One Foot in the Rowboat

I was about 9 years old when I learned that it’s dangerous to stand with one foot in the rowboat and the other on the dock.  The water at that point wasn’t deep, and I waded out–but there was much merriment in my family, and the occasion was recalled often with gales of laughter.  Talk about making a splash!  Scriptures to be heard this weekend may well resonate among those who’re trying to balance their Christian life & ethic with daily life in an ever-shrinking world.

Isaiah of Babylon begins us with a tribute to CYRUS of Persia (of all people!), considered to be more enlightened and progressive than other despots.  (45:1-7)  Isaiah says that the Lord and Cyrus are partners, and that Yahweh will show Cyrus “riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name….I am the Lord, and there is no other….I the Lord do all these things.”  So to whom do we pledge our allegiance?  Can’t carp about pagan Cyrus, ’cause he’s the guy that Yahweh has called to free the People.  Awkward, to be sure.

Paul conveys a similar idea to the new Christians in Thessalonia (1:1-10).  God has chosen them, the first outpost of Christianity in Europe, to be an example in Macedonia (to the north) and Achaia (to the south-west).  Evidently they’re learning to stand with one foot in the rowboat:  an awkward position, but one which the Church of that time is beginning to adopt.  As un-empowered as they are,  the Thessalonians are commended for their hospitality, charity and faithfulness in a pagan world.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”, ask the Pharisees and Herodians of  Jesus on our behalf  (Matthew 22:15-22).  We’ve struggled with this down the ages, and it certainly plays well in our immediate American scene.  The amazing answer is to “return to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s”!  Implied here is the concept that we have nothing except what the emperor has loaned us (schools, roads) and what God has loaned us (meaning, beauty & life itself).  Taxes, even when we disagree with the government?  How much shall we bend our morality to pledge allegiance to the flag?  Will we take a knee to God when the national anthem is played?

Ulrich Zwingli, a contemporary of Luther, felt so strongly that Scripture weighed more than secular patriotism in our behavioral stance that he created a theocracy in the city government of Zurich.  It didn’t work well:  citizens grew intolerant of any other thoughts or factions, and it eventually withered (a holy lesson, here).  Perhaps it’s good that we DO have an ongoing conflict about allegiance!  These readings should provoke serious conversation.

God Bless Us, Every One                      Horace Brown King

My meandering thoughts about Scripture for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com