If at First You Don’t succeed – Perhaps You Shouldn’t Try Harder

The commandments of Jesus seem to be more than Christians could ask or imagine - not in a good way but, rather, they seem impossible.  Here is a summary of what is it that we must be and do?  Very simply:

• Love our enemies
• Bless them that curse you
• Pray for those who are spiteful to you
• Turn the other cheek if someone strikes you cheek
• Someone steals from you – give them something more to take
• Give to everyone who asks you

Here is a quote by G. K Chesterton that wonderful English writer, which is very applicable to this, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

However, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the thought of trying to follow these commandments, we can turn, instead the beatitudes which can be considered alternative or, as Richard Rhor puts it, paradoxical commandments:

The Beatitudes are paradoxical “commandments.” They don’t tell Christians what to do; they tell them what they will be like if they are living in the kingdom: They will be poor in spirit, pure in heart, merciful and gentle peacemakers; they will thirst for what is right and be persecuted because of it, and they will mourn.

Lutheran priest and author Nadia Bolz-Weber offers her own version of beatitudes for people who may not feel blessed today.  what if the Beatitudes aren’t about a list of conditions we should try to meet to be blessed? What if they are not virtues, we should aspire to?... Maybe the Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus’s lavish blessing of the people around him on that hillside … who that world—like ours—didn’t seem to have much time for: people in pain, people who work for peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance:

Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.

Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction.

Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean.

Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like.

Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.

Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted anymore.

Blessed are they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else.

Blessed are the motherless, the alone, the ones from whom so much has been taken….

Blessed are those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables. The laundry guys at the hospital. The sex workers and the night-shift street sweepers.

Blessed are the losers and the babies and the parts of ourselves that are so small, the parts of ourselves that don’t want to make eye contact with a world that loves only the winners.

Blessed are the forgotten.

Blessed are the closeted.

Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented….

With that thought, I wish you blessings this day and every day.

 

To Be Blessed

Recently, I was reading the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 6: 20-31).  The Beatitudes are the address by Jesus to his disciples in which Jesus tells them who is blessed.  The address opens with, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  Jesus goes from there to include others who are blessed – the hungry, those who weep, people who are hated on account of the ‘Son of Man’.  Considering this passage, I realized that I didn’t have as full a grasp on what it means to be blessed, as I would like.  Generally, I know that to be blessed is a good thing, but what does it actually mean for the person who is blessed?

Some versions of the Bible use happy in this passage rather than blessed.  However, to my mind, 'happy' does not capture the full meaning of blessed – happy sounds like a passing thing which is contingent on external conditions.  However, blessed seems to have a sense of a deeper state.

The earliest reference to blessing in the bible is in the creation story.  God blesses the living creatures and says, be fruitful and multiply.  He then blesses humans and tells them the same thing – be fruitful and multiply.  So, it would appear that to be blessed means you are going to be fruitful in life which at that time meant having many offspring.  Later we have the rather infamous case of Jacob – that patriarch of the church, stealing the blessing from his brother Esau – not great family values there.  One commentary noted that the meaning of the blessing that Jacob stole:

was to grant leadership to the one who received it, with Jacob becoming the head of a powerful family and nation, and with nations and brothers bowing down to him. This included not only material wealth but also spiritual significance and the continuation of God's covenant with Abraham, a legacy Jacob would carry forward. 

The covenant between God and God’s chosen people included God’s promise of land and offspring.   In effect, to be blessed, at least at that time meant to be fruitful and multiply as in the original blessing. 

So, in this case what does it mean to be fruitful?  This can have the meaning of receiving material prosperity i.e. having lots of material possession and material wealth.  This kind of meaning has led to the mistaken theology of the prosperity Gospel in my view. 

I believe that Jesus used the term blessed in the framework of the Beatitudes to describe the inner quality of a faithful servant of God. This blessedness is a spiritual state of well-being and prosperity—a deep state of peaceful contentment that cannot be shaken by external events such as poverty, hunger, or conflict because God is present with us through these difficult times.  We are blessed by God, therefore, we can be blessed by God in all things but not for all things.

May you be blessed on your journey. 

 

The Humble vs Pride Challenge

‘I am the most humble person in the world!’  We know immediately there is something wrong with that statement — even if we’re not quite sure what.  If someone is humble, they do not think of themselves in comparison to others.  In fact, the person who makes that statement is ironically prideful about their humility — which means that he or she is basically not humble.   There is an interesting variation on pride which I have run into recently; it has been coined as the humble-brag.  The person who humble- brags gets to blow his or her horn and yet appears on the surface as being humble. It can go something like this, “I am so humbled and honoured to be awarded this great award.  I don’t deserve it but it is wonderful to be able to do the great things that I have done.”  In effect the person is saying, “aren’t I wonderful I   have done these great things and am humble as well.  Quite a neat trick, the humble-brag. 

