evil

The Staircase

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 5; 147:1-11, Genesis 45:16-28, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 6:13-29

The French have an expression: l’esprit d’escalier. Its translation is “staircase wit.” It describes that moment someone thinks of the perfect retort – but too late, such as when we’re out the door and down the stairs after a confrontation. If such a confrontation catches us unawares, we can easily find ourselves dumbfounded.

Herod, the ruler of Jerusalem, was a target of John the Baptist’s criticism because Herod had married his brother’s wife Herodias. Herod imprisoned John to silence him, but was afraid to have him killed because the people considered him righteous and holy. Shortly after, a drunk Herod had his step-daughter dance for his court. He was so pleased, he promised her anything she wanted. After a quick consultation with her mother, she demanded John’s head on a platter. Herod was stuck.

Afterward, Herod probably had a lot of staircase moments. Perhaps he wavered between wondering how he didn’t see it coming and how he could ever have anticipated it. What could he have done?

Evil, when it emerges, bewilders us. Maybe that’s why it so often seems to have the upper hand. It goes places and does things we could never dream of. Stunned, we look up from the bottom of the stairs and it is still laughing at us.  As followers of Christ, our loving response can seem inadequate and even pitiful. Though what else can we do but love? Friedrich Nietzsche, while not a man of faith, wisely said: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.” Our uncertainty and delay in responding to evil isn’t always a weakness; rather it is evidence we have not yet learned to think like monsters.

The beauty of stairs is that they travel both directions. We are not trapped at the bottom in a state of regret. Meeting evil with more evil is quick and easy. Instead, we need to gather our breath and wits before ascending to confront it again. With God and Christ on our side, we can afford to play the long game. In the end, no matter how slowly, God assures us love wins.

Comfort: Though evil in the world may seem overwhelming, goodness and justice persevere.

Challenge: Resist – or at least seriously evaluate – the urge to combat hate and violence with more hate and violence, even if it feels good or justified. Pay attention even to the language you use: does it approach conflict with an attitude of conquest or of reconciliation?

Prayer: Merciful God, please grant me strength and wisdom to confront evil where I find it. Bless me with the confidence to persevere when discouraged. Thank you for your faithfulness in all times and places. Amen.

Discussion: Jesus tells his disciples to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” How do we learn to anticipate evil without damaging our souls?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Cowards Pass the Mustard

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 97; 147:12-20, Ezra 7:(1-10) 11-26, Revelation 14:1-13, Matthew 14:1-12

Batman famously characterizes criminals as a “superstitious and cowardly lot.” After reading Matthew’s account of the execution of John the Baptist, we may be inclined to agree.

When Herod Antipas heard about Jesus, he was convinced John the Baptist had been raised from the dead with terrifying new powers. Was he superstitious? Definitely. But the unjust circumstances of John’s death had Herod looking over his shoulder out of guilt as much as superstition. Cowardly? Yes again. Herod condemned John to death because he was afraid to break an unwise oath to Salome (the daughter of Herodias who was Herod’s sister-in-law, niece and lover) in front of his guests. Herodias had Salome request John’s head on a platter, because John protested her incestuous relationship with Herod. Herod himself had no taste for John’s particularly gruesome execution, but he valued social standing and power above justice. Herod shows us dictators and their ilk are paranoid for a reason: the evil deeds required to secure power will come back to haunt you. Jesus may not have been John the Super-Zombie Baptist, but he was everything Herod feared.

In the previous chapter of Matthew, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. In his day, wild mustard was a weed farmers tried to keep off their lands, but it always came back. Keeping it in check required constant vigilance, or it became a great nuisance that choked out the crops. That is what the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God are to the unjust: a constant threat that keeps popping up in unexpected places. When unjust dictators rise to power, they nearly always kill, imprison or otherwise silence those who cry for justice, but doesn’t there always seem to be a new mustard crop springing up?

Great evil is rarely born fully formed, but is built from an accumulation of casually unjust acts; at any point Herod could have stopped the chain of events that led from his relationship with Herodias to John’s execution. Similarly, the Kingdom of God sprouts from tiny, persistent seeds. Let love and justice grow wildly in our hearts until they choke out evil.

Comfort: If we don’t cut love back, it just keeps growing.

Challenge: Pay attention to your small acts; they build the larger you.

Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to act justly, even when it’s not convenient.

Discussion: What small acts of kindness have kept you from despair?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Prosperity of the Wicked

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 73; 145, Zechariah 10:1-12, Galatians 6:1-10, Luke 18:15-30

For I was envious of the arrogant;
      I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pain;
      their bodies are sound and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are;
      they are not plagued like other people.

Therefore pride is their necklace;
      violence covers them like a garment.

Their eyes swell out with fatness;
      their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice;
      loftily they threaten oppression.
– Psalm 73:3-8

When the psalmist writes of “the prosperity of the wicked,” who among us can’t relate? The world is full of people who not only get away with but profit from murder, greed, and oppression. Playing by the rules – God’s or man’s – seems to be for suckers. Evil skillfully creates new ways to seize and maintain power at the expense of the most vulnerable. The temptation to fight fire with fire is great. If good were only as conniving, ruthless, loud, and lethal as evil – as willing to do whatever it takes – wouldn’t we all be better off?

Not at all.

Our benchmark is Christ. When he told us to forgive and to turn the other cheek, he didn’t add “until it gets uncomfortable” or “until you are scared” or “until you might lose” or even “until harm threatens you or your loved ones.” Each of us is capable of living out these commands to different degrees, but the standard set by Christ does not waver.

However, let’s never confuse being servants with being subservient to anyone but God. We cry out for justice for the oppressed. We name and stand opposed to evil. We bring light to truths evil would keep in darkness. But we do these things out of love for the least among us, not for retribution or anger. The moment forgiveness is off the table, we have lost more than the battle; we have lost our souls.

Keep the faith, in all ways. While evil will prosper, it does not win unless we accept its ways as our own. You are a child of God, and nothing can take that away.

Comfort: Evil may prosper, but goodness endures.

Challenge: When you are motivated by anger or fear, take time to pray before taking action.

Prayer: Lord, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever taken action, then realized the ends did not justify the means?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!