Proper 6, Saturday: Who's side are you on?
Today's Readings:- Psalm 87,90
- 1 Samuel 4:1b-11
- Acts 4:32-5:11
- Luke 21:20-28
The Philistines attack Israel. Israel loses, and Eli's sons haul out the Ark of the Covenant to let God win the fight. The sons of Eli die and the Philistines capture the Ark. Last night I went to hear Joan Chittester give a talk at Trinity Cathedral. She opened with an anecdote about a boxing match between a young Jewish boy and a young Roman Catholic boy. The Jewish boy entered the ring, flexed his muscles, pounded his chest, and went to his corner. The Roman Catholic boy entered the ring, flexed his muscles, pounded his chest, crossed himself, and went to his ring. A Rabbi watching this leaned over to a Roman Catholic priest and asked "sill that help him?" The Priest's answer: "Only if he can fight."
Eli's sons, blasphemers and destined to death, cannot fight. They also rely on the Lord to save them. They are unable to do their duty, as we've seen, and their reliance on God to save them is foolish. They have not deserved God's favor. How many of us live through our lives, sure that we will conquer our enemies because we have God on our side without asking if we are on God's side?
We need to move away from the 'please conquer our enemies for us' attitude in our prayers. I keep reading that in the Psalms and it's driving me batty. It is a very human plea, very understandable, but I think religion, as a means to salvation, should elevate us beyond such pettiness.
posted by Josh English @ 12:02 PM
2 Comments:
Josh,
I can understand your unease at reading the Psalms. There are times when I am saying my Office that I am uncomfortable with the words of the Hebrew Scriptures. When that happens I try to see an option that is somehow a third way, it is challenging, and sometimes nearly impossible, but Jesus did it when the woman at the well told him the two ways to worship God, so I can try it also! :)
It's not easy, and I applaud anyone who has found a way to do this. It's so hard to salvage prayers like 'smite my enemies.' There are those whom I see as political or theological 'enemies.' People so opposed to my way of thinking that any dialogue is difficult because of the desire to be so right and declare the opposition to be so wrong. If anyone has a clue or suggestion, I'd love to hear it.
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