Biblical personalities and Christian instruction

BIBLICAL PERSONALITIES AND CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION

Chapter Seven

from “COMMUNICATING THE WORD OF GOD. Practical Methods of Presenting the Biblical Message” by J N M Wijngaards, Theological Publications in India, Bangalore 560 055, 1974. First published in Great Britain in 1978 by MAYHEW-McCRIMMON LTD Great Wakering, Essex, England.

The whole book can be found online here: http://www.johnwijngaards.com/contents-communicating-word/ .

When God chose to reveal himself to all mankind he began by speaking to one nation. In a long history of promise, blessing, threat and punishment he prepared this nation for its part in the plan of redemption. The name of the nation was Israel. God’s reactions to Israel’s sins and to its virtuous deeds were carefully written down in the books of the Old Testament. Of course, the super-reality of God’s nature transcends man’s wildest imagination and most profound thought. But for the sake of being understood by man, God presented himself to Israel as if he were a person like us.

We can rightly say that, through all his work and actions, God revealed what he is like, or in other words, that he revealed his own personality. In an anthropomorphic and yet profound manner he revealed his likes and dislikes, his intimacy with saints and patience with sinners, his deepest intentions, his desires for mankind, his wish to love and be loved. Israel was the test person for all mankind. As God did with Israel, so will he do with us. The emotions of life, indignation, mercy and anger, displayed by the Divine Majesty towards Israel express his attitude towards us.

Through the incarnation God revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus became to us the visible image of the Father, the personal expression of what God is, the exact likeness of God’s own being. And in his human life, he expressed more convincingly and powerfully than could have been done in any other way the ideal of human sanctity.

God’s influence on Israel produced saints and heroes, men and women who proved their character and virtue in their lives. These persons were meant to set a concrete ideal to be followed by all. David was held out as a model which Solomon had to follow. “Walk before me with innocence of heart and in honesty, like David your father”, ( Kings 9,4). Paul enumerates many persons who gave an example of heroic faith (Heb 11). The Gospels and Acts record the personalities of followers of Christ with whom we can easily identify.

The inspired Scriptures also record the sins and transgressions of those who refused to accept God’s graces. Those too serve a useful purpose in the recorded history of salvation, because they set an example of how we should not act. They constitute a lasting warning on how a man can fail. David’s fall and its consequences will not be forgotten. Jesus speaks of sinners in some of his parables. Ananias’ and Sapphira’s greed and punishment “made a profound impression on the whole community and on all who heard it” (Acts 5,11). Something of every sinner can be recognised in ourselves.

The Bible contains the self-revelation of God and the human picture of virtue and sin. It focusses intentionally on many personalities. It pronounces an inspired judgement on many of them: praising some men and criticising others. In this way, the Bible provides us with a real “mirror of life” complete with practical warnings and detailed advice. Biblical examples should be more precious to us than examples taken from other sources. Profane examples may clarify and illustrate; they may even inspire to heroic action. They can never claim the inspired judgement contained in genuine biblical examples. A biblical example shows us what God thinks of persons who acted and spoke before us; we know from this how he will look on us if we act in the same way.

BIOGRAPHIES IN SCRIPTURE?

Human history is of necessity a record about people. For nineteenth century historians history described the achievements of kings and great leaders. C. Carlyle states confidently, “No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men”. R. W. Emerson caps this statement, “There is properly no history, only biography”. Such sweeping assertions are easy to make. The truth is that biographies, in our sense of the word, were rarely written in the past. About most great leaders we have plenty of history, but little biography.

Biography in its fullest sense tries to recreate the life of an individual. It means much more than presenting facts and dates in a chronological order. It means an attempt to make the individual recognisable to us as a human being, so that we may know the traits of his personality and understand the motives for his actions. Good biography starts with psychological insight and produces the illusion of a life actually being lived. In the words of Sir Edmund Gosse it paints “the faithful portrait of a soul in its adventures through life”.

The Bible does not contain this kind of biography. Not even the Gospels in spite of their outspoken intention to focus on Jesus Christ can be called biographies. For although they present valuable material on the personality of Jesus, their main purpose was to proclaim him as the saviour, rather than reveal his inner personality. In this respect John comes closest to a revelation of Jesus’ inner life and even he is preoccupied with the experience of Jesus in the life of the Church. The modern preoccupation with biography, recreating “the earthly pilgrimage of a man” for its own sake, did not find its way into the Bible.

But there is no reason for despair. For the Bible abounds with “character sketches”, the illustrious literary ancestors of our modern biography. Such sketches were written of Pericles and Sophocles by Ion of Chios in the fifth century B.C. In ancient China Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145-85 B.C.) published his “historical record” in the form of short characterisations of living persons under various headings such as “maligned statesmen”, “rash generals”, and “assassins”. Such chapters which are full of anecdotes, lively descriptions and a lot of dialogue, are rightly regarded as forerunners in the art of biography. For they give us a glimpse of the human personality, sufficient to afford us an insight into what made the person tick. The Bible too presents such character sketches.

