accusations are also present in contemporary society. When a peripheral prophet becomes too pointed in her critique, or when her following gets too large, those in power sometimes attempt to demonize her. In the contemporary world, "witchcraft accusations" don't mean literally calling someone a witch. Contemporary witchcraft accusations may involve calling someone unpatriotic, or a terrorist, or an atheist. Who are the real prophets today, those who are making a difference in our society? Usually they are those with limited, or only superficial, access to power. Often they are people whose motives are impugned and whose moral characters are swift-boated as soon as they begin to gain an audience. These are the people we need to pay attention to, because very often they will have something important, perhaps even divinely inspired, to tell us.