Water or Stones?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 -- Week of Proper 14
Jeremy Taylor; Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore, 1667
Today's Reading for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 979)
Psalms 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 (morning) 119:121-144 (evening)
Judges 13:15-24
Acts 6:1-15
John 4:1-26
One of the major themes in scripture is how often God surprises us by working outside our religious expectations and how often we misinterpret God's will.
The encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well is a remarkable moment. In Jesus' culture, such conversations between a Jewish man and a woman who is not his relative would be scandalous.
The woman is a Samaritan. Jews regarded Samaritans as heretics. Each side regarded the other as enemies.
This encounter at the well is a violation of Jewish purity laws. Sharing drinking vessels was closely regulated with reference to Biblical commandments.
We have in this encounter a host of religious, political and social precepts at stake.
Maybe the deepest embedded conflict is the conflict of place. Mount Gerizim was the site of an ancient temple. For Samaritans, Gerizim was the holy mountain of God. Jews saw it as a place of blasphemy. The faith of this woman and her people was regarded as a competitive and false religion. For Jesus' culture, the common attitude toward Samaritans and Mount Gerizim would not be unlike much of the contemporary American animus toward Islam and its traditions.
Yet, how graciously Jesus deals with this woman. He offers to her the gift of living water which springs to eternal life. And he speaks of a true worship in spirit and truth, a worship that transcends the difference between competitive religions and conflicting holy places. What a shame that Christianity has so often adopted the competitive, exclusive interpretation of religious culture instead of the gracious and transcendent attitude that Jesus models.
But religions can feel so easily threatened. We see some of that in these early chapters of Acts. We see the early church setting aside some from their group to do the compassionate work of service, charity and economic justice. One among them, Stephen, speaks with such wisdom that others are offended by him. They stir up fear -- false fear. Fear how the public is always manipulated. They accuse the followers of Jesus of trying to "change the customs that Moses handed on to us." How much conflict and violence has occurred because one group was afraid that another group might change our customs. We will follow this conflict until it becomes deadly. Stephen will be stoned to death.
Water or stones? Which do we wish to offer to those who are different from us, to those who follow alien beliefs and worship in ways that are strange to us? Acceptance or fear? Conversation or accusation? Water or stones? It is to Stephen's credit that he will not be the one to launch a stone. How different might our history be had Christians followed the examples of Jesus and Stephen.
Lowell
_____________________________________________
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
Lowell Grisham, Rector
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
Lowell Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
posted by Lowell @ 7:55 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
You wrote,
"For Jesus' culture, the common attitude toward Samaritans and Mount Gerizim would not be unlike much of the contemporary American animus toward Islam and its traditions."
Animus being "a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will?" (Webster)
Much of American animus is due to the actions of the violent wing of Islam. Unfortunately, the cycle of violent retribution and forceful conversion is built into Islam in such a way that it may prove impossible to change. The following verse is a good example of how the word of Allah differs from the Word as shown in John 4:1-26,
"186 Fight in God’s way with those who fight with you, but transgress not; verily, God loves not those who do transgress. 187 Kill them wherever ye find them, and drive them out from whence they drive you out; for sedition is worse than slaughter; but fight them not by the Sacred Mosque until they fight you there; then kill them, for such is the recompense of those that misbelieve. 188 But if they desist, then, verily, God is forgiving and merciful. 189 But fight them that there be no sedition and that the religion may be God’s; but, if they desist, then let there be no hostility save against the unjust." Koran- Sura 2, "The Cow."
It is hard to love your enemies. Jesus shows that it is possible. Islam is not so generous. Animus is the expected response.
Your comments are so offensive to so many good and gracious people who follow Islam. To smear them with the violence of the extreme is like caricaturing all Southern Christians with the sins of the Ku Klux Klan.
To find the ugly verses and universalize them...? No.
Muslims can open our Bibles and see ugly things too:
Deuteronomy 20: "When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace. If it accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor. If it does not submit to you peacefully, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it; and when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword. You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, which are not towns of the nations here. But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. You shall annihilate them." (10-17a)
Part of the memory of Islam is when Christians tried to do something just like that during the Crusades.
