The Deuteronomy Reading: In our satisfaction at the failure of another person where we succeed, we would do well to remember this passage. Perhaps, indeed, it is not about us at all. If that be so, we had better beware. In fact, rather than revel in how much better we are, this passage calls us to remember our weaknesses.
What happened at Horeb? We easily read the story and identify with Moses, annoyed at the impatient idolators waiting at the base of the mountain. But it is not easy to wait. What takes Moses so long? Has he died? Has he forgotten us? What should we do? So the Hebrews did what they thought most expedient, lost and forgotten out somewhere in the wilderness: they turned to the ways they knew. Can we blame them? Don’t we do precisely the same thing? “Don’t just sit there; Do something!”—a maxim that just about sums up our cultural attitudes…
On the other hand, I’ve seen a Zen T-shirt that reads: “Don’t just do something----sit there?” It hilarious, isn’t it, because it seems so silly; it’s so counter intuitive. And yet, that may be precisely what the Hebrews at the base of the mountain needed to do----and often what we need to do. Why is that? Because when we act, we act from what we know, our emotional reactions, our understanding of life. But what if God wants to “do a new thing?” What if we wait and listen deeply, instead of repeating the same behaviors again and again?
The Letter to the Hebrews: I find the opening of this passage confusing; the point I think the author may be making is obscured by the analogy of the builder and the house. But clearly, Jesus is set in parallel to Moses (though at a much higher level) as the head of the House of God. Precisely what is meant by that House is unclear to me. For Moses, is it the people? The cult? The Law? All of those things? The House of God presided over by Moses is set parallel to the house that God has built, presided over not by a servant, but by his son, namely: us “if we hold firm.” But this is clear: we are the House of God.
It would seem from the second half of our passage today, the house of God in both cases is the people of God. But we are cautioned not to make the mistake made by the Hebrews in the desert, not to harden our hearts when we are in trouble, not to distrust God. This theme echoes our Deuteronomy reading: we are too quick to judge, too quick to give up on what God is doing. But we are called to wait and watch through troubled times, not merely to react.
The writer counsels us to rest in the “confidence and pride that belong to hope.” It is in this way that we live out our vocation as the House of God, the living structure in which God actively dwells, presided over by the Son, the Logos itself. (What is the pride to which he refers?)
The passage from the Fourth Gospel would seem to contradict the message of waiting quietly in hope! Here we see Jesus at his most “active,” or perhaps at his most “reactive.” Yet at the height of his tirade, he makes a cryptic remark that makes this narrative seem even more bizarre, doubtless further alienating all but his closest disciples.
But what are we to see? On the surface, we are told that this is a prefiguration of his death and resurrection. But there is something more subtle to notice here. The immediate judgment both outsiders and the disciples make miss the point. Understanding of the meaning of the whole episode comes only later, in perspective. Here before us is demonstrated the fact that it is that understanding takes time. Hence, the wisdom of God, the “new thing” of God often requires incubation: confidence and trust that give space to God working in a situation and within us as well.
Environmentally: This is very difficult. Today we face even greater dangers than a week ago, with the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan. Last week the world’s energy crisis and climate change was a very difficult challenge; today it is nearly impossible. And we must act quickly in Japan; and if we are wise, we take the warning of Japan seriously and look carefully at our antiquated nuclear power stations and storage and transport of used fuel rods. Environmental dangers beset us on all sides; and however you look at it, national and economic stability of the world as we currently know it are threatened.
Do we know the way forward? Do we have the time to “just sit there”? Of course not. Experts must act immediately. But most of us, holding all sorts of opinions, can do nothing overtly constructive. Yet we can offer our minds, our hearts, our prayers. It is we who have the luxury to listen for a way forward—without a predetermined commitment to preserve our status quo. Who can hear the divine voice today? What is the word?
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