Today’s Scripture Reading (February
20, 2015): Hebrews 5
The 1970’s T.V.
dramedy M*A*S*H contained several episodes that revolved around the idea of
someone coming to evaluate the 4077 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. And in every
episode, the conclusion that was drawn was that while the 4077 was definitely
not orthodox, whatever it was actually worked. When you are near the front
lines of a war, that it works is the main concern. But one evaluation cut to
the core of the M*A*S*H unit. In this evaluation, the doctors and the staff of
the 4077 were described as being childish, not childlike with its connotations
of innocence and naiveté, but childish as in having simply not grown up. Childish
often means selfish and demanding. And the conclusion was simply that this
shouldn’t work – but it does. And it was really that wonder with regard to why
this works, with the sure knowledge that childish behavior exhibited at the
4077 would never work where we live, that kept us tuning to watch the doctors
at that 4077 for more than a decade – and keeps us watching reruns of the show
three decades after the last episode aired. As funny and poignant as we found
M*A*S*H, the reality in the world in which I live is that while we value
childlike behavior, we are annoyed by childish foolishness.
You can
almost feel the same wonder coming from the author of Hebrews. The people on
the other end of the letter were being childish. They were whining and
complaining, never really coming to a full understanding of the faith. The
letter admonishes them that by this time they should have moved past the basics
and onto to something more, but in reality they still needed to be bottle fed. This
was not the same as Jesus command that “unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Jesus
was speaking of the childlike innocence that we all need to have if we are ever
going to understand the things of God. Not of the childishness of refusing to
grow up that is often a characteristic of our lives.
But it is these same words that the author of Hebrews spoke over the
generation that first received this letter almost 2000 years ago that we
continue to need to hear today. We still seem to need the bottle when we should
have progressed past it. There is an unwillingness to persevere that surrounds
us that not only prohibits real spiritual growth, but makes success impossible
in every other secular area of our life as well. We sometimes seem to be expect
everything to be handed to us, instead of being the result of our hard work and
perseverance. In reality, we are still demanding the bottle rather than moving
on to something more grown up.
And this is an issue that I wrestle with every time I am given the excuse
by a Christian that they “are not being fed” by their home church. That is
seldom what they mean and it is rarely the fault of the church or the pastor.
The reality is that they are often just not being entertained. At a point in
their lives when they should have moved on to solid food, and yet they are
still demanding the bottle. In the society in which we live, when there is so
much spiritual food that is there for the taking, why is it that we still
demand someone to give us the bottle? I understand why my young grandchildren
cannot just go to the fridge and feed themselves, but it would be a serious
problem if their parents couldn’t accomplish that task without the help of
another – maybe grandma and grandpa. In our culture, with all of the books that
have been written, and all of the spiritual help that is within our grasp even
on the many sites like this one, there is no excuse for going spiritually
hungry. Except that we are stuck in our childish (and not childlike) ways, and
we absolutely refuse to grow up. And that is not an acceptable excuse of anyone
who truly desires to follow Christ.
In defence of the good old 4077, maybe it needs to be recognized that
part of the childlike aspect of the unit was the refusal of those involved to
accept that war had to be a part of their world. And that is definitely not
childish, but childlike. It is part of the innocence that we all need in a
world that often seems to be torn apart by conflict. My prayer for you is that
you will leave all the childish things behind while retaining the childlike
faith that what God sets out to do, he will accomplish.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Hebrews
6
Personal Note: Happy Birthday to two
of my favorite little boys. My grandsons William and Henry turn 1 today. I am
so proud of both of you.
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