Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, ‘See, the place where we
dwell under your charge is too small for us.
Let us go the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a
place for us to dwell there.’ And he answered, ‘Go.’ Then one of them said, ‘Be
pleased to go with your servants.’ And he answered, ‘I will go.’ So he went
with them. And when they came to the
Jordan they cut down trees. But as one
was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water and he cried out, ‘Alas, my
master! It was borrowed.’ Then the man
of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ When
he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the
iron float. And he said, ‘Take it up.’ And he reached out his hand and took it
(II Kings 6:1-7).
‘Alas, my master! It was
borrowed!’ An iron axe-head seems a
small matter to us today, but in Elisha’s time an iron axe-head was a prime
possession. The man’s dilemma would be
similar to borrowing a friend’s computer today only to drop it down the stairs
shattering it. The miracle performed by
Elisha, one of many recorded in scripture, seems almost a gimmick – an
entertaining magic trick. Yet, I see
something deeper here.
Miracles in scripture always
point to something more. Sometimes they
confirm the supernatural origin of the prophet’s message, other times to the
graciousness of our God. In the New
Testament they serve to confirm the message of the ultimate miracle, the
resurrection of Christ. But in this instance I see something simple, yet crucial
to the happiness of every community of God’s people.
The dream of harmonious
community life seems etched in the human psyche. Many of us remember the heady, yet misguided
days of the 60’s counter-culture. There
was a cherished myth of love and peace to be found in gatherings of young adults
living in communal harmony. In the words
of songwriter Joni Mitchell, ‘We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden!’
Few of these experiments, often situated in a rural paradise, actually survived
long. Many who participated were scarred by the excesses
they embraced.
There is a persistent desire,
though, rooted in a deep human need for companionship. We are social creatures searching for a sense
of family. We carry an almost desperate
need for love, acceptance, and grace. I
think this is because we are made in the image of the Triune God who is a
perfect community united in perfect, unfathomable love. God is
love the apostle tells us.
This desire is constantly
reflected in literature and art. We even
see it in current business thought.
There is much use of the term ‘team’ in business literature. A well-known book on this issue is entitled, Managing
the Dream. The dream of a harmonious and
productive workplace reflects a desire to live out the mandate of the garden, The Lord God took the man and put him in the
garden of Eden to work it and keep it
(Genesis 3:15). The Hebrew word, to
keep (shamar) means ‘to exercise
great care over’ (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament).
Our yearning to get ‘back to the
garden’ is a yearning to express ourselves in meaningful work and loving
relationships. Few things bring a sense
of community like productive, creative work.
Every community, family, church, or business must embrace an ethic of
productive work in order to achieve its highest beauty and purpose.
Our community life in Jesus Christ must be rooted in
grace. This means the grace God extends
to us by accepting us in His Son, and the grace we extend to one another as
those who share in the same gift.
Worldly communities break down because they are rooted in a false
premise – that it is actually possible to ‘get back to the garden.’ The garden is gone. Only a vestige of it remains. This vestige is still strong enough to
provoke the fondest and most compelling dreams, but dreams that cannot be fulfilled
apart from the grace of God. Every
deceptive utopian scheme promotes this idea.
As C.S. Lewis writes, “If we thought we were building up a
heaven on earth, if we looked for something that would turn the present world
from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent city satisfying the soul of man, we
are disillusioned, and not a moment too soon” (Learning in War Time, p. 63).
Likewise, we are often
disillusioned by unfulfilled dreams of Christian community that we find
unsatisfying, uncreative, or graceless. Church-life
just isn’t what we expected. If we hold no illusions, we cannot become
disillusioned. Let’s let go of our
illusions without letting go of the dream.
In our pilgrimage we can taste
of the beauty and power of Christ’s kingdom.
We can experience the joy of
genuine community. We can rejoice in
creative and productive service to God together, but not without an abundance
of grace. Grace (charis as in charismatic)
is that power of Christ’s presence that makes possible what is impossible –
that we may together catch a glimpse of that city whose builder and maker is
God, and in which stands the tree of life and the river of the water of life. We cannot get back to the garden, but we can
pursue the celestial city.
We crave community. However, the
constant change introduced by the ‘creative destruction’ (to borrow a phrase from Joseph
Shumpeter) of modern economies make a sense of rootedness and community an ever
more elusive dream. Yet, that is
precisely what Christ calls us to – a community of the faithful. A community which works together will see
special challenges, especially when things go wrong – even little things.
Which brings us back to our
story.
In the vignette above, community
life is growing. There’s no room to contain the earnest seekers who want to
join themselves to Elisha’s prophetic band.
A work party is formed to expand the living quarters. Then something
goes wrong – the lost axe-head. I see a
few simple points here for us to remember.
The miracle Elisha performs shows
us that God gives grace for the challenges of community life.
The life of this community was marked by growth. Life brings growth. Growth brings challenges. In turn, growth must be met by industry to be
sustained. Industry, to be effective must be marked by humility. Humility is expressed here by acts of service
and by Elisha’s willingness to accompany the work party. Jesus perfectly expressed this kind of humility
when he washed his disciples’ feet.
Nevertheless, community life is often marked by frustrating glitches.
Here is the key to overcoming a prime destroyer of the joy of community. When frustrating hindrances come up, watch
for the outcome. Do we respond with criticism,
belligerence, abuse? or grace, and an expectation of divine power? One response is typically carnal or human,
the other is divine, a fruit of the Spirit.
This is when the doubts and
accusing questions arise. ‘Why are we
doing this project anyway?’ ‘You are always creating problems for the rest of
us.’ ‘Why are we working with borrowed
materials?’ The atmosphere becomes toxic, the common well of goodwill dries up,
or becomes bitter. When this exercise of
blame and recrimination is oft-repeated in a community, what goodwill we have slowly
slips away. Recovery becomes very
difficult. Without grace, the garden becomes infested with weeds, pests, and
predators. Thus it is that worldly
utopias always break down.
Every endeavor has its messy
period. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter observes: “Troubles
are ubiquitous. Surprises can fall from the sky like volcanic ash and appear to
change everything. New ventures can begin with
great promise and still face unexpected obstacles, unanticipated delays, and
critics that pop up at the wrong moment. That’s why I coined Kanter’s Law:
“Anything can look like a failure in the middle” (Cultivate a Culture of
Confidence, Harvard Business Review online, April 2011).
For a Christian community, there
is a source of power in the grace of God, flowing from Christ’s sacrificial
gift of His life for us. He overcomes
nature’s corruption, even the power of death.
He makes the axe-head float, and He redeems even critical mistakes. In short, He extends grace and gives a
beautiful glimpse of His city. A
community which reflects the beauty and productivity of the Triune God must
find in Him the ability to extend grace for glitches.