The account of Gideon (Judges 6, 1-8,35) is a so-called “brag” story. Various scattered traditions about Gideon, about his call to leadership, his first conflict with the followers of Baal in his home town Ophrah, his victory over the Midianites and other exploits, were bundled together into one hero saga. Sagas had a social function. By boasting about past leaders and glorious victories they taught the nation courage and self-respect. In spite of its briefness and ragged composition the brag story about Gideon contains a real character sketch of him as a person.

The story of Gideon is totally centred round the figure of Gideon himself. The whole development of events is recounted from Gideon’s point of view. We are looking at things from his angle. We may therefore say that the story does in some way convey a reflection of Gideon’s psychology. We are made to imagine Gideon’s state of mind and to understand how Gideon slowly changed from being an ordinary, timid man into a courageous leader.

Fig. 21. Dialogue scheme of the Gideon story. The arrows indicate who is speaking to whom.

This psychological approach to Gideon can be demonstrated in a brief analysis of the dialogue scheme in the story. (See Fig. 21). The story has many different dialogues. In all of these Gideon is either the person who speaks or the person addressed! Only two conversations are reported in which Gideon is not one of the speakers. But even in these cases the conversation is about Gideon and Gideon is present as hearer. The two Midianite soldiers talk about their dream, but Gideon overhears them (Judges, 7,13-15). Gideon’s father refuses to let the townspeople enter his house, while Gideon is obviously listening inside the house (Judges 6,29-31). Gideon is consequently the psychological centre of the story.

This also emerges from the narrator’s obvious interest in Gideon’s motives and attitudes. Gideon basically has a timid character. He is beset by doubts. He cannot believe that God will help so he hides himself in a wine press (6,11-13). After cutting down Baal’s altar he does not have the courage to face the infuriated townspeople himself (6,29-31). Before venturing Israel into battle he requires three signs from God, two with a fleece (6,36-40) and one through a dream (7,9-14). But God teaches Gideon how to be courageous. Dealing patiently with him he forces him into a heroic role. When Gideon is made to reduce the number of his army first from 32,000 to 10,000, then to 300 soldiers only, we can almost feel the psychological stress building up in Gideon. But he responds admirably. Gideon grows into a competent leader. His surprise attack on the Midianite camp is a gem of military tactics. He wins the support of the Ephraimites with diplomacy and by ruthless determination overcomes all obstacles encountered during the pursuit of his enemies.

The information about a man like Gideon remains sketchy. Yet the picture we have of Gideon’s character is vivid enough to serve us as an example. Many leaders today go through crises similar to those experienced by Gideon. They too are beset by doubts and tempted to put their trust in the number of allies. They too have their moments when they hide themselves, or ask for a sign, or the moments of high decision when a man commits himself to a course of action that may make or break him. Hopefully leaders in our own days will also share Gideon’s feelings of humility when he was offered kingship by his companions. “It is not I who shall be your king”, he said, “nor my son. God alone must be your master”. Here was a small man who on the crest of victory remembered his true position.

VISUAL IMAGES

A visual image is a great help in building up a personality in the eyes of others.

Politics and advertising know this well. When Dwight Eisenhower was elected President of the United States in 1952 it was not on the strength of his political views, but almost entirely on account of the “personality” of “Ike” that had been carefully built up by a communication drive. Ike was presented to the American electorate as a father-figure with all the qualities admired by Americans. His public image was carefully planned. Whenever he appeared before the camera he received special make-up. He was told how to smile and how to look sincere in his dealings with the people. To present him as an energetic person he was mainly shown in the context of work; as addressing a crowd, as signing important papers, as travelling by car or presiding over a meeting. His family was drawn in because of its publicity value. As one of the campaign planners put it, “Just as we sell a product on the market, so we sold the President to the public. Just as most shoppers buy an article not for its own worth, but for the glamour of the package, so the President was elected not because of the policies he had, but on account of the image of his personality”.

Perhaps we feel disgusted at the way people are tricked into accepting what advertisers or politicians tell them. However, what we can learn from these “children of the world” is the enormous influence exercised by visual images. Just think of the position occupied in the minds of youth by pop singers and film stars. Man’s psychology is made in such a way that norms, ideals and values are most easily understood in the form of living persons. We like to project our wishes and expectations on to personalities. We easily understand abstract ideas if they are presented to us in the guise of human beings.

