Cliffhangers
AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 • PM Psalm 119:121-144
1 Samuel 7:2-17 • Acts 6:1-15 • Luke 22:14-23
Eve of St. John the Baptist
Psalm 103 • Ecclesiasticus 48:1-11 • Luke 1:5-23
We have a couple of cliffhangers in today’s readings. In the reading from Acts, Stephen’s preaching and acts of power challenged the Jewish council. They arrested him and accused him of blasphemy. “And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” I try to take this moment as it is given, pretending that I don’t know the rest of the story. Stephen’s accusers saw this angelic face, and according to the reading they recognized what they saw. To see the presence of the Holy Spirit in someone they’re trying to take down, what must that be like? What’s it like for us, for me to see something of God, of the Holy Spirit, in someone we have profound disagreements with? It’s cognitive dissonance, a terribly uncomfortable state of being. To acknowledge what I see means changing my belief. Or I continue with my belief about the person or situation and deny my own experience.
The other cliffhanger is from Luke 1:5-23, the gospel reading for the Eve of St. John the Baptist. In this passage, the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son. Zechariah argued with the angel Gabriel, who punished Zechariah by taking away his speech, until the prophecy was fulfilled. Zechariah came out of the temple, unable to speak. Those waiting for him realized he had seen a vision, and he could not tell them about it. He went home. To see their priest rendered mute while in the temple, what must that be like? Again, without knowing the end of the story, someone we admire and depend on is disabled, while in the temple of all places, no visible injury, and that person cannot explain what happened. We could react with love and support, or with shaming and blaming. They must have done something wrong to deserve this fate. The human mind will make up explanations; otherwise we must admit that something like that could happen to us.
In the moments described in these passages, those observing Stephen and Zechariah had choices to make, choices that were consistent with their faith, with loving their neighbors, and honoring their own insight and intuition – or not. As we know, in the case of Stephen, the council was unable to honor what they saw and to act with love. Stephen was stoned to death. Zechariah’s friends and neighbors let him be and did not turn on him. He and his wife Elizabeth became the parents of John the Baptist, and Zechariah regained his speech.
Written by Cathy Campbell
A parishioner who sings in the choir, and tries to see something of God in people she disagrees with.