GETTING IT WRONG

Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19

“Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, ‘You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?’”

“Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, ‘Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!’”

“Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated.”

Samson confuses me. “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant.” Say what?!? Was he serious? God won only because Samson was on His side??? Please! Samson may be the most cocky, ungrateful character in Scripture. Few have ever matched his physical strength, or his arrogance. He ruled Israel for 20 years, single-handedly fought and won numerous battles in which entire garrisons might not have engaged, and had his choice of the ladies. Yet not once is he quoted as giving thanks to God or anyone else for anything. His only recorded prayer is for vengeance against those who exposed and took advantage of his vanity so completely. Even at his weakest and most vulnerable, Samson was still making demands of God. It’s sad, actually: not once in his entire biography is Samson described doing anything other than for himself. All his narcissism and selfishness added up to only one thing – a huge pile of dead bodies.

Centuries later, Jesus dealt with a similar problem. The Temple had become a cistern of selfishness, crowded with those only interested in making a profit, even if at the expense of others. Jesus did not bother with a sermon, logic or even a plea for charity. He literally whipped the carpetbaggers right out of the sanctuary. It wasn’t that they weren’t providing a valuable, necessary service; like Samson killing the occupying Philistines, they were. Having animals available for sacrifice allowed customers symbolic purification they could not have achieved otherwise. But also like Samson, the heart behind the action was corrupt and so polluted the “service” that no one truly benefitted. Arguably, the people were better off without such “leaders.”

It would seem, then, that 2008 was not such an unprecedented year after all. This is not whining. It is reminding ourselves of an important spiritual truth. Absolute selfishness, not absolute power, corrupts absolutely. When our motives are limited to doing only what benefits us, there just aren’t any spiritual benefits for anyone, including us.

Thank goodness we worship a God of second chances… and third, fourth and fifth chances. We have the choice and opportunity to defy history, beginning today.  Say no to the old and bring in the new. 2009 is the best time we have to start doing business and living life with a different goal. We simply cannot succeed if our “achievement” comes at the expense of others. We will never exorcise greed from the human gene pool. But we can decide it is more important to build up the Body of Christ than to build up ourselves. If 2008 proved nothing else, it proved that a focus on self drags everyone down.