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| Isaiah's image of the "Destruction of Babylon: Dore (19th Cent.) |
“I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)
“Give therefore to
the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are
God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)
Can God use an ungodly
person or government for a godly purpose? The author of Third Isaiah seemed to
think so. In the First Lesson appointed for Pentecost 21 in the revised Common
Lectionary (Isaiah 45:1-7) the writer refers to Cyrus II of Persia as the
Lord’s “anointed.” This is the same title as the Messiah or the Christ. The weird
thing here is that Cyrus wasn’t even Jewish. He was a foreign warrior and
emperor known for opening huge cans of whoop-ass on less mighty empires and
acquiring their real estate for himself and the good folks of Persia. In Isaiah
45 he’s just about to give a smack-down to the Babylonian empire. Our writer
thinks this is pretty cool because the Babylonians have been holding Jewish
folks hostage for about sixty years.[i] Third Isaiah (whoever he
was) is convinced the Almighty, having decided the disobedient Chosen People
have suffered enough (and knowing that most of the original exiles have died of
old age by this time anyway!), has anointed Cyrus II to kick the snot out of
Babylon and free the Jews so they can go back to their ancestral land, rebuild
their temple, and try to do things right this time.
In the world of Third
Isaiah, it’s obvious Persia’s invasion of Babylon and the defeat of the
once-mighty Babylonians is all part of God’s wild and wacky plan for humanity. The
writer tells us God “makes weal and creates woe,” so if anything goes
down, it’s because God wants it to happen. Bad things happen because that’s
just how God rolls.
Anybody have a problem
with that?
I guess if you’re a Jew
living in exile in Babylon and some foreign conqueror comes along, beats up
your captors, and lets you go back to the land your parents kept going on
about, you might be pretty jazzed and inclined to offer God a big prayer of
thanks. But, if you happen to be a Babylonian civilian and these
Persians invade your country in their big chariots and start killing your
soldiers, running over your toddlers in the street, and proclaiming they’re the
one in charge now, you might not think that was so groovy.
I find it’s a bad idea to
try to psychoanalyze God. It’s pretty arrogant of us to think we can assign a divine
motive to violence and catastrophe. I’m much more comfortable believing the
leaders of Judah, sixty years before Cyrus came on the scene, neglected their
responsibility to their people, let their country get weak, and were too
arrogant about their military and their “exceptionalism” to listen to God’s
prophets or withstand the ambitions of Babylon. God did not punish them. They
brought it on themselves. I have a hard time swallowing the notion that God
ever wants to see any of God’s children suffer, Our disobedience, however,
will have natural consequences.
We’re really stepping
into the quicksand whenever we start asking, “Why did God do this?” or “Why did
God let this happen?” If we buy into Third Isaiah’s belief that God anointed a
Persian conqueror to slaughter Babylonians so the Jews could return to their
homeland, we might jump to the absurd conclusion that God anointed Hitler to
slaughter six million Jews so displaced Holocaust victims could also return to
the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. I think we’re better off not
going there. Let’s just acknowledge that weal and woe exist together on this
crazy planet. Sometimes things are going to get very ugly, but the people of
God have a responsibility to seek God’s loving purpose in the midst of the nightmares.
I write these lines in
the aftermath of the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. I think many
Americans have a stereotypical view of events in the Near East—we see only good,
democratic Jews (who are, a after all, the heroes of two-thirds of the Bible)
and evil Muslim terrorists.
I have tried to be more
sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. My thinking was enlarged by a seminary
buddy of mine, now the Reverend Khader El-Yateem, a Palestinian who had
been jailed, beaten, and finally released after two weeks in custody by the IDF
without ever being told why he was arrested. Khader, like many Christian
residents of the West Bank, is a Lutheran. Indeed, we have many fellow
Christians living under occupation in Israel, often denied basic rights such as
the right to vote or to become citizens. Israel’s record on human rights isn’t
the greatest. Nevertheless, nothing can excuse the savage atrocities
recently perpetrated by Hamas. It is certain the Israeli government will do
what is necessary to protect its citizens, and more bloodshed will follow.
I can’t imagine any of
this is the will of God.
I’m guessing the
compilers of the Revised Common Lectionary married the story of the Persian
invasion and deliverance to Jesus’ admonition to “render unto Caesar”[ii] in our gospel lesson
(Matthew 22:15-22) as a way of illustrating how God once used temporal powers
to accomplish God’s purpose. Jesus isn’t telling us that all secular authority is
evil or blasphemous or over-taxing or trying to take away our individual liberties.
I think, rather, he’s trying to teach us to give to God what properly belongs
to God—our hearts, souls, and minds. If we as a people can choose to be
obedient to God’s Law and learn mercy and compassion and justice, then the governments
we create and to which we pledge allegiance will be wholesome extensions of God’s
purpose.
Sadly, such governments
may find, as Israel finds now, that difficult decisions need to be made and
unpleasant duties need to be performed in a sinful world. A much smarter fellow
than I, Martin Luther, put it like this:
“Since a true
Christian lives and labors on earth not for himself alone but for his
neighbors, he does by the very nature of his spirit even what he himself has no
need of but is needful and useful to his neighbor. Because the sword is most
beneficial and necessary for the whole world in order to preserve peace, punish
sin, and restrain the wicked, the Chrisitan submits most willingly to the rule
of the sword, pays his taxes, honors those in authority, serves, helps, and
does all he can to assist the governing authority, that it may continue to
function and be held in honor and fear.
Although he has no need of these things for himself—to him they are not
essential—nevertheless, he concerns himself about what is serviceable and of
benefit to others.”[iii]
There were terrorist acts
in Luther’s day, too[iv],
and Luther believed the governing authorities acted as God’s instrument when
they protected the citizenry and restrained the terrorists (however excessively
16th century monarchs were inclined to do so!). But Luther also
recognized that God’s work could be done when the same authorities created
infrastructure for farmers, fed the poor, and educated the children.
Governments could, indeed, be godly vessels—but only as godly as the people who
comprise them.
This is a scary world, my
friends. Let’s be intentional about rendering our hearts to God. Keep praying
for an end to violence anywhere, keep alert to what’s going on, and try to be
as responsible a citizen as you can.
Thanks for letting me
share my thoughts with you this week.
[i]
From 587 BCE to 539 BCE if you’re into history. That’s according to Wikipedia
(What else?)
[ii]
That’s how verse 21 reads in the old King James version.
[iii] From
Luther’s 1523 treatise “Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should be Obeyed”
quoted in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings (Timothy Lull,
editor. Augsburg Fortress Press, 1989)
[iv] Think
of the German Peasant’s Revolt of 1524-5 which Luther both inspired and denounced.
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