Jesus himself understood this human need and made skilful use of it in his preaching. Remember the personalities which he created through his parables: the good Samaritan, the unforgiving servant, the good shepherd, the father who welcomes his devious son, the Pharisee and the publican, and so many others. How powerfully does he contrast rich and poor in his parable of Lazarus.

“There was once a rich man who dressed in purple clothes and lived in great luxury every day. There was also a poor man, named Lazarus, full of sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door hoping to fill himself with the bits of food which fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores” (Luke 16,19-21).

When a personality is presented to us, we either identify ourselves with him or reject him. We either sit with the rich man at the table or lie on the floor with Lazarus. Jesus presents the personality of the rich fool who dies on the night that he scores his greatest success (Luke 12,13-21), in order that rich people among his audience may identify themselves with this person and take steps to reform. No one can hear the parable of the talents without realising he has to identify himself either with the servants praised for their hard work or with the negligent overseer. The persuasive force and pastoral use of such personalities in the teaching of Jesus is obvious.

But let us not stop here and miss the point. We can learn a lot from Jesus on how to present such personalities. Jesus understood that man thinks visually and knowing this he preached through visual images. He wanted us to see the rich man in his purple clothes and the poor man covered by sores and surrounded by dogs. How did Jesus achieve this effect in his description? What makes an image stand out? Modern research has demonstrated that among all the component elements of a visual picture it is especially colour, outline and movement that make the deepest impression on our minds. Jesus made skilful use of all these elements.

He often painted colours with a stroke of his brush. He characterized man’s helplessness by saying that he cannot even make “one hair white or black” (Mt 5,36). If we can judge the weather – “red sky at night” – why can’t we see the signs of the Kingdom? (Mt 16,2). Hypocrites are like white-washed tombs and those who sin against charity will be thrown into a red-hot fiery furnace. The mention of the colour helps us to have a clear picture in our minds.

Experts tell us that our mind does not retain all the lines that we see but only the outline. That is why we will remember a fat man because of his bulky outline or a tall man because of his long silhouette. It is amazing to note how Jesus too does not stress the so-called component parts of his visual pictures but the outlines. He constantly finds images that can be easily “silhouetted”, such as a sheep carried on the shoulder of the shepherd, a narrow gate, a measure of corn that is overflowing, a lamp on the lamp stand, and people standing up and praying with out stretched hands. It is this kind of image that remains anchored in our memory.

Sense perception is activated by the movement of its objects. It has been proved that if we were constantly to see the same unmoving picture, our eyes would not be able to distinguish clearly what they saw. Movement and action help to characterise the specific properties of different realities. In other words, we have a special liking for moving images and record them better. Jesus presents us with quite a few in the gospels. Just think of such dynamic pictures as a man “shaking off dust from his feet”, or calling out the latest news from his housetop, a farmer pulling up the wheat and tying it in bundles, and an angry person hitting someone else on his cheek. The action is graphic and dynamic.

Sociologists have tried to determine what influences us most when we judge other people. Surprisingly enough, it proved to be the clothes they wear. From a man’s clothes people deduce his social status, his view of life and even his character. Small wonder that Jesus often refers to clothes when characterising people. The austere dress of John the Baptist is contrasted by the fancy clothes worn by wordly courtiers (Mt 11,8). The hypocrisy of the Pharisees can be read from the size of the containers of Scripture verses dangling from their foreheads and the length of the prayer hems of their cloaks (Mt 23,5). The splendour of flowers in the field is compared to Solomon’s robes (Mt 6,29). It is because “clothes make the man” that Jesus instructs his disciples to wear a simple tunic with “no money bag at the belt and with no sandals on their feet” (Mt 10,9).

As in our own verbal communication, so Jesus too had mainly to rely on words when trying to evoke mental images in the minds of his audience. This verbal approach brings with it special limitations that require extra skill from the communicator. Many things that can easily be shown in a film cannot be so clearly communicated through a radio broadcast. Visual impressions can only be partly translated into sounds and words. Here again, research has been helpful – this time through the literary sciences – to show how language can help to build a mental image. Of special interest to us here is the function of dialogue. We have already met dialogue as an element of narrative. It also plays a role in characterising a person.

Words spoken by a person help us to get an insight into his nature. Dialogue is, as we know, the main medium of drama and stage performance. Our Lord shows great skill in making use of quoted speech to characterise persons or situations. The attitude of the repentant tax collector is so well summed up in his words: “Oh God, have pity on me, a sinner”. Compare this to the pharisee’s boastful prayer: “I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest or immoral like everybody else”. People who worry are characterised by what they say: “From where will come my food? or drink? or my clothes?” God’s invitation is expressed as a call to a wedding: “My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered and everything is ready, come to the wedding feast”. Jesus’ complaint is contained in what the children say on the market place: “We played wedding music for you but you would not dance! We sang funeral songs, but you would not cry”. The dramatic force of these expressions makes us feel we are in contact with real living persons.

