"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Tuesday, 02 March 2010 | |||
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Saved by a Trick | |||
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"Would you help me with my rent?" It's a request we get more and more these days in our church office. A few years ago we responded to such a request from "Jane." We try to be wise and careful because we have limited funds and we want our gifts to be used for the purpose intended. So we agreed to provide a check for a small portion of what was needed and asked for a landlord's name to whom to write it. Jane then came to pick it up. I was in the office when Jane arrived with a young man who apparently was her boyfriend. As I handed her the check I glanced at her friend and noticed he was wearing a picture ID from work. The name on his badge was the name she had given as her landlord for the check. We had been deceived, tricked. I'm not sure why, but I gave them the check anyway. Perhaps there is some justification for my leniency in Joshua 9. Confronted by reports of Israel's victories over Jericho and Ai, a coalition of Canaanite kings forms in verses 1 and 2 of Joshua 9 and prepares for a pre-emptive strike against the Israelite advance. However, one community takes a different tack and prepares a ruse (verse 4) to protect themselves against Israel. The Gibeonites were inhabitants of a collection of towns centered on the city of Gibeon, located in the mountains seven miles southwest of Ai and about nine miles northwest of Jerusalem. Evidently deeming military resistance to be futile, they concoct a scheme to convince Israel to enter into a peace treaty with them. It's amusing to read how credulous Israelite leaders are deceived by the flimsy pretense that a Gibeonite party has come from a far away country. Props like moldy bread and worn-out shoes and clothes are taken as solid evidence for the tale that they are seeking peace from a distance and pose no threat to Israel in the land they are conquering. Only after a treaty has been negotiated is the deception uncovered. We may be somewhat surprised that Israel honors a treaty entered under false pretenses. Our present legal system would void any contract created under such circumstances. Why, we wonder, wouldn't the Israelite leaders feel free to wage war on and punish Gibeon for the trick? Part of our question about Israel's keeping the treaty arises because we have lost the sense of sanctity with which ancient people regarded oaths. But even on their own terms, Israel might have good cause to fear God's wrath for violating the herem ban on allowing their enemies to live and remain among them. Yet the text shows in verse 20 that they actually are more fearful of God's wrath if they violate their oath with the Gibeonites. And there is no sign in this chapter or what comes after that God is unhappy with them for their leniency with Gibeon. Indeed, perhaps the greatest miracle God will do for them follows almost immediately in chapter 10. There is lots to mull over in this story, but it suggests that God's violent intent against the inhabitants of Canaan is not absolute. We first saw the sparing of Rahab in chapter 2 as she acknowledged the true God. And now we see the Gibeonites saved as they at least acknowledge the overwhelming might and power of God for the Israelite army. In the midst of all the slaughter, there is a thread of mercy running, mercy even for a deceitful enemy. The lectionary Gospel text for this Sunday, Luke 13:1-9, connects nicely with our Joshua text as Jesus rebukes a question about the tragic deaths of some Galileans killed by Pilate. The disciples imagine it's because of some terrible sin on the Galileans part. Yet Jesus points to universal sinfulness and the need for repentance, then tells a parable the point of which is God's patience in waiting for sinners. We are all guilty and even deceitful about our sinfulness. We are not by birth or by right part of God's people. In a sense, we are all Gibeonites, coming to God hoping for some trick to save our skins from His wrath. And He is merciful, taking us into His holy community and suffering us to live in His presence, just as the Gibeonites were accepted into the midst of Israel and even became servants first of the Tabernacle, then of the Temple. So we may be called to regard those who deceive us with more merciful eyes. How might those who are still living in the slavery and fear of sin be brought in and incorporated into the people of God? Unlike ancient Israel, we as Christians have no calling at all to be agents of God's wrath. So even more than they we have cause to allow ourselves to suffer wrong or trickery in order to be what we truly are, agents of grace. This is what Jesus is getting at as He asks us to turn the other cheek. Though it's in the context of internal disagreements among church members, Paul says the same in I Corinthians 6:7, asking us to live in peace even if it means being wronged or cheated. We might ask ourselves, who are the Gibeonites for us, to whom we should show some leniency for their deceit or other misconduct, so that we might ultimately show them Jesus and His love? | |||
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I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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Ann F-R So, Steve, shall we name our Gibeonites, here? :) We all have reasons to consider the depth of Jesus' love and faith when he implored, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (03/03/10)