סער שׁילה עלי
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008
Abu Ghosh, Israel
Son of Gary Lee Alley, Jr. and Sharon Tamar Buth
Our son was born on October 7th, a Tuesday at 10:18pm in Bethlehem at the Holy Family Hospital the night before Erev Yom Kippur. His original date of arrival was during Rosh haShanah. His names come from the Jewish liturgical readings associated with these high holy days, these ten days of awe which begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur.
Sharon and I have taught the book of Jonah for quite a few years with Randy and the Biblical Language Center. For me, Jonah is a book that can be read and reread again, turning it for multiple meanings and new insights. As you might know Jonah is read in the synagogues on Yom Kippur. And incidentally, we had our son circumcised in Beit Jala on Yom Kippur.
One ironic aspect of the book of Jonah, is the prophet of God (Jonah) is the only one who consistently disobeys, argues, or rebels against God. All the other characters comply with the Lord’s bidding, whether it is the pagan sailors, the wicked Ninevites, the big fish, and even the itty-bitty hungry worm. God uses everything in the story as signs and wonders to point Jonah, God’s A.W.O.L. prophet, to his own personal repentance. I think this is part of why Jonah is read on Yom Kippur. One force within nature that God uses in Jonah is the storm. In Hebrew that word is “sa’ar”. God throws a huge wind upon the sea and a great storm begins to beat upon the ship (Jonah 1:4).
Storm or “sa’ar”, or its feminine form, “se’ara”, can be a conflicted idea. In the ancient world, the sea and the storm were frightening, dangerous powers, and thus, ancient deities were often associated with them. Yet, we know from the Bible that the Lord God controls all of creation’s apparent chaos for his purposes, just like we see in the book of Jonah with the sa’ar (storm).
This violence and rage of nature’s unpredictable behavior can breed fear among humanity, fear of the unknowable and the uncontrollable. Therefore, how fitting for the prophets to see God’s presence hidden and covered in the storm’s clouds and darkness, like at Sinai. The storm, sa’ar or se’ara is used by God in his judgment upon the wicked (Amos 1:14; Jer 23:19; Isa 41:16; Zech 9:14). The storm wind is what blows God in on his chariot, as he appears to Ezekiel (Ezk 1:4); the storm is what carries Elijah to heaven (2 Kgs 2:11); and quite appropriately, it is from the storm that God answers Job’s questions of justice in the midst of his own personal tempestuous trials (Job 38:1; 40:6).
While God can utilize the storm for his purposes, he also can quiet and still its turmoil. Ps 107 speaks about sailors going to sea and finding a sudden and unexpected storm upon them. It says,
“He (God) calms the storm, so that its waves are still; then they (sailors) are glad because they (waves) are quiet; so he guides them to their desired haven (29-30).”
This causes us to remember Jesus and the times when he spoke and calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mt 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-40; Lk 8:22-25).
We’ve given our son a second name which is a custom from America. His second or middle name comes from the haftarah reading for the first day of Rosh haShanah. In I Sam 1, a certain childless mother comes to the tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was stationed, to plead with the Lord for a child. Her name is Hannah and the tabernacle is located at Shiloh. When God answers her prayer and she gives birth to Samuel, she brings her son back and dedicates his life to the service of the Lord at Shiloh. Samuel would serve as priest, judge, and prophet to Israel all of his life. But before he would take on this authority, the Ark of the Covenant would be captured by the Philistines in battle. After the Philistines were coerced into releasing the Ark, it would eventually make its way to Kiryat Ye’arim. If you look over on the hill across from our house in Abu Ghosh, up there is Kiryat Ye’arim where the Ark of God’s presence would remain for twenty years (I Sam 4-7).
Before Jerusalem, there was Shiloh; both represented God’s presence, where His peace dwelled. But God’s presence does not guarantee his protection as Jeremiah would aptly remind the citizens of Jerusalem later,
“Has this house which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I even I, have seen it, says the Lord. But go now to Shiloh, where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel” (Jer 7:11-12).
Shiloh reminds us of God’s sovereignty and holiness from the past.
Shiloh also instills a mysterious hope. Before the death of Jacob, he blesses his sons, and for his son Judah he proclaims,
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies…the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the people” (Gen 49:8-10).
From the original context, no one can really say what Shiloh meant here. But within the Second Temple period, messianic hope and fervor easily imbedded itself in this ancient text. And with the development of Christian tradition, Shiloh came to represent Jesus the Messiah, a son of David from the tribe of Judah who would one day return as king and final judge. No matter one’s messianic belief, while Shiloh’s meaning in Gen 49 might be cryptic and obscure, its message is clear—one day, a powerful sovereign will judge out of Judah.
So Shiloh calls upon us to look with expectation toward the future.
Today, Sharon and I offer our son up to the Lord for his service. We cannot dictate the steps that he will take or forecast the events that will befall him. We can only trust the Lord with his precious life, like Hannah did with Samuel. We believe that God is good.
This is our son. His name is Sa’ar Shiloh Alley.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Chasing the Ark
Sharon and I are teaching for the second summer, BLC's Intermediate Biblical Hebrew Ulpan. Today we read I Sam 4-7 in class and drove around Israel following the wild ride of the Ark of the Covenant.
We started at an overlook of the Philistine-Israeli battle between Afek and Evan ha-Ezer (1 Sam 4:1). The Israelites thought they could broker power in their battle by using the Ark as a talisman in their battle. Instead they got thoroughly whipped by the Philistines, in fact locing the Ark to their enemies.
From there, we drove to Ashdod where the victorous Philistines brought the Ark as war booty, placing it in the Temple of Dagon. After the statue of Dagon is found prostrated before the Ark with its head and hands cut off and after a plague of tumors/hemorrhoids/swellings (?) strikes the citizens of Ashdod, the once proud Philistines pass this "hot potato" on to their neighboring Philistine cities of Gat and Ekron. Tel Ashdod is a pile of crap, cow crap that is. At the top of the tel is a cow pen that smells ferociously. There we proclaimed to our students that we had arrived at the Temple of Ashdod.
From there we drove to an overlook of the Sorek Valley gazing upon Bet Shemesh, because the Philistines decide to place the Ark in a wagon with 5 gold rats and 5 gold tumors (?) with two unmanned milking cows. The cows, mooing the whole time, follow the road undirected up into the Judean hills to Bet Shemesh. There in the field of Joshua, the Israelites celebrate the return of the Ark by throwing a BBQ. But they must have drank too much, because at some point, they decide to look inside the Ark and God let's them have it. 50,070 die.
The people of Bet Shemesh decide that the Ark is bad news, so they have men come from Kiryat Yairim to take the Ark away. So that is where we went next, ancient Kiryat Yairim where a French church commerates the occasion. The Ark dwells there for next so many years until eventually David will bring it to Jerusalem as he consolidates Israel's worship.
After that our final stop was at the Elvis restaraunt where two bad representations of Elvis have been carved out of bronze and a glittering gold paint. So, lastly, I proclaim that Dagon still lives in Israel, he's just changed shapes.
Last year I did a sermon at Narkis Street about our "Follow the Ark" tour. This bizarre story leaves the reader with many questions and few answers. I think the bottom line is God will not stay in a box. Do not assume anything.
We started at an overlook of the Philistine-Israeli battle between Afek and Evan ha-Ezer (1 Sam 4:1). The Israelites thought they could broker power in their battle by using the Ark as a talisman in their battle. Instead they got thoroughly whipped by the Philistines, in fact locing the Ark to their enemies.
From there, we drove to Ashdod where the victorous Philistines brought the Ark as war booty, placing it in the Temple of Dagon. After the statue of Dagon is found prostrated before the Ark with its head and hands cut off and after a plague of tumors/hemorrhoids/swellings (?) strikes the citizens of Ashdod, the once proud Philistines pass this "hot potato" on to their neighboring Philistine cities of Gat and Ekron. Tel Ashdod is a pile of crap, cow crap that is. At the top of the tel is a cow pen that smells ferociously. There we proclaimed to our students that we had arrived at the Temple of Ashdod.
From there we drove to an overlook of the Sorek Valley gazing upon Bet Shemesh, because the Philistines decide to place the Ark in a wagon with 5 gold rats and 5 gold tumors (?) with two unmanned milking cows. The cows, mooing the whole time, follow the road undirected up into the Judean hills to Bet Shemesh. There in the field of Joshua, the Israelites celebrate the return of the Ark by throwing a BBQ. But they must have drank too much, because at some point, they decide to look inside the Ark and God let's them have it. 50,070 die.
