The Heavy Plow

  The Heavy Plow The Plow upon His shoulder, He walks across the land, The earth spreads open, Behind the steps, Of this man. The Planter of the seed, Pulls the heavy Plow, The ground is rent, Soil bared, His work draws a crowd. Like a beast beneath the yoke, He stumbles in His task, The Plow digs deep, As the crowd around Him laughs. The plow row behind Him, Opens to receive the seed, While men and women rejoice, To see Him on his knees. The Plow again now rises, Here, double yoked, A Cyrenian pressed in service, In this cruel, heartless joke. The heavy Plow upon them, They furrow up the hill, The crowd of endless ages, Laugh at it still. Blood and sweat drip, Watering the row, The seeds begin to spring, In the garden far below. The heavy Plow is planted, Firmly in the dirt, The work is nearly finished, Of sowing this rebirth. The Planter on the Plow, Looks out upon His work, Though His heart is pierced, He declares it - good. Earth, now turned over, Beneath the heavy Plow, Stands wa

He looked at them with anger

"But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart..."

Wow, that's something to meditate on all day; the Lord looking at them, at me perhaps, with anger. And it is for good reason that He looks with anger. It is because of the "hardness of their heart."

I am quick to judge the Pharisees but slow to judge myself. When have I had a hard heart? When have I placed rules and regulations above mercy?

This isn't just a spiritual or religious problem either. It is a problem in our secular society as well. We are forced to follow rules and regulations at the expense of compassion and mercy.

Just the other day on my way home from work I saw a girl, probably about 14, walking in the neighborhood behind the Church. It was about 4 degrees outside with a windchill and she was wearing a light coat, jeans, and tennis shoes walking through the snow. It was obvious that she was cold, bitterly cold. I wanted to stop and offer her a ride. Even if she lived just a few minutes down the street at least she would be warmed in the car and out of the wind. But I didn't stop. I didn't offer. I drove on by. Why? The rules trumped mercy.

My innocent gesture of humanity could be seen as evil. It could appear that I was some creep patrolling the neighborhood. I envisioned the description of my car all over the evening news. I passed by leaving a daughter of God to shiver in the cold. I had to play by the rules and mercy had to be stashed in the glove box.

I wish I had the courage of Christ. He would have stopped and asked her if she wanted a ride, gave her his coat or something. In the Gospel passage He defiantly breaks the "rules" and administers mercy. In my mind's eye, I see Him standing there asking the question, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" Silence. Silence. Silence.

Such a simple question that can be answered by a child, yet the "men" are silent. I then see Him look at them with anger, turn to the man and defiantly, with a loud voice say, "Stretch out your hand." As the man stretches out his hand there is an audible gasp from the audience while the Pharisees burn with anger and exit stage right.

He lets the chips fall where they may. The world hated Him for it. The powers joined forces against Him. He did what was right, never considering the opinion of the world. Oh, how I wish I were more like Him.

Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath.
Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling

Psalm 6:2-3

Comments

Anonymous said…
What an excellent post James. I think about this often when I'm making decisions about how to act, and I know some of us are more convicted by this than others. My husband, for example, is extremely giving of his time an energy to "do unto the least of these." Although I have no idea what he would have done if he'd been alone in the car and saw the girl out walking in the cold.

Wait, I'll go ask him. Ok, he just said he would have picked her up. He recognizes the problem but has experienced so much baloney for doing the right thing that it doesn't really bug him anymore. He feels it's between him and God. Since I have seen him do some pretty far reaching things to care for others I believe him. I've seen numerous instances in our ten year marriage where he chose to deal with scorn, humiliation, the pride of others, or even potential legal trouble over avoiding the appearance of evil.

This is not to say he thinks you did the wrong thing, I related this to him as a hypothetical. And to be honest when I examine my feelings if I'd been in your shoes I probably would have passed by as well. I think you and I can pray for the courage you wrote of, and hope that the Lord will have mercy on us as we bring our lives into more conformity with his will than the will of the people.

Thanks again for this post and especially for your honesty.
that's a heck of a post. Gives me a lot to think about. thanks.
James M. Hahn said…
Bev, Thanks for your kind words. I need to hang out with your husband! God ain't finished with me yet.

Matthew, Thanks for reading.