November 19, 2006
Hebrews 10:15-25
“Holy Provocation”

Most of the time I am quite convinced that the Holy Scriptures are on-target, completely reliable, exactly what the doctor ordered. But every now and then, really it’s quite rare, once-in-a-great while I come across a text that seems just a smidge shy of the mark, a little out of touch, hard to relate to everyday life,… okay – completely bizarre! Today’s lectionary from the Epistle to the Hebrews has one such sentence: “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.”

Provoke one another to love and good deeds… I could not see, cannot fathom, will not believe how the word “provoke” could fit with the word “love,” so I did a little exegesis on the word. The Greek word used is “paraxusmos,” which translates “an incitement or an irritation.” Okay, that didn’t help. Still does not compute. I saw the root word was “paroxuno” so I looked that up: “to sharpen, to arouse to anger, to scorn or despise.” My Greek exegesis was of no help whatsoever. “Provoke one another to love and good deeds” does not compute.

Then I thought, “maybe this is the ‘new’ word used by modern translations.” So I checked older translations:
• American Standard Version 1901: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; Nada!
• J.N.Darby Translation 1890: and let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works;  No help there!
• King James Version 1611: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works;  Un uh. Nothing.
• Jerome's Latin Vulgate 405 A.D.: et consideremus invicem in provocationem caritatis et bonorum operum;

Okay, no help there, and I’m really deep into confusion. How can one irritate another to good things? How can you sharpen someone else to be loving?

Now, the opposite seems quite doable. In fact, if you were to have asked me the question, “To what would one normally provoke someone else?” I would have answered, “to anger,” or “to violence,” or even “to despair,” but never would I have answered “to love” and certainly not “to good deeds.”

The evidence to support a different conclusion is pretty daunting. Let me explain…

Just this week many of us saw film footage on our television news shows of a man in a courtroom, in the familiar orange jumpsuit of an accused criminal, hands handcuffed behind his back, being attacked by not one, but two men who jumped over the courtroom balustrade, punching him as much as they could before the police officers could pull them off of the man. I cannot tell you what the cause was, but there is no doubt in my mind that they were provoked to anger and violence.

Likewise, I was on a city bus this week and a group of teens were seated in back. A young woman was sitting in the seat in front of me. I will admit my old-man qualities when I tell you that I could not understand the verbal exchange that occurred between this young woman and this group of young men and women seated behind us. While I could not understand the words themselves, I could understand the tone of voice, and let me tell you those words were meant for one thing and one thing only: to provoke the other to anger and violence. Well, anger and violence resulted. As they were leaving the bus they began punching the other, and even after the group got off the bus, a couple jumped back on to get in a few more punches.

I cannot believe that it is possible, nor even likely, that we are supposed to provoke one another to love and good deeds when there are so few examples around us of persons doing so.
• Governments provoke one another to anger and violence. Just look at Israel and the Palestinian Territories, China and Taiwan, Russia and Chechnya, Zimbabwe and almost any other country…
• Tribes, clans, and races provoke one another to anger and violence. Just look at the Sunnis, Kurds, and Shiia in Iraq, the Slovaks and the Croatians of the Baltic States, and, we can’t forget too easily the Hutsis and the Tutsis of Rwanda.
• Even religion is used to provoke one another to anger and violence, with Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics being premier examples, but also remembering Islam, Judaism, and Christianity throughout the Middle East, Christianity and native religions in Central and South America, The Janjaweed and the native populations in Darfur, and certainly the liberal/conservative battles of our nation have used religion to provoke others to anger and violence.

It is certainly hard to imagine that this scripture text would have any validity in real-time, day-in-day-out, yours-n-mine life.

But you know as well as I do that God’s Holy Scripture is not to be dismissed lightly, not to be set aside without stubbornly making its presence known, not to be ignored. So I began to search for other places where the word “provoke” is used in scripture. It is true that it is used on many occasions in a negative context, more often than not when the creation provokes the Creator’s anger and wrath through our idolatry and the way in which we treat one another. But, it was in a companion text in today’s lectionary selections that my attention was immediately caught.

I do not know if it is coincidence or if it were carefully planned by those who designed the lectionary, but the Hebrew Scripture text from the first book of Samuel, the first chapter, gives a perfect example of good coming from provocation, only in this instance the provocation was meant for ill. In the text Hannah is loved deeply by her husband, Elkanah. The depth of devotion is, in part, because try as they may, she is unable to bear a son. Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah had many sons and daughters. Peninnah, called “her rival” in the text, would provoke Hannah severely, the text makes clear, in order to irritate her because she was unable to have children.

