Stories That Shape Us

The lectionary has us following the journey of Moses and his people from a place of exile to home. The solution to exile is to return home. Life in exile is difficult, and today for many refugees in our midst returning home is impossible, so it is necessary for them to find a new home.

When the Persians conquered Babylon they allowed the captive Israelites to return home. The Moses story demonstrates that returning home is not without its challenges.

Marcus Borg in his book ” Meeting Jesus again for the First Time” Identifies three macro stories in the Old Testament, two of them grounded in the history of ancient Israel.

The first macro story is the journey of the tribes of Israel under the leadership of Abraham travelling to their promised land. This remembered story is a story of slaves  escaping bondage. For Abraham and his people it was a journey of some 40 years to the promised land. Abraham cemented in his people the understanding of one true God at a time when many gods were worshipped. Abraham was obedient to the voice he heard– ” Leave your country, your people, and your fathers household, and go to the land I will show you.’ ‘.

Like all religious journeys God travelled alongside Abraham and his people, the Spirit was with them. through many trials and tribulations until they reached the promised place. It is a story of escape from bondage to freedom, a journey and a destination, the leaving behind one life for another. This is the primal narrative of the Jewish people forever remembered at the annual festival of the passover .

The second biblical narrative is that of Moses leading his people from an oppressive slave existence back to their home, the once promised land .They experienced God in their midst aiding and assisting them.

“God gives power to the faint,

And strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will be faint and be weary,

The young will fall exhausted,

But those who wait on Yahweh

Shall renew their strength,

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.”

It is on this journey that Moses received the 10 commandments.

.

Think in our time, of Nelson Mandela who with much generous graciousness returned home forgiving those who had incarcerated him, or Bishop Tutu who through Truth and Reconciliation gatherings tirelessly worked to encourage the resolution of conflict and hatred.

The religious journey beckons us into the presence of the divine. We can lose our way, We can become overcome by tragedy or discord. A sacred journey enables us to find our way home back, healed, empowered and back to the familiar; home.

Key Biblical figures, such as Abraham, and Moses who led epic journeys, are venerated in Christian Jewish and Islamic faiths. The New Testament is the sacred text for Christians of many hues, Catholics, Episcipalians, Greek Orthodox ,Coptic ,Protestants,. Evangelicals, and more. Sacred texts they have in common but so often little effective interfaith gatherings or inter denominational interaction occurs as they walk their particular faith journey’s.

What is the truth, what is the right way?

.

Several years ago when my mother was 90 and her sister 85 they were together at our home , I thought it was a great opportunity to hear their experiences first hand ,as little children living on a large isolated sheep station north of Castle Point on the Wairarapa coast.

“I remember “, my Aunt recalled ” I remember been given the job of taking Dad’s lunch to him way across the paddocks to where Dad was ploughing”, “Don’t be ridiculous Pat,”’my mother said,” You were never allowed to go on your own. I went with you.” ‘No, you didn’t Miri, I did it on my own. I remember.”

I was thrust into the role of adjudicator

And likewise it was 75 years or so after the death of Jesus that Matthew Mark Luke and John penned their memories of being with Jesus or the of the stories they recalled about him. There are differences and discrepancies in these recollections. Where is the truth, what really happened?

To return to my mother and Aunt. When they stopped arguing I said that I believed they were both right in their recall of what was true for them. . Four year old Aunty Pat was proud and happy with the responsibility of the task. My Mother painfully recalled how she was accountable for the safety of her siblings. Sometime previously her brother had taken a hammer to a detonator and he suffered serious facial lacerations. Their frantic mother fled across the paddock for help leaving her daughter to mind bleeding brother and as she left she yelled at the terrified Miry, “Why did you let him do it?”

It is by sharing memories that we can gain a fuller appreciation of the event and what it meant for those involved.

Sitting listening to a good story is different from reading about it. The storyteller may be enhancing it, embellishing it, or responding to and interacting with the listeners .When stories are written down we use our imagination when we read them. Have you read a book and then gone to a movie of the book and find that the film adaptation differs greatly from what you imagined or the physical appearance of the characters did not match those ones you imagined. Insistence that there is only one interpretation and or one truth and you have it i.e. the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is a blind assumption.

So what is the third narrative that Marcus Borg identifies? It is not an obvious journey story based on an historical event like the exodus and exile and return stories, he calls it the priestly story, depicting the institutions of ancient Israel, the temple, the priesthood, more he says a story of guilt, sacrifice and forgiveness… In those times women, slaves, and Gentiles held no theological status. In some Christian groups, this story and some of the purity requirements therein are still presented, what to do to appease a judgemental God.

Jesus, Jewish and steeped in the Jewish scriptures overturned the injustice practices. He knew an embracing, gracious spirit that wills liberation for all, a compassionate presence that accepts us just as we are.

.

To refer to Marcus Borg again.

He understands Jesus as a spirit person who knew there was more to reality than the tangible world of ordinary experiences. Jesus was a teacher of wisdom. Jesus was close to God, calling him Father .At the centre of Jesus’s life was a profound and continuous relationship to the Spirit of God. There are frequent references in the New Testament of Jesus going away to commune with God praying and meditating.

Jesus was a social prophet,. He criticised the elites of his time. The purity system of his day that upheld a society cruel and intolerant with strict social boundaries, pure/impure, righteous/sinner, male/female,rich/poor ,the Jew/Gentile. . The social vision of Jesus was based on compassion

“’Be compassionate as God is compassionate”. as demonstrated in the Matthew reading today.

Jesus was a movement founder who challenged the social boundaries of his time. – that led to a new movement and the evolution of the Chritsian church.

-Jesus told wonderful stories. He was a skilled communicator, an able debater.

Many of his parables challenged the powerful, especially the priests and pharisees. and the unjust systems. This put him on a collision course with the priestly authority.

Jesus was able to look at his community, and the systems and practices that were unjust favouring those in positions of power and the wealthy and the privileged and he demanded a fresh approach.

The main expression of justice for Jesus were acts of generosity and compassion.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink ,I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you gave me clothing ,I was sick and you took care of me ,I was in prison and you visited me’

We have witnessed in our times, epic journeys parallel to the Bible narratives Martin Luther King inspired his people to leave their then lives of subjection, out into the wilderness on a non- violent freedom march to a promised land of equality and justice. A popular negro spiritual of the time

“Tell all pharaohs to let my people go.” is a direct link to Moses’ story of leading his people from slavery to the promised land.

These American freedom marchers faced hatred, violence and the assassination of their leader .Some justice was achieved with the civil rights bill and the right to vote legislation passed .The greatest impact was the journey in the wilderness, the camaraderie, the struggle, the spiritual awakenings. the life sacrifice of Martin Luther King.

N Z

Dame Whina Cooper at the age of 97 led a 1,100 km journey in NZ that inspired many people to join a march for justice for Maori highlighting the need for the Government to honour the Treaty of Waitangi.

For us tragedy, faith shattering events, misunderstandings, or loneliness can thrust us out into the wilderness.

For us also the journey in the desert may prove to be our place of enrichment and healing, as we search for a relevant spirituality, for solutions to, the healing of broken relationships a liberation that brings

“good tidings to the afflicted

binds up the broken hearted

and sets the captives free. “

 

Patricia Crumpton

20 August, 2023