The Threshing Floor

“‘I should have thought that a pack of British boys… would have been able to put up a better show than that…Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” -Lord of the Flies 1983-

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature with its striking portrayal of the heart of man as an abyss of untamed transgression. The conclusion of the novel depicts a naval officer stunned at the childrens’ lack of civility and poise in a dire situation. The irony is that the officer stands in judgment of the savagery and chaos of the children’s microcosmic island while his adult realm is teeming with war and bloodshed. How is it that good old British children could resort to such blood-curdling violence? Even more, how can such a dim engraving of man win the acclaim of literature?

Golding’s Lord of the Flies does no more than to reflect a glimpse of the theology resonating in Romans 1, “ ²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Who are we? We are life-breathed dust in the image of the Almighty, fallen to the core. Yet for those in Christ, we are much more. We are constantly given over to the gracious sanctification of the Father who is obsessed with the return of his sheep. “Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half as persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way.” - Cornelius Plantinga.

To truly know thyself is to know God. As Calvin wrote in his institutes, “we cannot properly think of ourselves without thinking of God and we cannot properly think of God without thinking of ourselves.” The preacher stands and presents the revelation of God to the church but yet there is a preaching that is deafening outside the walls of the sanctuary. “The heavens declare the glory of God!” says the Psalmist. The ever preaching and proclaiming heavens place man under God so that he cannot vacation or lay sick in bed to side step the truth of Scripture. The heavens above cannot part from the praise of the Creator, the demons below cannot bear to hear it and yet the beloved ones between battle indifference.

So how is it that theology must lead to doxology? The constant proclamation from the heavens is the infliction of the lost yet it is the pleasure of the saved. It is this: the Lord of the Flies (another name for the devil) had a place in our heart for Paul writes in Ephesians,  “¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Then comes the jaw dropping turn in the chapter, “But…God.” More evident would grace be in my life if I were to be able to say those words. “I stand infinitely dirty and hopeless in my addictions and sins…But…God.” It is mild to call me only a servant of the Lord of the Air for truly I was his supporter and partner…But..God. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. There are beautiful hinges in Scripture.

So what is the message I must preach to myself and every Christian to his own?

It is this:

Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus, ready, stands to save you,
Full of pity, joined with power.
He is able, He is able;
He is willing; doubt no more.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Bruised and broken by the fall;
If you tarry until you’re better
You will never come at all.
Not the righteous, not the righteous;
SINNERS Jesus came to call.

Day by day if I doubt my sin I am a fool. Its only God’s grace that keeps me from spiraling into the darkest of sin and temptation. If sin is a running from God who is true knowledge and existence then it is only grace that keeps me from daily attempts at suicide. For Camus said, “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”

But…God. “Full of pity, joined with power.” Day by day if I doubt the gripping commitment of God in my life, I am a fool. Even for the children of God, there is a call to stay with the Father who is rich in mercy. The truth? That Father will not let us go. Come Thy Fount says, “Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.” The more I meditate on that, I realize that is less a prayer request than it is a lining up of the will to the reality of God’s stubborn love.

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” The rescue at the end of the novel should have been a joyous occasion. Yet the prodigal sons were not joyous in Golding’s mind. why? There was not present the same Father who receives them home as He who receives us in Luke 15.

If you tarry until you’re better
You will never come at all.
Not the righteous, not the righteous;
Sinners Jesus came to call.