The Ordeal of Life

Recently I came across this paper written by an economics professor about medieval ordeals. Ordeals were how medieval Europeans decided guilt and innocence. An accused person had to "thrust his arm into a cauldron of boiling water and fish out a ring. If his arm was unharmed, he was exonerated. If not, he was convicted. Alternatively, a priest dunked the [accused] in a pool. Sinking proved his innocence; floating proved his guilt."  The paper spends 37 pages explaining that if everyone was a faithful believer, then the guilty would confess and never face an ordeal. And only the innocent would face an ordeal.

The author concludes that in a believing society (and a society without modern "CSI" technologies), ordeals were an efficient mechanism to separate the innocent from the guilty. He goes on to cite evidence about how most recorded ordeals found people innocent and suggests priests understood that only innocent people faced ordeals and "rigged" them to find most people innocent.

After I read the paper, someone was telling me about an "ordeal" they were going through. I think it had something to do with an Email program or a computer virus. This got me thinking about these medieval ordeals. It made me think about the early Christians in Acts, especially Stephen and Paul. I realized that I am pretty lucky. The ordeals that I face today are pretty tame and insignificant. Email just isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. But the paper did make me think about what it means to be a faithful Christian.

The author starts his paper with a quote from Hebrews 10:31: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." This verse is what drew me to this article. It reinforces the underlying faithfulness that must have been required for any person who submitted to an ordeal. It also reminds us of the faithfulness required by us to be a Christian today.

There are really two scenarios to an ordeal or most of life. In an ordeal, the accused person is either guilty or innocent. In life, we are either wrong and in sin. Or we are righteous and following God. And no matter what side of that line we are presently standing on, if we are faithful and true believers, our options are clear-cut. If we are wrong we must admit our guilt; we must repent; we must pray for His forgiveness, and accept God's will. If we are right, we have to have faith in the living God, we have to accept the ordeals of life fully trusting in the ways of the Lord. And if we are truly faithful and submissive to God, there are no real ordeals, no extremely tough decisions. By believing and loving the Living God, we are truly blessed.

At this time if you have any need before the church, you are invited to come forward as we sing.