Interdependance, continued...

 

Sun Aug 3rd 2025

Morning, folks! May you have a blessed week!

Keeping the focus on this business of moving from dependance through independence into interdependence, we continue with an example of life-ownership denied, in an almost humorous incident from the life of John Wesley, founder of Methodism.

While in Georgia on a missionary trip, Wesley’s heart was strangely warmed by a young lady.²⁶ He ended up doing Bible Study with her and stealing a kiss on the side, even! Okay. But in the end, he felt that he had to choose between serving God and loving her. He somehow could not see both happening. He struggled over proposing to her.  Then he had an idea. Why not ask God to decide? After all, in the Old Testament, the Israelites had this Urim and Thummim method of rolling the dice to determine God’s will.²⁷ It wasn’t really what we call passing the buck, was it? Or was it? Anyhow, JW did so. Like playing she loves me, she loves me not. But the roll of the dice did not end in the young lady’s favor. So, Wesley ended the relationship, such as it was, and the young lady ended up marrying some other suitor soon after. Then she came to Communion when it was next served, and Wesley refused her the Sacrament.  Her dad, a local Town Chieftain of sorts, came after Wesley, and John W. left town late one night for his own safety’s sake, headed for England. Back home and on safe ground, Wesley’s heart was strangely warmed again, this time by God’s presence in his life, he was sure. And the Aldersgate experience was born.²⁸ So much for trying to get God to decide stuff for you. We cannot take verses out of the Bible and use them arbitrarily. Contextual leaps from history into the present require spiritual acuity if they are to work at all, but of course strong emotions and psychological suggestion are often substituted and continue to be popular.

Wisdom in the Psalms

Our venture into the other side of biblical faith brings up obvious challenges. Before we move into key incidents in the David story next week, a quick comparison first between two definitive Psalms traditionally attributed to David. The history of interpretation of the Psalms and the scholarly work therein is substantial and requires rigorous linguistic expertise. Enough to know that this body of information exists and contributes to a specialized library on authorship and what a meaning might be.²⁹ But if we put aside interpretive method and go beyond intellectual and academic disciplines, seeking the spiritual truth from the Holy Spirit, what will we find?

 

Let’s start with the 23^rd Psalm, probably the most beloved and popular. How so? Well, look at its message. It touches on several themes – provision, protection, presence. Words of deep comfort and assurance. It begins with provision and the image of the good shepherd providing for the sheep. Entirely personal.  The shepherd is caregiver. Image of Jesus the Christ carrying a lamb in his arms, staff in hand. Jesus identified himself as the good shepherd. Hence the ‘I shall not want’ - my needs are fulfilled. There are green pastures and streams of refreshing (living?) water! These immediately bring us to Jesus’s words on living water, spoken to the woman at the well! Then follows a declaration - that soul is restored. This is powerful respite. It continues with protection, and the shepherd’s image grows stronger. The valley of deep darkness must be walked through, but we are never alone. The shepherd extends rod and staff, providing guidance and protection. Encompassing and supportive comfort. And the Psalm ends with joy in the continuing presence of the Lord. There is goodness and mercy for companionship, always. So much is said in so little. Not surprising that it provides comfort and assurance in time of need. Hence its popular use as a Word of Assurance in worship liturgy.

Yet, pause for a moment and consider. On the one hand, its main use has been that of a refuge, a rock of stability, in a hard place and/or a painful time. It may facilitate a transfer of spiritual energy even, perhaps. But is there no other? Is it only a matter of dependency? A notion of protective Covenant? Is it not possible that total dependency might limit spiritual growth? God is always there, and God is taking care of business for me. I do not need to do much, just let go and let God, not necessarily growing beyond the mindset of a sheep? Somehow and in some way, God will act. And if God does not, then it is not God’s will. Right, back to Wesley and the Urim and Thummim once again. Karma will render justice upon mine enemies. Well, there is something about judgement in the Bible for sure, if you look at God’s self-description to Moses. But does it come down to I need only be accepting of all there is and soldier on in acceptance of realty. Really? Where do we draw the line?

