Failure's Triumph

Christmas is more a celebration of the future than any event in the past. Sure, there was a child born in Bethlehem, but if it is only the birth of a child we celebrate our festivities have as much substance as Santa Claus, balloons and Christmas bom boms. While it may bring families together and create memories that bind, it remains a bit of light hearted fun. The togetherness and the memories could just as easily be created in some other way. Christmas is all about hope that one day we will triumph over our failures as human beings.

The bloodline of the Christmas Child brims over with this failure, as far back as we may care to go. A good place to start is with Abraham,  the father of the Jewish tribes and the nation they formed.

Now if you were God and you wanted to find someone to be the founding father of a nation to represent you on earth, you would probably look for a good, righteous man, someone who exemplified the values you desired. So, would you pick Abraham - or Abram as he was known before God changed it.

First, he was a liar who was prepared to allow his wife to sleep with another man to save his own neck. His father was an idol worshiper, as at least some of his relatives. Was Abram? We are not told, but having been raised in that environment would have influenced his worldview.

Part of the story reads like he was a war lord. He had allies and his personal army. When his nephew Lot was captured by the combined forces of four kings Abraham led his fighting men on a successful raid to free Lot and retake all that had been captured. Abraham obviously had an understanding of military tactics and the ability to lead a fighting force, indicating this was not a one-off event.

Abraham is called the Father of the Faithful, yet his story reads as one failure of faith after another. There is the one outstanding exception, and that is his willingness to sacrifice  his son Isaac at God’s command. While the story is one of total obedience we can still ask why.

Later, the writer of Hebrews states Abraham reasoned God could raise Isaac from death, and that may in fact be so (Heb. 11:17-19). Today, if anyone claimed God had given them a similar command we would question their sanity, and we would have strong Biblical support for doing so. After all, God expects us to take the Bible as our ultimate authority and if anything goes counter to that we are to reject it.

Many centuries later we read the interesting account of a discussion between God and Moses. When Abraham's descendants made a golden calf and worshiped it, God expressed His anger, threatening to destroy them all and make the descendants of Moses into a nation to replace them. Moses argued against this, reminding God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and arguing that this action would portray God as evil (Exodus 32:7-14). Moses had come to know God at a deeply personal level, and this gave him the confidence to question God.

Human sacrifice was part of the culture Abraham knew. While his is the story of a growing faith, we cannot rule out the cultural influences that had shaped and, no doubt, distorted his view of God. There is no evidence he questioned this demand, he simply put his mind to obey. It seems he had not yet come to the realisation that human sacrifice under any circumstances was abhorrent to God.

As we read the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we find they are all flawed. Jacob’s family, from whom the 12 tribes of Israel were descended, could only be described as dysfunctional. They definitely could not be described as model citizens. Yet it was this family that God chose to be His representatives on earth.

The story doesn't get any better. David, the celebrated king from whom Jesus descended was an adulterer and murderer. His son Solomon, born as a result of David’s affair with the wife of Uriah, opened the floodgates to idolatry and pagan worship in Israel. His reign led to the dividing of the nation into Israel and Judah. Many of the kings that followed and whose blood flowed through Jesus’ veins were no better. The prophets continually warned of the consequences of idolatry, oppression and lack of regard for the welfare of others. God's nation was meant to demonstrate mercy, compassion and care of the less fortunate.

Eventually they were so bad that God allowed the nation to fall to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who carried them into exile. Seventy years later God allowed them to return to their homeland, but they would not become an independent nation again. Cured of their idolatry, they became legalistic, developing strict legal codes to preserve their holiness. In so doing they lost sight of compassion and mercy, putting their rules and regulations above the revelation of God. So much so that when Jesus came and walked amongst them they rejected Him, because He did not conform to their expectations.  