Now, you and I would assume, having seen the courtroom brawl and witnessed the scene on the bus, and having watched the evening news, walked past the corner store, talked to our cousin on the phone… we would assume, and understandably so if we were to be receiving all of our cues from our culture… we would assume that Hannah left her mark on Peninnah. Either through some biting retort or some violent response, Hannah would have responded in the way we would expect, the way our world has taught us, the way our guts have been trained.

What did Hannah do when Peninnah provoked her, irritated her… “Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord” and she prayed. She did not give her rival a good slap across the face, deserved as it might have been. She didn’t gossip about her to ruin her good name. She didn’t run to the pastor to tell him how bad Peninnah is. Hannah went to the temple, “presented herself to the Lord” and she prayed.

Now, even this wasn’t easy. The priest on duty, Eli, saw Hannah mouthing the words of her prayers and assumed she was drunk. He rebuked her… “This sacred space in no place for a drunken woman like you,” he might have said. She explained her situation to Eli, saying “I have been pouring out my soul to the Lord,” and he realized he had misjudged her, blessed her, and left her alone.

Isn’t that the case all-too-often? Someone provokes us, and we try, really God, we try to do the right thing. Then “WHAM!” we get slapped in the face. “No good deed goes unpunished!” Hannah, ridiculed and mocked by her husband’s other wife, surely hurting Hannah in one of the most vulnerable places a woman of any age, but certainly in that day, would experience: the inability of having children. Hannah, tries to do the right thing. Don’t lash out, don’t act out, don’t cry out… just go pray. And then those in charge of the temple make fun of you, too. You just can’t win for trying, they say.

You know how it feels. You work hard to do the right thing, and then you hit another wall and wonder, “why do I try to do the right thing anyway, it only leads to more trouble, more pain, more heartache.”

But Hannah didn’t let the misunderstanding of Eli get the best of her. She didn’t let even the charge of being a drunken woman provoke her to anger and violence. She explained herself, and continued living a life of deep and profound faith.

Eventually, Hannah had her child, who was named Samuel, and that’s a whole ‘nother story, as they say. What’s critical for us is that here is a sure and certain story that shows someone being provoked, and then turning it to “love and good deeds.” God, in the words of the writer of Hebrews, pushes us the next step, “Provoke one another to love and good deeds.”

How then are we to provoke one another to love and good deeds? Let us at least begin with where Hannah leads us. What did she do?
-- She did not respond in kind.
-- She presented herself to the Lord.
-- She prayed.
-- She did not let the naysayers drag her down.

I would add a few more guides from the selection of Hebrews we read earlier:
-- It says “Says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” This tells us to believe that God has placed the capacity to provoke and be provoked to love and good deeds in us already, if we just trust God working in us.
-- It says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” And “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Tells us that God, working through Jesus Christ our Lord, has forgiven our sins, we must be able to find it in our hearts to forgive others who disrespect, slight, offend, provoke us to anger and violence. Forgiveness is the key to a Godly life. Period.
-- It says, “Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confessions of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” This reminds us that we must have full assurance of our God-given value and not waste our time seeking the respect of the world, we must hold fast to the faithful belief that we can and must provoke one another to love and good works, regardless of those who would try to convince us otherwise.
-- It says, “… not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another” and this reminds us that the only way we are going to get the truth about how to live and act and believe in a world hell-bent on retaliation, revenge, anger, and violence is to gather with other’s who believe there is a different way, with others who long to act more like Christ, with others who understand there is more than one way to live life. We’ve got to come to church to encourage one another in love and good deeds.

I should learn never to doubt scripture. It is true, God expects us to chew it over, savor its intricate wisdom and delights, and allow it to nourish us. But we should not doubt it, even when it seems contrary to our instincts, and especially when it seems to invalidate the principles of our world and the wisdom of the culture around us.

Yes, beloved, “provoking one another” to love and good deeds seems counter-intuitive, hard to understand, confusing, unrealistic. But through the story of Hannah, and the wisdom of the book of Hebrews, perhaps we can make this quirky, outta touch, bizarre little saying the way of the world, for the sake of the world. Provoke one another to love and good deeds.

Amen.




Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2006 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096