SOUTHBOROUGH L’ABRI PRAYER/NEWSLETTER
May 2006
49 Lynbrook Road, Southborough, MA 01772

In a world where image, spin and hype are at high levels of sophistication, suspicion is not a bad idea. Without suspicion about advertising, we would all be bankrupt before the end of the summer. But suspicion alone may not be a reliable guide. Suspicion that is overconfident sees through everything and everyone and turns into cynicism. We face the question daily -- what do we do with our suspicion?

There is an interesting account recorded in the Gospel of John, which tells of a conversation between Jesus, Mary of Bethany and Judas Iscariot at a dinner party the week before Jesus was arrested and crucified.

Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” (Jn 12:3-8)

Mary’s extravagance demanded an explanation and Judas was quick with a cynical one. His suspicion could see through and unmask Mary’s apparent love for Jesus. Beneath her piety he saw irresponsible waste and indifference to the poor. She was a flake. Then John, not having read the “Gospel of Judas”, took a hard, suspicious look through Judas’s cynicism. He saw a hypocrite and embezzler beneath the self-righteous social conscience. Judas had wanted to take the money for himself and had just lost a windfall – no wonder he was angry. John showed that we can be rightly suspicious of suspicion. But John’s suspicion was not a cynicism that extended to all people or even all the other disciples. It was a specific evaluation made after observing Judas closely for three years.

Jesus then weighed into the discussion. He specifically rejected the cynical view of what Mary had done. Jesus could see through her, but he did not unmask her. She wasn’t wearing a mask. A face-value understanding of Mary was the true understanding of Mary all the way through. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone…”, then praised her for her love and understanding of the unique occasion. The attempt to deconstruct what she did might have sounded virtuous and clever but was simply a lie. So, a cynic at the dinner party would have been right about Judas but wrong about Mary.

This incident gives an intriguing view of how an omniscient God sees people. He knows us through and through, better than cynics know us and better than we will ever know ourselves. His vision is not cynical, reducing us to our sin. We are individuals made in his image, each multi-dimensional, who change through time. God evaluates individuals one at a time. Judas is unmasked. Mary is seen at face value and praised.

We need suspicion to survive in a fallen world. Jesus knew this so he taught us to “Beware of…” all sorts of things. But unchecked suspicion becomes cynicism. Cynicism, to be reliable, requires near omniscience. Ironically, God, who really is omniscient, is not a cynic. Jesus never promised ease or simplicity but rather, “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

The winter began with a two-week, J-term course in Cultural Apologetics here at L’Abri for Gordon-Conwell Seminary students, as we have done a number of times before. It is quite different from the normal L’Abri schedule because there are two lectures each day and less time for the work crew. It is always interesting to have a setting where all the students are dealing with the same material – unlike the regular L’Abri routine where each student has his or her own study plan.

In late January we began our normal L’Abri winter term. The students were a great group, hard working, hard questioning and co-operative with each other. It is wonderful to be stretched by persistent pushing back on important issues when our first responses were not up to speed. It is also wonderful to see God at work in peoples’ lives in ways that you know is distinctively his work. We were very thankful for the help of two great helpers, Ian and Jamie, without whom the term would not have gone as well.

During our break time I sent off the last revision of the book on cynicism, some thoughts from which you have just read in the first part of this letter. I sent it with some ambivalence. On the one hand I am very grateful to God to have finally finished it after all this time. But there is another voice that whispers, “The start of chapter 16 doesn’t sound quite right, if you only…”. I know that this neurotic perfectionist voice will be in my ear no matter how long I work on it, but the whispering just keeps on. For better or worse, it will be coming out in July as, Seeing Through Cynicism, A Reconsideration of the Power of Suspicion. Please pray that it finds its way to the people who would be helped by it and that God would use it. Mardi is doing well, and for the first time in a long time made it through the winter without a long illness. We are also grateful for the safe arrival of our second grandson, James Fritz Keyes in February.

The Morrells are doing well with both boys thriving in school. Nate was just given a dog for his birthday so there is a serious new addition to the L’Abri family. Sarah has made a wonderful, hospitable home in the upstairs apartment of the big house and is an important part of the team. She is grateful to have found a church that is good for her. Taylor, who lives in the apartment of our house is organizing the digitizing of the lecture material from our thousands of cassette tapes so that students can use MP3 players.

We open up the new term for students next week. Pray for this new group, with a few returning from the winter. Ask God to really use this time in the life of each one as they will all be taking time to intentionally deal with the larger questions. We are jammed full for the entire summer session (along with all the other branches), with quite a high turnover. Pray for continuity amid transience and for all of us as workers to keep our focus all the way through the term.
Please pray for our finances as our fixed costs continue to go up at a steady pace.

Pray for Ian, our helper last term, who seriously damaged his finger (he plays the piano).

Pray for our helpers this term -- Danny will be coming back along with Joe and Jen, a couple who were also with us last term .

Pray for a conference that Mardi and I are doing at a church in Sacramento in late July with Mark Ryan who is coming down from Bowen Island to join us there.

May God be with you all, to live in a way that is pleasing to him.

Dick Keyes