The people of Bet Shemesh decide that the Ark is bad news, so they have men come from Kiryat Yairim to take the Ark away. So that is where we went next, ancient Kiryat Yairim where a French church commerates the occasion. The Ark dwells there for next so many years until eventually David will bring it to Jerusalem as he consolidates Israel's worship.
After that our final stop was at the Elvis restaraunt where two bad representations of Elvis have been carved out of bronze and a glittering gold paint. So, lastly, I proclaim that Dagon still lives in Israel, he's just changed shapes.
Last year I did a sermon at Narkis Street about our "Follow the Ark" tour. This bizarre story leaves the reader with many questions and few answers. I think the bottom line is God will not stay in a box. Do not assume anything.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Baccalaureate 2008
Sharon and I spoke at Nyack College's Baccalaureate for the Manhattan Campus this past month (May 15). Below is the transcript of our 5 minute individual exhortations.
GARY ALLEY:
Greetings, graduating seniors. As you approach the end of your time here at Nyack, my wife and I can identify a little bit with you. A few years ago you arrived at Nyack—three years ago Sharon and I arrived here. You came with purpose and a leading from God often directed by relationships and circumstances—the same as us. On Monday, you will finish a chapter in your life as you graduate and leave this community, as you once again, are being directed by God according to His calling. And Sharon and I will also be leaving with you, as we return to Israel to continue our studies and work there. One chapter finishes, a new chapter begins, and your life story continues.
This graduation is a milestone, but you also stand at another crossroads. You now have new choices to make—Which way to go? How to proceed? Where will I live? What job will I take? What ministry will I invest in? What needs to change in my life? Just as these past relationships— your family, your church, your friends, and your work colleagues might have helped you during your studies with encouragement, finances, prayer, and moral support, so crucial for your success thus far, I want to leave you with a couple of points concerning future relationships.
My first point is: seek relationships that hold you accountable.
We all have friends. The reason they are our friends, is that we have something in common with them; we get along and enjoy each other’s company. This is good up to a certain point, but often these friends accept you so completely as you are, that they never inspire you to change for the better. They never push you to mature to the next level. A true friend will keep us accountable and encourage us to be a better person. Prov 27:6 says, “faithful are the wounds of a friend while the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” A friend’s tough love can be good for us, while endless compliments of kisses are dangerous.
As a teacher, I want to be a friend to all of my students but at the end of the day, I can’t give someone an A because I like them. If I truly love my students, I will give them what they have earned…even if it is an unsatisfactory grade.
Strive to build relationships with accountable friends who will not let you compromise or settle for mediocrity.
My second point is found in James 2:13: mercy triumphs over judgment.
Before we all go out tonight and start giving our friends tough love, we should hold steadfastly to this precept, that mercy should weigh in on our judgment. As a teacher, I hate giving bad grades. And the last thing that I want to do is flunk someone. I spend all semester trying to help students pass. First, I give them a syllabus which is a roadmap for their success. It tells them what is required of them. I try to work with difficult personal situations and offer second chances when necessary and sometimes even accept late work within reason. I try to treat them as I would want to be treated (Golden Rule). But at the end of the semester, grades come due, exams are finished, papers are finished or not finished, and the registrar’s books are closed. There is a judgment. The truth must be known. You either pass or don’t. No one is given an education, it is earned. Your diploma is a judgment and you sitting here tonight have been judged as worthy.
So when our friends, family colleagues are going through a hard time, we need to treat them with the compassion of the Lord. Love them as yourself. Endless pity is not the true spirit of compassion. Honesty is a prerequisite for love.
Therefore, let me conclude by reiterating my challenge to you tonight: cultivate relationships that hold you accountable, where honesty is used for healthy critique and speak that truth in love with mercy as your balance.
SHARON ALLEY:
Congratulations on arriving at this milestone on your path of life. Your effort and perseverance has been rewarded. Of course, this is not the end, it’s the beginning, the commencement.
I hope as you reflect on what you’re taking away with you from college, that it’s more than a diploma that will get you a better paying job.
I’ve heard a saying about higher education: that you learn more and more about less and less, until pretty soon you know everything about nothing (that last part must be the PhD stage that I’m about to enter).
The point of college is not so much learning information as much as learning how to process that information—learning how to think, evaluate, solve problems, come up with new solutions, be creative; having your perspective broadened by examining other’s ideas.
So my advice to you today is to take what you have and go for it. Don’t just hang up the degree and consider it a done deal. Knowledge and truth must be multiplied. And the way to do that is to put it into practice and pursue even more (whether formally or otherwise). Exercise your mind.
Some people, especially Christians, fear knowledge. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard I Corinthians 8:1 quoted out of context, “knowledge puffeth up, but love builds up”, as a reason not to be too knowledgeable. That’s about as logical as saying we should sin more so that God’s grace can abound. Besides, God, through Hosea (4:6), seems to think we don’t have enough of it, because he says, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”
From my experience, in myself and others, the more knowledge a person gets, the more humbled they are in realizing that they don’t know much.
Obviously, knowledge without a living relationship with God is dangerous, but without a living relationship with God, so is ignorance (and so is anything for that matter)! Faith is not contrary to knowledge, and they actually work with eachother, as I hope trust has been your experience at Nyack. Knowledge is a gift from God. No matter what your field of study, we should all be lovers of truth, hungry to learn, to get knowledge.
I want to leave you with a thought on the parable of the talents (Matt 24:14). A talent was a huge lump of silver, approximately the size of a book, like a quarter of a million dollars today.
You’ve all been given a Nyack education… a combination of skills acquired, friendships made, mind broadening, faith strengthening… think of that as your talent. I’m sure you all remember that the one who got five talents put his money to work and gained five more, and did the one who got two talents. Then there’s the servant who took his one talent and buried it. Why? He says “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” What is the master’s response? You could have at least done a conservative investment by putting it in the bank so that I got interest.
The surprise punch in this parable is that the master never spelled out any directions. He expected his servants to act like he would and do what they thought was best with the money to make more money. And two of them did just that. Well, the last servant didn’t lose the money, but he gets reprimanded. “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” Again we hear this message after the parable of the sower.
Luke 8:18- “therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
So there’s no safe, static place. Even a womb spits you out after 9 months. Life is a journey and God is with you. You’re either going forward or backward. You’re either making investments and earning, or you’re losing by not investing. I remind you of this, not to scare you—on the contrary, to give you courage to take risks. I’m not saying to be rash and impulsive, but think, apply your brain, and take risks. Try to put into practice the truth you’ve learned. Be creative, take a chance. When you do, your knowledge and truth will multiply.
GARY ALLEY:
Greetings, graduating seniors. As you approach the end of your time here at Nyack, my wife and I can identify a little bit with you. A few years ago you arrived at Nyack—three years ago Sharon and I arrived here. You came with purpose and a leading from God often directed by relationships and circumstances—the same as us. On Monday, you will finish a chapter in your life as you graduate and leave this community, as you once again, are being directed by God according to His calling. And Sharon and I will also be leaving with you, as we return to Israel to continue our studies and work there. One chapter finishes, a new chapter begins, and your life story continues.
This graduation is a milestone, but you also stand at another crossroads. You now have new choices to make—Which way to go? How to proceed? Where will I live? What job will I take? What ministry will I invest in? What needs to change in my life? Just as these past relationships— your family, your church, your friends, and your work colleagues might have helped you during your studies with encouragement, finances, prayer, and moral support, so crucial for your success thus far, I want to leave you with a couple of points concerning future relationships.
My first point is: seek relationships that hold you accountable.
We all have friends. The reason they are our friends, is that we have something in common with them; we get along and enjoy each other’s company. This is good up to a certain point, but often these friends accept you so completely as you are, that they never inspire you to change for the better. They never push you to mature to the next level. A true friend will keep us accountable and encourage us to be a better person. Prov 27:6 says, “faithful are the wounds of a friend while the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” A friend’s tough love can be good for us, while endless compliments of kisses are dangerous.
As a teacher, I want to be a friend to all of my students but at the end of the day, I can’t give someone an A because I like them. If I truly love my students, I will give them what they have earned…even if it is an unsatisfactory grade.
Strive to build relationships with accountable friends who will not let you compromise or settle for mediocrity.
My second point is found in James 2:13: mercy triumphs over judgment.
Before we all go out tonight and start giving our friends tough love, we should hold steadfastly to this precept, that mercy should weigh in on our judgment. As a teacher, I hate giving bad grades. And the last thing that I want to do is flunk someone. I spend all semester trying to help students pass. First, I give them a syllabus which is a roadmap for their success. It tells them what is required of them. I try to work with difficult personal situations and offer second chances when necessary and sometimes even accept late work within reason. I try to treat them as I would want to be treated (Golden Rule). But at the end of the semester, grades come due, exams are finished, papers are finished or not finished, and the registrar’s books are closed. There is a judgment. The truth must be known. You either pass or don’t. No one is given an education, it is earned. Your diploma is a judgment and you sitting here tonight have been judged as worthy.
