Lenten blog | April 8, 2025

Right in the middle

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for April 8th:  Judges 9:7-15; Psalm 20; and 1 John 2:18-28.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

We have two matched readings today that point out the dangers that lie at the extremes, and we can then infer the practical blessings that are found in the middle. 
The Judges’ passage belongs to the Gideon story-line.  Gideon had been called to serve the people as one of Israel’s Judges.  These are charismatic figures who emerge in times of severe trial.  They traditionally respond to a particular threat and then their judgeship passes with them.  Gideon, however, tried to establish an hereditary kingship.  The results implicate all monarchies, all manner of authoritarianism. 

A succession struggle ensues upon Gideon’s death.  Gideon, apparently, had 70 sons, and also apparently one additional son who was considered illegitimate because he was “the son of [Gideon’s] slave woman.” (Judges 9:18)  This slighted son, Abimelech, appeals to his mother’s extended family from Shechem.  They take 70 pieces of silver from their local temple to the Canaanite god Baal (And Shechem was purportedly the place where Joshua had pledged:  “‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’”) and present it to Abimelech, who in turn hires mercenaries.  With this band of bought-soldiers, Abimelech slaughters 69 of Gideon’s sons.  The youngest one, Jotham, escapes.  This Jotham is the one who yells the parable in today’s Judges’ selection in a contemptuous accusation against not only Abimelech but kings in general, against authoritarians in general.

The point of the parable is that any good or productive person is not interested in being the overlord of others.  It is only the inept and incompetent who entertain such notions.  However, to accept such a person’s authority or to tolerate its imposition is to lower yourself below that person’s already low standing.  This is the meaning of the mighty trees falling to the ground in order to take refuge in the shade offered by a bramble bush.  What a powerful and effective image of totalitarianism and an indictment against any such ruler or that ruler’s enablers.

1John offers the other extreme.  The Johannine community offered laudable ideals based on Christian love.  As the biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown has described, however, this charismatic community guided by the Spirit could not sustain itself no matter how high its ideals.  It entrusted its governance to each person’s inspiration:  “I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you.”  Each member had been anointed, had received the Spirit’s charism, and thus “you do not need anyone to teach you.” 

Even in this limited community, such individualism led to differences and conflict, and without any means of reconciling these individually authorized and inspired members, the community exploded.  There was not sufficient theological mass to counter-balance the forces of separation.  So John’s community that continues to offer believers wonderful messages of the spiritual power of love, could not love effectively.  It even called those who were once a part of the community “antichrists” for leaving the community.  To disagree about who Jesus is led to uncontrollable disagreements, and ended in one group of believers calling the other group of believers “antichrists.”  Anarchy, even when justified by the Spirit’s anointing, will fail and fall.

Both of these examples push us toward the middle.  I see democracy as holding that spot.  It is opposed to authoritarianism and to anarchy.  It allows people to come together for the collective good, by utilizing the collective wisdom and abilities of its members.  In religious settings, it allows for the Spirit’s inspiration to be discerned by the principles it embraces of human dignity and worth, and importantly, by its collective voice.  The Spirit gives each individual authority, but each individual’s authority is mediated by the group’s inspiration.

This may not seem like a Lenten theme, but Jesus was executed as a traitor and a threat to the state.  Jesus held up the reign of God as an alternative to the reign of Caesars and their ilk, and the state ordered His death.  The reign of God honours all people and advocates most especially for those most in need.  The reign of God is about the collective good.  As we walk ever closer to Jerusalem and everything that will happen there, let us maybe keep these thoughts in mind.

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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.