UK gripped by 'chuckle crisis', headlined the Daily Star this Wednesday. The strapline continued: 42% can't remember last time they laughed. We are living in grim times.
But nowhere near as grim as for the land of Israel as depicted in the Old Testament book of Judges, a read not for the faint-hearted. It is a story of vulnerability, brutalisation and massacre, altogether disheartening.
And yet reading this brutal narrative this week I found strangely it rewarding, thanks to the imaginative and perceptive commentary in the BRF Guidelines of Isabelle Hamley, who happens to be the next-door neighbour to one of our daughters.
As the theological adviser to the House of Bishops Hamley has been heavily involved in yesterday’s contentious debate at General Synod over gay relationships. No doubt her understanding of the book of Judges was a powerful resource.
For the book of Judges (shopet in its original Hebrew) is concerned with justice (mishpat) in the broadest sense, “a life that leaves behind the ways of thinking of Egypt and instead practices the ways of the Lord as outlines in the covenant at Sinai.”
The problem is that despite the high hopes at the beginning of the book the people of Israel decide to go their own way and so we witness a downward spiral into moral and political chaos. We are appalled at the behaviour of deeply flawed characters, as violence and horror abound.
The position of women is an important theme in this terrifying book. We begin with arguably the only hero in the narrative, Deborah who has a creative double act with Barak.
However, the position of women gradually deteriorates as they are no longer named and become mere objects to be possessed to maintain the survival of the tribe. Finally and appallingly, the brutalisation of women is officially sanctioned and condoned by the leaders of the nation.
For the nation’s leaders become part of the problem, seeking their own personal gain and status, wanting to unite with the prevalent culture rather than lead the people away from it.
Take Gideon, for example, not the person you would want to name your society after. He wavers constantly between belief and disbelief, trust and fear. Tragically his confidence turns to arrogance as his holding onto power becomes more important than holding onto God’s covenant.
Or Samson, the hero of so many Sunday school lessons. “All that interests Samson is Samson and he treats God's gifts as his possession.”
A man born for a mission, he shows little regard for his calling and breaks every aspect of his Nazirite status. Tragically he goes his own way, showing astonishing self-centredness and immaturity.
And so “the narrator is forced to conclude that if this is the deliverer then God must be acting despite Samson rather than with Samson.”
So what is the heart of the problem? The very final verse of Judges spells it out. “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
Or as in Message translation: “At that time there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.”
“People did whatever they felt like doing.” Sound familiar? As Hamley concludes: “individualist and the individualisation of morality are at the heart of sinful choices in Judges.”
She explains: “Individualism as putting the self and the individual at the centre of moral decision making, make themselves judges of good and evil.” Given our human nature, such individualism becomes misshapen, twisted by individual choices, biases and brokenness, and so the common good recedes.
For the Lord is no longer king in Israel and the people no longer use God's definition of right and wrong. Everyone makes up right and wrong for themselves. Ironically, Judges demonstrates that such individualism results in nothing but the death of the individual.
And so in our society today, our pick and mix morality so that there is little sense of shared values and the protections that come with them. It’s not just that we can’t agree on how to live, we can’t even agree on the very basics, the fundamentals of our society
So yesterday, to the media’s bemusement the General Synod debated the place of gay people in our church. However, what the world cannot grasp is that our task as Christians is to discover God’s will for his people rather than decide for ourselves.
This represents a totally different process of thought which the world simply cannot grasp, that we are responsible to the God who loves us with an astonishing love.
As in the book of Judges, he may appear distant, detached. But the reality is very different, for come what may God stays with his people. And often in ways which we – and certainly the world - may not readily recognise or appreciate.
As theologian Timothy Keller summarises this book: “God relentlessly offers his grace to people who do not deserve it, or seek it, or even appreciate it after they have been saved by it.”
For God’s grace is one of shalom, a people living in harmony and hope, a community filled with laughter and joy in which everyone is welcome.