So when our friends, family colleagues are going through a hard time, we need to treat them with the compassion of the Lord. Love them as yourself. Endless pity is not the true spirit of compassion. Honesty is a prerequisite for love.
Therefore, let me conclude by reiterating my challenge to you tonight: cultivate relationships that hold you accountable, where honesty is used for healthy critique and speak that truth in love with mercy as your balance.
SHARON ALLEY:
Congratulations on arriving at this milestone on your path of life. Your effort and perseverance has been rewarded. Of course, this is not the end, it’s the beginning, the commencement.
I hope as you reflect on what you’re taking away with you from college, that it’s more than a diploma that will get you a better paying job.
I’ve heard a saying about higher education: that you learn more and more about less and less, until pretty soon you know everything about nothing (that last part must be the PhD stage that I’m about to enter).
The point of college is not so much learning information as much as learning how to process that information—learning how to think, evaluate, solve problems, come up with new solutions, be creative; having your perspective broadened by examining other’s ideas.
So my advice to you today is to take what you have and go for it. Don’t just hang up the degree and consider it a done deal. Knowledge and truth must be multiplied. And the way to do that is to put it into practice and pursue even more (whether formally or otherwise). Exercise your mind.
Some people, especially Christians, fear knowledge. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard I Corinthians 8:1 quoted out of context, “knowledge puffeth up, but love builds up”, as a reason not to be too knowledgeable. That’s about as logical as saying we should sin more so that God’s grace can abound. Besides, God, through Hosea (4:6), seems to think we don’t have enough of it, because he says, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”
From my experience, in myself and others, the more knowledge a person gets, the more humbled they are in realizing that they don’t know much.
Obviously, knowledge without a living relationship with God is dangerous, but without a living relationship with God, so is ignorance (and so is anything for that matter)! Faith is not contrary to knowledge, and they actually work with eachother, as I hope trust has been your experience at Nyack. Knowledge is a gift from God. No matter what your field of study, we should all be lovers of truth, hungry to learn, to get knowledge.
I want to leave you with a thought on the parable of the talents (Matt 24:14). A talent was a huge lump of silver, approximately the size of a book, like a quarter of a million dollars today.
You’ve all been given a Nyack education… a combination of skills acquired, friendships made, mind broadening, faith strengthening… think of that as your talent. I’m sure you all remember that the one who got five talents put his money to work and gained five more, and did the one who got two talents. Then there’s the servant who took his one talent and buried it. Why? He says “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” What is the master’s response? You could have at least done a conservative investment by putting it in the bank so that I got interest.
The surprise punch in this parable is that the master never spelled out any directions. He expected his servants to act like he would and do what they thought was best with the money to make more money. And two of them did just that. Well, the last servant didn’t lose the money, but he gets reprimanded. “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” Again we hear this message after the parable of the sower.
Luke 8:18- “therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
So there’s no safe, static place. Even a womb spits you out after 9 months. Life is a journey and God is with you. You’re either going forward or backward. You’re either making investments and earning, or you’re losing by not investing. I remind you of this, not to scare you—on the contrary, to give you courage to take risks. I’m not saying to be rash and impulsive, but think, apply your brain, and take risks. Try to put into practice the truth you’ve learned. Be creative, take a chance. When you do, your knowledge and truth will multiply.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Finding God at the Library
This is a talk I gave at the Wilson Library of the Nyack College Manhattan Campus on April 17, 2008.
************
Today, I want to share a little bit of where I come from, where I am, and where I think I am going. We are all on a journey, on a path, some leading to glory, some to destruction, but probably, the vast majority of us, are walking a trail of listlessness.
It’s like the Parable of the Sower. You have seed that is eaten by the birds, seed that is choked by thorns, seed that shrivels up with no root; and only one seed produces fruit in good soil. I know it’s not politically correct to say this, but according to this parable, all of us are not winners, even if we are Christians. Three out of four soils in this parable miss the mark. So that’s why I imply that many of us, at best, are on a road to mediocrity. And I can bare witness to that fact in my own life.
The good news is that we can change. The bad news is that it is hard to change. That’s why we believe in God and his supernatural power. I find hope in that idea but not always relief.
I can identify with Paul’s testimony—“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do (Rom 7:15).” Ideally, I like to think of myself as the melancholic artistic type, enveloped in myself, my moods, and my depression creating expression for my angst that results from my residual flaws, pestering addictions, and obvious shortcomings. But to quote Jules from the movie Pulp Fiction, “The truth is…I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.” Excuses are always easier than repentance.
For example, one book I read in high school was Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Its about this teenager Holden Caulfield who goes insane. Instead of dealing with the tribulations of life, he lets his anger about the world drive him mad. A teacher of his tells him he’s not alone. The teacher, Mr. Antolini says to Holden:
Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry. (J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 24)
In my earlier days, I wrote songs, poetry, prayers, and pleas about my confused and shuttered emotions towards God, sin, and relationships. Like Holden, part of me would selfishly scream out, “That’s not fair! I’m not going to play any more…I’m going home!” Yet the world will not stop; there are no “time outs”, no “try agains”. We can either choose to move along and deal with life’s struggles or go to the asylum like Holden Caulfield.
And so the writings of others have been a redemptive respite for my wandering soul. Literature speaks to the human condition. That’s why this talk today is entitled, “Finding God at the Library.” While the book, Catcher in the Rye does not promote a biblical worldview, it does palpably echo our languishing earthly status. It is like a dagger to the heart. But how do we deal with this dagger?
My introduction to literature began when I was quite young. My first sustained reading spree was in 4th grade. I progressively read through the library’s entire section of biographies that year. I was fascinated by the lives of others. I would read three or four biographies a week on top of doing my schoolwork.
My reading progressed into writing. To truly appreciate an art form it helps to enter its thought process. I started writing for my junior high and senior high newspapers plus the high school literary journal. I continued my creative process into college, studying film at Florida State University. Throughout all of those years of school, the story form was a mirror of my soul and an outlet for my thoughts.
We often describe the Bible in similar terms. God’s word speaks to our situation in life and reflects hope because its characters are so akin to us. So human. The name “Bible” comes from the Greek word, “biblion” which means “book”. The Bible therefore is the book of all books. Yet, like every other book, the Bible was written by humans, people like you and me. The Bible never claims to have floated down from heaven. Its ideas might descend from God, but it’s written words did not. The Bible claims inspiration from God (2 Pt 1:20-21; 2 Tim 3:16).
Let me ask another question: can other literature, besides the Bible, be inspired by God as well? Can a play by Shakespeare, music by Bach, a poem by Donne, a thought by Einstein be somehow instilled with the Holy Spirit? I think possibly so. To what extent, can be argued, but I have found truth and grace whispered into my life from diverse artistic expression.
I gave an assignment this year where students watched the animated film, Prince of Egypt and compared it to the life of Moses as found in the Bible. I was amazed at how many students commented that it was an interesting film but because the screenplay changed certain details of the biblical account, it was not good and therefore against the Word of God. Personally, I find the Prince of Egypt as an overt testimony to God’s redemptive power. In the film, God is mysterious and hidden. Contrary to the biblical account, God only speaks audibly once in the film, at the burning bush. But that stylistic choice significantly emphasizes God’s immense presence throughout the whole film, as he chooses to use Moses to redeem his people.
I often find that evangelical Christians struggle with a nuanced God, a God that we cannot put inside a box. It is uncomfortable for us to see God as multifaceted, hidden, and hard to grasp. Contrary to modern evangelical rhetoric, Jesus did not come and make God “our buddy” where we can live with God like Lassie the golden retriever. Everything is not understandable and easily digested for our 21st century fast food consumption.
On one hand, our relationship with God is friendly and welcoming, but on the other hand, he is still the unknowable, the immeasurable, and the unpredictable. In order to mature, we have to accept that paradox and live with that tension.
We think we know the biblical stories, yet in our shallow, over familiarization, we can consign God to stock characteristics. “God is good”—so we paint him as a happy old man patting little children on the head and giving them candies. Yet God’s goodness is a scandal. His grace is outrageous and cause for gossip. His concern is not for the righteous but for the hardcore sinner. His love cannot be institutionalized or sanitized; it is as wild and ethereal as the wind, recklessly and liberally seeping from his side, the side of humanity.
