Saintly Superstitions

2 Kings 13: 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

This is one of those strange stories in scripture that encourages superstition amongst the faithful. Centuries after this event, the Christian Church was obsessed with collecting relics, possessions and bones of holy men and women, because the priests and people superstitiously believed that by honoring, worshiping and touching relics, miracles of healing, protection and victory in battle could be assured.

In the Middle Ages, a large town or great city was not complete without its sacred collection of authentic relics. Pieces of the Cross, patches of Christ's robe, and bones from the apostles appeared all over Europe. In fact, someone once estimated that at one time there were enough pieces of the Cross all over the towns of Europe to build a large timber church!

People wanted to believe in such things because they lived in anxious times. Plague, infant mortality, famine and fear of attack were quite commonplace. Because of this, common people wanted to be saved from their fears and sought the protection of the church, its saints, and holy relics. Faith gave way to superstition; worship became a magic ritual; and the church capitalized on its power and popularity by commercializing the relics business. It was only when the Reformation occurred that people were liberated from such nonsense. It was only when justification by faith was rediscovered that our churches began to get rid of this kind of superstition.

But what about us today; are we in danger of reverting back to the same old superstitions? We are also living in anxious times and people are looking for good omens, good signs, and good luck with their choices, life-styles, and careers. Tomorrow, most of us will wear green because it's St. Patrick's Day, but some people will wear green because they believe they will get bad luck if they don't. Perhaps today, we'll receive emails which we will forward and pass on to someone else because we won't dare to break the chain and bring calamity upon ourselves. Or we'll go and buy some lottery tickets, and mutter a prayer to God, telling Him that if He lets us win this time, we'll give at least ten percent of our winnings to the church.

All of these are founded upon superstition, and have no place in the lives of people of faith. As Paul said, " The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." And that is all we need.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to focus on Your Way today. Keep us free from superstition and strengthen us to overcome all that we are worried about. Be the source of all that we need and guide us through Your grace and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.