Choosing Right in History

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 -- Week of Proper 11, Year One
Albert John Luthuli, Prophetic Witness in South Africa, 1967

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 976)
Psalms 45 (morning) 47, 48 (evening)
1 Samuel 25:1-22
Acts 14:1-18
Mark 4:21-34

How do you know which side is right? As we read history, how do we know which side we would have chosen had we lived then?

The victors get to write the history, it is said. In retrospect, the treatment that the successful struggle receives makes true the parable that Mark quotes today: "For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." As history's stories are told -- and the lamp is put on the lampstand; the formerly hidden is disclosed -- so often in the writing, the eventual heroes get all of the laurels while their opponents become eternal villains. As today's gospel reflects, "the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." Historians seem to see the seeds of eventual rewards even in the early stories of the struggles of our heroes, and their rivals are left in the dustbin of history.

But if we had actually been there when a future hero were but a mustard seed, when he or she was but a small seed, before becoming "the greatest of all shrubs," would we have recognized the implicit power or goodness?

Those thoughts came to me today as I read the beginning of the story of David and Nabal and Abigail. David was on the run from King Saul. No one yet knows who will prevail in this conflict. Nabal is probably a chieftain among the Calebites, a leading clan of Judah. He is wealthy. He probably views David as something like a runaway slave or rebellious subject of Saul, who may be Nabal's ally.

David appears to be running something like a protection racket. His men have been camping (hiding?) in the wilderness nearby, and they have not raided or stolen any of Nabal's cattle. They may have claimed the area as their territory and kept any rival gangs of armed men from bothering Nabal's property as well. At the shearing festival, which is a time of community feasting, David sends ten men to "collect" from Nabal. The expectation is that Nabal will give a gift to them the size of what ten men can carry. (There is a Mafia quality to the request. "Storeowner. You are in our territory. We've kept the local hoods away from your place. A little protection money is in order.")

Nabal resists the shakedown. "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?" "Who is Don Corleone?" Nabal sides with Saul. If Saul had won the struggle with David, this story might have been told from the perspective of Saul, and Nabal would have been a loyal friend. (I remember a plaque on the side of a house in London commemorating the residence of Benedict Arnold, "An American Patriot.") If I had been Nabal, which side would I have chosen? How might I have reacted to David's proposal?

In the Acts of the Apostles, we see an ongoing conflict between Paul and the synagogues. Paul's strategy for growing the church was to go into the synagogue, argue that a man who was crucified as a Roman criminal and condemned by the Sanhedren as a blasphemer is the Messiah now risen from the grave. His primary appeal was to the Gentiles in the synagogue, those called "Godfearers." These were people who were attracted to Judaism's monotheism and high moral ethic, but who did not become Jews, largely because of the intimidating requirements of circumcision and the practice of Kosher and other odd purity laws. To them, Paul's message was attractive. All of the benefits of Judaism without the bad parts. From the synagogue's perspective, Paul was stealing their Gentiles from them. Often these Godfearing Gentiles were wealthy and well placed Greeks and Roman citizens.

How might I have reacted to Paul? If I had been the rabbi of the synagogue in Iconium, I'm sure I would have resisted Paul. It is easy to see how a synagogue dispute might have escalated into potential violence in Iconium, as we read today in Acts. If I had been a faithful member of the Jewish community there, how would I have reacted? Paul was trying to steal our Godfearers!

Today is our first opportunity since General Convention to observe one of the new commemorations in our trail calendar "Holy Women, Holy Men." Today is the proposed feast for Albert John Luthuli, one of the early leaders of the African National Congress in South Afrida and a Nobel Prize laureate. I remember hearing words of sympathy in the segregated Mississippi of my childhood for the struggle that the ruling whites in South Africa were having with black independence movements, most of which were believed to be Communist influenced. Many white political and economic leaders in my home state saw the apartheid struggle as being similar to their own struggle to protect their traditional way of life from the chaos and threat of integration. It is a great gift to grow up in a culture that was wrong about something fundamental. It makes you a bit suspicious of the assumptions of cultural values.

Sometimes good people choose to support what history will later tell them was the wrong side in a struggle. How do we know we are choosing well today? How do we know who will be the eventual hero and who will be Nabal in our generation? Would we have chosen the refugee David or the wandering Paul or Albert Luthuli as he started with the ANC?

Lowell

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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

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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

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worship weekly
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Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas