Clothesline #1

Greetings to all on 10 JAN 2007

Word for the Day
Sectarian - adhering or confined to the dogmatic limits of a sect, one characterized by a bigoted adherence to a factional viewpoint.

Quote for the Day
As we experience unity in mutual service with other Christians, we may all come to see the inappropriateness of our sects and denominations. Like Barton W. Stone, we may eventually be willing to say of our own Churches of Christ, “Let this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the body of Christ at large.” When that day comes - no more denominations, just the one body of Christ - we will have realized the dream of our pioneers. That is who we are - or who we are supposed to be! [1]

Website for the Day
OK, so it’s not a website this time but a book entitled A Lover’s Quarrel,My Pilgrimage of Freedom in Churches of Christ by Leroy Garrett.This book is a “must read” for all of us Church of Christ people. His spiritual journey from sectarianism to freedom is woven into every chapter of his fascinating life story.

Thought for the Day
We have taken a look at the ancient customs of the rabbis and Jewish people over the last few months and will conclude that series this month with a fresh look at the story of the Good Samaritan.

Two of Jesus’ contemporaries were rabbi Shammai and rabbi Hillel, who, respectively, represented the extremes between conservative and liberal interpretations. [2] If you asked any rabbi what was the most important command, it would have been agreed upon that “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” would be number one. But what is the second? Shammai would have said, “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.” Hillel would have responded with “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But who are my neighbors? Shammai would have limited them to good orthodox Jews only, whereas Hillel would have accepted a much broader definition of neighbor. Neither would have accepted a Samaritan as a neighbor. Remember how Jesus was asked this question in each of the synoptic gospels? The leaders wanted to know if he would side with Shammai or Hillel. So when the lawyer (probably a young telmidim) approached Jesus with the question of, “who is my neighbor,” he was probably seeking affirmation for what he already believed. [LUK 10.29] Instead, he was humbled by Jesus’ response.

According to Jewish scholar David Flusser, this story is considered to be the quintessential example of parabolic illustration. [3] He says that the construction of this story is typical in that the first two people were both Sadducees (the priest and Levite) followed by the hero, who would have been a Pharisee. But Jesus put a surprise twist on the conclusion by substituting a Samaritan for the Pharisee. The young questioner must have felt ill when he saw where this story was headed. He couldn’t even say the word “Samaritan” when asked, “Which of these proved neighbor to the man?” [4]

Who were the most despised by the Jews? Not the Romans, but the Samaritans! Not only did Jesus pull a bait and switch at the end of the story, but he also reversed the role of neighbor from the one in need to the one who offered healing. We have taught this as a story about helping those in need, and that is a valid message. But now we can see the original message was to do good to the one who hates you the most. That is, to love your enemy.

Remember from the last issue how the rabbis debated over the ranking of commands? Even Jesus made a reference to the “least of these commandments.” [MAT 5.19] We have typically been critical of the priest and the Levite for their refusal to help the half dead man. But what if we consider that they were just keeping the Law? In Numbers 19.10-13 we find that anyone who touched a dead body would be ceremonially unclean. The two Sadducees considered that command to be more important than stopping to render aid to an injured person. They were being obedient to the Torah regarding their ecclesial position.

Another layer of meaning occurred to me the other night after teaching this midrash on the Good Samaritan. While this next portion is targeted toward those of us from the Church of Christ heritage, maybe it is applicable to other fellowships as well. I would submit that we have created our own Top Ten Commandments. The first five are the entrance requirements of hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. The second five are to sing (a cappella), pray, give, partake of communion, and listen to a sermon; these are the requirements of the faithful.

Everything else is viewed as subservient to those ten. But wait, didn’t Jesus say the first command was to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”? [MAT 22. 37-40] Notice that these two commands don’t even come from the decalogue. The first is from the Shema [DEU 6.4], and the second is from an obscure list in Leviticus 19.18b.

Several years ago we presented a proposal to our leaders about helping with our local Pregnancy Aid Center but were turned down because they did not teach baptism just like we do. None of our ministers belong to the local Ministerial Alliance because we might be identified as one of the denominations. (Our traditional stance is to insist that we are the only true church.) We refuse to help in a local mission work because they use instrumental music. In each case we have said, “Well, we could help you but doing so would violate one of our commands.” I am afraid that we have been indicted by our own harsh judgment of the two Sadducees. How many times have we “passed by on the other side” because helping would have violated a command given preeminence by our own tradition?

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

1. Leroy Garrett, A Lover’s Quarrel - My Pilgrimage of Freedom in Churches of Christ, ACU Press, Abilene TX, 2003, p.271

2. Found on www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography.hillel.html

3. Ray Vander Laan, www.followtherabbi.com

4. ibid.