Throughout the Old Testament the story of human failure, exploitation and degradation runs parallel to the theme of God's mercy seen in His promises to heal, forgive and restore. Isaiah 11 presents a vision and promise of a future ruler and a world where their is peace, justice and fairness for all. Exploitation and poverty will be no more. The vision and promise is for all who desire it, regardless of race, culture or religion.

It was that Ruler and that vision that people were looking for that first Christmas. We see elements of the vision in the story. The wise men, or Magi, were gentiles, coming to worship this King of Righteousness. The Shepherds were considered among the lowest classes of society. Jesus Himself bore the shame of the bastard, being conceived outside of wedlock, the shame He would carry all His life. The ruling class hounded Him and eventually crucified Him because He challenged their authority, corruption, and exploitation of the poor, justified by their twisting of religion.

The vision and the promise has not yet been realised. It remains a future hope. Christmas without that expectation of righteousness, justice and compassion may be a nice, feel-good celebration, but for what? Christmas is properly celebrated when we live out that vision in the way we relate to those around us, and the poor, oppressed and exploited of the world. It is for those who acknowledge their own moral failings, recognising the future is for those who earnestly long for the mercy of God. It is for the Abrams, those who respond to God's call but never come to a full understanding of what God requires. And it is for those who are prepared to extend that mercy to all who have wronged them, regardless of the magnitude of that wrong.

Christmas is a celebration of the future when, regardless of our failures, we can experience triumph over all that life throws at us.

‘I gave her time ...’

At the very heart of the seven letters of Revelation is a powerful reminder of God’s long-suffering love of sinners. Revelation was written to encourage a Church facing persecution, firstly at the time it was written, and secondly throughout its future until the end of time. God’s people have been, and will continue to, in different times and places face persecution, imprisonment and death for their faith. The letter to Thyatira is as relevant to us today as it has ever been.

Thyatira, being the fourth letter, is at the centre of the seven. There is a symmetry in the way the letters are presented.

The love of Ephesus, the first church, has waned: ‘But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first’ (Rev. 2:4). The seventh, Laodicea, has a similar problem: ‘I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!’ (Rev. 3:15,16). Both Churches may be going through the motions of being Christian but they are doing so without a real, heartfelt love for God.

Smyrna, the second of the churches, is about to enter a period of persecution. ‘Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.’ (Rev. 2:10). On the other hand, Philadelphia, the sixth church, will be protected from a time of trial that is to come on the world. ‘Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.’ (Rev 3:10).

In Pergamum, the third on the list, there are some who are found to be unfaithful to God. ‘But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.’ (Rev 2:14-15) By way of contrast, in Sardis, the fifth of the group, there are a few that remain faithful. ‘Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.’ (Rev 3: 4-5).

A tool sometimes used by Bible writers is the Chiasm. This is the use of related ideas paralleled around a central idea. In the above the 1st and 7th are about the heart, the 2nd and 6th, persecution or trial, the 3rd and 5th is that of some being unfaithful opposed to some remaining faithful. Where this mechanism is used it is to give emphasis to the central thought, in this case the letter to Thyatira.

There are at least two things that are unique to Thyatira. First, it is the only one of the churches commended for growing spiritually. ‘I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.’ (Rev. 2:19). Continual growth in these things should be the desire of every Christian. Because it is Jesus that speaks these words this is a commendation of the highest order.

But the Church was not perfect. ‘But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.’ (Rev. 2:20-21) While this is a rebuke, it is not said in a harsh, judgemental of condemnatory way.

Church discipline, that process by which a group is sometimes required to rebuke or remove one or more of their members, is required by Scripture. There are examples in the New Testament. But in many cases the decision to act will be difficult, one where it is easy to make the wrong call.

Here, while Jesus makes the complaint, He does not ask the Church to deal with Jezebel. This is something He will do himself. ‘Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds’ (v.22). And, it seems, while it is now time for Him to deal with Jezebel, those who have committed adultery with her will be given more time to repent.

