Psalm Meditation 902
Proper 21
October 1, 2017

Psalm 124
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side —let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
(NRSV)

There seems to be something about human nature that enjoys, relishes, even needs an enemy. It may be another person or group of people, it may be an event like a fire or flood. Whatever it may be it serves to rally us into a unit for action against this ‘other’ who would get the better of us in some form or another. When life is going smoothly we as a group tend to drift apart into our own ways of thinking and behaving. At that point there is usually someone who will come in and stir the pot, call us to arms and get us moving in the same direction, the ‘right’ direction once again.

The word heresy concerns thoughts that go against the agreed upon thinking of the larger group. When we are not in conflict with others it is possible for the thinking of the group to broaden, expanding the definition of what is acceptable within the group. Sometimes this expansion continues to the point of dissipation. In other cases there is a conflict between those who raise a new form of orthodoxy and those who take a hard line on one view in particular. In this second case we make a new enemy of those within our broad family of thought. We may take it out on each other and we may direct our ire to a group outside our body that we believe has caused our previous cohorts to fall away.

The wonderful thing is that we are each and all children of God. We have expanded our thinking, we have narrowed our thinking. We have included a broader range of people into our circle, we have excluded those who were once part of the circle. We have called each other terrible names because of our disagreement, we have called each other terrible names because of our disagreement. (yes, we do that on both sides) Through it all, we are children of God. I imagine that God is deeply saddened by our competitive divisiveness. “Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”


September 25, 2017
LCM