Stephen Terry, Director

 

Still Waters Ministry

 

 

The Hard Way

Commentary for the January 23, 2021 Sabbath School Lesson

 

"Do not call conspiracy

everything this people calls a conspiracy;

do not fear what they fear,

and do not dread it."

 

Isaiah 8:12, NIV

 

We live in a strange age. Because of political division, people reject information that appears to come from a viewpoint that favors the opposition's perspective. This does not mean the information is necessarily false. But it may be presented in a manner that reflects more unfavorably than otherwise on those who have a differing viewpoint, either through a suggestive headline or an unflattering image. This is nothing new. Carl Sandburg's series on Abraham Lincoln has unflattering images of that president as a gorilla, images created and distributed almost two centuries ago. However, people did not stop reading newspapers back then because of such content, perhaps because they took such things with the proverbial "grain of salt."

 

We now seem to have much thinner skins. When we come across media content that offends us, we declare it to be fake news and abandon that news source. Then we go looking for a news source that tells us what we want to hear, especially if it denigrates our opponents. Doing so, we set ourselves up for any charlatan who would like to manipulate us by telling us what we want to hear, things such as how evil our enemies are. This is something we already half believe. That is why we wandered away from the mainstream in the first place. As they bring us along on the path we have already begun, it becomes ever easier to weave more and more questionable ideas into our thinking. We find ourselves directed to media streams that only echo and reinforce those ideas shared by the new "friends" we have discovered along the way. They encourage us when we think like them and castigate us if we show independent thinking that might question the direction everyone seems to be headed in. Anything that challenges that goal is readily dismissed as fake, and anyone who falls for it as naïve. Those who do not remain loyal might even be accused of being a part of the conspiracy themselves.

 

We are created to be social. Having walked away from the mainstream and become socially isolated, we may have found a new social "family" among these conspiracy theorists. Even in the face of evidence that we have entered some sort of "Alice Through the Looking Glass" fantasyland. It can be hard to leave this new group like we did the mainstream. When we left the former, no one condemned us for doing so usually, even if they thought we were a little strange, but the new tribe we are a part of makes it clear that leaving is joining the enemy and invokes the hostility of the group. We may be accused of becoming part of the conspiracy to distribute fake information that will deprive everyone of their rights. Perhaps worse, if we try to come back to the mainstream, one of the hardest things we do as human beings is to admit error and ask forgiveness. This can be especially true if we have palpably hurt someone from our old group in our zealousness to fit in with the new one.

 

In farm country, the farmer knows that it is the sheep or chicken that wanders off from the flock that is most in danger from predators. The coyote or hawk watch diligently for those opportunities to seize such isolated and helpless prey. To avoid that fate, those of the flock rely on two things. They rely on the flock to sight threatening predators, and they rely on the strength and wisdom of the farmer to keep harm at bay. Both of those advantages disappear when the adventurous chick or lamb wander off. As bad as this is, it is even worse when the flock itself drives the individual away. Then even if the little one recognizes the danger and tries to flee, it cannot flee back to the flock for safety. Its fate is sealed. This is a good reason to always leave the door open for the lost to return.

 

King Ahaz was in a similar situation. The Jewish flock composed of the larger numbers ruled from Samaria had turned on Jerusalem, even helping outsiders from Syria in attacking the city. Ahaz then turned to the predator he saw that threatened both Damascus and Samaria, Assyria, and called on them to attack the rest of the flock. He even provided them with the financial means from the temple treasury to wage war against the alliance threatening him. But in doing so, he not only betrayed the rest of the Jews outside Jerusalem, he also demolished the buffer those countries provided between him and the imperial designs of the Assyrian empire. Having sampled the treasures of Jerusalem and having removed the resistance of Syria and Samaria, Sennacherib, King of Assyria came knocking at the gates of Jerusalem during the reign of Ahaz's son Hezekiah. One might ask why it took so long to play out, but Assyria was almost constantly at war, not just to the south, but several powerful kingdoms harried them from the north as well. The Mitanni, Hatti, and Hurrian kingdoms all raided Assyria, keeping them occupied. Surprisingly, when Assyria finally came south to assert dominance over Jerusalem, they failed. There was another factor that ruled in favor of Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign. While Ahaz had caused Judah and Jerusalem to be severed from the rest of the Jewish flock, his son recognized that the only hope in that circumstance is to appeal to God (the Farmer in our metaphor) for aid. That prayer was answered, and Jerusalem was delivered from the Assyrians. But Hezekiah later stumbled when he showed the treasures of Jerusalem to the ambassadors from another country with visions of empire. Later, that country, Babylon, did what Sennacherib had failed to do by first making Jerusalem a vassal state and then later razing the city and carrying off its people and treasures to Babylon. The kings of Jerusalem had forgotten God and went their own way, lambs wandering from the only protection that remained.

This brings us back to the individual who wanders from the safety of God's flock. Whether we are driven away by the rest of the flock, or our own wanderings take us away, we still are under God's care. As Jesus showed, he comes in search of the lost. He taught us to do the same, but we are not as reliable and often confuse salvation with judgment. When we do that, we can end up driving the lost further away. Isaiah looked to save the lost, including King Ahaz. His efforts went for naught, and he was eventually executed by Hezekiah's wicked son. We might discover that in our search for the lost, our efforts may go awry as well in a couple of ways. We may lose focus and forget our purpose, becoming distracted by threats we fear. After all, we are out there, away from the flock, ourselves. But it is the presence of Jesus that assures the success of our mission from our end. We need only continue in pursuit of our goal to rescue another, reaching out with one hand for the lost while grasping with the other the hand of God.

Another way our mission can fail is if the lost refuse to be found. God allows free will in how we live our lives. That means that even someone obviously lost will be allowed to play out the scenario of their lives even though it is detrimental to do so, even when the end is prematurely fatal. Those who have lost a loved one, or even a beloved pet, know how much that loss can hurt. It is not unreasonable then to believe that God suffers from loss as well. To avoid that pain, he has made it possible for all to be saved through the horrible pain of watching Christ perish on the cross at the hands of the very ones he looks to save. Taunting and cursing Jesus, they despised the very hope they needed. If it had been us who were treated like that, perhaps we would have turned our backs on the very ones we had looked to save. "There is only so much we can take," we might have reasoned. But God continues to reach out, to look for the lost. We, on the other hand, tend to carefully count our "seven times seventy," when we can finally be free to turn our back on the lost and leave them to their fate. Undoubtedly, that day will come for those who absolutely refuse to be saved, but unlike us and our flagging efforts, God will make sure everyone has a fair chance at salvation, even though he will not force it on anyone. Our participation in those efforts is a privilege offered to us, not a burdensome task to be drudged through. As such, we must make every effort to keep our efforts pure of those things which would draw us down unproductive rabbit trails. It is not for us to worry about cabals of conspirators and like threats that will all come to an end anyway when Christ brings restoration to the earth. It is possible to strive against these things so much that we no longer have time to reach the lost. Our hope, our salvation is in Christ. We live in that hope while we seek others who are searching for it. History has taught us that every time mankind tries to create a perfect society, it eventually fails. We simply do not have the tools to make it happen. Only God has that ability and so we seek citizens for his kingdom who are willing to trust in him to do it. We can continue to choose the hard way, our own way, and battle against God's offer. However, I want to be in that kingdom. Don't you?