December 1998 Issue

Have you ever found yourself in a very difficult situation? Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you need to rely upon some other "power," or "authority?" This kind of situation happens to us not only as individuals but also happens to us as congregations. That was the situation confronting King Ahaz. Israel and Syria had attacked Judah, because Judah would not join their alliance against Assyria. Everyone was scared, so scared that they "shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (v. 2).

With the presence of Isaiah and his counsel Ahaz had a choice; rely either upon the LORD or upon the support of Assyria. I believe that this can be put another way: Trust in a power with which you are familiar, or trust in the mysterious power of the LORD. Do we rely upon that which we can tangibly measure or do we rely upon the immeasurable and the intangible? The former seems to offer us assurance simply because we think we know upon what we are relying. The latter is disconcerting, because we cannot feel so all-knowing about God. God remains mystery even though God, in Christ, has chosen to reveal God's purpose of community and love and redemption.

Joseph, at an individual level, experienced a similar situation. He has discovered that Mary, his betrothed, is pregnant, and I can imagine that Joseph was emotionally devastated by this fact. I seriously doubt Mary's explanation to Joseph that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit was very convincing! His decision to quietly divorce Mary was actually a rather non-reactive decision. Then Joseph is visited by the angel and is told that Mary is pregnant with the Messiah. Joseph believes the angel! All I can say is that I am glad Joseph takes dreams more seriously than most of us do! This story of Joseph is an example of choosing to rely upon the mysterious ways of God rather than doing what would seem more practical from a "world" perspective.

Ahaz also did something else. He disguised his lack of faith in the LORD with words of piety. "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test" (v. 12). It must profoundly grieve God when we use words of faith to disguise our lack of trust in God.

If we even contemplate expressing this thought to our congregations it would be wise for us to consider how we, ourselves, may behave more like Ahaz than Joseph. Let's face it, we preacher-types are actually in a very vulnerable position concerning this matter. As leaders of worship we are more apt to be using religious expressions than others, thus we are more apt to use God-talk to express our own lack of trust in God.

Ahaz decides to ignore the LORD's invitation for a sign and to trust in Assyria. For the moment Judah finds relief from the attacks of Israel and Syria. In the process Judah became a vassal state of Assyria. And eventually Assyria overthrows Judah completely.

From a theological point of view I find this to be a metaphor of our own lives. When we turn to something less than God for our ultimate trust we have actually committed idolatry. It is also a rather important definition of what it means to become addicted. Let me formulate an example. When someone begins to rely upon, money, that individual has placed money in the rightful position of God. Money becomes the meaning for life. Money becomes the means of salvation for life. One relates to people according to money. We can all identify how it would be understandable that someone would rely upon money rather than a mystery such as God. We can all see how one can become the substitute for the other. People can become addicted to money. They (we?) can become slaves to it. We no longer control it. It begins to control us.

This dynamic can be true for any number of idols: Alcohol, nicotine, food, sex, shopping, theological perspectives, power, television, etc. We are limited only by our imagination in the gods that we can create to replace the mystery of God. It's as if our substitute for God takes over our lives and takes us into our own Babylonian bondage.

As congregations, we tend to depend upon other things than God for our security. A common one is how well are we doing numerically. Another one is our reliance upon pledges and money as a measure of our successful ministry. What is true for individuals also seems to hold true for congregations. There are congregations that worship their close-knit fellowship. There are congregations that worship the increase in membership. There are congregations that worship strong business and financial principles. There are congregations that worship social action. There are congregations that worship previous pastors. Please understand, in both the individual and congregational situations we are not necessarily talking monotheism. Individuals and congregations can have multiple addictions/gods.

This is the last Sunday of Advent. On Friday we celebrate the coming of the Lord in the flesh. In this process we encounter that which is the most mysterious of all—God became a human being, in flesh, to redeem humanity. The church has not been able to explain this mystery in rational terms. It just bears witness to the fact that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19).

As pastors we can lead our congregations in the celebration of God's love that was manifested in the coming of the Christ Child. We can acknowledge our fallen human tendency to rely upon those authorities and powers which we think we know because they are visible. We can acknowledge how we as individuals and congregations find ourselves trusting those powers more than our Lord who is immeasurable and mysterious. I find it fascinating that God reveals Godself in the man, Jesus of Nazareth. In this revelation we experience the epitome of God's love for humanity and God's desire to live in relationship with humanity. Yet, even in this revelation and this call to put our trust in God we are called to trust and accept a mystery.

Daniel E. Hale