Revelation is full of allusions to the Old Testament and here we see another drawn from one of the darkest periods in the history of Israel. The story is told in 1 Kings 16:29 to 22:40. Ahab, king of Israel, committed more evil than any king who had come before him. He married Jezebel, daughter of the Sidonian King Ethbaal. Jezebel sought to destroy the religion of God, importing the religion of her nation and killing the Lord’s prophets.

At this time God raised up the prophet Elijah. Elijah appeared to Ahab, announcing there would be no rain or dew in Israel for the next few years. A severe drought resulted. He then disappeared for a while, miraculously cared for and protected by God despite all the efforts of Ahab to hunt him down. More than three years later Elijah appeared again, this time to arrange a meeting with Ahab and a message that it would again  rain. But before the rain came Elijah instructed Ahab to assemble the people of Israel at Mount Carmel, ‘along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.’ (1 Kings 18:19)

A challenge was put to the prophets of Baal which, given the public nature of the event, they  probably could not afford to decline. Each party was to sacrifice a bull and lay it on a pile of wood. Then each was to call on their god to set the sacrifice on fire.  

After the prophets of Baal had spent most of the day calling on their god to no avail, Elijah drenched his bull and the wood it was on. He then prayed and fire came from heaven, consuming the stones of the altar Elijah had placed his bull on, the beast, wood, soil and water. Then he announced to Ahab that heavy rain was on its way. The drought was broken. Ahab returned home and told Jezebel what had happened and that her prophets had been slain.

This is not the end of the story for Jezebel lived on for some years. But there can be no doubt that she was fully aware of the power of Jehovah and the impotency of Baal. Despite the evil she was doing, her attempts to destroy the worship of God and her war on His people, God did not destroy her. He gave her time to repent.

The Thyatiran letter contains this unique phrase - see above: 'And all the churches will know ...' The complete verse says: 'l will strike her [Jezebel’s] children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one that searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.'

What are we to take from this?

First, remember the context. Revelation's first recipients were Christians facing persecution. As the book unfolds it is clear it was written for the Church that would face persecution at different times and places throughout its history. 'Why Lord?' must be the cries of His people at times. No matter how evil we may see the Jezebels of this world God may still be giving them time to repent. Such was His love for us that Jesus endured hell on earth for us. He wants us to have that same love for sinners even if it means we experience a similar hell on earth.

Secondly, the sentence 'You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols' can, within the context of Revelation, rightly refer to false teaching. How are we as Christians to relate to those who fellowship with us yet hold to teachings and practices we see as wrong? Perhaps we should likewise be patient with them, giving them time to repent. We are not God. We do not know 'the thoughts and intentions of every person.'

Thirdly, remember the experience of Elijah. In a severe drought God miraculously provided for him and, despite the best efforts of his enemy, kept him hidden. We should not take from this that this will be the case for every believer facing prosecution. Jezebel did kill many of God's prophets. But whether we are martyred or spared, God knows our  heart. We are safe in Him.

All quotes from The New Living Translation.

A Woman of Value

The story of the Woman at the Well is, for me, one of the most moving in Scripture. Addressing failure, rejection, prejudice, racism, sexism and judgemental attitudes it reaffirms my value as a human being no matter how others may see me.

It goes like this. One day Jesus was travelling through Samaria when He met a woman at a well. He struck up a conversation with her that led to her becoming a believer. Somewhere in the middle of all that we find out that she had been married five times and was now living in what we would call a defacto relationship. Okay, at a first reading there seems little remarkable in that. It is only as we understand the cultural background that can fully appreciate it.

Jesus and His disciples were journeying from Judea to Galilee when they came to the Samaritan village of Sychar. While they were taking the shortest route it was not the one normally taken by Jews, for there was nothing they hated more than Samaritans. Any intercourse between the two groups would normally be limited to trade.

It was around mid-day when they arrived and Jesus, being tired, rested at the local well while His disciples went in search of food. While He was resting the woman came to draw water. This in itself was unusual, as the women would normally draw water in the cool of the morning or evening, which may well tell us something about the woman’s standing in the community.

