Servant or Slave

I have been viewing a wonderful series of lectures by Dr. Joel S. Baden of Yale Divinity School on Hebrew Bible Interpretation.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to delve into the Hebrew Scripture from a somewhat different perspective from the Old Testament in the Bible.  Dr. Baden is a very engaging lecturer and makes the material come alive.  The link to the lectures is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZIm_edPz20&list=PLbQINmUy3n7Yd56ISO-zbVMu0vLtkExB8&index=1.

One of the many points he has made that I found engaging, is the use of the words ‘servant’ and ‘slave’ in the English translation which occurs in many editions of the bible.  Dr. Baden’s point is that the Hebrew word for servant and slave are the same.  Any time we see servant in the bible it is better translated as slave.  He noted that in the covenant, when an Israelite was indentured to another Israelite he or she must not be treated as a slave because the Israelites as a people are slaves to God (YHWH).  However, most editions of the bible will translate that as servants.  This is true in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the bible as I discovered in my daily bible reading as a finished slogging my way through Leviticus, “For to me the people of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 25: 56).  Just to be clear, a more accurate translation is, “For to me the people of Israel are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. As Dr. Baden notes it is a very different effect to be a slave of God than to be a servant of God. 

This got me thinking about what the difference would be for Christians in the 21^st Century to be slaves of God rather than servants of God.  I believe that most Christians - at least of a liberal bent - would prefer to think of themselves as servants than as slaves.  A servant is someone who has a choice if they are going to serve somebody.  It gives us the understanding and possibly the illusion that we have a choice in how we live our lives as Christian.  We can choose the conditions under which we live up to fulfilling our duty as Christians - or not.  If we are slaves, we have no choice which doesn’t sit well with our modern or post-modern understanding of ourselves as free agents with choices. 

However, if we are honest, we have to acknowledge the promise that we Christians make, or are made on our behalf when we are baptized and when those vows are renewed.  As part of our liturgy, we also confess to our missing the mark (sin) in living up to those vows.  That has more than a hint of being slaves than servants.  What come to mind while writing this is the Bob Dylan song, You’ve Gotta Serve Somebody.  Here the first verse:

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Bob Dylan is putting it in terms of having a choice in who we serve but that, in reality, we are going to serve somebody or something which means that when it comes down to it, we don’t have a choice in serving or not – we are going to give our service someone or something.  I believe that who or what we serve will be different depending on different factors.  Indeed, there may be many different people or things we serve each and every day.  It may not be a stark choice of the Lord or the Devil but it can be in small seemingly inconsequential things.  But as Bob Dylan says we have to serve somebody.  Of course, the process of choosing of what we serve is often not that clear and can be complex and at bottom not something that we do consciously so there may not be that much choice involved.  Consequently, it is important to be mindful of the choices we are making and to attempt be more conscious of those choices. 

So, in all this may you be blessed in the choices you make on your journey. 

The Power of Words

On Sunday, the appointed psalm for our worship service was psalm 63.  In the Anglican tradition, we were responding by the part verse (at the asterisk).  The last verse is:

But the king will rejoice in God;
all those who swear by him will be glad, *
for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

Unfortunately, when I responded, I stated rather forcefully, “for the mouth of those who speak lies shall not be stopped.”  I corrected it as soon as I realized my error and repeated it correctly.  I am sure there wasn’t any permanent damage done.  But it is an example of how significant a small word can be.

This was the situation in the case of the “Wicked Bible” which was published in 1641.  This reprint of the KJV made a similar - but more significant error in the seventh commandment in Exodus 20:14. Rather than the correct verse, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ the editors left out the ‘not’ in this case.  Once the mistake was discovered, the available copies were destroyed and one account noted “the Printers deeply fined, as they justly merited.” 

Fortunately, as far as I know there were no consequences, intended or unintended as a result of my slip of the tongue.  However, you can never tell what the result of a word misspoken or intentional could have.  What would life be like if all the nots and should were removed from our discourse.  I don’t want to think about it.  It does, of course, matter if the use of a word is intentional or not.  But in either case, the results can be serious as in the case of the Wicked Bible.  I don’t know if anyone used the commandment in the Wicked Bible to justify his or her actions, but I wouldn’t be surprized if some scallywag used it as an excuse.  I can also imagine the seventeenth century version of a stand-up comedian using that as the punch line in a joke perhaps a variation on, “the devil made me do it.”

Of course, intentions do matter but do not always make things right.  There was no intention in my mistaken reciting of psalm 63 or in the case of the printers of the Wicked Bible, however, the results were not the same – insignificant in mine but disastrous for the printers.  We are told that the road to hell is paved with good intentions so even good intentions can cause a lot of problems.  There is also the phenomenon of the famous Freudian Slip in which an apparent mistake can reveal hidden motives that the speaker isn’t conscious of.

So, what are we to make of all this?  Well, I guess what we can do is to be aware of the power of words.  Words do matter and the author of the aphorism, “sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you” didn’t know what he was talking about.  But perhaps he misspoke and later realized how mistaken he was.  However, that phrase certainly is an example of how words can cause a lot of problems in the future.  Don’t say that to any child who has been teased mercilessly by a bully in the playground or someone who is the victim of a racist taunt. 

When Christians think of words or more specifically The Word, we know the importance when “the Word became a man,” to quote my favourite songwriter, Leonard Cohen.  So, let us be mindful of the importance of words and the Word on our journey.  Blessings.

 

Coming Home to God

We have had a visitor at our house for the last few weeks.  The visitor is a cat that appeared on our back deck and stayed around.  It appears young and looks as if it belonged somewhere i.e., it was not feral.  Lorna, being a cat person and a sucker for cats, immediately took pity on it and began to feed it.  Small treats at first – and then cat food which was donated by a friend – her cat would not or could not eat it – the food pellets being too small for her cat to enjoy - go figure.

