Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Not Set In Concrete?

This morning’s Gospel story tells us of Jesus and the Caananite woman, whose daughter Jesus refused to heal because she wasn’t Jewish. When the woman offers a quick comeback, saying that even the dogs deserve the crumbs that fall from the table, what does Jesus do? He changes his mind and heals her daughter.

Jesus changed his mind. Does that strike you as strange? Jesus Christ, who we proclaim as the same, yesterday, today and forever, changed his mind. Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God, changed his mind.

We have other examples from the scriptures of God changing his mind. Listen to this conversation between Moses and god from the book of Exodus:

But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, …Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. -NRSV, Exodus 32:11-14

I've read this story about the golden calf many times, but it wasn't until a recent reading that the impact of that last verse hit me. God changed his mind! Do you see the implications of that? This also brings to mind the story of Jonah, and how the Ninevites repented, and God changed his mind and spared the city (Jonah 3:4-10). And the story of Abraham bargaining with God to try to save Sodom, and God agrees that if 10 righteous men can be found in the city, he will spare it (Genesis 18:16-33). It brings to mind this morning’s Gospel lesson.

Before continuing, I suppose it would be prudent to clarify exactly what I'm talking about here. The Hebrew term, which the New Revised Standard Version translates as "changed his mind," is nacham. Often it is translated as "repent," as in the Revised Standard Version: "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people."

This appears to be in direct contradiction to the immutability (changelessness) of God, as in Malachi 3:6; "For I, the Lord, do not change." In that passage, the Hebrew term is shaniti, a reference to the unchanging character of God, which would include mercy, love, compassion, and righteous judgment. In Exodus, the change, or repentance (nacham) of God was not a change of character, but a response to the actions of humanity, consistent with the unchanging nature of God. The promises and warnings of God are always conditional, based on the response of humanity (Ezekiel 33:13-16). So, to be clear, I'm not suggesting that God is a flip-flopper! Yet, it does seem apparent that in order to be consistent with God's nature, there is room for revision of the original plan. When the situation changes, God doesn't change, but sometimes the plan does.

Even within that more nuanced definition, the implications are still startling. Doesn’t this mean that the future may not be poured in concrete? Doesn’t this mean that we have an important role in the acts of God; that we are, at times, co-creators with God? The Israelites repent, and God doesn’t destroy them. Absolutely amazing. When our response to God changes, the plan changes.

Keep this in mind the next time someone tries to tell you that Armageddon is coming. Those prophesies are but one way the story might end. It is not necessarily the only way. What if humanity repented like the Ninevites? What troubles me the most about these kinds of “end times” prophesies is that they tend to function as a self-fulfilling prophesy. We begin to make them come true, by our actions or inactions.

Maybe God changes his mind once in awhile. Maybe our future isn't written in concrete after all. We have a reason for hope offered to us in this morning's text. The end of our story, the end of humanity's story, might not yet be written!

God demands justice, but it is also God's nature to be merciful, so merciful that the plan can be changed. We have a role in the unfolding of this plan. We are not puppets on a string. We have some degree of responsibility regarding how the future unfolds. We are partners with God, working together to transform this world.

Jesus changed his mind about the Caananite woman. God wants to change his mind about people. That’s what love means. Judging comes easily to us. Changing our minds about people isn’t that easy.

God has changed his mind about each one of us. In this divided world we live in today, maybe we can change our mind about how to respond to those with whom we disagree. God has shown us great mercy. Let’s pass on this mercy to those we meet in our day to day lives, by not being so quick to judge others, and instead, consider changing our minds about them.

This world’s story is not over yet. Our personal story is still unfolding as well. We can be healed, we can become whole, there is still time. The final scene is not yet written. This is good news! Thanks be to God!

August 14, 2005

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