HOW TO MAKE A PORTRAIT

It may be helpful to put together the various elements that go into the building up of a portrait.

Our task is similar to that of a public relations officer who has at his disposal a lot of information about an important person, and who is given the job of introducing this person to the general public. Or, we may compare it to the work of an historian who tries to conjure up in the imagination of his hearers a correct and living picture of the person whose life he describes. I have always found it useful to imagine myself standing on a stage addressing a large audience, stretching out my hand to the famous person standing next to me whom I am supposed to introduce. The point I want to make is that if we want to do justice to our task of introducing another person, whether as his public relations officer, his director, or host, we must think about the kind of elements that our portrait of the person should contain. For the sake of illustration I will refer to Absalom throughout this section (1 Sam).

Of course, there is the need for visual presentation to the extent this is possible. People know a person better if they can see his face, his eyes, his hair, his gestures, the characteristics of his dress, or his way of walking.

Absalom, we know, had a stately figure: “In the whole of Israel there was no man who could be praised for his beauty as much as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was not a blemish on him” (14,25). Absalom also wore long flowing black hair that fell in heavy tresses on his shoulders. He must have been an impressive person to look at in spite of being the dandy he was.

We normally identify a person by his bio-data. By this we mean the common facts that somehow fix his origins: his name, the place where he was born or educated, his language and culture, his father and mother, his job, his age and his previous history.

The Bible informs us that Absalom was the third son of David, that he was born at Hebron (around 1000 B.C.). That his mother was Maacah, daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur (3,2). When he was forced to leave Judah, he fled to the royal palace of Geshur.

A person reveals his true mind by his attitude towards others.

In spite of David’s love for him, Absalom had absolutely no regard for his father. Not only did he undermine David’s authority and stage a major revolt against him; when he entered Jerusalem he expressed his contempt for his father by having a tent pitched on the flat roof of the royal palace, ordering his father’s concubines to be brought there and entering the tent “in the sight of all Israel”. (16,20-22). Later he pursued David with a large army, firmly determined to kill him. Such an attitude clearly gives us an insight into his personality.

People’s attitudes often become clear by what they say. Direct speech reveals a person’s deepest motivations and intentions.

The Bible records how Absalom used to stand outside his father’s palace to court the goodwill of important people in the kingdom. “Absalom would say, ‘Look, your case is sound and just, but there is not one official of the king who will give you a true hearing!’ He would then go on to say, ‘Oh, who will appoint me judge in the land? Then anyone with a lawsuit or a plea can come to me and I would see to it he had justice’ and whenever anyone came up to do homage to him, he would stretch out his hand, lift him up and embrace him” (15,2-5).

A man’s attitude of mind is also revealed by his habits. Dr. Johnson, writing about biography, once remarked that the small habits persons have in their daily lives may be more important in understanding a person than major events. He complains that many biographers “have so little regard to the manners and behaviour of their heroes, that more knowledge may be gained of a man’s real character by a short conversation with one of his servants, than from a formal and studied narrative, begun with his pedigree and ended with his funeral”.

About Absalom, for instance, we hear that he had the custom of cutting his hair once a year. He would make a public show of it. He would have the hair weighed which might amount to “200 shekels of the king’s weight” (about 2j kgs). We also hear that Absalom liked to show himself in public driving a chariot drawn by horses, “with fifty men to run ahead of him” (15,1).

Information on a person’s character also flows from his deeds, from the way in which a man deals with a difficult situation.

When Absalom’s sister Tamar had been raped by Amnon, Absalom was furious and decided to avenge his sister’s honour. But he did not say anything about it to anyone. He bided his time until a good opportunity arose. This came when Absalom arranged a banquet to which all the king’s sons, including Amnon, were invited. Absalom travelled specially to Hebron to invite Amnon. When Amnon was intoxicated with wine, Absalom ordered his servants to kill him. He then fled away to Geshur. The whole episode showed him to be a cunning, hypocritical, scheming and cowardly person.

A final norm for evaluating a character is the way a person is accepted by others. The emotions and reactions of contemporaries indicate to some extent the favourable or unfavourable sides to a person’s character.

We know that Absalom must have had very good qualities because he was loved by his father, David. Quite a few people admired him. Perhaps, we learn most about Absalom from the reactions of Joab. Joab was Absalom’s friend. He interceded for Absalom with David on more than one occasion. But when Absalom’s treason became clear, Joab broke with him and did not hesitate to kill him as he hung helplessly from the tree, caught as he was by his hair.

It is not always possible, necessary, or even desirable, to give all such details about a person. But it is good to realise that it is this type of element that presents a person more than abstract words. When giving a portrait we should be on the look-out for these elements and interweave them into a harmonious description of the person.

