Landscapes

Landscapes

4/9/15

All of us like to sit and gaze at certain photos of mountains, seashores, plains or even desert settings and many of us become nostalgic when we look at these pictures and wish that we could go to those places or to return to them for a period of time. Some even wish to own a piece of land from one of these scenes and to cultivate it as we please.  However, what occurs when we chose our landscape over our intended mission?  How then do these settings affect our lives and those around us?  These are important questions that we must answer regarding “self” and we have an unusual example in the Bible to demonstrate these questions.

I vaguely remember an incident within my family many decades ago that concerned a couple of my close relatives.  The scene took place at my grandparent’s house and it had to deal with who would get the land after both my grandparents had left this world.  I was not witness to much of the scene for my father took me down to the small lake a few hundred yards from the front of the house, mainly so I would not see what was about to transpire between my two uncles.  The argument was all over who had “custody” of the property and who it really belonged to, which was absurd on all sides because after everything was said and done it was my grandparents who had the final say in all of those details.  Yet the focus of the evening was centered on this subject and to be honest I do not even know what drew the discussion to a head anyway, but I do know that it was all over physical land; which turned out to be my first experience in land disputes.

My family is not the first to have squabbles over land for this practice has been in play ever since history has been recorded. The fighting does not stop with families either, counties, countries, regions and religions all have had recorded battles over land and the people that inhabit said land.  Many millions of people have perished in the name of king and country with God’s name thrown into the fray as well.  This type of human behavior is not unknown to many of us and with many ugly wars and conflicts currently ongoing in our world today, this concept is beginning to hit home to some of us.  What is most frightening about these scenarios is that the majority of fighters engaging in these wars do not fully comprehend the foundations of what they are fighting for or against; they just want to see action, prove a point or have a big story to tell in later life.  Reality states that many of these people never make it home and never seeing their families again, such a waste for a pointless and unknown personal cause.

“Just as many theories have been put forward to explain Charlemagne’s political objectives when he assumed the imperial title in 800, so historians have disputed and discussed Otto I’s motives in 962.  Otto’s great objective, the conquest and Germanization of the Slavonic east, could (it has been maintained) only be achieved after Otto, as emperor, had assured himself of papal backing, and the imperial title was invaluable to Otto because it conferred the moral right to pursue, and assured him of clerical support in pursuing, a policy of eastern expansion: conversion of the infidel was part of the imperial mission, a duty owed by the emperor of the Church.  But conversion of the infidel and propagation of the faith was a duty owed by every king to the Church, and there is no reason to suppose that his imperial title added to Otto’s powers in this respect.”  From the book “The Origins of Modern Germany” pg. 55 by Geoffrey Barraclough

In the year 962 a man by the name of Otto I was the leader of a large chunk of land that grew into what would be known in modern times as Germany.  It was Otto I’s goal in life to acquire as much land as possible and to be able to proclaim himself as ruler of all known lands of that time.  This was not a new concept back in the Middle Ages nor is it unusual to hear such claims today.  However, Otto was so inclined to achieve this goal that he went to the pope and began a begging process from him to create another large portion of land for the Church, one that Otto could use in order to pad his wealth and ensure that the Slavonic infidels would be converted to the Church. 

Just ten days after Otto was crowned emperor He asked from the pope and the pope granted Otto’s wish of the creation and the establishment of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg.  This request on the surface should not be that bad since it is all for the glory of the Church, right?  How more wrong could people be to think of, plan for and execute such a wicked plan.  This episode represents one of the darker sides of Christianity and while many people will not understand why this is such a bad example, we must be compelled to look into God’s Word for an example that shows us how to act and how not to act in such landscape terms.  I believe that we can all agree that this secular / godly act of conversion is a good non-biblical example of the topic at hand, so now the biblical one.

The example that is going to be used occurs in John chapter 4 and it deals with the scene of Jesus, the disciples and a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  This is a familiar passage to many but one that God showed me in context with landscapes and how we use them for our own purposes instead of our true mission of spreading the Kingdom message to people that need God.  I have never looked at this passage in this manner but I have to admit that when God showed me this passage I had to laugh, and I had to once again say that God has a sense of humor because this angle of His Word took me by surprise.  And on another side note, God showed me another topic to write about after I began this one, based upon the same setting; God is God, all the time and all the time, God is good.

It is not hard for many of us to relate to the name calling processes that we hear, read or even witness every day.  It does not matter which side of the aisle we represent or what we believe in or do not believe in, at some point we are going to face others who wish to have nothing to do with our beliefs and in turn they let us know about their opinions at the same time.  I have to state that the secular example I used above really irks me in that Otto had so-called good intentions of expanding the area of the Church but more importantly to him he had “higher” goals of personal gain that he desired more.  It was these higher goals of his that led to the forceful conversion of thousands of people to a religion that they had never known before.  The basis for their new religion was placed upon the land mass and not the individual respects and aspects of their overall lives.  I now ask you this question: are we seeing such a pattern unfolding in our own present societies today?  The answer to this question is “yes, both on the secular sides of the issues and on the religious side as well.  This partitioning of land in the name of God has become unhinged and is now flaming the storms of unrest throughout the world.

