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There is a breed of Christian that I confess
I find especially difficult to take. It's that type that reads purpose
into everything, especially those things that go their way. You know
the type I mean. If they are on the way to some event or appointment
and meet three green lights in a row they are convinced that it is God's
will that they should be there. Conversely, if some obstacle frustrates
their plans (three red lights?) it is taken to be a bad omen, and they
begin to question whether they are 'in God's will'.
Another application of this fanciful superstition concerns the fortune
of others. Based on the notion that God blesses the righteous and frustrates
the wicked these Christians see the bad fortune of others as a sure
sign of hidden sin, lukewarm devotion, even a curse. Many a troubled
soul has been cautioned by their particular group, 'If you leave us
you will not prosper.' As though to confirm the words of Ecclesiasites,
that 'There is nothing new under the
sun', we find this thinking in one of
the earliest stories of the Old Testament. Eliphaz, one of Job's Comforters,
attempts to explain Job's extreme bad fortune in these very terms:
Consider now: Who, being innocent, has
ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? (Job 4:7)
A ridiculous question that can be easily answered by reference to Hebrews
11 or by asking any passing stranger about what injustices he has seen
in the world. Eliphaz presses his case however:
Is it for your piety that he rebukes
you and brings charges against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are
not your sins endless? (Job 22:5)
The tragedy of it is that we almost all have friends like Eliphaz. With
such friends…?
We find the same thinking coming up in the New Testament. In our text
we learn of the unfortunate circumstances in which some Galileans were
killed and had their blood mingled with their sacrifices by Pilate.
I have wondered why some told Jesus of the terrible crime against these
Galileans. Perhaps they were indicating that, like Eliphaz, they knew
how things worked. Jesus' response is very instructive. Of the Galileans
he said:
Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other
Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless
you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when
the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty
than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent,
you too will all perish (Luke 13:1-5)
Jesus then goes on to speak of those who 'use
up the soil' but bear no fruit. Clearly
the fortunes of life are no indication of fruitfulness. Just ask that
passing stranger of the deserving people he knows who struggle or the
undeserving who prosper in this life. We must look elsewhere than life's
fortunes for signs of fruit. Ecclesiastes helps us again as 'the preacher'
wisely observes:
I have seen something else under the
sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does
food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no man knows when
his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are
taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times the fall unexpectedly
upon them (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
Then what is a person to do?
Now all is heard; here is the conclusion
of the matter: Fear God and keep is commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including
every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
In other words, stuff happens and often bears no relation to our position
in life. Meanwhile, the whole duty of man is to obey God and leave judgement
to God who will, in his own time, bring every deed into judgement. If
you are making New Year's resolutions I commend these verses. By all
means diet, get up early, get fit, start a savings account, but peace
does not lie in these things. They will only make us think like Eliphaz
in the end and you don't want to do that. Resolve rather to attend to
this one duty, to grow in the things of God, obey him and live a life
of faith and repentance. Now all is heard this is the only thing that
makes sense. After all Jesus promised that if we seek first his kingdom
all these things will be added to us.
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