The Awesome Patience

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     Elijah, the prophet, has always been one of my favorite Biblical characters. Ever since I was a mere lad I have gloried in the account of this rugged Tishbite who lived in a time of grave rebellion and gross sensuality in Israel, and who stalked through the land, striking fear into the hearts of the godless and wicked. His favorite way of beginning a pronouncement was with the words, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand." Elijah was God's mouthpiece to a rebellious generation.

     The king of Israel at the time was a profligate no-good whose name was Ahab. His father, Omri, who outdid his predecessors in wickedness, bargained with Shemer for a large hill, paying him two talents of silver for the site. On this eminence he constructed a city which he called Samaria, in honor of the former owner, and which was planned to be the capital of the ten tribe kingdom, and also a rival of Jerusalem which God had chosen and where he had written his name and allowed his temple to be constructed.

     When Ahab succeeded his father, he inherited the new city as well as his father's wilfulness and tendency to sin. He immediately began to enlarge upon both. "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." To compound his foolishness he fell for Jezebel, the daughter of a Phoenician king, and in order to ingratiate himself with these foreigners, he took up the worship of Baal with the fertility cults of the heathen.

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     When he married this female epitome of evil, he brought her to the new capital where he set up an altar to Baal in a temple dedicated to this mock deity. And Jezebel resolved with a passion to banish the name of the God of Israel from the land and to inculcate Baal worship as the state religion. Being both clever and ruthless, she realized that she would be thwarted in her design so long as the prophets of God survived, so she began immediately a campaign of extermination, purging them by decapitation.

     At the time, Obadiah was secretary of state in the kingdom. He was one of the Lord's men, planted in the palace, and through his efforts a hundred prophets were rescued and hidden in a cave. There was a severe famine caused by lack of rainfall as a result of Elijah's prayer, but Obadiah managed to cadge enough food from the royal kitchen and smuggle it out to the cave, so that the prophets could be sustained even while the country was on a starvation diet.

     Under the circumstances it did not require a prophet to see that eventually a real showdown had to come, and it came when Elijah and Ahab met on the road. Ahab accused Elijah of troubling Israel and Elijah denied the charge. He asserted that it was Ahab's desertion of God and his espousal of Baal which was responsible. He dared Ahab to summon the prophets who ate at the queen's table to a public confrontation. Four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal showed up on Mount Carmel in a highly jovial mood, prepared to make Elijah look like a spiritual nitwit. You know the rest of the story. If you do not, you can read every thrilling word of it in the almost casual language of 1 Kings 18.

     Ahab had the forlorn task of reporting to his wife that the dinner table would not be crowded that evening, and that she had four hundred and fifty dead prophets lying stretched out all over the hillside by Kishon Brook. Jezebel lost no time. She sent a hastily scribbled note to Elijah, saying, "So may my gods do to me and more also, if I do not kill you the same way you killed my prophets, and I intend to do it by this time tomorrow." Elijah read the note, stuck it in the pocket of his hairy tunic and headed south.

     When he came to Beer-sheba he left his servant at this frontier outpost and pushed on into the wilderness for another full day. Then he sat down under a juniper tree and asked to die. But God provided him food for another forty days of travel, and he arrived at Mount Sinai, where God had established his national covenant with Israel, beginning with the words, "I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

     Elijah took refuge in a cave, and while sitting inside contemplating his fate, he heard the voice of God. "Elijah, what are you doing here?" The prophet justified his retirement from the scene of action by referring to the desertion of the people. " I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken the covenant they made upon this scared spot. They have even smashed your altars and be-headed your prophets. I am the only one left now, and they seek my life, to take it away." The implication was that Elijah had to stay in seclusion or the Lord would be out of business.

     God ordered Elijah to go stand upon the summit of Sinai where Moses had been given the law on the tablets of stone. While standing on this lonely eminence the Lord passed by. First there was a tornadic wind whose force was so great that it dislodged huge boulders and fragmented them against each other. But the Lord was not in the gale. The wind was followed with a powerful earthquake which caused the mountains to rock and reel. But the Lord was not in the frightening tremor.

     Then came a roaring fire sweeping across the landscape. But the Lord was not in the fire. And then came a still small voice. Somehow Elijah knew that God was in the voice. Once again he was asked to account for his presence in this deserted place, and again he repeated his doleful statement. The Lord ignored his lament and issued orders for him to

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leave his wilderness retreat and return to the very center of political action. In Damascus he was to anoint Hazael king over Syria, even though he would ravish the very land from which the prophet came. In Samaria he was to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel and to preside over the death of Jezebel, the Zidonian harridan.

