"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, 13 April 2010 | |||
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Refuge | |||
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To where do I run when I feel threatened? Often it's home.
There I will my wife who will understand me when no one else does and
peace and quiet amid comfortable, familiar, safe surroundings. It's hard
to imagine where one might go when home itself does not feel safe. Yet
that's the situation God commands Israel to provide for in
Joshua 20. For those who have nowhere else to hide from a vengeful
retaliation for causing an accidental death, there are designated cities
of refuge. The background to Joshua's provision for cities of refuge is God's direction in this regard to Moses in Numbers 35. For those who imagine the law of the Old Testament to be a simplistic and primitive system of bloody retaliation, the city of refuge concept is an eye opener. Here we find a clear understanding of the concept we label generally as accidental or "involuntary manslaughter," the killing of another human being without any intent to kill and possibly without any negligence. The cities of refuge constituted a major improvement in ancient systems of justice and were meant to stem endless bloody cycles of retaliation between families when there was no true culpability for a death. As spiritual heir to Israel, the Church receives from the Lord something of the nature of a refuge in itself. Jesus models that for us in our Gospel lesson this Sunday from John 21:1-19 as He compassionately "rehabilitates" Peter after his denial before the crucifixion. The mercy Jesus shows toward Peter shows us how we ought to treat those seek refuge among God's people even though they may have wronged us or others. In short, churches ought to be safe places, places of refuge for those who are struggling with the consequences of their own actions. Just as the ancient Israelite cities of refuge did not provide a haven for those guilty of actual murder (there was a hearing and a trial to determine this), churches as places of safe refuge do not condone or excuse genuine wrong-doing. But our call is to put mercy first, to provide places where people are welcomed and helped, rather than condemned. Those refuge city elders needed great wisdom when a fleeing killer showed up at their gates. So we need great wisdom in order to provide refuge to those truly in need of safety and understanding and yet challenge and correct those who have intentionally and willfully done great harm. Overall, though, we will probably want to err on the side of mercy in order to correct the imbalance in the perception that most people have of evangelical churches as judgmental, condemning communities where no one who has seriously failed is "safe." We will want to do everything in our power not to shoot the wounded, whether by addiction, divorce or whatever failing has them standing at our door in hope of refuge. May our own churches be houses of safety and refuge for hurting, sorry, failed people. May we know how to welcome them and treat them with both justice and love. May we reflect the compassion of our Lord which broke into Israel's life with a surprising provision to temper simple revenge and broke even more surprisingly into the world in the mercy of Jesus Christ. | |||
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Profile |
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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