Pride does not get very good press in the bible.  Here are a few of the verses which deal with pride: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs); One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour (Proverbs); For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy (2 Timothy);  Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves.

Pride is definitely frowned upon by God and by the first Christian leaders.  With this very clearly negative view of pride I’m surprized that its opposite, humility didn’t make it into the Beatitudes.  

Let’s look at humility – the state of being humble.  Here are a few examples of how humility is viewed in the bible: Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves (Philippians); The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life (Proverbs); Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matt.); Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (James).  Our Epistle set out humility in opposition to pride – God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.  Another passage gives a similar comparison, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs).   We can see that it doesn’t seem that pride and humility can exist at the same time. 

That is why that first statement I made is just wrong.  If you are truly humble you are not going to believe you are more humble than everyone else or even anyone else.  You aren’t going to compare yourself to others — you just are who you are.

Indeed, our culture today certainly promotes pride as a good thing.  We are not encouraged to downplay our accomplishments and abilities.  We are told that to be successful we need to trumpet our accomplishments in social media.  If we are in business we see that those who don’t promote themselves don’t get customers — at least not many.  It seems that the sizzle is more important than the steak.  So it seems that to be a Christian then is to be counter cultural — to be against the culture.  I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise to us.   As Christians we are told to turn the other cheek; to go the second mile; to love our neighbours — better, to love our enemies. 

One of the reasons that true humility is difficult is because it is natural to compare ourselves to others.  We want to know how we are doing and the way we seem to do that most naturally is in relationship to others.  We seem to receive that lesson right from the cradle.  We are told directly or indirectly that we should be like others – and by implication do better than others. 

We are given marks in school and by implication are those marks better marks the others —where do we stand in the class.  Even our play is turned into competition — we are taught that winning is good and losing is bad or at best it is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and by learning win the next time.  We win awards in life – medals in sports and academia — we get the job and after that the promotion.  By implication others do not succeed and therefore we conclude that we are better than others. 

How are we to become truly humble?  Is it something that we can work to become or is it something that will be given to us as grace from God?  One of the best definitions of humility that I have come across is by Sister Jane — an Anglican Nun.  She defines humility as ‘seeing clearly’ — to be humble is to see clearly.  When I first read that I was puzzled by that.  How was humility related to seeing things clearly?  Well I first thought that if we clearly see ourselves as we are we will know that we don’t compare that well to others at least some others in the world.  No matter how much we succeed there will be others who are better at us in whatever way we judge ourselves.  Even world champions are not the best in everything or even many things. 

However, on reflection I believe that to see clearly means that we can see what is truly important in life — we can see what is truly important to God.  I don’t believe that God wants us to be better than others.  God wants us to be the person that God intends us to be. 

God does want us to develop and grow and become fully mature human being.  I believe that we have a human need to be better than others because we believe deep down that that is the only way we will be of value — the only way we will valued by others and by God. 

If we can truly come to believe and know that God loves us unconditionally — that God loves us because we are God’s beloved children than we can just be the people of God.  That is something to be proud of. 

 

The Peace of God That Passes All Understanding

Sunday, I preached on the bible passage, 2 Kings 6: 8-23.  In this passage, Israel is in one of the frequent battles with the soldiers of Aram.  The prophet Elisha, through the intervention of God, enables the army of the Arameans to be defeated.  He does this by means of sight being removed and restored.  First, he prays that God will send blindness upon the Aramean army.  Then he leads them astray into Samaria.  When their sight is restored, they find themselves in the midst of their enemies.  Rather than having the Arameans slaughtered – as would be the normal practice – Elisha tells the King of Israel:

‘No! Did you capture with your sword and your bow those whom you want to kill? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink; and let them go to their master.’ So, he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.

Here, Elisha shows that he is a prophet who is truly exceptional and one that has by some measures even surpassed his master, Elijah.  He does something that is probably unimaginable to the King of Israel and probably all the people of Israel, he shows mercy on the army of their enemies when the Arameans were completely within their power to utterly destroy them.  We have this account which illustrates the usual approach to conquered people:

When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. Then Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If you will indeed give this people into our hands, then we will utterly destroy their towns.’ The Lord listened to the voice of Israel, and handed over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their towns; so, the place was called Hormah. (Numbers 21: 1-3)

Elisha’s action was toward the Arameans is radical and unexpected, showing them mercy and compassion.  We can only see this as a foreshadowing of what Jesus would be teaching the Jewish people so many years later.  Turning to the New Testament and Gospel theology, we have Jesus telling his disciples and telling us that we must follow the way of peace.  He does this both by his words and his actions.  In the beatitudes he tells us specifically that we must be peacemakers, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”  He tells us to turn the other cheek and not strike back when we are struck, “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”   