     Enroute he was to stop where Elisha was plowing and fling his mantle around his shoulders, thus designating him as his successor to head the school of the prophets, maintained since the days of Samuel. It was the still, small voice which sent him back into the arena. God can command the stormy winds of destiny to rip and tear. He can use mighty upheavals in the earth to accomplish his will. He can send a consuming fire to destroy and sear. But they are not his weapons. He is in the still, small voice.

     The transcendent purpose of God is to restore unity to a world fragmented by sin. This is the mystery of his will, the good pleasure upon which is staked the whole claim of divinity, and its attributes of omnipotence and omniscience. God is going to restore wholeness and oneness to, a distorted and disoriented creation. One who proposes to work for God and with God must have this as his own dream. Every other project is secondary, and, if it becomes an obsession, is superficial.

     Our task is to contribute to the fulfillment of this eternal vision, and however minute or infinitesimal may be our contribution, we must regard it, not in the light of its own immediacy, but as a part of the program which is as certain of fulfillment as that God has revealed it. Regardless of what else I may do in life, the supreme test of my identification with God is whether or not I have surrendered myself to this overwhelming design for the fulness of times. "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him, in whom we also have obtained an inheritance."

     I am not required to know how the purpose will be accomplished, but I am required to believe that it will be, and since faith is the mainspring of action, I must labor diligently to do what I can to serve my generation before I fall asleep. I am convinced beyond any suspicion of doubt that all of the current agony of division and disunity will some day pass away. Sectarian strife will be resolved in Christ. Racial prejudice, nationalistic pride and false patriotism, social barriers and intellectual snobbery--all of these will be melted away by the gentleness of the great dynamic of that love, which God is.

     I have an abiding hope that this will come to pass, and therefore a firm conviction that it will happen. I no longer look at the things which are seen. These are transitory and temporal. My faith is fixed on things which are not seen and my confidence in their reality is unshaken. Not everyone who claims to follow Jesus is either as optimistic or as convinced as I am. Most of them want to see cataclysmic earthquakes or catastrophic conflagrations. They rest their hopes in wind and flame.

     They forget that this is not the divine approach to majestic revolution. We are all tempted to employ the means which seem so successful in the achievement of goals in the culture about us. We are inclined to want to promote through use of professional talent anything which we seek to accomplish. And we are prone to measure things as does the world by

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bulk, drive and power. J. B. Phillips is right in suggesting, "In these days when power and size and speed are almost universally admired it seems to me particularly important to study afresh the 'weakness,' the 'smallness of entry,, and the 'slowness' of God as he began his vast work of reconstructing his disordered world."

     God's ways are certainly not the ways of man. He waited thousands of years before making a direct invasion of the world of sin. During these centuries of preparation he put up with the moral lapses and vacillations of those whom he had chosen, exhibiting what one noted writer has called "a frightening patience," always awaiting the fulness of the times, refusing to be stampeded and never "losing his cool" as the now generation would phrase it.

     The inevitability of fulfillment justified working through individuals who were in the world, and too often of it, as well. But the divine plan was never deflected because God chose to use human agents. Indeed it was the very weakness and frailty of these instruments which made the glory of God shine through more fully. "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are strong...that no flesh should glory in his presence...according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

     Even when the moment had come of which the prophets had spoken and toward which angelic eyes had looked, it was not done as man would have done it. Unquestionably, God's great break-through of the flesh curtain was the most momentous event which had happened since he laid the foundations of the earth and the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy. It is difficult for us to envision it as it really was, because we have glorified and glamorized it with tinsel and streamers. We tend to think of the event as artists have depicted it upon Christmas cards or in medieval paintings. But the advent of the Word into the earthly dimension is the picture of a small-town peasant girl who was pregnant, frantically searching for a secluded spot where she could deliver the baby who was even now pressing her body for deliverance.

     God's way always seems to be painfully slow and deliberate to those of us who pace restlessly back and forth in a terminal when a plane is five minutes late in loading. We want to cut through the red-tape, banish the delay, wind the clock, and get the show on the road. We are geared to crash programs and are always battered by the urgent "do it now." Because the earthly life span is so short we are under pressure and tension to get things moving. And we sometimes snap under the strain and shorten the period of service.

     One danger is that we will become so frightened by what we see and hear that we will lose faith that God's will can be done on earth. Our negativism will then make it impossible for God to work through us effectively and we will cease to be channels of his divine creativity. It is very important that we never lose sight of the fact that no destructive force is greater than the dynamic of God. Our goal should be to serve the divine will by fastening our eyes upon the ultimate rather than the immediate.

     I am not called upon to achieve God's purpose for the world, but I am called upon to achieve it in my life. Since his purpose is to unite all things in Christ,

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the sphere of my personal influence must be devoted to that end, feeble though my talents and abilities may be. Thus, I must begin to help in making the world whole, by being certain that I have been made whole. If I am ripped apart inside by emotional upheavals caused by sin or worry I must cast my care upon him because he cares for me. I must be reconciled to God so that the personality conflicts, the doubts and inner fears, may be resolved. One who is filled with anxiety and disquiet will not accomplish a great deal in bringing peace to mankind.

