Power and Safety: Idols for an Ideal World
Telemachus was confused. He was frustrated and confused. He had retreated away from the world to escape the violence and dedicate himself to fasting and prayer. But there is no place on this earth that rests untouched by the stain of evil. While walking with his fellow monks, Telemachus saw a small group of travelers besieged by robbers. Some of the brethren jumped to action, chasing away the brigands with their gardening tools and water buckets. But Telemachus froze. He didn’t want others to suffer violence; but to stop it from happening meant doing violence to another. Could he hide away while violence raged and still be about the work of God? He wasn’t so sure anymore. So Telemachus was frustrated and confused.
This week we read in Matthew how two of his disciples (James and John) tried to make a power move. Believing Jesus was going to make a major political move in establishing this “new kingdom” he kept talking about, they wanted to be at the top of the list. Here’s what happened:
‘Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”[c] They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”‘ (Matthew 20:20-23)
We know now that “this cup” was death, and Jesus took steps to get everyone to see that. He quickly called everyone together, knowing egos could quickly reach a boiling point. “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them,” he said. “It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”
We are quick to believe in our American society that if you do the work, you should expect the reward. Work weekends, get the degree, show up early, stay late, get the promotion, right? The danger is when we apply that to our Christian living. I said the prayers, I went to church, I read my Bible every day…I should be somebody by now!…I shouldn’t get sick!…My kids shouldn’t be behaving like this! We expect some special considerations. But there are only two “positions of status” in the Christian life:
1. God
2. the rest of us.
We set up for ourselves some ideal kingdom where we won’t have to struggle or suffer for the rest of our life; we hope that coming to Jesus will protect us from the consequences of a fallen world. We call it an Ideal World. In truth, it’s an Idol World because even the creator of the REAL world wasn’t free from pain, temptation or suffering. (Rom 8:3, Heb 4:14-16)
Heeding the advice of his Elders, Telemachus set out on a pilgrimage for Rome in hopes of reaching it for the Christmas festivities. Honorius was Emperor of the Roman Empire, now a Christian nation. General Stilicho had just led a great defeat of the Visigoths and drove them from the land. In celebration, as part of that year’s Christmas festivities, Honorius and Stilicho instituted a “Roman Triumph,” a military celebration consisting of parades, feasts and gladiator games. Into this maelstrom of worldly pride and destruction in the epicenter of Christian thought and worship walked Telemachus.
Following the crowds, he entered the Colosseum. And as he witnessed the violence met with shouts of joy he was moved to action. The next moment found him standing on the sand in the arena holding two gladiators apart, shouting at the crowd to remember God’s mercy and His commands against murder. But the crowd, blinded by bloodlust, hollered against him. “Away with you! This is no place for sermons!”
History is unsure if the crowd did the work with stones, or the gladiators themselves with their nets and swords, but most agree Telemachus died there in the sand on New Year’s Day.
The few who knew him told how he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the churches and keep his Christmas at Rome; they knew he was a holy man, and that his name was Telemachus-no more. His spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct. He had died, but not in vain. His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck down, for the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people: they saw the hideous aspects of the favorite vice to which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day Telemachus fell dead in the Colosseum, no other fight of gladiators was ever held there. (Fox, John. Book of Martyrs, “The Last Roman ‘Triumph'”)
Telemachus’s willingness to let go of his idol of safety and quiet, as well as his desire to surrender to Christ’s work of peace and sacrifice, saved uncountable lives and souls.
May God grant us the courage and peace to lay down our own idols. Join us as we do a little Spring Cleaning this Lenten season.
Amen.
