Bric-a-brac

What is an essential tradition in your family?  You know, the one thing everyone conforms to no matter what they did before they married in?  Surely, someone can marry in to your family and choose to not conform to the tradition… but then they become “that person”.  Your family still accepts them, at least on the surface…but they never truly become part of the family because they refuse to participate/associate with/take an interest in/share with the core values of the family.  Instead, they choose to observe.

What happens during these observations?  Well, while they can be of a purely innocent nature, it is our natural tendency to feel like are being judged.  Why else would they continue to remain on the outside of the family when they could so easily enter into the fold?

What are the entrance requirements for your Church family?  It varies from denomination to denomination, but here are a few of the more common requirements that must be met before one is “fully accepted” as a member:

• New Member Class (varies from 6 weeks to a year of training in doctrine…at least the stance that church takes on various points of doctrine)
• A walk down the aisle
• Water baptism, which may or may not be proceeded by any doctrinal training… (and varies with different denominations as to whether it is done by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion)
• Baptism in the Holy Spirit (not an entrance requirement, but it does increase your acceptance in some circles)

What about during the Persian Period?  What did YHWH require of his people?

In Isaiah 56:1-8, we read that YHWH is gathering people to Him.  His standards are not as strenuous as we would have made them out to be.  In a nutshell, to be accepted by YHWH, keep the Sabbath.  Indeed, those who would have surely been outcasts are told that they’ll be given “an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” (56:5).  This sounds an awful lot like what our churches claim today…except our churches add several more steps before someone is “truly accepted”.  So the question is, what does God require and what does humanity require?  (Remember, God does not change… but humans have proven themselves to be extremely fickle.)

So, as I have learned from Dr. Reid:  “this is why I am a Biblical scholar and not a systematic theologian!”

Often, Christians are told that there is a price to following Christ.  For most American Christians, this is only visible in the news stories that choose to show this particular slant.  A few of our congregations support missionaries enough that they hear of events first hand when missionaries are on furlough.  These stories are not always easy to digest.  They upset us enough that we desire to change something… but somehow we continue to sugar coat our faith.

Part of our sugar coating process consists of limiting our teaching and devotional canons to the New Testament.  Adults tend to feel like the Old Testament is reserved for the elementary Sunday School lessons.  True, it has provided us great ideas for coloring books and movies.  The lessons contained within the Old Testament are preserved in a story-like fashion because the cultures of that time were not dependent upon either the written word or visual entertainment.  Traditions were passed down from oral teachings, therefore the teachings that were more memorable were the ones that were more easily preserved through generations.

Unfortunately, when Christians talk about the cost of  faith, they tends to wear blinders.  A second thought is not given to the possibility looking at the cost of following YHWH, before He sent us His Son.  Surely there has been a price to pay, ever since YHWH chose His people and kept his commitment to stick by His choice no matter what.  But where would we find these examples?  The Old Testament, of course.  The Old Testament is filled with “stories” of individuals who paid a price to follow/serve YHWH.  The prophets are a prime examples.

For the sake of space,lets glance at the major costs Ezekiel paid:

1. He is told he is being sent to people who can understand him but will not listen to him (3:4-11)  How would you like to know that your audience can understand you but could care less about your message??
2. If Ezekiel refused to act on behalf of God, when people died their blood would be upon his hands (3:17-21)  Great… so now that you know they won’t listen to you, if you refuse to endure what lies ahead you are held accountable for their unrighteousness.  Still excited about your calling?
3. Ezekiel will be unable to speak unless he is speaking the Word of God (3:26)  Never mind trying to explain what’s going on to people… God’s gonna make sure you only say His words… lets see who your real friends are!
4. Lay on your side and don’t turn over until God allows it!  (this was for over 400 days total, mostly spent on his  left side to represent Israel’s punishment (4:5) with a small percentage of the time spent on his right side to represent Judah’s punishment (4:6) Can you imagine the bed sores that festered??  How about the muscle atrophy that occurred?
5. Eat the gourmet “Ezekiel bread” that is baked over  dung (4:9-15) Sounds yummy, eh? Bet it smelled good too!  Are you going to invite him to your potluck… or do you just invite those who don’t do/cook/eat “strange things”?
6. Shave head & beard with a sharp sword (5:1) Remember how bad head wounds bleed?  If not ask your Mom… I bet you scared her a few times.  Now imagine the mess from your self-inflicted wounds of shaving your entire head and beard with a nice sharp sword and no mirrors to help you see what you are doing. Oh… and don’t forget rash of razor burn b/c we all know they didn’t have Sensitive Skin shaving cream back then… (ah, the blessings of modern life!)
7. Now go burn the hair (5:2) Mmmmm…nothing stays in the nostrils like burning hair!