To conclude this section, I will give a short portrait of David which contrasts favourably with that of Absalom.

“When we turn to King David, we meet a totally different person. David had always been a great warrior. He had fought a lion with his bare hands. He had taken up the challenge of Goliath when no one else dared to step forward. But on this day when Absalom with his rebellious troops are converging on Jerusalem David shows an inner strength of character that is of even higher quality than his leadership in war.

We see David leaving the city with all his court, walking on foot. The flight is his decision. He takes some practical measures that will strengthen his position in the inevitable conflict with Absalom. In spite of the unexpected treachery, he does not act in panic. He leaves his foreign Gittite troops the option to stay out of the civil war, if they so desire. He refuses to take the ark of the covenant with him so as not to endanger this sacred object. His overall attitude is one of resignation. “If I find favour in the eyes of God, he will bring me back and let me see both the ark and its temple. But if he says ‘I have no pleasure in you’, behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him”. David was a humble man. He knew his own sins and weaknesses and so he could understand sin in others. When Shimei cursed David outside the city gate, David did not resort to violence. “Let him alone and allow him to curse”, he said “for it must be that the Lord has told him to curse. It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today”. David showed true greatness of mind by being ready to forgive. After defeating Absalom he granted pardon to Shimei. David’s love for Absalom was of a similar quality. In spite of the injustices dealt to him, he instructed his troops to spare his son’s life. And when he heard that Absalom had been killed he mourned for him. “Would that I had died instead of you, oh Absalom, my son, my son!” In David we recognise the greatness of a humble man.”

PORTRAIT – REFLECTION APPROACH

Man is in need of living examples after which he can model his life. Our presentation of a biblical portrait should be such that it corresponds to the needs and aspirations of our audience. The portrait should be highly visual, congenial to the group we are addressing and reflecting qualities or virtues desired by it. The portrait should be such that it can easily “catch on” in the imagination of the audience so that it can become a model for future behaviour.

The history of devotion to St. George may serve as an illustration of the psychological processes involved. In the early centuries of the Church George was an ambiguous historical figure. In the West he was remembered as a soldier-martyr who died for the faith. In the East he was linked to the mythological Perseus of Joppe who was supposed to have killed a man-eating monster to save the virgin Andromeda. The St. George figure as we know it today arose when the knights of the early Middle Ages were in need of a saint who would represent their ideals. When the crusaders heard of St. George in Palestine, he was suddenly discovered (about 1000 A.D.). In a very short time a portrait of St. George became universally accepted in which eastern and western traditions, past events and contemporary thinking were blended into the “Ideal of the Knight”. Richard Lionheart claimed to have seen St. George in a vision during the Crusades. St. George became patron saint of England. Thirteen militant orders were dedicated to him.

Fig. 22. Statue of St. George by Donatello (1386-1466).

At times, for short homilies, a simple portrait of a biblical character may have sufficient punch to stand on its own. This applies to all such considerations of character universal to man and remaining valid for all times. A simple presentation of Absalom’s or David’s character, possibly both by way of contrast, does not need much by way of a message added on from the outside.

But often we will find ourselves in the same predicament that we faced in the story-reflection-story approach: we have two separate and distinct sources of communication. On the one hand we would like to present the portrait of a biblical person that can serve as an example. On the other hand we have definite things to say to our audience that result from our experience about life today. The portrait-reflection presentation would seem to provide an answer to this problem.

I have to give a conference to a group of sisters about spiritual direction. Reading up some books about it and noting down from my own experience what seems important to me, 1 end up with a worksheet that contains points such as the following:

*In Christian Perfection Rodrigues describes how important a spiritual director is for progress in the spiritual life.

* Many skills cannot be learned from books, but must be handed on by persons. (Note the story of the groom at St. Albans who taught his son how to rub down a horse).

* According to Indian tradition a disciple learns about God from direct contact with his Guru. Note the words of Bahina Bhai “A tree that comes into contact with a sandalwood tree becomes exactly like it. So if one comes in contact with a saint, one naturally becomes a saint. The little rill that flows through a village, when it finally mingles with the Ganges water, takes on the form of the Ganges through association with it…”

* Spiritual direction can be given by various people in various ways. Notice: the novice mistress, superior, confessor, retreat father, companions in a prayer group, etc. Enlarge on each.