It is a pity that we often try and duplicate the Bible in a literal, word for word fashion…in our idiomatic speech, through our pulpit sermons, on our Christian T-shirts, or upon kitschy ceramic Christian knick knacks. We try and speak for God, yet when we try and quote him out of context, it is possible to annul the scripture’s meaning, and not recognize the original purpose of a story or a teaching. We can value more the literal word rather than the spirit of inspiration.
I think it is important to release God’s spirit of inspiration within our lives. We should not stereotype God’s goodness. Instead, we should creatively access his goodness in original ways. So too, the biblical stories are an unending smorgasbord for our spiritual consumption. Let the Bible and its interpreters speak anew. Therefore, I find the Prince of Egypt’s depiction of the Exodus as a powerful demonstration of the redemptive spirit of the biblical text. The LORD saves his people through a frail human instrument called Moses. What is important in both the Bible and this film is the spirit of inspiration that reveals true characteristics of God.
So again, I ask, “can other books beside the Bible be inspired by God’s spirit?” Can they “spur us on to love and good works? (Heb 10:24)” Can God inspire someone who is not a Christian to articulate His truth? I cannot assuage this theological conundrum, but I’m sure that Balaam was a little bit shocked when his donkey spoke.
One piece of literature, I find, that speaks about that dagger—the depravity of the human condition, yet hearkens hope towards God’s redemptive plan is Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862).
The Frenchman Victor Hugo lived during the 19th century, when manic France suffered from governmental multiple personality disorder. During this time, France overthrew their ancient monarchy with the bloody French Revolution and embraced a republic (1792), then soon after, empowered a military dictator, named Napoleon who established an empire (1804), then removed Napoleon and restored the original monarchy like a lover on the rebound (1814), but then remembered why they got a divorce from the monarchy years earlier, so they established a second republic (1848) but then tired of democracy’s hard work again, and brought back yet another former lover, Napoleon’s nephew, with the second empire (1852), but finally realized that democracy was really worth it, no matter what, and so they set up a third republic (1870). And all of this took place in less than 80 years. Victor Hugo (1802-1885) lived through all of this political turmoil that threw French society into spasms. He especially witnessed the injurious economic effects of this tumultuous political environment that coincided with the Industrial Revolution.
The title, Les Miserables can be translated as “The Miserable Ones”, “The Wretched”, “The Poor Ones”, “The Wretched Poor”. These descriptions pertain to the book’s cast of individuals who have fallen into the cracks of society. Some have stumbled because of bad personal choices, others because of no fault of their own, but often times, these suffering have succumbed due to a “perfect storm” of mixed social variables involving family background, economic status, and political intrigue. They are anonymous players on the world’s cruel stage. Many would say that they are just downright unlucky.
Like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, they have become casualties of the world’s corrupt system, indebted to its sin and broken by its lusts. They are descendents of abuse, inheritors of shame, and malefactors of similar maltreatment. Today, we might call them victims.
In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is one of those unfortunate ones. As described in Les Miserables:
Jean Valjean came from a poor peasant family of Brie. He had not learned to read in his childhood. When he reached man's estate, he became a tree-pruner at Faverolles… Jean Valjean was of that thoughtful but not gloomy disposition which constitutes the peculiarity of affectionate natures. On the whole, however, there was something decidedly sluggish and insignificant about Jean Valjean in appearance, at least. He had lost his father and mother at a very early age. His mother had died of a milk fever, which had not been properly attended to. His father, a tree-pruner, like himself, had been killed by a fall from a tree. All that remained to Jean Valjean was a sister older than himself,--a widow with seven children, boys and girls. This sister had brought up Jean Valjean, and so long as she had a husband she lodged and fed her young brother.
The husband died. The eldest of the seven children was eight years old. The youngest, one.
Jean Valjean had just attained his twenty-fifth year. He took the father's place, and, in his turn, supported the sister who had brought him up. This was done simply as a duty and even a little churlishly on the part of Jean Valjean. Thus his youth had been spent in rude and ill-paid toil. He had never known a "kind woman friend" in his native parts. He had not had the time to fall in love.
He returned at night weary, and ate his broth without uttering a word.
His sister, mother Jeanne, often took the best part of his repast from his bowl while he was eating,--a bit of meat, a slice of bacon, the heart of the cabbage,--to give to one of her children. As he went on eating, with his head bent over the table and almost into his soup, his long hair falling about his bowl and concealing his eyes, he had the air of perceiving nothing and allowing it.
There was at Faverolles, not far from the Valjean thatched cottage, on the other side of the lane, a farmer's wife named Marie-Claude; the Valjean children, habitually famished, sometimes went to borrow from Marie-Claude a pint of milk, in their mother's name, which they drank behind a hedge or in some alley corner, snatching the jug from each other so hastily that the little girls spilled it on their aprons and down their necks. If their mother had known of this marauding, she would have punished the delinquents severely.
Jean Valjean gruffly and grumblingly paid Marie-Claude for the pint of milk behind their mother's back, and the children were not punished.
In pruning season he earned eighteen sous a day; then he hired out as a hay-maker, as laborer, as neat-herd on a farm, as a drudge. He did whatever he could. His sister worked also but what could she do with seven little children? It was a sad group enveloped in misery, which was being gradually annihilated. A very hard winter came. Jean had no work. The family had no bread. No bread literally. Seven children!
One Sunday evening, Maubert Isabeau, the baker on the Church Square at Faverolles, was preparing to go to bed, when he heard a violent blow on the grated front of his shop. He arrived in time to see an arm passed through a hole made by a blow from a fist, through the grating and the glass. The arm seized a loaf of bread and carried it off. Isabeau ran out in haste; the robber fled at the full speed of his legs. Isabeau ran after him and stopped him. The thief had flung away the loaf, but his arm was still bleeding. It was Jean Valjean.
Jean Valjean was pronounced guilty. The terms of the Code were explicit. There occur formidable hours in our civilization; there are moments when the penal laws decree a shipwreck. What an ominous minute is that in which society draws back and consummates the irreparable abandonment of a sentient being! Jean Valjean was condemned to five years in the galleys.
So, Jean Valjean goes on to be imprisoned for the next 19 years because he tries to escape four times as his sister and seven children dissipate into economic oblivion. During this time he contemplates on how he ended up in prison.
He began by putting himself on trial.
He recognized the fact that he was not an innocent man unjustly punished. He admitted that he had committed an extreme and blameworthy act; that that loaf of bread would probably not have been refused to him had he asked for it; that, in any case, it would have been better to wait until he could get it through compassion or through work; ….that it had been an act of madness for him, a miserable, unfortunate wretch, to take society at large violently by the collar, and to imagine that one can escape from misery through theft; that that is in any case a poor door through which to escape from misery through which infamy enters; in short, that he was in the wrong.
Then he asked himself--
Whether he had been the only one in fault in his fatal history. Whether it not a serious thing, that he, a laborer, out of work, that he, an industrious man, should have lacked bread. And whether, the fault once committed and confessed, the chastisement had not been ferocious and disproportioned. Whether there had not been more abuse on the part of the law, in respect to the penalty, than there had been on the part of the culprit in respect to his fault.
Whether this penalty, complicated by successive aggravations for attempts at escape, had not ended in becoming a sort of outrage perpetrated by the stronger upon the feebler, a crime of society against the individual, a crime which was being committed afresh every day, a crime which had lasted nineteen years.
He asked himself whether human society could have the right to force its members to suffer equally in one case for its own unreasonable lack of foresight, and in the other case for its pitiless foresight; and to seize a poor man forever between a defect and an excess, a default of work and an excess of punishment.
Whether it was not outrageous for society to treat thus precisely those of its members who were the least well endowed in the division of goods made by chance, and consequently the most deserving of consideration.
These questions put and answered, he judged society and condemned it.
He condemned it to his hatred.
So Jean Valjean becomes a bitter man, blaming the world and its social system for his unreasonable, unjust situation. When he is finally released, he has no trust in his fellow man or society, just a hardened heart. His first day out from prison, he walks all day and when he arrives at a town, no one will open their tavern to him because he is a former convict. Though he has money, no one will acquiesce to his lodging request.
The only place that will open up to him is a priest, a bishop in fact, Bishop Myriel. The hospitable bishop warmly welcomes him treating him, shockingly, with honor fit for a king. Unlike the rest of the town, the bishop offers to Jean Valjean the best that he has to offer. That night for reasons attributed to his 19 years of degeneracy, Jean Valjean awakes and robs the bishop of the silver utensils that he had served him dinner with and flees into the night. The next morning, Jean Valjean is captured by police and brought back to face the bishop. As Jean is brought into the bishop’s house, the bishop proclaims:
“I am glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get two hundred francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?"
Jean Valjean opened his eyes wide, and stared at the venerable Bishop
with an expression which no human tongue can render any account of.
“Monseigneur,” said the brigadier of gendarmes, "so what this man
said is true, then? We came across him. He was walking like a man
who is running away. We stopped him to look into the matter. He had this silver--"
"And he told you," interposed the Bishop with a smile, "that it had been given to him by a kind old fellow of a priest with whom he had passed the night? I see how the matter stands. And you have brought him back here? It is a mistake."
“In that case,” replied the brigadier, "we can let him go?"
"Certainly," replied the Bishop.
The gendarmes released Jean Valjean, who recoiled.
"Is it true that I am to be released?" he said, in an almost inarticulate voice, and as though he were talking in his sleep.
“Yes, thou art released; dost thou not understand?” said one of the gendarmes.
"My friend," resumed the Bishop, "before you go, here are your candlesticks. Take them."
He stepped to the chimney-piece, took the two silver candlesticks, and brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women looked on without uttering a word, without a gesture, without a look which could disconcert the Bishop.
Jean Valjean was trembling in every limb. He took the two candlesticks mechanically, and with a bewildered air.
"Now," said the Bishop, "go in peace. By the way, when you return, my friend, it is not necessary to pass through the garden. You can always enter and depart through the street door. It is never fastened with anything but a latch, either by day or by night."
Then, turning to the gendarmes:--
"You may retire, gentlemen."
The gendarmes retired.
Jean Valjean was like a man on the point of fainting.
The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice:--
"Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man."
Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained speechless. The Bishop had emphasized the words when he uttered them. He resumed with solemnity:--
"Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God."
This incredible act of mercy by the Bishop will have a lasting impact upon Jean Valjean’s soul. While he will still have immense difficulties in life, he will endeavor to produce fruit of righteousness no matter his future dire circumstance or resulting consequence. Not only will he redeem his life from destruction, but he will use his newfound salvation to liberate the lives of others with his good deeds. Through patient endurance, Jean will overcome his past and redemptively engage his world. He will stand as an unrelenting light in society’s darkness.
Earlier, I alluded to the statement that “I am the tyranny of evil men…but I’m trying real hard to be a shepherd.” That truly is my personal testimony. I can relate to biblical characters who attempt to follow God yet constantly stumble. I take solace in Prov 24:16, “though the righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” Since I have already fallen more than seven times, I wonder if I can combine this verse to the time when Jesus commanded Peter to forgive his brother not just seven times, but seventy times seven (Mt 18:21-22). Even so, I know I have fallen more than 490 times.
Victor Hugo makes this curious statement about Jean Valjean:
Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he might be said to carry two knapsacks; in one he had the thoughts of a saint, in the other the formidable talents of a convict. He helped himself from one or the other as occasion required.
Jean Valjean’s character is an encouragement to me on this path that I tread. On one side, he has tasted the depths of depravity but on the other side he has been redeemed by God. I believe that navigating those two experiences of humanity—sin and forgiveness, while walking steadfastly forward in God’s grace, stands as one of the greatest witnesses we can bear on this earth.
************
Today, I want to share a little bit of where I come from, where I am, and where I think I am going. We are all on a journey, on a path, some leading to glory, some to destruction, but probably, the vast majority of us, are walking a trail of listlessness.
It’s like the Parable of the Sower. You have seed that is eaten by the birds, seed that is choked by thorns, seed that shrivels up with no root; and only one seed produces fruit in good soil. I know it’s not politically correct to say this, but according to this parable, all of us are not winners, even if we are Christians. Three out of four soils in this parable miss the mark. So that’s why I imply that many of us, at best, are on a road to mediocrity. And I can bare witness to that fact in my own life.
The good news is that we can change. The bad news is that it is hard to change. That’s why we believe in God and his supernatural power. I find hope in that idea but not always relief.
I can identify with Paul’s testimony—“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do (Rom 7:15).” Ideally, I like to think of myself as the melancholic artistic type, enveloped in myself, my moods, and my depression creating expression for my angst that results from my residual flaws, pestering addictions, and obvious shortcomings. But to quote Jules from the movie Pulp Fiction, “The truth is…I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.” Excuses are always easier than repentance.
For example, one book I read in high school was Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Its about this teenager Holden Caulfield who goes insane. Instead of dealing with the tribulations of life, he lets his anger about the world drive him mad. A teacher of his tells him he’s not alone. The teacher, Mr. Antolini says to Holden:
Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry. (J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 24)
In my earlier days, I wrote songs, poetry, prayers, and pleas about my confused and shuttered emotions towards God, sin, and relationships. Like Holden, part of me would selfishly scream out, “That’s not fair! I’m not going to play any more…I’m going home!” Yet the world will not stop; there are no “time outs”, no “try agains”. We can either choose to move along and deal with life’s struggles or go to the asylum like Holden Caulfield.
And so the writings of others have been a redemptive respite for my wandering soul. Literature speaks to the human condition. That’s why this talk today is entitled, “Finding God at the Library.” While the book, Catcher in the Rye does not promote a biblical worldview, it does palpably echo our languishing earthly status. It is like a dagger to the heart. But how do we deal with this dagger?
My introduction to literature began when I was quite young. My first sustained reading spree was in 4th grade. I progressively read through the library’s entire section of biographies that year. I was fascinated by the lives of others. I would read three or four biographies a week on top of doing my schoolwork.
My reading progressed into writing. To truly appreciate an art form it helps to enter its thought process. I started writing for my junior high and senior high newspapers plus the high school literary journal. I continued my creative process into college, studying film at Florida State University. Throughout all of those years of school, the story form was a mirror of my soul and an outlet for my thoughts.
We often describe the Bible in similar terms. God’s word speaks to our situation in life and reflects hope because its characters are so akin to us. So human. The name “Bible” comes from the Greek word, “biblion” which means “book”. The Bible therefore is the book of all books. Yet, like every other book, the Bible was written by humans, people like you and me. The Bible never claims to have floated down from heaven. Its ideas might descend from God, but it’s written words did not. The Bible claims inspiration from God (2 Pt 1:20-21; 2 Tim 3:16).
Let me ask another question: can other literature, besides the Bible, be inspired by God as well? Can a play by Shakespeare, music by Bach, a poem by Donne, a thought by Einstein be somehow instilled with the Holy Spirit? I think possibly so. To what extent, can be argued, but I have found truth and grace whispered into my life from diverse artistic expression.
I gave an assignment this year where students watched the animated film, Prince of Egypt and compared it to the life of Moses as found in the Bible. I was amazed at how many students commented that it was an interesting film but because the screenplay changed certain details of the biblical account, it was not good and therefore against the Word of God. Personally, I find the Prince of Egypt as an overt testimony to God’s redemptive power. In the film, God is mysterious and hidden. Contrary to the biblical account, God only speaks audibly once in the film, at the burning bush. But that stylistic choice significantly emphasizes God’s immense presence throughout the whole film, as he chooses to use Moses to redeem his people.
I often find that evangelical Christians struggle with a nuanced God, a God that we cannot put inside a box. It is uncomfortable for us to see God as multifaceted, hidden, and hard to grasp. Contrary to modern evangelical rhetoric, Jesus did not come and make God “our buddy” where we can live with God like Lassie the golden retriever. Everything is not understandable and easily digested for our 21st century fast food consumption.
On one hand, our relationship with God is friendly and welcoming, but on the other hand, he is still the unknowable, the immeasurable, and the unpredictable. In order to mature, we have to accept that paradox and live with that tension.
We think we know the biblical stories, yet in our shallow, over familiarization, we can consign God to stock characteristics. “God is good”—so we paint him as a happy old man patting little children on the head and giving them candies. Yet God’s goodness is a scandal. His grace is outrageous and cause for gossip. His concern is not for the righteous but for the hardcore sinner. His love cannot be institutionalized or sanitized; it is as wild and ethereal as the wind, recklessly and liberally seeping from his side, the side of humanity.
It is a pity that we often try and duplicate the Bible in a literal, word for word fashion…in our idiomatic speech, through our pulpit sermons, on our Christian T-shirts, or upon kitschy ceramic Christian knick knacks. We try and speak for God, yet when we try and quote him out of context, it is possible to annul the scripture’s meaning, and not recognize the original purpose of a story or a teaching. We can value more the literal word rather than the spirit of inspiration.
I think it is important to release God’s spirit of inspiration within our lives. We should not stereotype God’s goodness. Instead, we should creatively access his goodness in original ways. So too, the biblical stories are an unending smorgasbord for our spiritual consumption. Let the Bible and its interpreters speak anew. Therefore, I find the Prince of Egypt’s depiction of the Exodus as a powerful demonstration of the redemptive spirit of the biblical text. The LORD saves his people through a frail human instrument called Moses. What is important in both the Bible and this film is the spirit of inspiration that reveals true characteristics of God.
