Today’s Scripture Reading (November 1, 2014): Acts 5
Plato once wrote that “we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy
of life is when men are afraid of the light.” One of the biggest
tragedies of our existence is when we run from understanding. One of the
biggest threats to our current situation is our own ignorance. I am scared of
our unwillingness to understand the other in our society. Personally, in this
world with everything that is going on in the past few weeks (and months), I am
afraid that the Christian Faith’s biggest threat might be our unwillingness to
be in dialogue and try to understand some of the hot button topics of our time –
especially the concept of Islamic Radicalism. We need dialogue and
understanding if we are going to bring peace to this planet. But instead our
fear drives us away from what it is that we can’t understand – and we begin to
be people afraid of the light.
Luke says that the captain and the officers
went after the disciples – but he also says that they refused to use force to
bring them in because they feared that the people would stone them. The
Christian faith was beginning to gain a following, but the Sadducean priests still
lacked an understanding of what this faith really was based on. The Sadducees greatest
fear was based in this lack of understanding that kept them trying to persecute
the believers. But the fear that the Christians, or more likely the supporters
of the Christians, might actually kill them showed the depth of their
misunderstanding. What they didn’t understand was that the new community was
gaining strength because of their stand on love for all people – including the
Sadducees.
Maybe the real tragedy is that we don’t seem
to understand this element of the Christian faith today – even within the
church. And we don’t seem to understand that our faith was built on this kind
of unconditional love. While the followers of Islam have a fight on their hands
with their radical fringe, the Christian problem might be much deeper. At our
core we seem to have forgotten that our faith is based on this universal love –
and what we have forgotten presents a real threat to our world. There is no one
outside of faith that does not deserve our love – which includes those trying to
persecute us.
The Sadducean priests had nothing to fear –
but they had a lot that they needed to try to understand in this faith that believed
that love was a tangible force that could change the world. And we need to understand
that love is still an irresistible force.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 6
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