I’ve been reading through a nice little edition of The Apostolic Fathers recently put out by Moody Press. Today, I came across a section in The Shepherd of Hermas that sounds a bit like what John Piper might say. I’m not endorsing everything in The Shepherd of Hermas, there are plenty of reasons why it shouldn’t be considered to be canonical (or part of the NT), but this little bit caught my attention. Let me know what you make of it or what you think of this quote.
I’m quoting from the 10th commandment which focuses specifically on grief caused by the inability to do something through doubt or grief after getting wrongfully angry over something.
Both these are grievous to the Holy Spirit– doubt and anger. Wherefore remove grief from you, and crush not the Holy Spirit which dwells in you, lest he entreat God against you, and he withdraw from you. For the Spirit of God which has been granted to us to dwell in this body does not endure grief nor straitness. Wherefore put on cheerfulness, which always is agreeable and acceptable to God, and rejoice in it. For every cheerful man does what is good, and minds what is good, and despises grief; but the sorrowful man always acts wickedly…. For the entreaty of the sorrowful man has no power to ascend to the altar of God [because] grief… mingled with his entreaty, does not permit the entreaty to ascend pure to the altar of God…. Cleanse yourself from this wicked grief, and you will live to God; and all will live to God who drive away grief from them, and put on all cheerfulness. [pg. 222 of the 2009 Moody edition of The Apostolic Fathers]
Hmmm…that might be akin to saying the reason that David and Bathsheba’s first child died was because David was entreating the Father with a grieving spirit. If he had chosen to dance before God in a cheerful fashion..do you think God would have spared the child? And yet there is also truth in the quote, so far as we should be grateful for the blessings of the Lord as a general life response and demeanor. Then there is this little tidbit:
Isaiah 53:3 (New Living Translation)
He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
Then of course, that brings up other questions…
Yea, I’m also not following this totally, either. But the thoughts about cheerfulness being always a good thing and commendable don’t exactly jive with some sentiments in the church today. That was more what I was thinking of.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Blessings,
Bob
I’m trying to remember a passage I read once about it being evil to grieve at all because it was a sign that you did not honor God with trusting Him to provide the best in every situation. This might be in puritan writings somewhere.
This particular excerpt, makes me think of a note scribbled in a margin that only the writer could really grasp…mixing his thoughts on grieving the Holy Spirit with being thankful in heart for God’s provision, versus being resentful and doubtful.
Yes, we see this often in the church today just not in these particular words. Jesus, Himself, tells us if we will keep his commandments and let His word dwell in us we will have His joy in full measure, to give us strength in every situation.
Also, there are plenty of additional problems with The Shepherd of Hermas that I could list. I don’t agree with its take on a lot of issues. I just found the quote interesting and wanted to see if we could get some conversation going on it.
Thanks again,
In Christ,
Bob