Of course, there are two kinds of people in the world – cat people and others.  Lorna is a cat person and would probably agree with the ancient Egyptians who worshipped cats as gods.  I am not in that camp – at least not fully - but can appreciate the attraction that people have for cats – and visa versa. 

The cat – who now has been named Trixie after the very fashionable character in Call the Midwife. – has established a routine of coming around and demanding to be fed frequently during the day and Trixie has developed an affinity to the house and believes she (Trixie is female) should be allowed into the house.  Of course, being a cat, she believes this is only right and proper.  Lorna put up a poster with Trixie’s picture (see below) to see if anyone would claim her with no response except from our next-door neighbour who wanted to report seeing the cat but not claim her. 

Unfortunately, Trixie definitely has a flea problem and will need to be treated by a vet for that and checked out generally before she can be allowed into her home – which Lorna has decided it is.  Lorna made an appointment with a vet for last week and bought a cat carrier as we had gotten rid of our old one having given up on cat ownership after our last one went to the heavenly realms.   Lorna thought to entice Trixie into the use of the cat carrier by keeping it on the deck and putting her food in it.  Lorna thought she would be able to close her in when the time came to take her to meet her (Trixie’s) medical professional.  But Trixie avoided that fate and disappeared in a huff.  She eventually reappeared looking very disappointed and hurt at such bad treatment.   But is becoming more insistent about becoming an indoor cat.

It occurs to me that there are things that we can learn from this relationship that has developed between Trixie and Lorna (and to a certain extent) me.  I think that the relationship that we humans have to God have some similarities to our relationship to God.  God provides us spiritual food to eat - bread of heaven.  We can demand this bread but sometimes don’t truly believe it is freely given without having to do anything to earn it.  We also believe that we should be admitted into the big house – our spiritual home – but are not ready to be admitted.  We have things - fleas you might say – that are preventing us from having the relationship with God that we are intended to have.  God is encouraging us to deal with these fleas and want to help us deal with them – going to a spiritual vet so to speak.  However, we resist getting the treatment that we need to enable us to have the relationship God wants for us and intends for us.  We resist and resist and do everything in our power to avoid what will enable us to have the relationship that God intends for us.  I can imagine God offering us food that will entice us into the path that will capture us and help us on the journey to our true relationship with God. However, our limited understanding does not allow us to see what is in our best interests.  Fortunately, God does not give up on us and continues to offer us the bread of heaven and shows us a way into a fuller and better life.

Trixie is scheduled for a visit to the vet tomorrow.  We shall see if that will happen despite her resistance.  I hope Trixie will be blessed on that journey and that we will be blessed on our journey to a deeper relationship with God. 

                                                                Trixie

Lest We Forget

One of the recent news items that has been lost in the barrage of devastating news of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, was the discovery of another site of unmarked graces at Kapawe’no First Nation in Northern Alberta.  A reported 169 potential graves have been found using ground-penetrating radar at the site of a former residential school.  This latest sad chapter in the history of Canada’s relationship with First Nations again brought back my memory of visiting the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem while I was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2008 with fellow Anglican’s from the Diocese of Huron.

From my reflection recorded after my visit:

The building in the shape of the pyramid.  Inside the stars shine in the sky to represent the children.  The names, age and nationality are recited continually over the loud speaker in English and Hebrew.  We are asked to remember the name of one child.  I chose Shomo Klien age 14.  Our tour guide, Rachaela declares, “no one will turn their back on us again.”

We are led through exhibits and documentaries and testimonials of those who survived most stark was the mountain of shoes – the ones who wore them long gone but not forgotten. 

Oh God, why have you forsaken your children.

The tears of the dead cry out.

There are enough tears for the children

To fill the Dead Sea.

My tears added to the salt of the Dead Sea

But they cannot be compared to the tears of

Anger, Sorrow, Fear, Loss and Anguish

The mothers were forced to shed

Are we able to know, to remember, and to name, all those who are in those unmarked graves at the sites of the Canadian Holocaust?

Let us remember on our journey the lives of all innocents who have been lost. 

If It Be Your Will

Those of us who believe in a God who is active in the world may be tempted to substitute our own will to that of God.  We assume that because we want something, God must want the same thing.  We can also believe that God will intervene and set the world right according to how we believe the world should be. 

How often are we tempted to demand that God do something.  We want God to bring an end to COVID – cast out the demon COVID and free us from being enslaved by it.  Why won’t God do this?  After all, Jesus cast out many demons in his ministry.  Why can’t he cast out the demon COVID?  Jesus was tempted by Satan to cast himself down from the heights and see if God the Father would send angels to save him – but he replied to the tempter, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” 

There is a marvelous phrase I heard which describes this desire to have God do our bidding.  It is ‘God the butler’.  We want to keep God downstairs out of the way until we call on God to do our bidding – to serve us.  God does not work that way as Jesus shows us. 

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist sends out a word every day with a  short reflection on that word.  It is entitled Show Me a Word.  A few days ago, the word for the day was ‘will’:

We cannot control what Jesus will or will not do, and we will never fully know what to expect from him. But we can be assured that whatever he does or does not do will be consonant with the Kingdom of God. He acts in accordance with the divine rule, whose presence he embodies and whose coming he announces. Br. David Vryhof,

As much as we would wish and hope that we could control the world and have it run as we would like it to be run, God does not work that way and given what people are like it is probably a good thing. Does that mean that prayer is pointless?  After all, if God is going to do what God wants, what is the point?  I have asked myself that many times in my life and I always come back to the realization that I must pray and always know that I am leaving it in God’s hands and so I usually end my prayers with the acclamation, ‘Fulfil my requests as may be best for us’. 

 May God be with you and bless you on your journey.