Friday, July 24, 2009

Moral Absolutes and Ambiguities

Friday, July 24, 2009 -- Week of Proper 11, Year One
Thomas a Kempis, Priest, 1471

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 976)
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) 51 (evening)
1 Samuel 31:1-13
Acts 15:12-21
Mark 5:21-43

Often people will come up to me because I am a priest and ask me a questions. "Is it a sin to do X?" "What do Christians believe about Y?" "Is it wrong to think Z?" They want me to give them some authoritative answer that they could trust to have the Church's imprimatur, Biblical foundation and presumably God's blessing.

But so many things are not that clear cut. Sincere believers can read scripture, pray devotedly, and think theologically, and come to different conclusions. Many convictions are deeply grounded in custom and convention, more established by environment and society than by eternal truth.

There are several things that emerge out of today's readings that might color the way we think about some customs and practices that people sometimes debate today.

There are two details about Saul's death that are worth noting. First, he takes his own life. Facing his army's defeat, and fearing humiliation and torture, "Saul took his own sword and fell upon it." His armor-bearer did likewise.

In Israel there was no stigma attached to his act of suicide. Saul was grieved and mourned as a fallen hero. David rewarded those who rescued Saul's body for burial.

In our culture, some Christian cemeteries have a policy forbidding the burial of people who take their own lives. (I hope that is becoming rarer today.) And it is not unusual to hear various expressions imputing particular guilt toward people who die by their own hand. Suicide is a very complicated subject. Often suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It is often a symptom of some form of mental illness. Only God knows how deeply some people suffer, and God is compassionate. Saul's suicide, and the scripture's neutral presentation of it, should give pause to those who might make blanket judgment upon all who take their own lives.

One other note of some interest. When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead rescued Saul's body, along with his sons', they cremated their remains and gave them a dignified burial. Although cremation was not practiced by the Israelites, David rewarded those who rescued the bodies. There is no complaint made about the cremations. Although it is less likely today, I have heard people express a belief that cremation is wrong and is against God's will and the Bible. Custom is powerful stuff.

Yesterday I pointed out how significant Acts 15 is to the direction of the early Christian movement. In contradiction to the Biblical teaching about circumcision and the unbroken custom of Judaism, Paul had been welcoming Gentiles into the Christian fellowship, baptizing and ordaining them without expecting them to become Jews, like all of the original followers of Jesus. Many in the church objected.

They brought the issue to a church council in Jerusalem. The traditionalists had a strong case from scripture and tradition: "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." (15:1) Peter told the story of his revelation, that God have given them "the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us." Peter went on to say, "Why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?" Paul "told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles."

After the arguments, James rendered the decision of the council. In his opening line, he expands the traditional use of the word "people." Customarily that word was used by Jews to mean "God's chosen people, the Jews." James expands it to include the Gentiles. He interprets a passage from Amos as inviting inclusion of Gentiles into the community. Then he reverses the ancient requirement of circumcision. Gentiles who join the Christian community do no have to be circumcised. It is an important decision. Had the decision been to confirm the traditional teaching, Paul's mission among the Gentiles would have suffered, and Christianity would have remained only a movement within Judaism, at least for the time being.

Controversies remained, however. James confirmed the Jewish prohibition from certain foods. He also advised that Christians should abstain from "things polluted by idols." That could be problematic in the Roman world where the empire was full of civic religion and dedication to the pantheon and to the divine Caesar. We see Paul's reflection on this controversy in his complicated writing about the meat from the public market, which would have been sacrificed to idols.

Suicide, cremation, circumcision, the laws. These are issues of practical importance to people who wish to order their lives in a fashion consistent with God's will. There are plenty of religious authorities who are willing to tell you what to believe and to tell you with certainty what is right and what is wrong. Moral absolutes abound. But there are so many different and competing versions.

Jesus invites us to follow him. He was remarkably free from the conventions and moral absolutes of his day. He seemed to live with a freedom marked by his unbounded trust in God and by his compassion and empathy for others, especially those who suffer. In today's story of the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage and his raising of Jairus' daughter, Jesus brings wholeness and life without being scrupulous over violating the scriptural purity laws. To touch or be touched by a corpse or a person with an issue of blood makes one unclean, the scripture teaches. Jesus did not let custom, convention, or even Biblical law interfere with his work of loving compassion.

There will always be controversies and moral ambiguities. There is no rule book to cover all the questions. Love is our best guide. Love God, love neighbor, love self. And everyone is neighbor. Or to paraphrase Augustine, "Love God, then do the best you can."

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

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.

Lowell Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas

1 Comments:

At 3:32 AM, Blogger Anders Branderud said...

You write: ” Yesterday I pointed out how significant Acts 15 is to the direction of the early Christian movement. In contradiction to the Biblical teaching about circumcision and the unbroken custom of Judaism, Paul had been welcoming Gentiles into the Christian fellowship, baptizing and ordaining them without expecting them to become Jews, like all of the original followers of Jesus.”

An extensive study of the words used in the earliest MSS shows that the persons were Hellenist Jews.

I recommend you and the reader of this post to do an extensive research of NT and Pauls doctrines at the below website (and learn what the followers of first century Ribi Yehoshua (the Mashiakh - Messiah) – the Netzarim - said about Paul and the Church) to find about its origin and the origin of the Church.

www.netzarim.co.il

Anders Branderud
Geir Tzedeq, Netzarim

 

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