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February 15, 2005
It's not about me.
This morning's Daily Office contains a reading from Deuteronomy:
4When the LORD your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, "It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to occupy this land"; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. (Deut. 9:4)
Let's leave behind the punishing God that's all too present in the Old Testament, and focus on a deeper message: Moses is telling Israel that their virtue can't be assumed from the blessings that fall to them. Isn't it all too common to make those assumptions? "If I am praised by my boss, it must mean that I've done good work. If I'm blessed with good friends, it must mean that I'm a good, loyal, constant, friendly person." Well, probably yes, it does mean those things.
However, how often do we, especially in America, carry on with this? "If I am wealthy, it means that I am more virtuous than the other person who is poor." That seems to be the point of books like Dr. Keith Hammond's God Wants You To Be Wealthy, and is part and parcel of the Protestant work ethic.
And are we not currently doing this with our foreign policy? Are we not saying that our military successes are signs of our righteousness? We have fallen into a sort of pride in our imperialist and profligate nation: our wealth and our military strength isn't proof of our righteousness, and, like Israel, we need to remember this.
To return to Deuteronomy, however, the poor are not dispossed because of their wickedness, nor is Iraq falling into chaos because they are more wicked than we. As we sing with Mary in the Magnificat during Vespers:
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
Jesus confronts the powerful and the rich, and dines with sinners and women. He challenges the Pharisees and praises the Samaritan. Jesus completes the message that Moses delivered to Israel: Not only is your blessing not a result of your perceived righteousness, but the poverty and illness of others is not a result of their perceived unrighteousness. Break away from this notion, says Jesus, because it keeps you from me.
Posted by Chris A at February 15, 2005 10:44 AM
Comments
Oh, and I've turned commenting back on.
Posted by: Chris A at February 15, 2005 11:26 AM
The action of exclusion is a desparate one. I have done it often. It makes me aware of my fear. My action is something I must accept and abhor. Exclusion is an abyss in which I lose myself and lose those whom I exclude. I am like Peter: I just can't go all the way. When I think I am not a sinner I remember chasing the drugged-up lady out of the church's garden. Her presence is intrusive, unwanted and disconcerting. And will I not do it again? We have a right to our boundaries but our boundaries make us weak. It feels then like I've been told to leave the Garden and to learn to live with shame. Gold help me. God help us all.
Posted by: Lewis Brown at April 13, 2005 11:48 PM