     Then I must begin the unifying process where I am. This may be in the family circle. If I have lived a selfish, petulant life, I must allow the indwelling Spirit to transform me and create a real concern for my loved ones until I literally fulfill the scriptural injunction to "love one another warmly." This may be a very humbling experience.

     For instance, one may be a dominating personality, aggressive in the business world, assertive and demanding. This tends to carry over into the home with the result that he never really listens to his wife or children. He leaves the impression that what they have to say is not very important to him. He never seriously asks their opinion about anything, even if it affects the family as a whole. He makes all of the decisions and hands them down. The others retire more and more into themselves, as the lines of communication sag and eventually snap. Even sex relations become routine, cold and with no intimacy of sharing.

     Obviously it is a human tragedy when homes fall apart, young lives are scarred and bitterness replaces affection. This poisons the social stream and weakens the fibers of national security and strength. But of even greater consequence is the fact that it also stands athwart the path of God's will for the universe, postponing the fulfillment of our responsibility to the Grand Design. For this reason, those who are reconciled to God should be engaged at once in a ministry of reconciliation to those whom they know best. Chasms between themselves and loved ones should be bridged regardless of cost to personal ego.

     Next, there should be a sincere attempt to become a real force for peace in the company of local saints. This means an acceptance in love of those one cannot like. And this requires more than grudging tolerance. Entailed is a genuine concern for the welfare of the individuals and for the harmonious functioning of the body. The reconciled one must resolve never to become a stumblingblock to others in the future, and also to remove those blocks which others have piled in the road in the past.

     Peace must be waged. It must be practiced, preached and proclaimed. The thought of unity must be installed in all until it becomes a real passion, a living hope. The help of the indwelling Spirit must be sought for and implored since it is the unity of the Spirit which alone can suffice. Only the fire of the Spirit can burn out of our hearts the selfishness which makes us want to have our way, the ignorance which makes us strive and quarrel, and the arrogance which prompts us to think that God approves of our bigotry.

     All of this seems slow and methodical unto us. It is not involved with lightning flashes, mighty winds, earthquakes or tongues of fire. We reason that surely God could step up the divine timetable and shorten the process. And yet nothing is clearer than the fact that God resists climbing the fence and taking a shortcut The divine purpose insists upon plodding along the main road with awful patience, turning neither to the right nor to the left.

     It is not because there has been no temptation to circumvent the agony of the long trek. Immediately after Jesus was baptized he was out into wilderness solitude where Satan appeared and offered him a real "marked down bargain." Taking him up into a high mountain he showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He offered him world supremacy, the adulation of a fawning humanity, by-passing the cross and the crown of thorns, but Jesus chose

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the "long way home," and the devil learned what some of us have not, that "the eternal years of God" are not too long to accomplish an eternal pleasure.

     If I know my heart, and God grant that I do, I am committed to working with God in God's own way. It is for this reason that I am content to send out this almost minuscule journal, testifying of my faith, encouraging my brothers, and confirming my love to all who have set to their seal that God is true, and have named the name of Christ. It is for this reason, too, that I am willing to go wherever the Spirit opens up a door, making myself vulnerable, and exposing myself to the questions of all, openly and unconcealed.

     I do not need to become frantic. I do not need to panic. If the end comes for me it will not mark the end of his precious design. I shall do my little bit in the humble station in which he placed me and hopefully die with my armor buckled on and my face toward the walls of Jerusalem. But the march will continue and God's will must be done. And his will is more important than my life, for I will consider that whatever happens to my life is his will.

     The sectarian spirit will be purged from the hearts of all who know the Lord. The factional attitude will disappear. Walls will melt under the rays of radiant love, parties will shrivel and die. Men will not want to be rivals, but brothers. They will not seek to become Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, or Church of Christers, but will be content to be followers of Jesus, constituting one body and led by one Spirit. The derogatory term "colored churches" will pass from the pages of journals and directories. Parenthetic identifications will fade from signboards and those who have been at cross purposes will come together as the purpose of the cross.

     By what means will this be accomplished you ask? The answer is simple. It will be by the most powerful dynamic in the universe--love! Legalistic minds scoff at such a thought. Men of small vision and little faith deride it. So long have we attempted to bring about oneness by debate and discussion, by conference and concordat, that the very thought of its attainment through the pervasive and gentle influence of love makes a laughingstock of one who suggests it.