Sure, all of this seems “tolerable” and even doable…. b/c it’s things Ezekiel has to endure himself.  His family has to see him, smell him, and endure the mocking that will befall them (remember this is a society where one individual’s actions can ruin the reputation of the entire family)… but then God steps it up a notch.

Ezekiel is told his wife will die, and he is not to mourn/weep…and it happens (24:15-18)

So, what is the cost of following God?

For Ezekiel, he not only watched his people face destruction and most likely psychological breaks, but he also lost his dignity and family that he probably treasured.  All he had left to cling to was God… who was ironically the mastermind behind all of the events taking place.

The cost of being a disciple/believer/servant of God…Do you even have an idea of the weight of your decisions?  Has your endurance been tested lately?

Although I should not be surprised, I am.

Many Christians (at least the vast majority of the ones I have been around) are quick to claim God’s promises as if they are made directly to their own lives.  It is trendy to stick Bible verses on home decor, especially those that are encouraging.  For example, whoever thought to tack the letters F-A-I-T-H together in various ways and sell them in stores like Hobby Lobby and Micheal’s was a marketing genius!  Perhaps this was the same genius that tacked on Isaiah 40:31 to a photo of an eagle flying.  In fact, I have a theory that you could make a lot of money by selling scenic photographs with “inspirational verses” attached to them. Well, at least more than you could make by tacking on “death and destruction” verses.  (Hmm… I wonder if Isaiah 41:14 would sell just as well?  Would Christians enjoy being equated with a worm (maybe even a night crawler–Lumbricus terrestris) like Jacob was?

My question is this: (Okay, it’s more than one, but bear with me…)

Do these same people ever take the death and destruction verses to heart as well?  Do they think it’s a compliment to be referred to as “sheep”??  Why are they allowed to cherry-pick the Bible?  What makes them so special as to think the Scriptures (well, the encouraging parts at least) were written for their benefit alone?  Who then are the other parts intended for?  Most of all, why do so many Christians individualize everything beneficial and then point fingers and accuse others when life gets rough?

If the trend of cherry-picking the encouraging verses and individualizing them is something that is going to remain unaddressed in our congregations, I suggest we add this song to our worship services…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlprvwuqYPA

Although there is debate surrounding the authorship of Isaiah, what is not debated is the fact that the text was completed by 2nd century BCE b/c we found a complete Isaiah scroll that can be dated around that time among the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I have chosen to remind you of this so that you will keep in mind that when we read Isaiah, we should not expect everything to be in chronological order, and the verses that I am referring to in this post (although they are towards the end of Isaiah) are typically dated no earlier than 6th century BCE and perhaps even after some of the exiles have returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.

One would expect that returning to Jerusalem would revive God’s people.  Those who were left behind would be reunited with those who were taken away.  But, revival was not what happened.  Instead, the Judean community was sharply divided on several points.  One of the major divisions that showed up was religion.  We see this in Isaiah 57:1-13, 65:1-7, and 66:3-4.