So again, I ask, “can other books beside the Bible be inspired by God’s spirit?” Can they “spur us on to love and good works? (Heb 10:24)” Can God inspire someone who is not a Christian to articulate His truth? I cannot assuage this theological conundrum, but I’m sure that Balaam was a little bit shocked when his donkey spoke.
One piece of literature, I find, that speaks about that dagger—the depravity of the human condition, yet hearkens hope towards God’s redemptive plan is Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862).
The Frenchman Victor Hugo lived during the 19th century, when manic France suffered from governmental multiple personality disorder. During this time, France overthrew their ancient monarchy with the bloody French Revolution and embraced a republic (1792), then soon after, empowered a military dictator, named Napoleon who established an empire (1804), then removed Napoleon and restored the original monarchy like a lover on the rebound (1814), but then remembered why they got a divorce from the monarchy years earlier, so they established a second republic (1848) but then tired of democracy’s hard work again, and brought back yet another former lover, Napoleon’s nephew, with the second empire (1852), but finally realized that democracy was really worth it, no matter what, and so they set up a third republic (1870). And all of this took place in less than 80 years. Victor Hugo (1802-1885) lived through all of this political turmoil that threw French society into spasms. He especially witnessed the injurious economic effects of this tumultuous political environment that coincided with the Industrial Revolution.
The title, Les Miserables can be translated as “The Miserable Ones”, “The Wretched”, “The Poor Ones”, “The Wretched Poor”. These descriptions pertain to the book’s cast of individuals who have fallen into the cracks of society. Some have stumbled because of bad personal choices, others because of no fault of their own, but often times, these suffering have succumbed due to a “perfect storm” of mixed social variables involving family background, economic status, and political intrigue. They are anonymous players on the world’s cruel stage. Many would say that they are just downright unlucky.
Like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, they have become casualties of the world’s corrupt system, indebted to its sin and broken by its lusts. They are descendents of abuse, inheritors of shame, and malefactors of similar maltreatment. Today, we might call them victims.
In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is one of those unfortunate ones. As described in Les Miserables:
Jean Valjean came from a poor peasant family of Brie. He had not learned to read in his childhood. When he reached man's estate, he became a tree-pruner at Faverolles… Jean Valjean was of that thoughtful but not gloomy disposition which constitutes the peculiarity of affectionate natures. On the whole, however, there was something decidedly sluggish and insignificant about Jean Valjean in appearance, at least. He had lost his father and mother at a very early age. His mother had died of a milk fever, which had not been properly attended to. His father, a tree-pruner, like himself, had been killed by a fall from a tree. All that remained to Jean Valjean was a sister older than himself,--a widow with seven children, boys and girls. This sister had brought up Jean Valjean, and so long as she had a husband she lodged and fed her young brother.
The husband died. The eldest of the seven children was eight years old. The youngest, one.
Jean Valjean had just attained his twenty-fifth year. He took the father's place, and, in his turn, supported the sister who had brought him up. This was done simply as a duty and even a little churlishly on the part of Jean Valjean. Thus his youth had been spent in rude and ill-paid toil. He had never known a "kind woman friend" in his native parts. He had not had the time to fall in love.
He returned at night weary, and ate his broth without uttering a word.
His sister, mother Jeanne, often took the best part of his repast from his bowl while he was eating,--a bit of meat, a slice of bacon, the heart of the cabbage,--to give to one of her children. As he went on eating, with his head bent over the table and almost into his soup, his long hair falling about his bowl and concealing his eyes, he had the air of perceiving nothing and allowing it.
There was at Faverolles, not far from the Valjean thatched cottage, on the other side of the lane, a farmer's wife named Marie-Claude; the Valjean children, habitually famished, sometimes went to borrow from Marie-Claude a pint of milk, in their mother's name, which they drank behind a hedge or in some alley corner, snatching the jug from each other so hastily that the little girls spilled it on their aprons and down their necks. If their mother had known of this marauding, she would have punished the delinquents severely.
Jean Valjean gruffly and grumblingly paid Marie-Claude for the pint of milk behind their mother's back, and the children were not punished.
In pruning season he earned eighteen sous a day; then he hired out as a hay-maker, as laborer, as neat-herd on a farm, as a drudge. He did whatever he could. His sister worked also but what could she do with seven little children? It was a sad group enveloped in misery, which was being gradually annihilated. A very hard winter came. Jean had no work. The family had no bread. No bread literally. Seven children!
One Sunday evening, Maubert Isabeau, the baker on the Church Square at Faverolles, was preparing to go to bed, when he heard a violent blow on the grated front of his shop. He arrived in time to see an arm passed through a hole made by a blow from a fist, through the grating and the glass. The arm seized a loaf of bread and carried it off. Isabeau ran out in haste; the robber fled at the full speed of his legs. Isabeau ran after him and stopped him. The thief had flung away the loaf, but his arm was still bleeding. It was Jean Valjean.
Jean Valjean was pronounced guilty. The terms of the Code were explicit. There occur formidable hours in our civilization; there are moments when the penal laws decree a shipwreck. What an ominous minute is that in which society draws back and consummates the irreparable abandonment of a sentient being! Jean Valjean was condemned to five years in the galleys.
So, Jean Valjean goes on to be imprisoned for the next 19 years because he tries to escape four times as his sister and seven children dissipate into economic oblivion. During this time he contemplates on how he ended up in prison.
He began by putting himself on trial.
He recognized the fact that he was not an innocent man unjustly punished. He admitted that he had committed an extreme and blameworthy act; that that loaf of bread would probably not have been refused to him had he asked for it; that, in any case, it would have been better to wait until he could get it through compassion or through work; ….that it had been an act of madness for him, a miserable, unfortunate wretch, to take society at large violently by the collar, and to imagine that one can escape from misery through theft; that that is in any case a poor door through which to escape from misery through which infamy enters; in short, that he was in the wrong.
Then he asked himself--
Whether he had been the only one in fault in his fatal history. Whether it not a serious thing, that he, a laborer, out of work, that he, an industrious man, should have lacked bread. And whether, the fault once committed and confessed, the chastisement had not been ferocious and disproportioned. Whether there had not been more abuse on the part of the law, in respect to the penalty, than there had been on the part of the culprit in respect to his fault.
Whether this penalty, complicated by successive aggravations for attempts at escape, had not ended in becoming a sort of outrage perpetrated by the stronger upon the feebler, a crime of society against the individual, a crime which was being committed afresh every day, a crime which had lasted nineteen years.
He asked himself whether human society could have the right to force its members to suffer equally in one case for its own unreasonable lack of foresight, and in the other case for its pitiless foresight; and to seize a poor man forever between a defect and an excess, a default of work and an excess of punishment.
Whether it was not outrageous for society to treat thus precisely those of its members who were the least well endowed in the division of goods made by chance, and consequently the most deserving of consideration.
These questions put and answered, he judged society and condemned it.
He condemned it to his hatred.
So Jean Valjean becomes a bitter man, blaming the world and its social system for his unreasonable, unjust situation. When he is finally released, he has no trust in his fellow man or society, just a hardened heart. His first day out from prison, he walks all day and when he arrives at a town, no one will open their tavern to him because he is a former convict. Though he has money, no one will acquiesce to his lodging request.
The only place that will open up to him is a priest, a bishop in fact, Bishop Myriel. The hospitable bishop warmly welcomes him treating him, shockingly, with honor fit for a king. Unlike the rest of the town, the bishop offers to Jean Valjean the best that he has to offer. That night for reasons attributed to his 19 years of degeneracy, Jean Valjean awakes and robs the bishop of the silver utensils that he had served him dinner with and flees into the night. The next morning, Jean Valjean is captured by police and brought back to face the bishop. As Jean is brought into the bishop’s house, the bishop proclaims:
“I am glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get two hundred francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?"
Jean Valjean opened his eyes wide, and stared at the venerable Bishop
with an expression which no human tongue can render any account of.
“Monseigneur,” said the brigadier of gendarmes, "so what this man
said is true, then? We came across him. He was walking like a man
who is running away. We stopped him to look into the matter. He had this silver--"
"And he told you," interposed the Bishop with a smile, "that it had been given to him by a kind old fellow of a priest with whom he had passed the night? I see how the matter stands. And you have brought him back here? It is a mistake."
“In that case,” replied the brigadier, "we can let him go?"
"Certainly," replied the Bishop.
The gendarmes released Jean Valjean, who recoiled.
"Is it true that I am to be released?" he said, in an almost inarticulate voice, and as though he were talking in his sleep.
