The problem with Psalms is they're way too honest. They're not just pretty pictures of how we want to feel about God and our neighbor. No, they're a little more like how we actually feel. So in this beautiful psalm about how well God knows the psalmist, how God knows her/his thoughts before they even appear, what better place to be real: "Oh, that you would kill the wicked...I hate them with a perfect hatred..." Yeesh.
Today being Saint Nicholas Day, this has me thinking about an "incident" Bishop Nicholas of Myra had with Arius, an Egyptian theologian, at the Council of Nicaea (where we developed the Nicene Creed). Arius believed that Jesus had not always been divine, but rather had been "adopted" by God at his baptism. And he argued his case so forcefully and passionately that Nicholas, being a passionate guy himself, well...socked him. Right in the face. Not a proud moment. He was thrown in jail and his role as Bishop was in question. As the story goes, those leading the Council all had a vision of Jesus and Mary reinstating Nicholas, otherwise his future would be in doubt. As we know, Nicholas' doctrine, that Christ has always been divine, won the day.
I think we do a real disservice to Scripture, and to the church, if we try to make excuses for anything that's said or done by people we admire. I love Psalm 139. I do not love the ending. I do not think it's appropriate for Christians to "hate" anyone, even if we think our hatred is "a perfect hatred", and we're really doing God a solid by hating the "right" people for the "right" reasons. Does that mean I should self-censor and never read or talk about Psalm 139? Nope.
I also don't think punching heretics solves anything. If anything, it proves that my position is weak, I'm losing the debate, and I'm out of options. Does that mean Nicholas was a bad guy and we shouldn't teach our kids about him? Gosh, I hope not.
The whole point of having "a cloud of witnesses" is not to have perfect paragons of faith who never mess up. The point is they DO mess up, a lot, and God uses them anyway. And God can use us too.
God, thank you for misguided psalmist's and Bishop's with anger management issues. Thank you for grace. Thank you for reminding us we're not perfect and don't have to be. Thanks for saving us and using us for your work despite ourselves. Amen.
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