In Isaiah 57:1-13, Isaiah speaks for the Lord and denounces the sorceress and her children.  In other words, those who have chosen to involve themselves in various non-Yahwistic and sexually oriented forms of worship (i.e. child sacrifice, sexual rites, etc.) are plainly told that the Lord will leave their “collection of idols to deliver [them]” while the land titles and Temple control will only be handed over to those who remain faithful to Yahweh.

In Isaiah 65:1-7, God is responding to a communal lament… and what does he say to His people other than He was there with open ears and open arms, but they refused to come to Him with their problems; so now, they are going to have an even bigger problem facing them.  And, did you catch in verse 1 where the Lord is mocking those who have forgotten him by reminding them of Isaiah’s eagerness to serve Him (6:1-8).

Again, in 66:3-4, we see that God has called and his people have ignored him.  Instead of heeding the call, many chose to remain silent to God about their wanderings.  Never-mind the fact that God already knew, and was extremely offended by their adopted mortuary rituals, night time ceremonies, and the eating of unclean foods.

God realizes He’s been gracious by remaining silent for so long, but it was only a matter of time before God would become fed up with disbelief, and through the writings contained in Isaiah, He gives a fair warning of what will happen to His people for their decisions.

As you can imagine, after being in exile, re-gaining your land and having control of the Temple would be very important issues for the Judean community.  Looking back, from the standpoint of a Christian, it is hard to imagine the Judean community divided on religion, especially after experiencing exile.  But, as several texts show (there are others outside of Isaiah, but for the sake of time, as well as adhering to the schedule for class, I have chosen to remain in Isaiah for now), God’s people took their time in adopting a true monotheistic religion.

So often, it is difficult for our post-modern culture to grasp some of the feelings that are conveyed within the poetry of the Old Testament, especially the laments found in the book of Lamentations.  But, how easily we forget…

Here are a few (very few) of the reasons that we should be able to better connect with the author of Lamentations:

*  We have faced loss as a nation, as well as individuals.
*  While we are not proud of all of our decisions, we have seen the ripple effects of child labor as well as enslavement.
*  We can vividly remember the feelings we have had upon seeing our nation attacked.

Therefore, it should not be that difficult for us to put ourselves in the place of those who were exiled.  Their city and the Temple were destroyed.  No doubt, they lost people they deeply cared about while they were also attempting to process the reality of their world being literally turned upside down.

Perhaps it is because we live in such a fast-paced world, or perhaps it is because we are so self-centered.  Or, perhaps it is for an entirely different reason.  Yet, we cannot deny the fact that as a nation we move-on rather quickly and then we are shocked to realize how little time has passed between our present and past traumatic events.  One day, it can seem as if there is nothing familiar left in our lives… then suddenly, we find the gaps  have been filled and we can’t imagine life any other way.

Sometimes, I wonder if we will need “to find a souvenir, just to prove the world was here”. (quote from 99 Red Balloons)

99 Red Balloons song & lyrics (as played by Goldfinger):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8SDv0CsiM

Ever have one of those days/weeks/years when everything that can go wrong seems to go beyond wrong?  And then do you ever have those friends who are willing to sit with you for a short time, but eventually they tell you just what they think is the matter with you?  Ironically, their blunt opinions are as effective as the proverbial lead balloons . . . only they do not realize it, and therefore they keep on filling those balloons with lead and handing the string to you as if they expect it to lift you out of your circumstances.

Job, like the majority of us, had some friends like this.

Here is what I wish Job’s lead spouting friends had said to him . . . (and yes, my wish extends to all those fine friends who insist upon being helpful by handing people the strings attached to the “lovingly” filled lead balloons).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfQ3V8joeIg

(Yes, I fully realize that Job’s friends could not have included “peace of Christ” in their words to him, but I think you get my point…be empathetic, be honest about not always having the right words, and be honest about your own inadequacies to “fix” the situation.)

Even kitties visualize their victories.

Many times when we read the Psalms, we run across sections that are quite violent and claiming victory before it has happened.  Of course, the Psalmist believes God is on their side.