“Yes, thou art released; dost thou not understand?” said one of the gendarmes.
"My friend," resumed the Bishop, "before you go, here are your candlesticks. Take them."
He stepped to the chimney-piece, took the two silver candlesticks, and brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women looked on without uttering a word, without a gesture, without a look which could disconcert the Bishop.
Jean Valjean was trembling in every limb. He took the two candlesticks mechanically, and with a bewildered air.
"Now," said the Bishop, "go in peace. By the way, when you return, my friend, it is not necessary to pass through the garden. You can always enter and depart through the street door. It is never fastened with anything but a latch, either by day or by night."
Then, turning to the gendarmes:--
"You may retire, gentlemen."
The gendarmes retired.
Jean Valjean was like a man on the point of fainting.
The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice:--
"Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man."
Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained speechless. The Bishop had emphasized the words when he uttered them. He resumed with solemnity:--
"Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God."
This incredible act of mercy by the Bishop will have a lasting impact upon Jean Valjean’s soul. While he will still have immense difficulties in life, he will endeavor to produce fruit of righteousness no matter his future dire circumstance or resulting consequence. Not only will he redeem his life from destruction, but he will use his newfound salvation to liberate the lives of others with his good deeds. Through patient endurance, Jean will overcome his past and redemptively engage his world. He will stand as an unrelenting light in society’s darkness.
Earlier, I alluded to the statement that “I am the tyranny of evil men…but I’m trying real hard to be a shepherd.” That truly is my personal testimony. I can relate to biblical characters who attempt to follow God yet constantly stumble. I take solace in Prov 24:16, “though the righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” Since I have already fallen more than seven times, I wonder if I can combine this verse to the time when Jesus commanded Peter to forgive his brother not just seven times, but seventy times seven (Mt 18:21-22). Even so, I know I have fallen more than 490 times.
Victor Hugo makes this curious statement about Jean Valjean:
Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he might be said to carry two knapsacks; in one he had the thoughts of a saint, in the other the formidable talents of a convict. He helped himself from one or the other as occasion required.
Jean Valjean’s character is an encouragement to me on this path that I tread. On one side, he has tasted the depths of depravity but on the other side he has been redeemed by God. I believe that navigating those two experiences of humanity—sin and forgiveness, while walking steadfastly forward in God’s grace, stands as one of the greatest witnesses we can bear on this earth.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Community
This is a rough outline of a sermon that Sharon and I tag-teamed on at Grace Lutheran in Bayonne, NJ on April 13, 2008. I would set up the four basic points from Acts 2:42 (Apostles' Teaching, Fellowship, Meals, Prayer) and Sharon would give commentary from I Peter complementing those ideas.
****************
This morning we want to look at Acts 2:42 from the lectionary reading and talk about four characteristics that defined the early church in Acts. As I focus on the Acts text, Sharon will apply the book of First Peter to this discussion concerning community.
Community
An easy way to define the essence of community is to see it as two words:
Common + Unity = Community
The first part of community is the word, common. To be in a community you all must hold something in common…sports fans cheer for the same team, in politics, Republicans vote for Republicans and Democrats vote for Democrats. Hobby enthusiasts share the same passion for a particular pastime. Ethnic groups share the same culture, including food, language, and art.
Communities are bound by similar lifestyles, goals, rules, direction, and purpose.
Look around at those sitting near you at Grace Lutheran. What do you have in common? Is it that your kids play together?
Is it that they are:
Your age?
Family members?
Old buddies?
Neighbors?
Did you:
Grow up together?
Work together?
Or is the only thing in common that you live in Bayonne?
More than all of these things, are we here at Grace Lutheran because we are followers of Jesus? Do we all have this in common?
The second part of community is the word, unity. A community is only as strong as its weakest link (Ecc 4:9-12). This past summer I was watching a TV show about airplane crashes and what caused them. One story in particular caught my attention. A plane’s tail was suppose to be secured with two bolts but when this specific plane was assembled the crew only used one bolt. Consequently, after many landing and take offs, the tail of this plane blew off and hundreds of people lost their lives. If you can imagine that Grace Lutheran is an airplane and when we fight and poison the air of our congregation, without forgiving one another, we send our plane into a nosedive. One bitter root can lead to the decay and eventual destruction of a community. Therefore, unity is a necessity for the Grace Lutheran community.
Yet when we are unified around Jesus, the Bible says that special things will occur.
As you come to him, the living stone— rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (I Pet 2:4-5)
I’m sure the image of the Temple with its massive stones may have been what was in the author’s mind. But the striking image here is that we’re called ‘living stones’. What does that mean? I’m imagining huge blocks of jello that can jiggle around. Imagine trying to build a house with living stones. Just when you’ve lined up your row, one stone decides to walk away, or go sit somewhere else. Coordinating community is hard. We’re all unique and we’re not finished. We’re ‘being built’, that’s a process, and building a community is a process that each individual is a part of.
Apostles’ Teaching (Bible Study)
The basis for our faith is the Bible. God’s word is the rule that we measure and apply our lives to. The Word binds us together. We need to study it continually, not just at an official Bible Study but on our own, in our daily lives.
Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Pet 2:1-3)
Our environment shapes us. That is why commercials work. So we have to immerse ourselves in God’s perspective that may not always be clear or come naturally. That’s why we have the Bible. We have to grow in our salvation… that means we get refined. Our thinking and conscience become more nuanced, shades of self-delusion are dropped. We may realize a comment we said was actually slander.
Fellowship (Koinonia)
The Greek word for fellowship here is Koinonia. It means holding all things in common, sharing lives, caring about what is going on with others, knowing someone on a deep and intimate level. In many ways, we at Grace Lutheran practice this quite well. But to grow as body, we have to expand our vision for those we fellowship with.
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (I Pet 3:8-9)
It’s not easy to live in harmony, in community, with each other. If it were, the author wouldn’t have needed to write about it. I Peter was written to people in hard situations and unjust systems. Some were slaves, some were women in a world where they were considered inferior, some were persecuted. It’s to these people Peter advises not to resist the system, but to trust the ‘faithful creator’ (I Peter 4:19). That’s hard. There were real evils he is asking them to forgive. It puts some of our petty issues into perspective. We don’t choose our position in life, we don’t choose our family, and we don’t choose our church members. Regardless, we have the privilege to forgive our personal injustices. Even the big ones.
Meals (Eating Together)
Eating together is an intimate and personal affair. You don’t eat with enemies. When you eat with someone, you grow closer and learn about each other. I really enjoyed our past weeks with the Alpha meetings, because I got to meet and know many of you in a better, deeper way. When we share our food, and open our table to others, we demonstrate hospitality. We at Grace Lutheran can enjoy a good party and yet we need to continue to invite others to our parties. We need to spread our table wide for all who would want to join us.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (I Pet 4:8-10)
Usually we tend to cover over our own weaknesses—we have grace on ourselves—and highlight others’. Here we’re told to do the opposite, and cover over other people’s weaknesses. What we see so clearly may be our gift and someone else’s blind spot. Instead of getting mad at them or trying to force them to see it our way, acknowledge that maybe what we see is what we’re meant to be doing and focusing on, and we should cover over the weaknesses of others. We also have to be vulnerable. Hospitality means getting together, eating in each other’s homes, sharing, making ourselves accessible in this self-sufficient world.
Prayer
Prayer is the glue, the cement, the emulsifier that binds the spiritual community. You’ve probably heard the common saying, “the family that prays together, stays together.” So too, for Grace Lutheran to stay together, we must pray together. Not just in Sunday services or special prayer meetings but in our daily routine. Prayer draws us closer to God and closer to each other, uniting us to God’s heart.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. (I Pet 5:6-7)
God’s mighty hand is a powerful image, because it can be gentle and comforting or it can discipline and hurt. ‘due time’ means there is no time guarantee. We don’t know how long we, or others we love, may have to endure a hard situation, but we have to hold on to the fact that God is good. We trust that God’s nature is good, and he cares what’s happening to us.
Conclusion
Grace Lutheran is a team; it’s a body; it’s a community. But we can only succeed if we are unified, trusting in Jesus, acting like Jesus, following in his steps, doing what he would. We all say we believe in God’s love but do we demonstrate God’s love to each other (1 John 4:20-21)? When we do demonstrate that love, God will show up in an extraordinary way and the supernatural will occur.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (I Pet 1:22-23)
When we have real love for each other, and are practicing community, others will see it and be attracted to it. God’s seed has been planted in us, so let’s let that seed grow, and flourish in us and in our community at Grace Lutheran, and in our community here in Bayonne.
****************
This morning we want to look at Acts 2:42 from the lectionary reading and talk about four characteristics that defined the early church in Acts. As I focus on the Acts text, Sharon will apply the book of First Peter to this discussion concerning community.
