How do we get along together? Even the most primitive tribes have cultural rules for their members’ survival and well-being. In more progressive tribes, an Outside Power (Divinity) is acknowledged to be the provider and maintainer of these rules. Those who believe that a god is a human invention often manipulate and temper these rules. Others with a transcendent view of God are still struggling to get it right.(?) During these Kingdom-weeks at the climax of the Christian Year we continue to be examined by scriptures calling the believer into an unfolding community of both Faith and Integrity.
Job is a tale from pre-history which confronts and refutes our naive teaching that “if we’re Good, then we’ll be blessed” all our lives. When we attain a certain age, we begin to realize that Bad Things often happen to Good People–and we begin to think that there was no reason to Be Good. With Mrs. Job we ask ourselves, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” (2:9) The Evil One has often whispered in my ear, “Nice guys finish last!” Honest churches must allow these words to be spoken; denial is more than a river in Egypt. Thomas Edward Frank reminds us that “life together is a continual discovery of God sitting in the ashes beside us.” (FEASTING on the WORD, B 4, p.126)
The Prologue to the Book of the Hebrews introduces this foray into Cosmic Truth almost as well as the movie introduction, “In A Galaxy Far, Far Away”: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these [recent] days he has spoken to us by a Son….and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” (1:1-3) Again, the listening Church must live within the knowledge of paradox. As somebody’s Law and all its corollaries remind us, “Stuff Happens!” The Old Rules aren’t fully adequate–what, in these recent days, shall we do with The Christ?
Alas, Mark’s remembrance of Jesus’ teaching about divorce (10:2-12) has been used to bludgeon victims of abuse and degradation for centuries. This passage isn’t about Getting Along despite the Cost! It DOES speak up for those who’ve been shelved arbitrarily, those who’ve been retired for a newer model, those who’ve been locked-out as victims of boredom. Jesus is again re-writing the rules to provide support for the cast-off and the powerless.
21st-Century Living is about community, like it or not. There are few places to hide where we’re not connected to others. Once -useful rules for isolated tribes don’t deal with the complexities and paradoxes now thrust on us. Old standards are no longer absolute as we rub elbows with cultures new to us. The Christian Church can: a) say nothing, pretending that we still live in the 1800’s; b) denounce “those” people who’re not clones of who we think we are; or c) actively engage in open conversation about how our Faith-Journeys help us to meet the challenges of an ever-expanding Creation–and its Creator.
God Bless Us, Every One. Horace Brown KIng
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