Rhetorical Mud Wrestling

We have been offered a startling amount of proof recently about our world’s brokenness.  The news seems to be exceptionally worse, the disasters and catastrophes inextricably larger in scope and sheer destructive power. The victims even seem more innocent and more tragic that normal.

Just this week at least 350 people were killed in Brazil as the result of flooding. An additional 250,000 people were affected by flash floods that affected Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city and an area twice the size of Texas.

The economic news is not improving either. The foreclosure crisis that paralyzed the housing market has only just begun. Approximately 5 million bowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages. 1.2 million Homes are estimated to be repossessed this year alone.

And then there’s the nonsensical tragedies, the ones where we can’t find purpose or meaning. The shooting in Arizona this past week leaves us all on our heels. What would cause a person to do that short of thing? To indiscriminately kill and maim? To end lives, some as young as 9 years old? And perhaps the most pressing question – what can we do to stop it from happening again?

Bad news begets more bad news, begets tragedy. Our world is broken. But it seems just a little bit more broken than usual this week, a little more fragile, and lot more dangerous.

It seems to me, that the human response, the innate gut reaction to tragedy or difficult times goes one of two ways. Either we play the blame game and seek to find someone to blame, or we close off and stop interacting all together only analyzing the ways in which the tragedy affects us personally.

The instinct to Blame, to find someone, anyone who might be at fault, appeared in abundance this week. Minutes after the shooting in Tucson, the blogosphere and punditry had laid the blame at the feet of Right-Wing conspiracy nuts, Sarah Palin, and imagery and language of guns. Other were blaming the Democrats for being mean and unfair, people like leading one liberal commentator to ask for Sarah Palin to be decapitated. At one point there was even a debate over the difference between bull’s-eyes and crosshairs. The Blame Game is an easy one to play – it allows us to feel as if someone is a fault, someone caused this, someone who is evil and despicable and less than human. Blame makes us feel control over any situation and to avoid the real cause of problems.

The second way we see react to tragedy is to focus inwardly, to look only at ourselves. We close off to the world. Hezekiah is a great example of the inward focus tendency. Hezekiah was the king of Judah son of Ahaz mentioned in Jesus’ genology. His kingdom, Judah, was being watched by the evil King Sennacherib of Assyria. Sennacherib had forcibly resettled Israel, the northern country of Galilee with his own Assyrians, removing any native he found there.  And one day, Sennacherib saw a weakness. Hezekiah had been ill, and so he exploited that moment of ill health in order to infiltrate the ministry. Hezekiah immediately sets out to impress his visitors, showing off all his treasures and goodies. Look at my golden camels with diamond eyes – He says – and my room full of money.  Isaiah is the king’s prophet at the time, and Isaiah sees all of this strutting and puffing, which greatly concerns him. Isaiah says to the king “Um…. How much of your treasures did you actually show him? All of it…? hmmm….”

Isaiah then presents a very terrible prophecy. "Hezekiah", he says, "one day that king of Assyria, Sennacherib? He’s going to take all of that awesome stuff you have. And, even more than that, Sennacherib is going to take your family, your sons, and they will become eunuchs. The Assyrian’s are going to take everything.”

And Hezekiah’s response?

“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good.” Huh? Good? Which part of Eunuch did you not understand?

Hezekiah merely smiled.

“For, he thought, There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

The second way we see react to tragedy is to focus inwardly, to look only at ourselves. We close off to the world. We deal with pain by ignoring its consequences.

I would submit to you that neither of these responses is particularly helpful. Blame and avoidance only end up hurting us more; make the situation more difficult in the end. Pointing fingers at others, or ourselves, deepens the problem we are trying to avoid in the first place.

The Church offers us a third way of coping with the stresses of life, a different kind of witness to tragedy. The church is called to stand in the gap between blame and apathy, between unrelenting vitriolic anger and anxiety. The church marches into the breach caused by the pains of this life with a new, unique kind of witness.

There is a benefit to being very, very old. Through the testament of those who have come before, through the witness of folks like Noah, Abraham, and Moses, through the memories of Deborah, Rahab, and the Psalmists, the church contains the insight of centuries. We have the perspective of those who have gone before us, who have experienced tragedy and heartache and pain and come out the others side to say Hallelujah again.  This is why the church studies the Bible, This is why the church learn studies its history and about Paul’s 3^rd missionary journeys.  To gain perspective, and to learn the perseverance of the saints.

The Church offers us a third way of coping with the stresses of life, a different kind of witness to tragedy. The church is called to stand in the gap between blame and apathy, between unrelenting vitriolic anger and anxiety. The church marches into the breach caused by the pains of this life with a new, unique kind of witness.