When the worksheet has grown sufficiently in content so that I have a rough picture of what I could usefully say to the sisters about the topic, I search for a biblical personality that could carry and deepen the message. After some seeking I come up with the Queen of Sheba as the best candidate. She was, after all, a person who came from far to consult Solomon about God and the meaning of existence. She had all the qualities of a distinct personality. She showed both independence of mind and will ingness to learn. So I turn to 1 Kings 10 and read carefully what the Bible has to say about her. I compare this with the notes of my worksheet. I discover that I have overlooked some important aspects of the question, such as the search for wisdom so important in the biblical text. I regroup and complement my points in harmony with the shape her portrait takes in my mind. Eventually I come up with the outline of my conference which to my mind combines the message of the biblical text and the practical remarks of spiritual direction in one harmonious presentation. In short, it might amount to this:

Portrait, Part 1:

I introduce the Queen of Sheba. She must have been a very capable person to ascend the throne in an Arabian kingdom. Being queen meant acting as supreme judge, as general and as mistress of life and death for all her subjects. Apparently she was also a philosopher and a religious seeker who understood that the search for widom should be the first priority in her life.

Reflection:

Wisdom in Old Testament terms is a combination of insight and holiness of life. It expresses the fullest realisation of our human potential. I read and explain Wisdom 7, 22-30 in this context. I reflect on our own desire to attain self-fulfilment, how perhaps it has waned in the course of our religious life. I introduce Bahina Bhai, the Indian Guru, who was born in 1628 at Kolhapur but who fled from her home to become a Hindu saint because she felt irresistibly drawn to God and the spiritual life. I quote from some of her works.

Portrait, Part 2:

In spite of her independence of mind and her capable leadership, the Queen of Sheba is also an example of someone understanding the need for guidance. She undertook a long journey to have the chance of asking Solomon many questions about the world, the meaning of life, and God. I dramatise the scene of the Queen of Sheba learning from Solomon. Sitting at his feet she benefited from revelation and Solomon’s personal intelligence.

Reflection:

No one can make progress in his path to God without the help of other people. I explain the rule of having a spiritual guide, a rule begun by the fathers in the desert (Rodrigues). I give the example of learning a skill from a master, pointing out that much in the spiritual life is a matter of experience. I quote once more the Indian saint Bahina Bhai, how she herself learned to pray from Tukaram and what she says about the use of the spiritual guide. I indicate some of the practical ways in which we can get spiritual help: from superiors, our confessor, our companions, and so on.

Portrait, Part 3:

I concludeby stressing some of the unusual features of the Queen of Sheba. She was an Old Testament, non-Jewish saint, who became the type of a true religious seeker. Christ praised her and saw that people like her would play a role at the last judgement. Although she was a pagan she will put many of those who heard the Gospel to shame.

I believe that the similarity to and difference from the story- reflection presentation will be clear from the above example. When we have a story we move from one event to another. One division of the story into parts will be dictated by the inner dynamic tension of action within the story. When we present a portrait, however, our description will be static. Instead of saying, “he did this, then that”, we will be saying, “he was like this, he was like that”. The different parts of the portrait willbe based on the distinct qualities of the personality that we describe, the one after the other.

I have found that some people, when attempting this approach, are inclined to present their biblical personality in what may best be called a brief chronological biographical description. What I mean is that they try to take us through a person’s life from birth, through childhood and youth, to adulthood and old age. The presentation of David is then divided into three parts: David as a boy, David as a young man, and David as the mature king.

In my experience such an approach proves unsatisfactory. First of all, the rapid sweep through a person’s life usually degenerates into an enumeration of small facts and events, instead of elaborating individual scenes or powerful descriptions that can well be imagined. Secondly, there are few biblical personalities about whom we have such a complete range of information. Thirdly, when presenting a person in a portrait our stress should not fall on the time element in his life, but rather on an aspect of his personality that inspires us. To my mind we reach our purpose better if, for instance, we present David as a strong leader (part 1), then as a sinner (part 2), and finally as a man of prayer (part 3). Each of these three aspects of David should be documented by referring to incidents that happened throughout his life.

The distinctive characteristic of true biography is the change in a person, the growth of character, the development brought about by fortune, and so on. Saul, for instance, began as a humble and devout leader, but slowly became proud and self-reliant. The change in his personality is part of the message. However, even in this case, it is not necessary to recount this change by moving through Saul’s life in a chronological order. The contrast between his earlier humility and later pride can be brought out by a portrait of the proud Saul with biographical flashbacks to the way Saul used to be. In general it is advisable to portray the person at a definite moment in his life, with references when required to what went before or what was to come afterwards.

THE RIGHT CHOICE

Personality protraits have their impact because the hearer tends to identify himself with the person described. To make the most of this process we should choose personality examples suited to our audience. When speaking to women, our best model will be a woman. Usually, audience, topic and situation will go hand in hand to fix our choice.

When addressing a group of Women, good personalities to present might be: Judith (leadership in society), Sarah (preparation for marriage), Ruth (bridging social and cultural gaps), Hannah (guiding children to God), Jezebel (influence over the husband for good or bad), Esther (the tension between one’s private life and a social function) and Deborah (the matter of emancipation).

