In and around Jerusalem, there are any number of holy sites. And they have been
argued over for centuries. To help settle those disputes, Sultan Osman III made an
Ottoman imperial decree in 1757 to help balance the power between the feuding
denominational groups. It is called the “Status Quo Agreement.”
One of the sites held under that decree is the Church of The Holy Sepulcher where
many believe that Jesus was crucified. To this day, that massive church property is
controlled by six Christian churches. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian
Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and the Syriac Orthodox churches
share the rights and spaces within that basilica.
And the Status Quo Agreement states that no repairs or redecorations or alterations can
take place in those spaces without the unanimous consent of all six groups.
Well, apparently in the18th century someone was making some repairs above the main
entrance, and they were using a Lebanon cedarwood ladder. It was placed outside
under a window. But one of the groups protested, the work and it was stopped. The
ladder remained in place, and no group had the authority to remove it.
And there it sits today. I saw it when I visited Jerusalem.
That “dumb” immovable ladder leaning against such an important archaeological and
spiritual site is a great example of other immovable items in our lives. They may not be
ladders but our conflicts with family, friends, neighbors or co-workers take on a similar
unbending nature.
For example, we won’t go to Thanksgiving at Aunt Clara’s house because Uncle Frank
will be there! (You know, the guy who insulted our guest back in 1992!). We refuse to
join a collaborative team at the office because years ago the COO mistakenly referred
to a product design of ours as being from another working group.
We won’t participate in the Christmas party on our block because back in the day a
neighbor put up the same decoration that we loved on his house too. We believe that he
was drawing attention away from our creativity!
Unmovable “ladders” that remain in our minds LONG after most of us can clearly
remember why we are fussing about them.
Jesus addressed those symbols of consternation in Matthew 5:25 when He told us to
“settle matters quickly with our adversary…” The ladder issue has been going on since
the mid 1700s. And some of our “stuff” has been going on for years too.
So, this week, maybe we all ought to look around and find ways to settle some of our
disputes. If we can, folks 3000 years from now won’t be laughing at us!