     But love is the weapon of the Spirit and its awesome power is derived from that fact. It is the means God chose to capture and restore a creation which had gone berserk, and it is neither weak nor powerless. J. B. Phillips writes, "This method of making people whole by out-flowing love was and is extremely risky, but it was a risk that Jesus was prepared to take." He also says in another place, "It would be a profound mistake to suppose that all the Pharisees disappeared soon after the death of Christ, or that they have no heirs or successors today. Indeed, it is true that there is much of the Pharisee in each one of us, and by that I do not mean that we are hypocrites, but simply that we would rather reduce religion to a code, both inward and outward, than take the tremendous risk of being invaded by and becoming part of vulnerable but relentless love."

     For weal or woe, I have hitched my wagon to the star of "relentless love" as my only hope of entering into the divine strategy for putting the fragmented universe back together. I have not adopted this route because it is easy. Indeed, it is just the opposite. It led Jesus to be mocked, lied about, beaten and nailed to a cross. I do not doubt that it will tear the bleeding heart from any person who is committed to it without compromise, but it seems to me that it is

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the only way now available. It was the way chosen by God. If there had been a quicker and easier method of achieving success in the Magnificent Dream of the Ages, I think he would have selected it.

     If it appears like an exhibition of pride for one to say that he has become convicted that the love of God is the only power which can unify a fear-filled and distorted universe, and that he has opened up the flood-gates of his inner being so that this love may be channeled through him, I hasten to add that there are two things which must never be forgotten.

     First, I am an earthen vessel, and no glory attaches to me as an individual. It is not the clay pot which gives value or beauty to the flower, but the flower which gives value to the container. I am worthless except as the Master sees fit to employ me as a vessel which he has fitted for use.

     Second, the love of which I speak is not a sickly, sticky sentimentality. It is not a gushy affection. It is the essence and nature of God, unconquerable and imperishable. No man can develop it by sheer force of will nor capture it by the power of that evasive quality called personality. It can only come from the Holy Spirit, and is poured out into hearts which are stripped of all pride of human accomplishment, and which have been flung down before the throne in a final act of abject surrender, in a moment which leaves one naked and exposed for what he is, and even more humiliating, for what he is not.

     Once the transforming love is poured out into the heart it must be brought into contact with the polluted world if it is to be a reconciling agent. It must be made vulnerable, assailable, liable to fierce and bitter attack. One who is motivated by it must "bail out" in full knowledge that he may be shot down, just as Jesus took a calculated risk when he adopted human flesh and plunged headlong into a world of sin. There must be a recklessness about the whole thing, a diving into the middle of the maelstrom of life, trusting only to an unseen hand to hold you against the tugging riptide of disaster.

     Love never gives up. It is impervious to assault. It outlasts everything else. It validates every other gift. It confirms every righteous action. It is the only transforming, energizing power which can ever restore true order to a chaotic universe. Love is God moving into the human tragedy, divinity involving itself in a fragmented world, healing, restoring and making whole.

     A few months ago I attended the annual convention of a college in Florida. Through the graciousness of the brethren I was permitted to share in a public dialogue session which lasted almost three hours. On the following Lord's Day, a brother who has been my lifetime friend, attended a meeting in a Florida congregation. The preacher used me for his text. He sought to warn his audience of one whom they had never met. He said, "Brother Ketcherside tries to love everybody, regardless of who it is." I have never heard an accusation to which I am happier to plead guilty. I commend my dissident brother for his perceptiveness and for his succinct statement of the dream of my heart.

     I want to love tax-collectors and prostitutes, Sadducees and sinners. I want to love Pharisees also. I want to love black militants and hippies, the activists and the alienated. I want to love Chinese communists and Chinese nationalists. I want to love Russian communists, Jews and Greeks, black people and white people, red people and yellow. I want to love all from A to Z--Arabs to Zulus.

     In another category I shall continue to love those who brand themselves Adventists, Baptists and Catholics, and from A, B, C, right on through the whole alphabet of sects and schisms, parties and professions. Jesus did not die for us because we were righteous but while we were still sinners. Not one of us has anything of which to boast before God. And Jesus did not get us out of what we were in to love us, he loved us and we came out of what we were in if it was not compatible with his marvelous grace. I want to love people out and I want to love them in!

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     What debate and derogation, harangue and harassment cannot do, love can accomplish. It can soften stony hearts, melt iron wills, and dissolve differences into thin air. It can batter down barriers and make opaque walls become transparent. In short, there is nothing good that love cannot do. It will overcome anything and outlast everything else. I have bound my soul in the bundle of life, and tied the sheaf with the cord of love, dyed red with the crimson gore of Calvary.

     I am staking all I am and hope to be upon love. I am risking my entire life and being, throwing everything upon the table in one glad gamble that when all else shall fade into oblivion love will shed its sublime rays upon the new heaven and the new earth, and bind all together in one great unified whole, a new creation!