This makes complete sense.  Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a world-renowned plastic surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics coined the term “psychocybernetics” to describe such visualizations.  Okay, not all the violence, but in battle… violence makes sense. Cybernetics is the goal-striving behavior of machines and mechanical systems, and the “psycho” on the front of it causes it to be applied to the human thought processes.

Basically, Maltz says that our goal-striving mechanisms seek to accomplish the pictures created in our imagination.  This goal-striving mechanism cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy.  It needs images to be vivid to work effectively.

In That Winning Feeling! by Jane Savoie (reserve rider for 1992 US Olympic Dressage Team, coach for US team at 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics) goes into how we can apply the psychocybernetics principles to our daily lives in order to achieve our goals.

Although this seems like something that is relatively new, it is not.  We see it being played out in the Psalms, as well as in every  motivational speech that we hear before any sports activity.  We are to visualize our victory.  We are to go out there and play like we are already the winners.  This doesn’t mean to slack off, but to do everything possible to bring our visualizations into reality.

In other words, it makes sense for the Psalms to carry these violent tones and to claim victories.  Who goes into battle desiring to lose?  Who sets up tactical defenses with the hope that they fail?  The Psalmist is claiming victory, visualizing how God is on their side and helping them.  It does not matter if the Psalmist is reminding the people of past events, the pictures are so vivid that the mind remembers the joy of victory and strives to achieve it again.

Although I am not surprised that it was the royal scribes who compiled much of the material found in the book of Proverbs, I am surprised that this caused most of the sayings within Proverbs to reflect the elite view.  Perhaps, this is due to the difference in culture . . . whatever the reason, it is interesting to look back on history and see that for the West, the various sayings that have stuck through the ages are those that were developed by the common.  Examples would include our nursery rhymes  as well as the trite sayings we use to teach the younger generations good habits.  Or, perhaps I am not fully aware of the origins of what seems “common” now.

In Ezra-Nehemiah, the Jews are starting to split into various groups.  Each of the religious groups falls under the main umbrella heading “Jewish”, but they have slightly (and sometimes not so slightly) different interpretations on how their faith should be lived out.  This is the beginning of the religious sects within the believing community.  Unfortunately, the process of splitting off into independent groups based upon interpretational differences has not ceased throughout the centuries.

Although, today, we would not call various Christian groups religious sects.  Instead, we prefer the softer term, denominations.  Yet, perhaps for many Christians, the term sect is more appropriate.  I say this because while many believers like the idea of recognizing other denominations as “fellow Christians”, they tend to look down their nose at other denominations.  In other words, they doubt the faith of those who do not attend either the same church as they do, or they doubt the faith of those who are not at least members  of a specific type of church.

Why compare Christian denominations to money?  Firstly, the word “denomination” is a word used to describe money.  Every currency has several denominations that make up the  money system.  So, in America, we typically do not discriminate against the various types of coins and bills that make up our money system, but we would surely become upset if we were given change in another currency such as pesos.  Yet, as Christians, we are often not happy to work along side someone of the same “currency” (i.e. another Christian), unless they are of the same denomination.  Secondly, I find it somewhat funny that Christians are often caught up in judging others for the evils that stem from loving money.  Yet, we insist upon using a term to describe our various groups that has an alternate (yet widely used) definition that is for the very thing we exercise a love-hate relationship with.

I think we need to be honest about how we feel towards other Christians.  If we are willing to accept them, then we should call our various Christian groups denominations.  If we are unwilling to accept that there are other Christians out there who believe/interpret differently from ourselves, then we should refer to our own  group as a sects.  In a nutshell, unless you are going to ask a cashier what currency the various portions of your change are, don’t go around asking other Christians what religion they are!  Recognize and embrace the fact that you have brothers and sisters in Christ.  Acknowledge the fact that there are various methods of arriving at the same goal:   worshipping Christ.

In the words of President Lincoln, who paraphrased Christ, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”