However, we should not exaggerate this stress for a ‘mirror- person’ to suit a particular audience. Any human being, whatever his status, age or background, can identify himself with any other human person. Sometimes too great a similarity between the portrait and the audience results in a negative reaction. We should not give children only examples of children. Children like to identify themselves with adults, as we can see from children’s games, and they feel underrated if we do not present examples from adult life. Whatever our audience, our portrait should be presented to them in such a way that they see its relevance for their own lives. This is not so difficult as human nature is basically the same for everyone and people quickly enter into another person’s life. H. V. Morton rightly says in Women of the Bible *, (London. 1940 page 4):

“The more we know of our fellow men, and the more closely we study the lives of those who have gone before us, the more clearly do we realise that the strings of the heart are numbered, and that the harmony or the discord that life draws from us is the same old tune that has been running through the world since mankind was born to sorrow and joy. The changes, the inventions, the fashion which are the keynote of our time, are perhaps apt to make us forget that men and women have not changed much since the age of Genesis.”

This leads us on to another point. There are some persons about whom the Bible gives a lot of information, such as Abraham, Jacob or Joseph, the Viceroy of Egypt. They appear in the limelight of salvation history. Our attention is easily drawn to them. But there are other persons who play a rather secondary role, who appear on the scene for only a short time. Yet these too may have a valuable message through their personality. By an ingenious use of the often scanty information offered by the Bible, by our knowledge of the general background situation and a lot of poetic imagination, we can draw a fuller picture of such personalities that will not fail to make an impression on our audience.

Suppose that you want to speak on the Holy Eucharist. Your sermon is meant to be delivered during the “Family Eucharist”. Going through the Gospel passages dealing with the subject, you will come across the boy who gave the five loaves and two fishes that Jesus was to multiply (John 6,9). What do we know about him? He was introduced to Jesus by St. Andrew (John 6,8). He was among those following Jesus in admiration for his teaching (John 6,2). The rest we can reconstruct from other Gospel texts and a little imagination. The boy was attracted to Jesus. Perhaps he used to help the apostles, or he came along with his father to listen to Jesus. When there was a shortage of food, it was he who happened to have some bread and fish with him. Gladly he stepped forward to lay this food – all he had – in Jesus’ hands. Perhaps he expected that Jesus and the twelve would eat it. Then imagine his surprise when Jesus worked the miracle. His bread and his fish never came to an end under the breaking touch of a smiling Jesus! So, we too, in Eucharist, offer ourselves, however small we are, to see our offering multiplied infinitely by its becoming Jesus’ own sacrifice.

Or, you may wish to discuss compassion. It may be that the penitent David, St. Mary Magdelene, the sorrowful St. Peter or the good thief, have been presented by you on other occasions. Why not take, for a change, the interesting case of one of the sons of Jacob, Judah? It was Judah who was mainly responsible for selling Joseph to strangers (Genesis 37d). But his heart was touched by God’s grace. Without recognising the Viceroy of Egypt as the brother he had injured, he made in his presence a sincere confession of his sins, and he irrevocably offered his own life for that of Benjamin (Gen 44, 18-34). He was thereupon granted forgiveness by Joseph and by God (See the Messianic promise in Gen 49,8-12d). He became a model of true conversion.

Again, we might wish to stress the Gospel teaching about helping a person in need. The parable of the Good Samaritan may have been read as the Sunday Gospel and we do not want to bore our audience by unnecessary repetition. Why not spend some time on Pharaoh’s daughter, who saved Moses’ life (Ex 2,5-10)? From Egyptian history we can reconstruct quite well the kind of life such a princess lived, her riches, pleasures, distractions. The Bible’s words about her, “The baby wept and she had compassion”, shows that she was a tender, kindly and brave person. At considerable risk to her own security she saved a person who needed her help. Race or religion did not matter to her; she was moved because she heard the child weep and realised its danger. What better parallel can we find to what Jesus meant when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan?

SOME DO’S AND DON’TS

The question may arise as to how far we can use our imagination in filling in details we require to present our portrait. Are we not doing an injustice to Scripture by exerting ourselves to find more in it than we actually do? The answer lies in keeping a sense of proportion. Wherever possible, we should try to remain faithful to the biblical text, making the fullest use of the details actually given in the Bible. Usually much more material is provided by the scriptural account than we at first realise. It is a good piece of advice, therefore, to read the scriptural text more than once and to take careful note of what is given before we start enlarging the picture with other means. It is a good idea too, to use the actual words of Scripture wherever this proves feasible.

When the information provided by Scripture remains deficient, we should not be afraid to use our poetic imagination in order to ensure that the portrait will achieve its purpose. After all, it is not the details themselves that count, but making the overall message of the Bible understood and accepted by our audience. We would not be faithful stewards of God’s word if we were to neglect its substance by anxiety over immaterial details. Moreover, when we apply our imagination we can indicate this to our audience so that they can distinguish between the hard facts of Scripture and the imaginative touches of our own presentation.