All of the Abrahamic religions have some ugly things in our scripture our history and our tradition.
Let us call to one another in harmony and peace, as children of the same father, and inspire each other from the best of our traditions. Let the moderates from each traditions give voice to our own best heritage and honor the presence of those who are moderate like us in other traditions.
One of the saddest consequences of the Bush-Cheney decision to respond with violence rather than moderation after the 9-11 attacks is that we have fed the fire of extremism and made it unpatriotic for moderates from both sides to express themselves.
There was a time when civilized Muslims probably thought that there was no hope for those violent Christians; it is in their nature to be war like. There is much evidence for them to think that today.
Let us call to one another from our highest and best traditions and urge one another to turn from our ugliness.
Lowell
Ok, where is the churches highest tradition?
Where is Islam's highest tradition?
You talk of tradition, cite some examples.
Do you think that the "typical Muslim person" views the "typical Christian person" as violent?
In our town, Fadil Bayyari. He was born in Palestine -- his ancestor's West Bank city was occupied by Israel. He and others fled. He came to Chicago with nearly nothing. Eventually he made his way to Springdale, Arkansas, where he has built a successful construction company. He is one of our area's greatest philanthropists.
When the local Jewish community began plans to build a Temple, Fadil offered to built it at cost, contributing all of his time and leadership. We will celebrate that generosity at a banquet at our church next month. A Jewish Temple celebrating a Moslem man at a Christian church.
The Five Pillars of Islam are at the heart of Muslim tradition. Every Muslim accepts five duties as being incumbent upon them as a Muslim. (1) Profession of faith. (2) Prayer five times a day. (3) Alms giving. (4) Fasting, especially during Ramadan. (5) Pilgrimage.
My sense is that not only Muslims but many people around the world regard Americans as a violent people and a threat to world peace. Often they will make a distinction between America's leaders and the American people.
The memory of the Crusades is powerful among Muslims. In the name of Jesus, Popes and Christian monarchs sent armies to attack and drive out Muslims from their lands. It was a pretty ugly story. That heritage contributes to the caution that some Muslims have toward Christians. Recent events have served to reinforce rather than heal that memory.
Yet, I have been struck by the profound tradition of hospitality that is deeply planted in Muslim tradition. If you travel in Muslim countries, you will receive a generous and personal welcome that is part of the heritage of the desert culture.
One last tradition that has affected me -- the poetry of Rumi.
There is much to be honored and commended in Islam. There is no reason why Christians cannot embrace Muslims as partners in faith, followers of God and people of the Book. The alternative -- suspicion, demeaning, attack -- creates enemies and hostilities. Jesus did not treat Samaritans that way.
Lowell
Jesus didn't have to worry about a suicide bomber.
There is a reason why Christians can not embrace Muslims as partners is faith. We don't share the same faith.
How narrow is your faith-embrace?
Can you consider those in your own denomination who have a different theology your partners?
What about Christians from another denomination? Are Catholics okay? Pentecostals? How about Church of Christ?
What about those who call themselves Christian but have a different expression of that faith -- Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses?
What do you think about saintly people from different faiths? People like Gandhi or the Dalai Lama? See any faith there you might embrace in partnership?
How about Jews? Jesus was a Jew?
Where is your line? Whose faith can you not embrace? How small is your God?
Lowell
One more note for anonymous:
You said, "Jesus did not have to worry about a suicide bomber."
Any Jew traveling through Samaria was courting danger. Most Jewish travelers would take the much longer trek around Samaria. It was not just to avoid unpleasantness or inhospitality. It was also to avoid potential attack and violence.
Jesus traveled through Samaria, engaged the Samaritan woman at the well in healing conversation, and stayed around to talk to others in her community. That's a model of negotiation by building bridges of acceptance and friendship.
On another occasion, Jesus and his friends were traveling through Samaria and they were not treated with hospitality. His disciples asked, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Jesus rebuked the disciples. They moved along.
Very different from our "shock and awe" policies.
Lowell
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