Coincidences

Are coincidences mere chance events? Or are they God Interventions?

As, if by chance, while waiting in a line in Canberra at the 7^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, I met a person from Switzerland.

The Swiss person glanced at the name MRS LINDA VOGT on my United Church of Canada name tag, and struck up a conversation with me. In English.

In Vancouver, at the 6^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, I met Nicodemus (not his real name) in much the same way, as if by chance.  After all, I am a friendly person.  I talk to people as I wait in lines.

I’m convinced these two chance encounters were God Interventions.  Before I tell you why, I need to tell you that the 6^th Assembly was held in Vancouver, 3 miles from Jericho, on the unceded territorial land of the Musqueum people.

Jericho is not just Jerry’s cove or a good place catch fish or swim. In the Bible, at least 5 Miracles happen in Jericho or on the Jericho Road that restore people’s faith and hope in God’s promise of salvation.

1. Joshua captures Jericho: Joshua 6:1-21
2. Elisha purifies the spring of Jericho: 2 Kings: 2:19-22
3. Zacchaeus meets Jesus at Jericho: Luke 19:1-10
4. Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus at Jericho: Mark 10:46-52
5. The Samaritan rescues a traveller on the Jericho Road: Luke 10:25-37

According to the Bible, the walls of Jericho fall because a female named Rahab, believed to be a prostitute gives overnight hospitality to Joshua and his spies in her home. In the battle for control of the city, Joshua and his soldiers spare Rahab and her family and welcome them into Joshua’s camp.

Similarly, Zacchaeus, believed to be a despised tax collector and enemy of the people of Jericho, gives overnight hospitality to Jesus. Because of this, Jesus restores and honours Zacchaeus and the whole town of Jericho as descendants of Abraham (Luke 19:1-10).

35 years ago, I was unaware of this connection.

35 years ago, the person I met near Jericho in Vancouver was a resistance leader as a boy during the Second World War.

Had I not turned to this man standing behind me in the lunch line, I would never have fully appreciated the philosophical nature of my conversation about “Man” and “Woman.” Nor would I have entertained the idea of driving to my home along the Jericho Road and spending the night with him.

Patriarchal language, place names, names and stories in the Bible are misleading. They blinded Paul and they have blinded many.

You see in the Bible, a person or a man can be either a he or a she, but grammar rules default to the male gendered pronoun. The theologian and man from the Assembly I took home with me made no argument when I made such a claim.

I suspect the Swiss I met at the 7^th Assembly was aware of the connection this man from the Assembly and I shared. Perhaps he saw him and I speaking as I reached out and touched his camel hair pashmina draped over his shoulder…and him caressing my face and body with his eyes.

When the chance to speak with me presented itself, the Swiss told me something very important about the name, Mrs. Linda Vogt, recorded on my official 7^th Assembly name tag. What he said opened my eyes. Something like fish scales fell from my eyes.  I could see how Nicodemus and the Woman Caught in Adultery are linked, to the Story of Zacchaeus.

The Swiss simply said:

“In my country, the name Vogt is a pejorative. To call a person a vogt, one is calling the person a cheat and a dirty, tax collector!”

The Swiss was telling the truth.  According to Wikipedia, during the Holy Roman Empire “vogt” was a title given to the noble or advocate, who was a steward or land owner. As such to be a vogt was to be considered a ruler, a member of the ruling class. These advocates or vogts as they were called, did not always charge people fairly for the use of their property.  And most likely, as people sold their lands, gave their land to the church, or lost their lands to colonizers, fewer and fewer people owned the land. As rents and taxes increased, people without wealthy relatives became resentful, and began to think of “Vogts” as grubby tax collectors.

The story of Zacchaeus is related to the story of Jericho.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacchaeus This is no coincidence. Jesus and Joshua both receive hospitality from a person the Bible says is a sinner, an enemy, and a betrayer.

Jesus and Joshua both receive hospitality that is not legitimate.

Yet, Jesus and Joshua do not sully themselves by accepting this hospitality.  Nor do they suffer the same pejorative consequences as Rahab or the Vogt aka the rich Tax Collector. Is this fair?  Should not both the one receiving the hospitality and the one giving the hospitality be equally sullied or equally honoured?

The story of Zacchaeus is often used to illustrate the saying of Jesus: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8, because the name Zacchaeus means ‘pure’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacchaeus

In the Bible, having a clean heart is important. The Singer in Psalm 51:10 sings:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right^[a] spirit within me.

My first name Linda in Italian means “clean” or “pure” as does the name Zacchaeus.  More importantly, my previously married name of Vogt means tax collector or advocate. I don’t think I inherited these names by accident or by chance.

6 years ago, I met and fell in love with DonStewart at a Jazz Vespers event, the very same year Nicodemus and his wife accepted my invitation to be my honoured guests at the eco-justice conference I initiated at my then home church, Bethany-Newton. These events too, came about as “if” by accident or by chance.

DonStewart is a black jazz singer well-versed in the Gospel. He is a father, a divorcee and single. Many people know him as someone who speaks up and out against people who mistreat women and people of colour. He grew up in Amherstburg Ontario. He is a descendant of Eliza Harris, the heroine of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. His mother’s name was Virginia.  Virginia was a Christian missionary and Don’s father was a Pentecostal ordained minister. Virginia whose name also means “virgin” as in “pure,” deliberately named Don, Don.  In Italian Don means “Lord.”  It is no accident that he and I are intimate friends and lovers who are on track for marriage.

On Easter Sunday 2017, Don’s neighbours woke up to convincing rumours claiming Don had died on Friday evening after singing at a local venue. Easter Friday is the day Jesus died.  Was this just a coincidence? People’s tongues and imaginations went into overdrive.  When film producers Steve Adams and Sean Horlor heard the story, they put together a storyboard with on-location interviews and live performances of DonStewart and his band—and pitched it to Storyhive as a docudrama with the title The Day Don Died.

The Day Don Died || Trailer (Widescreen) from Nootka St. on Vimeo.

Spoiler Alert…The Tomb is Empty. Don is Alive.