Community
An easy way to define the essence of community is to see it as two words:
Common + Unity = Community
The first part of community is the word, common. To be in a community you all must hold something in common…sports fans cheer for the same team, in politics, Republicans vote for Republicans and Democrats vote for Democrats. Hobby enthusiasts share the same passion for a particular pastime. Ethnic groups share the same culture, including food, language, and art.
Communities are bound by similar lifestyles, goals, rules, direction, and purpose.
Look around at those sitting near you at Grace Lutheran. What do you have in common? Is it that your kids play together?
Is it that they are:
Your age?
Family members?
Old buddies?
Neighbors?
Did you:
Grow up together?
Work together?
Or is the only thing in common that you live in Bayonne?
More than all of these things, are we here at Grace Lutheran because we are followers of Jesus? Do we all have this in common?
The second part of community is the word, unity. A community is only as strong as its weakest link (Ecc 4:9-12). This past summer I was watching a TV show about airplane crashes and what caused them. One story in particular caught my attention. A plane’s tail was suppose to be secured with two bolts but when this specific plane was assembled the crew only used one bolt. Consequently, after many landing and take offs, the tail of this plane blew off and hundreds of people lost their lives. If you can imagine that Grace Lutheran is an airplane and when we fight and poison the air of our congregation, without forgiving one another, we send our plane into a nosedive. One bitter root can lead to the decay and eventual destruction of a community. Therefore, unity is a necessity for the Grace Lutheran community.
Yet when we are unified around Jesus, the Bible says that special things will occur.
As you come to him, the living stone— rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (I Pet 2:4-5)
I’m sure the image of the Temple with its massive stones may have been what was in the author’s mind. But the striking image here is that we’re called ‘living stones’. What does that mean? I’m imagining huge blocks of jello that can jiggle around. Imagine trying to build a house with living stones. Just when you’ve lined up your row, one stone decides to walk away, or go sit somewhere else. Coordinating community is hard. We’re all unique and we’re not finished. We’re ‘being built’, that’s a process, and building a community is a process that each individual is a part of.
Apostles’ Teaching (Bible Study)
The basis for our faith is the Bible. God’s word is the rule that we measure and apply our lives to. The Word binds us together. We need to study it continually, not just at an official Bible Study but on our own, in our daily lives.
Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Pet 2:1-3)
Our environment shapes us. That is why commercials work. So we have to immerse ourselves in God’s perspective that may not always be clear or come naturally. That’s why we have the Bible. We have to grow in our salvation… that means we get refined. Our thinking and conscience become more nuanced, shades of self-delusion are dropped. We may realize a comment we said was actually slander.
Fellowship (Koinonia)
The Greek word for fellowship here is Koinonia. It means holding all things in common, sharing lives, caring about what is going on with others, knowing someone on a deep and intimate level. In many ways, we at Grace Lutheran practice this quite well. But to grow as body, we have to expand our vision for those we fellowship with.
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (I Pet 3:8-9)
It’s not easy to live in harmony, in community, with each other. If it were, the author wouldn’t have needed to write about it. I Peter was written to people in hard situations and unjust systems. Some were slaves, some were women in a world where they were considered inferior, some were persecuted. It’s to these people Peter advises not to resist the system, but to trust the ‘faithful creator’ (I Peter 4:19). That’s hard. There were real evils he is asking them to forgive. It puts some of our petty issues into perspective. We don’t choose our position in life, we don’t choose our family, and we don’t choose our church members. Regardless, we have the privilege to forgive our personal injustices. Even the big ones.
Meals (Eating Together)
Eating together is an intimate and personal affair. You don’t eat with enemies. When you eat with someone, you grow closer and learn about each other. I really enjoyed our past weeks with the Alpha meetings, because I got to meet and know many of you in a better, deeper way. When we share our food, and open our table to others, we demonstrate hospitality. We at Grace Lutheran can enjoy a good party and yet we need to continue to invite others to our parties. We need to spread our table wide for all who would want to join us.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (I Pet 4:8-10)
Usually we tend to cover over our own weaknesses—we have grace on ourselves—and highlight others’. Here we’re told to do the opposite, and cover over other people’s weaknesses. What we see so clearly may be our gift and someone else’s blind spot. Instead of getting mad at them or trying to force them to see it our way, acknowledge that maybe what we see is what we’re meant to be doing and focusing on, and we should cover over the weaknesses of others. We also have to be vulnerable. Hospitality means getting together, eating in each other’s homes, sharing, making ourselves accessible in this self-sufficient world.
Prayer
Prayer is the glue, the cement, the emulsifier that binds the spiritual community. You’ve probably heard the common saying, “the family that prays together, stays together.” So too, for Grace Lutheran to stay together, we must pray together. Not just in Sunday services or special prayer meetings but in our daily routine. Prayer draws us closer to God and closer to each other, uniting us to God’s heart.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. (I Pet 5:6-7)
God’s mighty hand is a powerful image, because it can be gentle and comforting or it can discipline and hurt. ‘due time’ means there is no time guarantee. We don’t know how long we, or others we love, may have to endure a hard situation, but we have to hold on to the fact that God is good. We trust that God’s nature is good, and he cares what’s happening to us.
Conclusion
Grace Lutheran is a team; it’s a body; it’s a community. But we can only succeed if we are unified, trusting in Jesus, acting like Jesus, following in his steps, doing what he would. We all say we believe in God’s love but do we demonstrate God’s love to each other (1 John 4:20-21)? When we do demonstrate that love, God will show up in an extraordinary way and the supernatural will occur.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (I Pet 1:22-23)
When we have real love for each other, and are practicing community, others will see it and be attracted to it. God’s seed has been planted in us, so let’s let that seed grow, and flourish in us and in our community at Grace Lutheran, and in our community here in Bayonne.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
$9.15
I just paid $9.15 to renew this domain name for another year. Since it's been nearly 10 months since the last update to this blog, I was seriously questioning the efficacy of having a blog if I never blog. But something says not to quit.
So I've tossed my $9.15 to the wind and I'm writing again. Part of why I have not blogged is the ubiquitous catch-all phrase, "no time". And its true. But also, I should mention that I am a perfectionist and I hate not being thorough in my actions. I have to finish a job. And blogging can appear to be this overwhelming black hole sucking thoughts and life, never full and never complete. Kind of a neverending story often fragmented and unclear.
I need to renew my mind and release these expectations of perfection. Because my hang up with perfection is not just mired in blogging but also in my expectations of others. That's why I paid $9.15 tonight. I've got to let go.
So I've tossed my $9.15 to the wind and I'm writing again. Part of why I have not blogged is the ubiquitous catch-all phrase, "no time". And its true. But also, I should mention that I am a perfectionist and I hate not being thorough in my actions. I have to finish a job. And blogging can appear to be this overwhelming black hole sucking thoughts and life, never full and never complete. Kind of a neverending story often fragmented and unclear.
I need to renew my mind and release these expectations of perfection. Because my hang up with perfection is not just mired in blogging but also in my expectations of others. That's why I paid $9.15 tonight. I've got to let go.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Christmas and its Aftermath
Well, come and gone. Sharon and I spent another warm Florida Christmas with my family in Brandon. Some highlights:
- This year, it was quite warm. Some days reached the 80's.
- Yony, Sharon's brother, visited from California (read below: "Our Christmas Letter"). Visited the bay of Tampa, Ybor City, and played some tennis.
- My Uncle Henry married, Tam Le, a recent immigrant from Vietnam, and I conducted the ceremony on our back porch on Christmas Eve.
- I made a big batch of Gingerbread cookies from the last of my grandfather's homemade Cane syrup. My grandfather Turner Clark passed away in June 2003.
- Saw my brother's three kids in all their glory: Jackson, Libby, and Cash. We will also get to visit them in Tallahassee next week.
- We all saw the new Will Smith movie, Pursuit of Happyness. I highly recommend it; its very inspiring for anyone who thinks its tough to make it in life.
- Been playing Settlers of Catan frequently: up till now the win totals are Yony: 2.5, Gary 2, Sharon 1.5, and Cousin Whitney 1 (we bought her the game for Christmas).
- If you remember, from the entry below "A Very Strange Sunday", Sharon's face swelled up back in the beginning of November. She has visited multiple doctors since and after some different tests discovered that she had two stones lodged inside her slavitory gland on the left side of her face. Well, on Christmas, she got a little present when she was able to pass ONE of the stones (though painfully). We're praying the other one will enter the saliva "birth canal" soon. So one down, one to go.
We woke up at 4am this morning and drove Yony to the airport. The new year approaches.
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