So, it is very clear that as Christians, we are commanded by our Lord and Saviour to be peacemakers.  Israel is once again in a state of war with one of its neighbours.  It is responding to the horrendous and vile attack by Hamas as they have throughout its history by stickling back to defend themselves in what seems to be absolute terms.  As Christians, we are called to do what we can to strive for peace in this terrible situation.  Almost fourteen hundred Israeli citizens have been slaughtered or taken as hostages.  Many thousands of citizens of Gaza have been killed or wounded and the infrastructure has been devastated.  The residents of Gaza have had little relief from the embargo of water, food, medicine and fuel by the Israel government.  We can support the call for a ceasefire or at least effective humanitarian pauses to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to innocent residents of Gaza.  We can support the call for a true two state solution for the two nations, Israel and Palestine, where there is security and justice for all.  

Following the commandments of Jesus is not easy.  It is human nature to strike back and not turn the other cheek.  Indeed, the situation in the Middle East seems to be beyond the possibility of peace.  The peace of God is beyond our understanding at this moment.  But with God all things are possible.  We can and we must pray for the peace of God even if it is beyond our understanding.  A prayer from The Most Reverend Hosam Naoum, Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem.

O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths -- Jews, Muslims, and Christians, and for all people of the land. While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.  In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

May we be peacemakers on our journey. 

 

 

Natural Law Is Not Spiritual Law

Recently I was given the gift of an epiphany in something written by Rev. Sherry De Jonge.  It was the concept of spiritual law https://www.exultantministries.org/post/god-of-the-impossible:

An old woman and a virgin will each bear a son. Impossible in the natural, but we forget that we also live in a creation that is spiritual – it has spiritual laws and it has spiritual consequences,

It is somewhat surprizing to me that I had never thought of spiritual things in terms of spiritual laws that operate in the universe just as there are natural laws.   Natural laws have been developed to describe how the universe operates in material ways which can be weighed and measured even if it is on a quantum level.  I know and have known for much of my life that natural laws do not apply to how God operates in the spiritual lives of people and indeed the world.  This is described in the Gospel of John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

However, it came as something of a surprize when I realized I had not thought of spiritual things in terms of spiritual laws.  As a Spiritual Director you would think that this is obvious.   I do know that God is working in my life and in the lives of everyone in many different ways whether we are aware of it or not.  However, I just never thought of it in terms of laws that govern how the spirit works which can be codified and set down – and on reflection that is probably not the way to understand spiritual laws.   After all it does seem hard to pin down even identify when the spirit is actually present and how it is working in us.  As the Gospel says, “you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”   Sometimes we can be blind to what is right before our eyes.  I take comfort in the obtuseness of the disciples who often didn’t see what was right before their eyes. 

There is much in the Christian Bible and other wisdom writings that point to what can be called spiritual laws.  I am thinking particularly about the beatitudes - the sermon of Jesus which tells us that we are blessed if we live our lives in a spiritual way:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

So, here we have eight rules that can be considered spiritual laws telling us how we can be blessed in our lives.  However, I don’t believe that it would be a good idea to try and set down a comprehensive list of rules and regulations which would define what the spiritual laws are.  That would be applying the rules of natural law to the operation of spiritual law.  I don’t believe that the action of spiritual laws can be weighed and measured and cannot be seen under an electron microscope. 

One of the great mistakes that we make in this modern age is to do just that – try and apply natural laws to spiritual things.  We treat the bible as an historical and a scientific document.  I recently watched for the first time the silent movie classic Metropolis which is available on You Tube.  The theme of the movie addresses just this challenge, “The mediator of the head and the hands must be the heart.”  The heart is not rational and neither is Spiritual Law.  To love your enemy is not rational. 

Another recent blog by Ryan Dueck sums the challenge of not codifying spiritual things as natural law up very well:

It’s not that I all of a sudden have no use for logic or arguments or philosophy or theology or anything like that. No one who reads what I write or listens to what I say would ever come to that conclusion. But like Smith, I think I have come to a point in my life where I am deeply aware of the limits of these endeavours. God is not a logic proof. The life of faith is not an argument or a solution to a rational problem. The gospel is not the “system” that we so often and eagerly reduce it to, but a story and a song. And you and I are not data machines in need of the right inputs. We are lovers who need to be loved into remembering. We are dreamers who need more expansive imaginations. We are a ragged choir in need of a better song. https://ryandueck.com/2021/03/02/wonder-shining-in-my-eyes/

Blessings on your spiritual journey