While the disciples were off gathering food, Jesus comes up to the well and sits there for a while until a Samaritan woman come up and they began a conversation.  It is well known that the Samaritans and the Jews were not on speaking terms and it was to the point where each side held to their scathing opinions of each other.  They agreed to stay away from each other yet condemn, put down and scoff at the other both publicly and privately when the opportunity arose.  But Jesus began to talk to this woman, totally ignoring the religious and cultural differences between the two sects.  The conversation was a receptive one but one must contend that many thoughts had to be running through the woman’s mind since Jesus was obviously talking to an enemy; so what did He want?

Jesus began to ask her specific questions about her life and quickly reached His goal by the responses that she gave to Him.  It did not take the lady too long to realize that Jesus was a man of God and did not wish to engage in any formal protests against her ethnic or cultural background; He was clearly interested in her spiritual content and in the physical life that she was harboring.  Jesus did not speak ill towards her lifestyle but He DID point out her that her living conditions were wrong and she did not argue this point.  It is at this point to which Jesus reveals Himself to His mission and that His mission is strictly Kingdom oriented and has no other motives present.  Pointing out her faults is not a bad thing when it is done in love and humility.  Yelling, condemning and throwing landscape propaganda into people’s faces shall never see results that are for God’s Kingdom.

At some point in the conversation the disciples come back into the picture and when they see Jesus and the woman talking they become visibly upset.  They quickly begin to quiz Jesus as to why He is sitting close to a Samaritan woman and start to chastise Him because He was talking with her.  They must have pointed out (reminded Him) of the customs that the Jewish people had concerning Samaritans and the association with them, or lack of association with them.  The disciples were playing their landscapes to the tee at this point and this is when Jesus once again tried His best to show them that it was all about Kingdom and the importance of knowing what is truly at stake.

On all three sides the humans involved understood their places.  The disciples did their best to defend their own personal territories by keeping their land agreements within themselves and then trying to “remind” Jesus of those land agreements.  The Samaritan woman definitely had hurt and anguish within her heart for she never argued with Jesus and was inquisitive about His line of gentle questioning.  Jesus Himself was totally interested in providing an explanation to her that there is a way out of her hurts and sins.  One person was willing to listen, one person knew what was at stake and the others involved tried to secure their lands.  The value of a spiritual landscape is far more important that a physical one, for the physical ones can change hands as Otto I proved in 962. 

How can one truly convert to a new religion or theology while being forced or pressured to do so?  To have the entire European continent subject to one religion or denomination would be a physical goal for any king, pope, leader or some everyday Joe but when it comes to what Jesus stated as the mission of the Church it becomes clear that this angle of spreading the gospel is grossly irrelevant and unjust on all sides.  While this may be a tough statement on Otto and his ambitions, it is a truthful one and it needs to be placed into our heads and hearts as an example not to follow when trying to change people’s hearts about God.  This is exactly what the disciples did when they adamantly reminded Jesus of His place at the well and the circumstances of the times. 

But Jesus had other plans in motion and as soon as the woman left to call the people of her city to hear what Jesus was saying, Jesus gave a profound description of the Kingdom when He used the example of the harvest.  God already has every inch of the land on the earth, why would He wish to fight for something of no value?  God only cares for His children and their spiritual lands, for it is our spiritual land that means everything to Him.  The harvest is ripe for the taking and it is our job to ignore our acquired physical landscapes and unless we lose our own physical kingdom there is no way that we can ever understand the meaning and the mission of the Kingdom of God.  In order for us to understand this truth we must be willing to lay down everything of the world that we harbor within.

The gaining of worldly lands will eventually enslave every inch of your life, most of the time without you even knowing the capacity that it has within you.  I am not saying to sell your family property, that is not my point at all but God is asking you to give up the physical property that you have within your heart and turn your life over to Him so that you may know true freedom.  I have to include myself in this situation and it is my duty to let my personal landscapes go so that God can reveal Himself more to me, we are all in this boat together.

A very short time later, Otto I lost his support from the Church and therefore his ideas of a large land grab faltered dramatically.  Yes, he made huge strides in his efforts, but to what cost did he have to take in order to accomplish this task.  His personal goal of converting the infidels and expanding the Church’s through terror means did not please God at all and in truth did more harm for humanity than good.  Jesus knew the woman at the well was an enemy to the Jews, but He could have cared less.  While the disciples displayed their infidel landscapes Jesus was pushing God’s Kingdom forward, one spirit at a time.

DLB