Jesus initiated the conversation by asking for a drink. While this may seem reasonable to us the woman’s response shows it was unusual. ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan – how can you ask me for a drink?’ The story reveals that Jews would not eat off the same dishes as Samaritans. It was, however, a request that would not be denied in the culture of the day.

As the discourse between them progresses Jesus hits her with the truth – she has had five husbands and she is not married to the man she is now living with. After further dialogue Jesus makes a startling admission to the woman – that He is, in fact, the promised Messiah. He had not until this moment made that admission to anyone else, and it is perhaps not claimed again so blatantly until the final days of His ministry.

At this point His disciples return. They are surprised to find Him talking to the woman, for this was not the done thing. Jewish men simply did not talk to women outside their family circle in public. Some rabbis taught it was even improper for a man to speak to his wife in public. And certainly, no self-respecting teacher – and Jesus was seen as a teacher – would do so.

Jesus ignored divisive social norms. The main difference between Jews and Samaritans was religious. Both accepted the writings of Moses but they differed on the interpretation. Jesus crossed the barriers of race, religion and gender – things that continue to divide people today – to show that in His view they mean nothing. Each one of us has inestimable value in His eyes.

But what of the woman. Five marriages and now ‘living in sin’. That she was at the well in the middle of the day is a strong indicator that she was shunned by her neighbours. Perhaps here she could escape those looks, the hushed comments, the innuendoes. Aloneness may have been her only refuge. Some commentaries and preachers continue to portray her as an immoral woman, but this may say more about them than her.

We are told nothing of the circumstances of her life other than her marital status. Why had she been married five times? In those times people generally did not live anywhere near as long as we do. Some, if not all, of her husbands may have died. Perhaps it is unlikely statistically, but then some people do cruise through life without enduring too much pain while others cop much more than their fair share. It was a man’s world and if a man wanted a ‘better model’ it was not too much trouble to dump the current one. In this world a woman’s social standing and security was dependent upon a man to look after her – a father, husband or son. Without one of these she was well and truly on her own.

Then there was the view that those who suffered were under the curse of God. They were simply getting what they deserved because they were obviously immoral. Judgemental attitudes are nothing new.

As I reflect on this story I wonder at the woman’s mental state – her self-talk, her sense of worth, or lack thereof. Divorce, if that were involved, is often associated with feelings of rejection and failure, no doubt more so when it is initiated by the other party as it almost invariably would have been in her culture. The death of a husband would have been hard enough, but if more than one husband died the feelings associated with the event would have been magnified. And if she saw her current situation as evidence of God’s judgement on her life her self-esteem would have been almost non-existent. Five marriages, why would you bother again? But she needed a man, any man, for some semblance of social security and perhaps she had reached that stage where she was no longer an attractive marriageable option, at least for any self-respecting man.

It is this picture of the woman that I find so appealing – more so than the fact the Jesus reached out across the artificial barriers of race, religion, culture and gender. A woman who had experienced judgement, rejection and who no doubt lived with feelings of failure and worthlessness. But a woman who in the eyes of Jesus was of inestimable value. It is a story that helps me live with my own failures, condemnation – which is normally self-condemnation – and feelings of inadequacy. It is one that affirms not only my value, but the value of all humanity.

The story is told in John 4.

Why would a misogynist write this?

It is generally held that religion, and the Bible, is all about keeping women in their place - under the authority of men. It would therefore follow that the men who wrote the Bible would make sure that that was what it said.

Now, if you buy that line, answer me this one. The only place where we see the 'perfect state' of human existence is Genesis 1 and 2. Now, if this was written by a male misogynist, why would he write this:

• 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
• 27 So God created mankind in his own image,
  in the image of God he created them;
  male and female he created them.
• 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Nothing that makes male superior to female, or vice versa. Together, they rule over. Everything that follows the first two chapters is less than the ideal.