"Rumble Strips on the Road to Salvation"

Rumble Strips

The theme of “The Day of the Lord” will play a significant role throughout the next four weeks.  It is my belief that the scriptures for the next several weeks were intended to act as a sort of spiritual “rumble strips,” meant to alert and awaken those who heard them. 

In fact, their purpose was to jolt the people of Israel, the New Testament church – and even us – from habits of self-interest and encouraging unpretentious reflection and transformation.

The Book of Malachi was written to correct what the author saw as the lax religious and social behavior of the Israelites—particularly the priests and religious leaders.  It was not long after the exiles returned to the land, the Second Temple built, and proper worship restored, that the people's commitment to their God began to wane once again.  It was in this context that the prophet delivered his prophecy.

In his preaching, Malachi condemns the religious leaders for – among other things – to cheat God for their own gain.  While the Law required animals to be “without blemish”, the priests were offering “blind, lame, and sick animals for sacrifice because they thought nobody would notice – or for an appropriate ‘donation’”.

On the other hand, Malachi warns the people that the corruption of the religious establishment was a valid excuse to get lax on their own commitment to God.

Although there is no mention in Malachi, some of his contemporary prophets urged the political and well-connected class to return to the God-standard of mercy, righteousness, and justice.  The “rumble strips” of their message called them to set aside profit and self-interest as the one and only motivation for their actions.

It is perhaps worth considering whether certain passages of the Bible, particularly those calling for mercy, righteousness, and justice over profit and self-interest, were overlooked by thinkers such as Adam Smith when writing “The Wealth of Nations.”  

Such bias to focus on economic gain while neglecting scriptural calls for compassion and justice may shed light on why both the contemporary Christian church and our capitalistic society require the spiritual “rumble strips” that Scripture provides.  These warnings are reminders to re-examine motivations and actions, encouraging a return to values that honor both God and neighbor.

The Second Lesson, the Second Letter to the Church in Thessalonica, probably the first letter ever written by St Paul, was meant to be another set of “rumble strips” for the early Christian community.

Perhaps you may have heard that last August a South-African pastor affirmed that Jesus would return last September 24-25.  When nothing happened, he revised the schedule to amend the date to October 8, 2025.  I’m not sure if he has readjusted the date again!

But he was not alone.  In his 1990 book “The New Millennium”, the Evangelist Pat Robertson suggested that April 29, 2007, was to be the day of Earth's destruction.  And even more recently, another American preacher predicted that Jesus would return by 2021 at the latest.

Well, they were not alone.  In fact, even from our Lord’s times there were people predicting the end of the world.  (And, if you are curious, check the “List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events” in a Wikipedia’s page. There you will find a long, long list of such predictions made over the last two thousand years!)

But if such predictions were and are at least silly, many took them seriously.  Many quit their jobs, gave away stuff, stopped paying their debts, and many created videos with advice and warnings.

Some of our brothers and sisters in Thessalonica did exactly that.  “If the Lord is coming, why do we worry about working”, they asked?  And to their thinking St Paul responded with what I believe were very jarring “rumble strips” – “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.”

St Paul’s advice is also relevant to our contemporary society.  Generosity and kindness are sometimes taken as opportunities for free-loading and self-serving.  And while we shouldn’t close our hearts and wallets, on the other hand, the fostering of dependency rather than self-respect and self-reliance honors no one. 

In fact, in our Episcopal understanding “respecting the dignity of all human beings” does not necessarily equate with guilt-driven giving.

Finally, Jesus had his own set of “rumble strips”.  He said, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come claiming, ‘I have the answer for all your problems – just follow me’”

You may recall that one of our Lord’s followers was Simon, aka “The Zealot”.  Zealots were a group of people who believed that they should resort to any means and even physical violence to restore God’s kingdom.  They wanted a Jewish nation – by any means possible.

All through the ages, from the Zealots to the Crusades to the contemporary “Christian Nationalism” movement there are those who seem to know better than God and what God really wants for “His” world.  In other words, they were and still are people trying “To out-god God.”

And to the people of his time and to us, Jesus offers his own brand of “rumble strips” – “Beware!  There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and dreadful diseases in various places.  There will be terrifying sights and bizarre signs, but they do not mean that the end is near.” And right before his Ascension Jesus again warned the expectant disciples – “You don’t need to worry about times.”

To which St Paul would latter add, “Brothers and sisters, don’t worry about anything but in doing what is right”.

The “rumble strips” of today’s lessons were meant for generations past to be a call to take God at his word and to strive to honor God’s values – even at the expense of the “devises and desires” of selfish hearts.

For us, today lessons’ “rumble strips” are meant to make us be attentive and to not be swayed by sensational or fear-driven messages.  Or worse, to be seduced by the siren’s songs of secular, political, or religious wannabe messiahs.

Let us remember that these gentle “rumble strips” serve not only as warnings but also as guides, steering us away from complacency or worse – second-guessing God.  They are also a reminder that daily choices matter, and that perseverance in doing good is an indication of our trust in God’s promises.

So, stay attentive – or as the DMV says, “Pay one hundred percent attention to your driving.” Be anchored in Jesus and his love, grace, and mercy.  Be joyful.  Keep the faith.  And always take good care of the small things.

Fr. Gustavo