Judges is a book that is full of conquest after conquest. The book of Judges at first glance is about war, victory over other people, possession of land, movement of troops, and gory details of death at the hand of another. And thrown into the mix to make it oh so much more complicated, is God, commanding the people into war, punishing the people for lack of obedience through reversal of fortune, and dominating one side of the battle field.
A lesson like this appears shortly after Remembrance Day. It is passage that turns many people off from seeking after God, it disgusts others such that they will no longer read Hebrew scripture, it is suggested that such texts not be read.
But the text is just as pertinent today as it was thousands of years ago. In our lifetimes, no matter which generation we are from, everyone here has been alive during a War that has been fought by a group of countries and peoples against a supposed or legitimate threat to others in the world. Since 1900 Canada has been at war: the Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Persian Gulf, the present War in Afghanistan.
As a nation, as church communities, as individuals: soldiers, families left at home, or citizens electing public officials -at some point, somewhere, at sometime – questions come to the surface. Most of the time we try not to think about it, or there is so much to grapple with we turn ourselves off. We take time to remember the dead, the causalities of war – at remembrance services there are prayers, hymns sung –or music played. Have you listened to the words of said prayers, said hymns?
The questions are there. Is God on our side –the good side, the right side; the side of the faithful? And who is the right-side, the good side, the faithful –if both sides worship the same God? On both sides of every war, there are the soldiers’ prayers in the trenches, the peoples’ prayers for their loved ones to come home, prayers for peace, for safety, for land to call their own. Whose side is God going to take? Which prayers get answered, whose don’t?
These are the questions that the writer of Judges is wrestling with and what we read is the author’s reflection of where God is and how God is involved. In the archaeological record, for descriptions of battles from the book of Kings, there are literary records from the other side of the story...and guess what, the other side painted the picture as if their god had given them the victory. Curious isn’t it?
There is something very important in this text that often gets missed. Amidst the darkness, chaos, and human propensity to dwell on violence, there is a glimmer of hope and Good News.
This is the time of the judges. In this passage, Deborah is mentioned –a wife, prophetess, judge. The idea was that there was a different way: a way that didn’t involve kings, but rather chosen judges who arbitrated disputes in a relational way; there was a different way based on the lessons learned in the desert –lessons that were altruistic and compelled human beings to live beyond the shortcomings of human nature. A different way was offered, but human nature was sucked into being human, being part of a world that found and still finds it easier to fall into darkness, than fight to keep God’s vision alive –a vision of life, hope, light.
In Thessalonians we hear the words: “There is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!” –a very human description and interpretation of the darkness and chaos to be found in the world. There is a play back and forth by the writer of the letter between light and darkness; reminding the community that God’s vision is alive –life, hope, light –but only when God’s people purposefully choose to hold on to being the children of the light and believe their purpose is to share in the renewal of the earth and humanity by dispelling darkness. That means taking responsibility to live a different way.
Using the image from the letter to the Thessalonians, perhaps Christians are currently drunk, not sober, because we are forever being sucked into darkness quicker all the time: drunk by darkness -dabbling in the watching, sharing, gaming, and perpetrating violence; giving up trying to be a light to others because it is too hard with too much red tape and disagreeable sorts to squish ambitions and visions of a different way; darkness enveloping as we succumb to materialism, the attitude of scarcity, the fear of taking risks. We do good for ourselves, perhaps for others –but would never dare to say “I do this because God loves me –so I love others” –bringing God’s hope, light, life, promise verbally to the stage to confront human nature and the darkness that has cast a heavy shadow on the people of the world.
We have been given an answer to speak to the world, an answer that can abate the darkness –but it is not an easy prescription to sell; in fact many will not want to take it –because it is risky, with all kinds of side effects –good side effects, but ones that will induce pain, uncertainty, even fear.
The cure, God’s given prescription is “Abundance”
You may be asking yourself where this idea came from; where do I see that in the texts from today? It is right there in the Gospel reading. Have you heard about the master from the parable – the generosity shown, given, the abundance of the gift?
The slave that was given the least was given one talent. A talent is 6000 denarii. One denari is a day’s wage. That is 6000 day’s worth of wage – 16 years.
I heard this week a Jewish interpretation of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden: the sin of Adam and Eve was not in the breaking of God’s command by eating of the forbidden fruit or the abundance of the garden, the sin was found in the blaming of another; when confronted Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake – there would have been no sin if responsibility had been taken for the disobedience.
How often do we blame, rather than take responsibility? All the time this sin is grown, the spiral of darkness is deepened – the government is to blame for a host of issues, -poverty, the economy, pollution –you name it all because of the improper use of tax dollars; school boards and systems are blamed for dismal literacy rates; society is blamed for racism; war is blamed on religion or someone else’s foreign policy; I’m grouchy this morning because someone who-shall-not-be-named peed in my cereal; Please! When will Christian’s wake up from their slumber and take responsibility. When will we take the prescription of abundance and start tackling the world’s problems for real, no excuses.
I also heard this week that according to Jewish law it was forbidden to invest if there was a fixed rate of return on the money. So, it would have been against the law for the slave who received the least talent to have taken it to a bank to collect interest. I wonder if Jesus’ parable is commenting that it would be better to have broken the law than to do nothing with the abundance God had given. Curious isn’t it?
Do you live from the attitude of abundance?
Walter Brueggemann, Professor emeritus of OT at Columbia Theological Seminary, Georgia, explained the phenomenon as, the Liturgy of abundance and generosity against the prevailing creed and belief of scarcity found in NA society. Walter paints a beautiful picture of the story of abundance: a song, a liturgy that moves through scripture. The liturgy begins in Genesis with the creation of the world, where everything is good, where “it is good” is repeated over and over, in abundance. Reference was made to the Psalms of praise of God’s magnificence, of blessing, of life moments full of promise. The liturgy continued through the lives of Noah, Abraham and Sarah; the people finding abundance in the desert –manna, quail, water, relationship- ; the people finding a land full of abundance –grapes, water, grain, vast spaces -; the abundance found in a stable in Bethlehem –a night when God became incarnate; the abundance of a few fish and a few loaves of bread –that fed thousands; the abundance found in the early Christian community that was being harshly persecuted.
The liturgy of abundance gets overshadowed with the passages like the one from Judges we read today. We see the prevailing creed and belief of scarcity: there is not enough land that all people can live in it and share its bounty, there is fear that “the other” will take too much or use it foolishly; blame is laid before a new way is even tried.
From week to week the sermons preached are not all that different from one another. Today is yet another reminder to risk living a new way –take the risk –stop passing blame and accept responsibility – forget becoming drunk by darkness and live light, live love, dance the liturgy of abundance.
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” — G. K. Chesterton
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein
Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner
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And finally:
Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach
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