Friday, January 18, 2013

Yelling Up The Stairs



We read in John’s letter to his congregations, “my little children I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”  What was their sin?    Under the stress of persecution and other tribulations imposed on them from outside, they did what many, if not all of us would do under similar circumstances, they turned on one another.  Each man (and perhaps even the women) were looking out only for themselves, viewing the brethren as hinderances to survival.  John says that some were even “hating one another.”

What is John’s solution? Well, first off, he is not content merely to order them to “love another” and put down his pen.  John is a doctor and a real doctor treats not only the symptoms but gets to the root of the problem; a true doctor, like our Great Physician, treats the underlying disease.  And what is the problem at the root of the bad feelings and fighting with John’s congregations?  It is the fact that the people are not seeing the Lord Jesus, or rather, not seeing the Lord Jesus, the suffering servant.

The Bibles read to by the congregations of the first century included the following description of the suffering servant, “out of the tribulations of his soul he shall see light” (Isaiah 53:11).  This phrase leads us to other stories in the Bible. First and foremost it leads us to the story of Joseph.  He too was a suffering servant, who out the tribulations of his soul “saw light.”  He was sold by his own big brothers into slavery, then put into prison, then forgotten about in prison, but in the end Joseph triumphed, lifted out of prison he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and became his right hand man, then Joseph saved his family and really, the whole known world from famine.  What a glorious, shining victory.  Out of the tribulations of his soul he did indeed see light!  John’s congregations need to be reminded of stories like these.  Why?  Because the brother that they now view as a “hinderance” is in actual truth, a “Joseph.”   That brother or sister sweating beside you in the mines, doubled over by the pressures being brought to bear on the church could very well be your savior.  As Luther said, we can be “christs” (with a small “c”) to one another.  John clears the mists of delusion from the eyes of the people and show them the truth that your brother is not your hinderance but your help. He is your savior and then you can be his savior right back.  There is a story in the Bible about the brothers Joab and Abishai.  They were great heroes and generals of David’s army.  They were facing two enemies.  In response, Joab and Abishai divided their armies, one force facing the Ammonites and the other facing the Syrians (2 Samuel 10).  The brother were fighting, as it were, “back to back” and Joab told his brother, “look if the Syrians are too strong for me, you shall come and save me and if the Ammonites are too strong for you I will come and save you.” If I were pressed to come up with mottoes that sum up the Bible, “you save me and I will save you” would definitely be one of them.  We are, as Paul puts it, “mutually encouraging one another in the establishment, that is, the faith of Jesus Anointed.” 
I have a confession.  Sometimes before church on Sunday morning, I have been known to get, let us say, rather shrill.  I am afraid we will be late to church.   I yell up the stairs “Come on, Farhad , we have leave! Hurry!”   Under stress I turn on the one closest to me, my dear husband.  But what if I had right perspective?  What if I realized that Farhad is my Joseph?  That he is not “in my way,” slowing me down, a hinderance, but rather savior, my help, and that in turn, I can be his savior and help right back?  Well, this Sunday I tried out this idea of John’s and it works!  True, I didn’t give up all my shrillness but it came down a notch or several notches.  I think I only yelled, “Farhad!” up the stairs once and on the scale of shrillness it was only maybe a 6. Pretty good for Amy Kosari!

No comments: