LEFT CENTER RIGHT

Left, Center, Right, Jamestown, NC

It’s good to be back at the gym a few days each week after the prolonged COVID lockdown.  I not only use that time to get some much-needed physical exercise, but I also use the time to unplug from all electronic devices and meditate on life.  Today I had just finished a lesson plan with a handout for our adult class at church this Sunday.  We’re studying the timely Amy-Jill Levine book on the Witness at the Cross and my session involves the “other two” that were crucified to the left and right of Jesus.  Earlier, James and John had been chided for asking to be seated to the left and right of Jesus when his anticipated kingdom arrives.

After giving this some thought, it occurred to me that our lives are replete with images of left and right, including all symmetric objects like our very own bodies!  Our politics involve left progressives and right conservatives.  And then there are the centrists that attempt to walk the middle line and work diligently to find that middle ground of compromise that can help everyone move ahead without a stalemate.  I wondered if there was something to be learned about Jesus not crucified alone, but with human beings also crucified to his left and right that Holy Friday. 

It's been noted that the gospels infer that Barabbas may have been a freedom fighter or revolutionary against the oppressive Roman occupiers.  He was scheduled to be crucified on this day along with the other two, but the crowd chose Jesus.  It’s been said that "One person's freedom fighter is someone else's terrorist".  It just may be that these two men whom church legend names Gestas and Dismas were captured with Barabbas while they were fighting against the oppressing Roman army and tried as enemies of Rome.

Having the two condemned men on either side of Jesus enabled a final dialog among the three of them while they were still capable of speaking.  Gestas mocks Jesus asking him to save them if he is the Son of God, while Dismas asks Jesus to accept him into his kingdom.  Jesus replies that he will be with him in paradise that day.  Soon all three men on the left, center and right had succumbed to respiratory and heart failure.

As I was driving home, I entered a major intersection with four lanes.  The Way included a left turn lane, two center lanes and a right turn lane.  I had the choice of wandering off left and right or continuing on in either of the two center lanes.  So, I decided to continue my life’s journey along the center path to paradise. 

RIGHT QUESTION, WRONG ANSWER--WRONG QUESTION, RIGHT ANSWER

Wrong Question, Right Answer

 Have you ever asked someone a question and not received the answer you were expecting?  Politicians are schooled in redirecting the question to something else if the correct answer is not in their best interest.  Many television personalities won’t push for the correct answer if they are convinced that the respondent probably wasn’t going to produce a straight answer anyway.  But of course, an informed audience can see that the person was evading a well-crafted question and that alone is answer enough, even though it was the right question but the wrong answer.

And sometimes the issue is not asking the right question.  I don’t interview people for a living so my experience is limited, but I still remember a great example a number of years ago in my front yard.  My neighbor had her young grandson outside and she introduced the boy to me.  I noticed that he was wearing a sweatshirt with the brand of OLD NAVY emblazoned on the chest.  So, in the interest of interacting with the child, I innocently asked him what that was on his sweatshirt, expecting him to proudly announce his allegiance to the brand all the kids were wearing at the time. 

The young boy looked down at his sweatshirt and pondered my question for a few seconds.  Then he looked up at me and proudly gave me his unfiltered reply; “LETTERS”!  Needless to say, I was completely caught off guard because that’s not the answer I had expected.  Then I laughed and said “That’s absolutely correct, even though I was expecting something else!”  Later I reflected on the moment and realized I should have asked what those letters on his sweatshirt spelled?  I had asked the wrong question and received the right answer!  We’ve got to think before we speak (and be specific).  That applies to BOTH the questions and the answers!

BIBLICAL ANSWERS

Lincoln and Generals, Wikipedia

One of my favorite scenes from the classic movie, The Longest Day, about the Normandy invasion that turned the tide in WWII was two flashes from both sides of the war. When queried about the critical outcome of the battle, an allied commander confidently replied that “God is on our side”. Then the scene immediately shifts to the German Third Reich commander who responds to the same question with the same reply. Obviously, one of the two commanders is deadly wrong. Anti-abolitionists in the 1860’s used Ephesians 6:5 to defend the slavery cause using the literal word which admonished, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling”. But I like the response of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War who famously responded differently, “My concern is not whether God is on our side—my greatest concern is to be on God’s side”. Both history and our inherent sense of values show us that slavery was indefensible.

The answers don’t necessarily lie in a literal interpretation of many of the Biblical writings set in the context of the ancient Jewish world, but in the context of scriptural values, especially those taught to us by Jesus in the New Testament when a new covenant between God and us human beings was established. The ancient Bible wasn’t written as a definitive science book either, but modern science is revealing the brilliance of a divine creative mind in discoveries such as the new DNA codes. It is good to find our values in Biblical writings VS our contemporary cultural environment, but we should exercise God given common sense and reflective contemplation for our answers. The truth found in these living writings transcends cultures and time periods. God doesn’t choose sides as much as he strengthens and protects those who seek truth and relationship, e.g., I believe you’re wasting your breath praying for a victory for just about anything, but seeking strength, guidance and protection could be useful.

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

One of my favorite scenes from the classic movie, The Longest Day, about the Normandy invasion that turned the tide in WWII was two flashes from both sides of the war. When queried about the critical outcome of the battle, an allied commander confidently replied that “God is on our side”. Then the scene immediately shifts to the German Third Reich commander who responds to the same question with the same reply. Obviously, one of the two commanders is deadly wrong. Anti-abolitionists in the 1860’s used Ephesians 6:5 to defend the slavery cause using the literal word which admonished, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling”. But I like the response of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War who famously responded differently, “My concern is not whether God is on our side—my greatest concern is to be on God’s side”. Both history and our inherent sense of values show us that slavery was indefensible.

The answers don’t necessarily lie in a literal interpretation of many of the Biblical writings set in the context of the ancient Jewish world, but in the context of scriptural values, especially those taught to us by Jesus in the New Testament when a new covenant between God and us human beings was established. It is good to find our values in Biblical writings VS our contemporary cultural environment, but we should exercise God given common sense and reflective contemplation for our answers.