Stephen
Terry, Director
Seeing People Through Jesus' Eyes
Commentary
for the July 18, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory
to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8, NIV
Approximately two and a half millennia ago,
according to the book of Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar ruled over the kingdom of
Babylon, the king had a dream about successive earthly kingdoms that would
follow his. This was represented by a statue constructed of gold at the head
and then metals of lesser value as one progressed to the feet. Each metal
represented a different kingdom that would arise. Unwilling to allow that his
kingdom might come to an end, the king ordered the construction of a huge image
made entirely of gold, and wishing his subjects to accept that view of his
kingdom's longevity, he ordered them to all bow down to the image, to model that
agreement. While all the world seemed captivated by the kings' vision and bowed
in obeisance, three singular souls refused to show that honor to anyone but
God. These three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were then cast into a fiery
furnace. Daniel, chapter three, tells us that they were delivered from
immolation through divine intervention.
When visiting family many years ago, I had the
opportunity to share this story over a backyard campfire with the children
gathered around the firepit. Since all had been raised in the church, and the
fire was a perfect visual aid for the story, it seemed a natural story time.
When the story ended, a young boy turned to his father and asked, "Is that
true?" His father only sat there in silence, apparently unwilling to say. For
some in the church, these stories have become mere fairy tales, entertaining
but not to be taken seriously. But whether we take the story literally or not,
it is nonetheless a metaphor for much of what we are experiencing in our day.
The wealthy and powerful would have everyone accept their vision of the future.
We see this especially at election time. A candidate will represent each major
party, and since we are all sinners, every candidate will naturally have flaws.
Some of those flaws may even be major moral failings. But not to fear, for the
rich in large sums, and the not so affluent in many smaller sums will create a
river of gold flowing into campaign coffers to cover those flaws and create an
image of solid gold for the party faithful. They create this false image in the
hopes that their image will be more attractive than the opposition's and draw
more worshippers to kneel at its base, thus insuring the outcome and the
continued ruling power of the wealthy elite that made the image possible. But
for all its luster, gold is highly malleable and without a much more
substantial frame to support it, it can easily collapse. Since so much more
went into the gold for the image than ever went into its substance, this too
often happens, and what may have begun as a moment of glory when the candidate
is elected fades into ignominy by the end of their reign.
We are a fickle people, easily caught up in the
sophistry of such images. We divide up into parties to glorify one image and
attack another. If someone attempts honesty in pointing out that our image
really has feet of clay. We immediately excoriate them and assign them to the
hellfire that the opposing party is no doubt destined for. No challenge to the glittering,
shining image is allowed. We choose to forget that a frail, flawed human being
lies at the heart of our construct. Perhaps this is because we see in this
process a possible route for our own path to power and control. But the Bible
says that the piper always must be paid. Daniel tells us that Nebuchadnezzar
lost his sanity for failing to recognize his flawed humanity, and eventually
the kingdom he was so proud of crumbled, and the seat of his throne is little
more than an archaeological dig today. For all his wealth and power, he could
not prevent the end of the Babylonian kingdom. Many have tried to do the same.
The Persians who supplanted Babylon, were themselves replaced by Greece under
Alexander. The Greeks, in turn, were conquered by Rome. Rome fell to the
various Goth tribes in the west and in Byzantium to the east, the empire fell
to the Ottomans. So many have come and gone, each trying to build their own
indestructible golden image, only to meet with failure and collapse. All seem
to have ignored that Daniel revealed the only kingdom that will endure is the
Kingdom of God. That kingdom would fill the earth. We see today, that despite
the rise and fall of many mand-made empires, God's kingdom has continued to
expand and has become the religion claimed, however feebly, by a majority of
the world's inhabitants over any other single religion. But still, we continue
to build the idols, cover them with gold and bow down to them, excoriating all
who do not.
In the days of the ancient prophets Isaiah and
Jeremiah, as well as many others, these faithful individuals were continually
pointing out the flaws in the images the people were constructing. In return
for their faithful witness, they were imprisoned or executed. Isaiah, whom I
quoted at the beginning of this commentary, was sawn in two for his testimony.
Today, many Christians feel that if they were there hearing Isaiah or Jeremiah,
they would have honored them. But they continue to insult and demonize those
who would speak out against their flawed images. In so doing, they betray their
worship of the same path to power our fallen ancestors worshipped before us.[i]
When we do this as Christians, we testify that God is such a one as ourselves.
We even go so far as to commit the blasphemy of indicating that God endorses
the very leader we are covering with our gilt layers of euphonious praise and
acclamation, as though he also cannot see beyond those layers of gold to the
heart. Perhaps we do this because we cannot force God's compliance as we try to
do with his followers, so we simply assume his endorsement of our self-serving
charade.
Our next step takes us beyond the pale though. We
postulate that God is unwilling that anyone should be lost. Therefore, even in
our perfidy, we may presume, he will not relinquish us to folly. But we forget
that the lesson of Noah and the Flood, reveals such is not he case. Whether we
take the Flood account literally or as metaphor, the lesson is clear. God is,
at some point, willing to cast off those who have already cast him off. Some
might feel this is tyrannical or unjust of him. However, this is the ultimate
in mercy. He sees how the wealthy and powerful prey upon the weak for the sake
of their own gain, and mercy demands their deliverance. When Jesus walked the
earth with humanity, he saw first-hand all the suffering and repeatedly
intervened to alleviate it. His message was clear. God sees and abhors the
suffering we bring upon one another, and those with the most power, the most
wealth that would enable them to relieve that suffering, instead use it to only
add more power and wealth for themselves. For this, they are the most in danger
of being outside that final, metaphorical ark. It does not matter whether they
rule over political parties, secular governments, or even churches, temples, or
mosques. The time will come when the suffering they inflict on others becomes
as intolerable for God as it was "in the days of Noah."[ii]
Some may feel that having their name on the books
of their favorite denomination will save them. After all, didn't Jesus say that
baptism will save us? Unfortunately for those who are presuming on that belief,
he never said that. Instead, he said we must be reborn.[iii]
Peter referred to this as repentance regarding our previous direction in life.[iv]
If we wish to be saved, we must cease constructing, gilding and worshipping our
own greed and lust for power. Taking those things into the church will not
somehow gloss over our desires so that we can be saved. It only is making the
same false, golden image to our salvation that we have made to everything else,
albeit with a religious mantle. We may succeed to get others to bow to the
constructed image being used to enhance our own power, but God will never do
so, nor will those whose hearts are his. It is not hard to discover who is
God's and who are only serving themselves even at a church potluck. Who sits at
the table with the "movers and shakers" in the local church, and who sits at
the table of the poor who can do nothing to enhance their influence with the congregation?
If we see things through the eyes of Christ, we will see that how we treat the
least is how we would also treat him.[v]
To God, all of us are like those at the table of the poorest of the poor. How
patient of him to sit at that table for so long waiting for the rest to join
him.
