I
Corinthians 7:29-31
Alma
was a faithful and wise woman who taught Latin and German in East Petersburg
for many years. She was an amazingly
well-disciplined and orderly person who approached life the way that she
approached languages. If you keep the
rules of grammar clear, communication becomes simpler and, paradoxically, that
makes it more possible to convey complex ideas.
In the same way, if you keep your way of life simple, it becomes more
open to the intricate workings of God’s grace, where all sorts of attributes,
like mercy and justice, freedom and order, or humility and confidence have to
balance. She was one of the few people I
have ever known who was able to do what Paul told the Corinthians they should
do,
“let even those who have wives be
as though they had none, and
those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as
though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no
possessions, and those who deal
with the world as though they had no dealings with it.” [I Corinthians 7:29-31]
Alma
had a friend who lived in Germany. She
was a relative of an exchange student they had hosted many, many years before,
whose family had become friends with hers.
Now, Germans are a people who are fond of their beer. Alma’s German friend, however, was way too
fond of it, and of any other form of alcohol.
It had not yet reached the point of addiction but was clearly headed
that way, and she shared her awareness of the potential with Alma. This was years before I met her. Even years later, though, Alma would not
touch chocolate because she had made an agreement with her friend. She never drank alcohol, so she couldn’t
forgo that, but she told her that to support her she would pass up something
that she herself loved and quietly offer a prayer for her friend’s strength
whenever she said, “No, thank you,” to a Wilbur bud or opted not to buy a
Snickers bar in the supermarket. She
honored what was good in the world, both in having and in leaving it be, in
order to be someone who showed the love of Jesus for another soul.
That
is what the apostle Paul wanted to convey.
He wasn’t telling the Corinthians that the things of this life are to be
despised, but that they are to be kept in the perspective of eternity. As Arthur Guiterman wrote:
“The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the just
Is ferric oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear, whose potent hug
Was feared by all, is now a rug.
Great Caesar’s bust is on the shelf,
And I don’t feel so well myself.”[1]
Keep your feet on the ground. What we all too often think of as the goal of
life may be better understood and appreciated when it is recognized as a means
to an end, which is to live a life of faithful discipleship in which God supplies
what is needed.
Of
course, that goes entirely against the grain from what society teaches us. That is nothing new. Walter Bruegemann, who is a great student of
the Old Testament prophets, points to what he calls in some places the “royal
consciousness” and in others the “military consumerist mentality”. In a recent interview he explained,
“I suspect that the gospel at its best has always been
a summons to think about how the world can be practiced differently. …
That ideological system causes us to be very afraid,
to regard other people as competitors, or as threats, or as rivals. It causes
us to think of the world in very frightened and privatistic forms.
The gospel very much wants us to think in terms of a
neighborhood, in terms of being in solidarity with other people, in sharing our
resources, and of living out beyond ourselves. The gospel contradicts the
dominant values of our system, which encourages self-protection and
self-sufficiency at the loss of the common good.”[2]
He goes on to point out what happens when
people are concerned with what they have instead of who they are. It doesn’t just leave them nervous about
holding onto power and prestige and possessions. It creates problems for everyone, problems
that eventually boomerang back on them, too.
“You can
watch while the differences between people who have a lot and people who have a
little or nothing — that gap grows and grows. You can’t have a viable society
if you organize the economy that way. You can take it in terms of healthcare
delivery, education, or in terms of housing or any of the social goods. If you
do not have a practice of neighborliness, society becomes unlivable.”
Passing up a
piece of candy may seem a small thing in comparison to addressing the wider
issues of our day, but they are connected.
We have almost lost the habit of saying, “No,” to a smaller good in
order to say, “Yes,” to a greater good.
But if we don’t do that, where are we?
Or maybe I should say, “Where will those who come after us find
themselves?”
Paul urged
the church in Corinth to set aside even the most valid of their own personal
concerns for the sake of the kingdom of God.
“Let even those who have wives be as though
they had none, and those who
mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they
were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as
though they had no dealings with it.”
And balanced against that are the words of Jesus:
“Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left
house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my
sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this
age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with
persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” [Mark 10:29-30]
Is it worth it? Well,
there’s a decision you have to make for yourself.
[1]
Arthur Guiterman, “On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness”
[2]
From an interview by Marlena Graves broadcast by “On Faith”, January 9,
2015. Transcript is found at http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2015/01/09/walter-brueggemann-church-gospel-bible/35739
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