Stephen
Terry, Director
Backslidden
People
Commentary
for the December 14, 2019 Sabbath School Lesson
"On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the
hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or
Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, because they had not
met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse
down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) When the
people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign
descent." Nehemiah 13:1-3,
NIV
Fundamentalists love books like Nehemiah because, read
from a certain perspective, God is portrayed as someone who is waiting for each
of us to mess up so he can zap us with punishment. These individuals love
rules. They provide a standard to condemn others, and by implication exalt
themselves as examples of obedience. This was the character displayed by the
Pharisees who constantly challenged Christ based on the rules of behavior they
sought to enforce. However, they had made mercy and compassion something only
available to those who fit their definition of obedience. Once this was done,
it opened the door to all manner of abuse of those who were not so obedient. It
even led to murder as the example of what they did to Christ attests. This is
perhaps why so many see a distinction between the Old Testament and the New.
Very vivid examples of untampered justice can be found throughout the Old
Testament, from Uzzah being slain when he reached out to steady the Ark of the
Covenant, [i] to the two bears who
mauled forty-two children at Elisha's command.[ii] It is a difficult
transition for some to make from the prophet commanding children to be ripped
by bears to the Savior who welcomed children to him and rebuked his disciples
for keeping them away.[iii]
Of course, if we are tempted to think that compassion is
the sum of the Gospel message, the book of Revelation reminds us that there is
a limit to that compassion. Perhaps that is why it is placed at the end, to
demonstrate by place as much as by its message that eventually accounts are to
be balanced. Sadly, however, too many want to do the balancing of those
accounts now. They are on a mission, like those ancient Pharisees, to purify
the church. They fail to realize their own sinfulness when addressing the sin
of others. As Jesus said, the beam of their own sin blinds them to such an extent
that they are the last who should be attempting to eradicate sin from others.[iv] When we fail to realize
this, we open the door to all manner of dysfunctional behaviors. In the case of
Nehemiah, we may even find justification for racism in passages like the one at
the top of this commentary. This can result in us automatically excluding those
nationalities that we do not recognize as Christian, or even not Christian
enough. Such a perspective had been used in the past by Puritan settlers who
banished and even executed Quakers like Mary Dyer.[v] Later when Irish
immigration increased, it was used against the influx of Roman Catholics.
Christians seem to have a long history of persecution of those who see things
differently. Not only Quakers and Catholics, but American Indians, Jews,
Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and many others have felt the wrath of
Christian exceptionalism. In attempting to create a pure heaven on Earth, we
have all too often instead managed to create absolute hell for everyone.
We have been naive in not recognizing that compelling
others to obey a religious standard we consider holy would result in a
reactionary backlash against such efforts. The history of Protestantism should
have educated us about this. When Rome attempted to compel all to obey the
Catholic Church's vision of God and the priesthood, instead of humbly admitting
the authority of Rome over Christian faith and practice, the Protestants rose
up and after much bloodshed, threw off that yoke. Yet, we continue to carry forward
the same agenda, albeit with a somewhat altered creed. Instead of our
experience leading us to eschew persecution, we have honed the process,
demonstrating how well we learned at the feet of Rome. How could we come to the
point, two millennia later, where we have managed to preserve minutely the
rules of the Old Testament, but little of the mercy taught by Jesus? When did
it become more important to be right than to be loving?
This week, a pastor from another country posted on my
Facebook timeline wanting instructions on how to disfellowship someone. I
consider it strange that he did not instead ask how to save someone who was
struggling. He reminded me of the disciples wanting to call down fire on a
Samaritan town for refusing lodging for Jesus.[vi] Too many among us are all
about punishing the lost. But just as Jesus rebuked his disciples for their
attitude in that circumstance, his words continue to challenge our rule-based, hard-heartedness
now. The Pharisees could not understand why the rules of Moses were given if
they are not in accordance with God's will, and they pointedly asked Jesus
about this when discussing the issue of divorce.[vii] His response was that
these rules were based on the hardness of the human heart and not upon God's
will. The danger of this is even more apparent when we realize we cannot see
within people's hearts. We can only judge based on what we see outwardly and
almost never is that a complete picture. Sometimes, based on the arrogance of
20/20 hindsight, we feel we have superior discernment and act as though we
would not fall into errors of judgment like the biblical patriarchs and kings
often did. But some of these were individuals who communicated with God face to
face and spoke with angels. If they were not immune to errors in judgment, how
can we be so presumptuous?
We might do well to recognize that God alone is the only
one capable of judging others, for two reasons. First, he alone is capable of
seeing into the heart.[viii] And second, his
judgment is always tempered with mercy. Some might question the mercy in view
of the dramatic images of Revelation, but the fact that the very apocalyptic
scenarios that some are constantly proclaiming have not happened yet is
evidence of his mercy and compassion. God is not willing that any should face
such a horrific end and his patience with us as he pleads with us continually
shows us a deeper than human love. Because God is like this and we are not, we
often get it wrong when we take it upon ourselves to confront sin in others.
Like Nehemiah, we would say, "You are an Ammonite? Get out of here! You
are a Moabite! Get out of here!" We would cast aside those who differ from
us in culture or appearance without exception, based on unquestioning obedience
to a peculiar Bible passage. But when we examine the biblical record more
carefully, we find that God granted several very notable exceptions to the
rules that some might feel were written just as deeply in stone as the
Decalogue.
The passage cited by Nehemiah from Deuteronomy 23:3 had
already been contravened several times long before Nehemiah was born. One prominent
example can be found in the book of Ruth. Although a Moabitess, she married Boaz
and was welcomed into Israel. In spite of the condemnation of her people by
Moses, the Davidic, and therefore the Messianic line, came through her. Perhaps
this demonstrates that, while we want to exclude others from fellowship, God
looks instead for reasons to include others. We may jostle and shove until
sheep we do not approve of find themselves outside the sheepfold in the cold
and darkness, but Jesus goes out into those nether regions looking for those he
can bring back. He searches for the broken, the hurting, and the marginalized
and even pursues those who have no idea they have wandered off. But unlike us,
he doesn't pursue them with a stick to drive them. Instead he chases them with
blessings, knowing how weak they are and how much they need him, even if they
do not realize it.
God does not limit his blessings to those who obey him,
like we would do. He blesses good and evil alike. There is a saying about an
ugly child that it has a face only a mother could love. We might also say that with
our flawed characters we are people that only God can love. And he does,
without reservation. Only that kind of love could die upon the cross with
forgiveness, rather than condemnation, on his lips. Nehemiah may be touted as a
great reformer in Israel, but all of his reforms could only be outward ones.
Perhaps this is why when he returned, many had already fallen away. But real
reform is in the heart, is inclusive and compassionate and does not seek remembrance
from God for good behavior. It is instead the change produced by the one who
gave the hope of life everlasting to those who deserved nothing.