Here follows a small example of how this could be done in practice:

“Elijah, the new Moses, was truly the image of a man of God. He wore a cloak of camel’s hair and a loin cloth of leather (2 Kings 1,8). We may well imagine that he had a long beard. His face showed the sharp features of a man used to fasting and penance. He ate twice a day. His simple meals consisted of a piece of bread in the morning and some meat in the evening (1 Kings 17,6). He surely must have been of a robust physique for we are told that on one occasion he ran faster than the horses of Ahab’s chariot (1 Kings, 18,46). Moreover, we are told that he took an active part in executing the 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18,22,40)…” (The references to scripture verses are only given to show which details derive from Bible texts).

Another matter we have to dwell on is the need to maintain some kind of consistency in our portrayal of biblical personalities. In the course of our preaching, giving conferences or teaching catechism, the same personalities will occur again and again. People retain what we have told them before, and being presented with a series of conflicting images about the same person confuses and upsets.

Popular presentation has a tendency to over-simplify character. In “popular” films the main characters are classified as either very good or very bad. The world is divided into two camps: the innocent heroes on the one side; the rogues on the other. If we want to be true to the Bible and remain consistent in our presentation of it, we will have to learn to shade our examples, not to paint our portraits either too white or too black.

David can be held out as the model of a good and familiar friend of God with the gift of profound personal prayer. He possessed courage and faith. On the other hand he also committed serious sins on various occasions and was not allowed to build the temple because he was “a man of blood”. Are we going to present him as a “good” or “bad” character? The answer is that, from whatever angle we present David we should somehow leave room for both his positive and his negative qualities.

Inexperienced preachers are sometimes tempted to adduce many examples in the same sermon or conference. Speaking about the enormous influence of good political leaders they might refer to Hezekiah, Josiah, and Mattathias to prove their point. Usually the attempt fails. The audience is confused and not really convinced because it does not know the biblical text sufficiently well to see the force of all these examples. The moral is clear. It is better to present one well worked out, powerful portrait than ten badly presented ones. It is the quality of involvement rather than the quantity of models that determines success.

THE ONE-POINT EXAMPLE

So far we have been discussing how portraits of biblical personalities help us to put across a scriptural message. There is another kind of Scripture text, related to personality, that contains a message in a different way. I mean the one-point example. This refers to the many incidents narrated in Scripture where a certain person made the right or the wrong decision. The action itself and its consequences contain a lesson relevant to us today. One-point examples are good material for short homilies or for illustrations in the course of longer expositions. I will mention a few to indicate the kind of text I mean.

Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites. He believed they came from a far country and made a covenant with them. He made this mistake because he had neglected to consult God (Jos 9,1-18). We should ask God for guidance even when we think we know what is right.

Elisha offered to Joash the victory over Aram. Joash only responded half-heartedly. If he had had more confidence and determination he would have been given a complete victory (2 Kings, 13,14-19). We receive only small favours from God because of our own lack of confidence.

Jonathan knew that he was dealing with a devious man when he went to talk to Trypho. Yet he was deceived by Trypho’s hypocrisy and so lost his own life and those of 3,000 companions (1 Mac 12,39-53). When dealing with treacherous people we do well to be extremely prudent.

When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem his enemies tried to distract him from the task. But Nehemiah knew where his priority lay. “I cannot come down to meet you. I am engaged in a great undertaking” (Neh 6d,1-3). Nothing should keep us from our main task in life, such as looking after our own spiritual welfare.

Eleazar refused to eat pork, even though secretly other meat had been substituted for it. He knew that his example would strengthen the resolve of his fellow-Jews and would help many others be faithful to the Law. He died a martyr’s death for his convictions (2 Mac 6,18-31). We are not allowed to give a bad example to weaker brethren even if our actions are excusable in themselves.

When Naaman had been cured of his leprosy, Elisha’s servant Gehazi asked Naaman for a financial reward. He was punished for his greed. He contracted the leprosy which Naaman had lost (2 Kings 5,20-27). Greed may bring us material wealth, but it also brings the misery such wealth entails.

Such one-point examples can sometimes be presented best by the defect-example-moral sequence. First, we point out the defect in us which we illustrate from experiences known to our audience. We then present the one-point biblical example, indicating how its moral teaches us how to overcome the defect. Priests who always find an excuse to miss their annual retreat (the experience of the defect) may be inspired by the determined stand of Nehemiah to reconsider their attitude. One-point examples are like small darts that may prick our conscience into action.

Footnotes * Women of the Bible, H V Morton, (p4)