Last night I went out to what my wife and I call my second office- Stogies Ales and Fine Cigars in Brentwood, Tennessee. The proprietor there is a good Irish Catholic man named Patrick Morgan. Patrick is a very benevolent, community minded citizen and often sponsors fund- raisers for charities. If you'll remember from earlier posts, he also allows a Protestant men's Bible group to meet there. Stogies has been a breath of fresh air (mingled with fine burning leaf) to me since arriving in the Nashville area. There, I can mingle with the folks in the community and establish some great relationships. For any who would criticize my lounging with the publicans and the sinners, just remember Jesus did the same and was criticized by the Pharisees- the religious leaders. My answer is the same as His:
"Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6 when he suggested His critics need to go study the scripture a bit. The critics had it backwards. They practiced sacrifice and not mercy.
Sacrifice: Zabah (Hebrew): Means to slaughter or to kill and is used as a reference to sacrificing animals to God. However, this word is not used in reference to the priest's sacrifice but to individuals who bought sacrifices at their own expense. So, these are devout religious people whose idea of serving God is to continually be at the temple doing sacrificial deeds to the exclusion of the community around them. It is the modern equivalent of staying within the four doors of the church bulding, never associating with sinners in fear of becoming tainted.
Mercy: Hesed (Hebrew):Means an act of kindness, love or mercy. The quality of kindness shown is usually reserved for close friends or family members. The Hesed, Jesus said is more important than Zabah, presupposes an existing relationship between the parties involved, one person having chosen to treat the other as if such a relationship did exist. In other words we love the sinners and fellowship with them just as we love our brothers in Christ. The modern equivalent is to find a Stogies where the atheists and religious of all types hang out, and eat and drink with them. So, "Go and learn what this means."
Last night I met with a former Church Of Christ friend at Stogies. A very learned man having earned a law degree, he was a natural as a teacher in a local COC congregation. His wife, a studious, strong, yet humble person, attended as well although she was a Catholic. Wife endured as long as she could until the judgment she received from the COC members was more than she could bare. Their continual efforts to convert her and the methods used prompted husband to begin studying the Catholic faith so as to defend her. In doing so he stumbled upon the historic faith, saw the weakness of the COC's claim to be the only church, and eventually made his way to Orthodoxy. This year I stood as sponsor as both husband and wife were chrismated into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church-the Eastern Orthodox Church.
As my friend and I sat there in the leather chairs having a fine cigar and a cold brew, he told me some of activity that occurs around someone leaving the COC. The phrase "A dog returning to his vomit" is often used in reference to someone like my friend who leaves the COC. Such a person doesn't leave his faith in Christ, just the COC. My friend also spoke of receiving a card from a former COC member which said, "We are mourning your death."Anger, accusations, disowning and dechurching ceremonies are not only common but typical. My friend hasn't even been able to tell his elderly parents of he and his wife's new found faith for fear of rejection.
So, I was thinking about mercy, hesed, the kind Jesus told us to go and learn about and I thought about how the Orthodox react when someone leaves the faith. Though our hearts may be broken our prayers are ignited. In fact we pray at our Morning Prayers and our Evening Prayers this portion:
"Those who depart from the Orthodox Faith, dazzled by destroying heresies, enlighten by the light of Your holy wisdom, and unite them to your Holy, Apostolic, Catholic Church."
We may even go to them to minister and love them showing kindness, but always with hesed. No need of any talk of vomit or threats or demeaning or manipulating or condemning or even Zabah. Christ wouldn't even do such to the sinners, why would we do such to our own hurting brothers? We are to call sinners to repentance not condemnation.
The propensity in the COC to show such lack of hesed speaks volumes. Is it any wonder there are so many support groups for ex-COC members? It is a wonder, however, that those in the COC who are of a different heart and who cringe at such actions by their church, don't question their church's claim to be the only Church Of Christ. Though the Orthodox Church holds the historic claim to be the original, unbroken, undivided Church Of Christ, it does not judge the salvation of individuals, for "We know where the church is but we don't know where it isn't" and mercy is a way of life.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me A Sinner.