Responsibility and accountability is where the line is drawn. God has given us freedom.  If we abuse that freedom, or allow it to be abused, we must accept the consequences. God is not manipulated. And we cannot impose our will on God by calling it prayer! We can try, but no outcome will ensue. Of course, there is the enticing rationale that God answers every prayer and the answers come in a different form and are never according to our expectations. Something not quite right about that because you don’t how the thing comes to pass and God is out of the picture it would seem? There is some truth in such a notion,  but not always.   

I chanced upon an interesting comparison some years back when I moved into part time pastoral ministry on the weekend on the Vineyard and full time Elder Care, through the Administrative Management of Mass State’s geriatric home care and protective services/elder abuse programs. It had begun to be taxing and risky to cover both these vocations in winter, as I had to drive from Boston to the Vineyard every weekend.³⁰ But I was helping a lot more people, not just those who came to church.  And the form that it took was entirely different. It was not emotional, although sometimes it could be. But it was not about faith and hope and much as it was about the reality of getting help in the here and now to folk who needed it, either for home care or elder abuse. I ran both programs for some time on the Vineyard and then accepted a promotion that took me off island for some years.

Therein is the rub. Emotional need never quite goes away, and some folk end up being described as ‘needy.’ You’ve heard that one. And folk who try to minister to emotional needs end up being emotionally exhausted themselves. This is why psychology and psychiatry charge by the hour. For many, it becomes convenient to end up playing empath games - to become good at seeming to empathize, but with your mind somewhere else. There is no real concrete help. Just a lot of affirmation. And a lot of ‘counselling’ games are played. How clinical, for example, is clinical pastoral counseling? And how so? Because it was taught in a clinical setting? And has adopted and adapted psychology 101 and a little of DSM VI? Look at most churches. Few pastors visit from house to house if at all, for they have neither the time nor the emotional and spiritual energy. They assign this task to others. Their example might be that of Moses serving as Judge of Israel. But no one asked them to play Judge. They often end up running church as a business. And their cell group leaders are far removed from being able to lead folk through the challenges of spiritual wisdom and spiritual energy.

This is where Psalm Eight comes in. It is a lovely Psalm that marvels at the Almighty by looking at all of God’s creation, and in doing so makes a startling revelation – that humans are created to be just a little lower than the angels. This is a totally different notion from that which we are used to. No mention of sin or of amazing grace. Or of our needing God in desperation. Just a stand-alone statement that offers no explanation other than a ‘this is what it is’. But what it is, is mostly ignored most of the time. If you tell people that they are all capable of doing fine by themselves, would anyone still go to church? Yes, they would, and it would be quite a different fellowship! As it is, enough have already stopped going! Once again, a Dostoyevsky moment with a strong picture that makes a sharp point.³¹

The Gospel is not about dependency. It is about moving from dependency through independence and into a gradual inter-dependence that sees us becoming co-workers with God.  And it is not easy to get there because we are bound to earthly body survival issues most of the time. It’s the political economy we have allowed, fostered, accepted and in the end have become subject to. It allows no time for spiritual growth. We have to create our own formatting. Theology has taught dependency and so ensured the continuity of the church and more. But in such form, the church cannot grow beyond its structural limits, and its members stagnate, playing musical chairs and emotional support games most of the time. Result? Antiquated notions about religion and archaic practices that do nothing for the real spiritual growth of the human spirit. We just believe they do, having confused spiritual growth with emotional affirmation. Then we agonize when things don’t seem to go our way. We need reality. It’s like a friend’s method of teaching his son to swim. Threw him in the lower end of the pool. Every time he struggled, picked him up and threw him in again. After a bit he was fine. Real results in real time. My younger one wasn’t waiting. Back in Duke days, lifeguarding in the summer, I blow the whistle when break time is over and the kids all rush back into the pool. One of them tells me your son just jumped in. I haven’t taught him yet! Aaargh! He’s in the shallow end, more than enough for him, going for all he’s worth. I panic and get him out. He’s fine. But God enables us to swim through life. We just need to have the courage and the confidence to use the enabling! This is where faith and belief become decision and action.  The waters will not overcome us. We are all David. And we must choose wisely when we need to. God offers resources, both ways. As the writer of Ecclesiastes once said, to everything there is a season, and a time. The quirks of human nature and the instability of human politics. We must respond accordingly. Every blessing in Jesus, G.