Newsletter 15th November 2020
Dear friends
In somewhat different circumstances we have this week remembered those who gave their lives for the sake of our freedom. I hope you managed to join us at some point for our commemorations last Sunday morning, but also that you managed to watch the contribution made by Kirklees Council through their pre-filmed service. I have to say, having watched most of it that I thought it was well put together and presented.
This year we were encouraged not to hold any gatherings either at the memorial on Longcauseway or in Crow Nest Park. That said, on Wednesday morning I prearranged with one of our local councillors to meet them down at the memorial on Longcauseway where I would say short prayers and a wreath would be laid. To my surprise when I got there, I found about 30 people all with the same idea! So, socially distanced, we took part in a short act of remembrance and then went our separate ways.
I did also happen to see the news which reported that a service had been held in Westminster Abbey to mark the 100thanniversary of the laying to rest in the Abbey of the ‘Unknown Warrior’. It did make me question how when all our churches are closed, this one service was allowed to go ahead!
I don’t know if it is just me or has this pandemic forced an even greater wedge between the north and the south of our nation? Clearly here in the north we seem to be bearing the brunt of the number of cases being reported. Kirklees remains in the top 10th worst affected areas in the country. The good news as far as I can see however, is that the number of estimated Covid cases in Kirklees fell last week from over 6500 to just over 5000. Couple this with the announcement of the launch of a vaccine in the coming weeks, then there is a glimmer of hope for 2021. That said I don’t think we should get our hopes up too much at this stage. The roll out of the vaccine program will take some time to implement and have the desired effect. As it is, along with those who we remember giving their lives in times of war, let us also continue to remember those who have fallen victim to this terrible virus and continue to pray for a full recovery for those who have contracted the virus, but who have been ill.
From my book reading this week I want to continue thinking about shame and honour from an Eastern perspective. Abdu Murray uses King David to show that the Bible doesn’t simply conform to eastern cultural norms. David was called ‘a man after his (God’s) own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13: 22), but we know that he committed adultery followed by murder. Through hiding what he did he avoided public shame, but God revealed his displeasure with David to the prophet Nathan who he sent to confront the King. Even though David’s sin was not known publicly, Nathan’s awareness of David’s sin was enough for David to reveal his own shame and remorse in the Psalms (Psalm 51:3-4). Hopefully, you can see therefore that the Bible speaks to both the honour-shame of the Eastern culture as well as the innocence-guilt of the West.
Perhaps understanding the honour-shame backdrop of Jesus’ Eastern culture might help us to understand the motives of some of the people who questioned him. Jesus was confronted on many occasions by the religious leaders who were trying to shame him for his actions and behaviour. Interestingly Jesus challenges their own invention of rules and traditions and so turns the shame back on them.
Not everyone however wanted to trip him up. Some came wanting to know the truth, like Nicodemus. He did so privately however, whereas whenever there seemed to be a crowd around the questions were clearly out to shame Jesus. These duels became like contests with the winner being determined by the audience who were the community. If you silenced your opponent, you gained honour and the other party lost some. We see instances of this particularly in the New Testament when Jesus silences both the Herodians and the Sadducees. Jesus plays the honour game like a master and turns the tables on his challengers.
The authors ask why it is important to think about the role of honour and shame two thousand years ago in the Middle East, and quickly concludes it is because not much has changed in that time! He points out how interesting it is to be able to tell if someone is asking something in pursuit of the truth or simply to ‘get one over’ on their opponent. He tells the story of a meeting he was asked to field questions at involving Muslims and how there was a choice about how the question was asked, either personally using a microphone or by sending a text message. He tells how the questions asked in person were far more blunt and pointed, like, ‘Where in the Bible does Jesus say, ‘I am God, worship me?’ or ‘Why would God send a son and not a daughter?’ In contrast one question asked by text was ‘I am a Muslim, and I believe in the existence of God, but still feel bored and meaningless. Why is that?’ In an honour-shame culture the last question is not one that would be aired openly, but technology’s anonymity has allowed those sorts of questions to be asked and responded to. It would be interesting to know how many Muslims or people of other faiths in Dewsbury might have questions like this?
The theme of shame and honour and its impact on Eastern traditions is huge and so I will continue with it next week too.In the meantime, I do hope you will join us for our online worship tomorrow morning.
Simon <><
