During my daily prayers I have been focusing on the All We Can theme, ‘Change begins with the Spirit’. At the beginning of the week we remembered Jesus turning the table in the temple. Today we remember the ten commandments.
My two reflections?
With respect to the former, we often think of the Holy Spirit in peaceful terms; the Spirit who brings comfort, counselling, serenity. The Spirit that is gentle, like a dove. But there are times when the Spirit is anything but gentle. What we see is dramatic. Disturbing even. We often think of birds as gentle, but my experience has been varied. I remember whilst I was on a camping holiday in Norway once, where I obviously came too close to a bird’s nest on the rugged island in which we were staying. Consequently, one of its parents I suspect, became agitated, swooped around me, and (I thought) was about to dive bomb me. I was already running at the time (hence my being in a very isolated location). All I can say is, it made me run a lot faster! Suffice to say, I think that it is worth us checking our understanding of how the Spirit is at work lest we construct for ourselves and unbalanced view of how we expect God to work in our midst. Granted, if we need the peace of God falling on us as gentle as a dove, God would supply it. But at the same time, sometimes we need the Spirit to shock us and re-center us as to God’s purpose. This is what happens when Jesus turns the table, and we see how serious He is about bringing religious reform of the structures and practices that rather than freeing people to experience God, are simply getting in the way.
In respect of the Ten Commandments, I have often shared the story of how one of my churches, when I was a probationer, had the ten commandments on wooden plaques either side of the pulpit. It was a typical preaching house for those of you who are familiar with the layout. I must admit that whilst I valued the ten commandments, I hated these boards. For me they were perhaps the most unwelcoming sign to a newcomer. In ye olde English they conveyed a ‘Thou shalt not’ God of judgment. To compound things the antique wood, dust, and peel, projected a God, and a faith that was staid and irrelevant, unchanging, even resistant to the modern world. Meanwhile, the ‘Thou shalt not’ raised the question of what would happen if anyone disobeyed, and the spectre of an angry God, with a pointy finger, who would vapourise us if we broke the moral code. It is, I admit, a polarised view of the Ten Commandments, but I still felt that it could do more harm than good when taken out of context. There was no reminder that yes, whilst in the same chapter of Exodus 20, God describes himself as jealous, punishing children for the inequity of parents to the third and fourth generation, God also says that he also shows his steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who serve Him and keep His commandments; and this is before we even apply the teachings of Jesus who would help us to see how God is compassionate, how the law is to be interpreted in love, and how God longs to welcome the sinner. Thus, I rest my case. Moreover, we often overlook that the law is given not because God is a killjoy God, but because She longs for life to flourish. And in these most pressing of times, that lesson will surely be not lost on us. The very reason for the covid directions that are in place is to allow life to flourish. It is simply regretful that one consequence of this is how our contact with others has been severely reduced.
What are we to take from this? Well for me, we remember that there are times that the Spirit moves dramatically, even dare I say it, violently – violent in the sense of vigorous, extreme (to our eyes), barging into situations so that God can have Her way. Not though in the sense of intending to deliberately cause harm. Personally I praise God for this – but I am reminded of what a bad idea it would be to be on the wrong side of God if She chooses to act in this way. Second, we are reminded that if and when this happens, God’s purpose is to allow life to flourish. That may well be a tidy and challenging piece of theological reflection, but the real question is, how will this shape our response to God as our churches emerge from lockdown. What tables need to be turned in our churches? What barriers need to be torn down in order for the work of God to continue. And please do note, a barrier is not the same as a boundary. Boundaries are the structures that we put in place to ensure good order. That’s what the ten commandments are; boundaries, not barriers to life in all its fulness.