Sometimes it’s just too much. Well-meaning friends can tell us to buck-up, but nobody seen the troubles I seen…. World adversaries are many, but the ogres who threaten most are ‘way too huge to handle. My parents’ generation thought Nazi-ism was bound to conquer all; my childhood was threatened by Communism, and my own grandchildren must deal with Terrorism. Big Brother, Big Government, the military-industrial complex all take on huge dimensions–much too risky, impossible even, to take on. Change can itself assume immense proportions: it’s dangerous out there.
Is there a word which the Church can speak to those who cower against the dinosaurs? I saw the trailers to You’reASick Park, and I don’t want to go there. An old story brings confidence: David & Goliath is revisited in I Samuel 17:32-49. All good tales use hyperbole, the contrast of Supreme Power to Extreme Weakness. Goliath was HUGE to the 98- lb. weakling, David. But who is to stand in the face of God? “…that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s…” (v.47) Not just for Israelite patriotism, but here the whole world is invited to be comforted and confronted by an ever-present, ever-concerned God. David put himself on the Front Line. Nice shot, Davie!
The Hugeness that was bothering the Corinthian congregations was probably Diversity. Corinth was a seaport town, a trade center, a clearing house for Eastern & Western philosophies–and those who led the Church despaired of finding common threads. Paul, in his letters, attempted to cheer them (and shame them) with the Common Denominator of Jesus who is the Christ. Some of the Corinthian believers may have known the old stories of God’s rescue from impossible odds. Paul tries to make these contemporary when he crows, “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” (II, 6:2)
The Gospel story fits nicely with David & Goliath. Mark 4:35-41 tells about Jesus asleep in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, even though an immense storm was raging. Hyperbole, again: the terror-stricken disciples in a tiny boat cringed before the Perfect Storm. It takes audacity to go with the Lord! David put himself on the Front Line, the Disciples got into a boat for The Other Side. These are risky places! Happy ending: Jesus woke up and quieted the elements, which impressed the travelers. “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Once again, God managed what was Huge…
I hated YMCA camp, when I was 10. One of the opportunities inflicted upon us was spending the night outside in a tent in the woods. Naturally, the leaders told gruesome horror stories about monsters from the lake who would devour at least one camper every week! Then came lights out. After we got drowsy, a light appeared outside the tent wall, and a Terrible Shadow’s sillhouette was seen!! The brave ones rushed out–to find one of the counselor’s making hand-shadows to scare us! It worked…it was HUGE! May they have many nightmares in their nursing-home beds…
God Bless Us, Every One! Horace Brown King
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