The last several months have seen an increasing tempo in the challenges to our ways of life and thinking, writes Rev Sydney Maitland.
The rulers of more and more countries around the world seem to prefer the allure of the dictatorships and are opposed to those where the rule of law prevails, and there is a recognisable form of representative and responsible government, where the losers in elections consent to rule by the majority as defined by the law and where the economy is essentially mixed. But equally, where majorities are still held to account by courts, legislators and electors.
Then in our own sphere of understanding, there has been a drift from a social democratic, mixed economy ethos of government to one that is more populist and authoritarian, more censorious and punitive in its actions and less inclined to listen to informed debate or any kind of debate.
This has led to deep levels of self-doubt. This is different from self-examination and reflection. It is more corrosive and destructive. But this is where I am also back to aspects of the scriptures. In Genesis, (chapter 3) Eve was invited to doubt the instructions of God about the Tree of Knowledge. With this doubt sown, she was then invited to see just how desirable the tree looked, and the alluring promises proffered by the serpent. The rest we know.
But then in the temptation of Jesus, He also was invited to doubt: ‘If You are the Son of God …’ then prove it, take advantage of it, think how much more you could do it you only compromised in this or that area. Insidious, corrupting, devious, and ultimately self-destructive. Just think about it: if Jesus had fallen to these blandishments then He would never have gone to the cross and after a flurry of activity, He would have died in His old age, alone, embittered and compromised. But then the temptations of Jesus were all about dissuading Him from the path to the cross and in favour of some other, displacement activity. In the church, we know all about these temptations as well.
But then Jesus came back with some clear and uncompromising statements. To the temptations of Satan, He replied: ‘It is written …’ and there was no room for further argument. Today we have plenty who would undermine the authority of the scriptures, and their relevance and applicability today.
But then He went further: I AM. Not only was this the way in which God had given His identity to Moses, but Jesus brought it very much up to date. I AM – the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Way, the Truth and the Life; the Good Shepherd and also the Gateway to the sheepfold; the Resurrection and the Life; the Vine.
Now we have points of certainty amid confusion; there is wisdom amid deviousness and corruption. We have navigation aids in a sea of life, leading lights to bring us into a safe haven and buoyage to help us to avoid hazards to a safe passage. Here there is conviction but not condemnation; love but not sentiment; truth that rises above opinions and statistics.
As we approach Christmastide, we do it by looking at some of the issues of life during the more sombre season of Advent. Shortly after Christmas, we will be looking at the issues surrounding the Massacre of the Innocents and the Baptism and the Temptation of Jesus. All of this throws into relief the birth of Jesus, for this was a moment when God intervened decisively and with determination into the line of human history.
It was a time when He took control by sacrificing Himself. The self-offering of Jesus to the holy and righteous anger of God at the depth and depravity of the human rebellion against His purposes was the turning point of human history.
We are invited to become part of His purposes. The Baptism service calls on us to believe and trust in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To believe is to give an intellectual consent to God but to trust in Him is to make it direct and personal.
Or we can accept the self-destructive impulses of our more devious and manipulative instincts.
Every blessing this Christmastide and for the New Year.
Sydney Maitland
