An Appropriate Reaction

Hostages have been much in the news these days, for good reason. The most horrific fate is that of the Israelis kidnapped in October 2023. Many have died; some are still in captivity. Only a merciful God can heal the wounds of the ones released. May that same merciful God bring about the release of those who still survive. But other captives have also been released, with rather less publicity. Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have secured the release of 47 detained Americans abroad. Beneath the radar, kidnapping of businessmen and executives, often motivated by financial gain or political agendas, remains a significant concern in various parts of the world. Many American citizens have been taken by kidnappers, mostly in Mexico, whom the victims met on dating apps. They have had their ransoms paid by their families. Kidnapping is big business. The risk is low, the reward is high, and the publicity is fleeting.

But when the victims return - after weeks or months or years in captivity - what is it like for them? How happy they must be, you’d think, released from fear and bondage and their captor’s whims, home and safe and surrounded by people who not only love them but were willing to pay - who knows how much - to get them back. Wow. How grateful they must be. What a great perspective they must have on what’s important in life, after such an ordeal.

But it’s not that simple. There are the obvious traumas, of course, but there is also something called the Stockholm syndrome.

That’s when kidnap victims often get really attached to their captors. It happens more often than you might think - something about the fear and isolation does it. If it’s a political kidnap, the victim may convert to their captor’s ideology - remember Patty Hearst, back in the 70's? And then there’s guilt, and resentment - particularly if the family impoverished itself to raise the ransom - and a whole slew of other symptoms. No, the ransomed captive often doesn’t adjust at all well to being free from captivity.

Gratitude is a very mixed emotion in any case. I’ve been told that the Japanese, with their formally polite culture, have a lot of different ways to express gratitude - and every one of them conveys one degree of resentment or another. And in China, as I’m sure many of you have heard, if you save someone’s life they don’t owe you - you owe them.

So when the Psalm assigned to this 3rd Sunday in Easter asks “What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?” [Ps 116:12] the answer sounds pretty good: “I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to YHWH God in the presence of all his people.” [Ps 116:17-18] But it actually doesn’t stand up to very close scrutiny. And I say that as one who really loves Psalm 116. It was one of the readings at my ordination. This is a song of heartfelt, poured-out gratitude to the God of our salvation, the redeemer of Israel, and the Psalmist is trying to express the magnitude of the debt that he feels. And his heart is absolutely in the right place: “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” [Ps 116:1-2] The kind of Sunday observance that the Psalmist is talking about it is at best only a seventh part of our lives. Making thank offerings is good. Praising God in worship is good. Keeping our promises to God is good - although of course it’s always a good idea to make sure that what you promised God is something that he wants.

But the proof of the genuineness of our gratitude to God really shows up most clearly outside of worship. I’m sure most of you are familiar with that passage from Micah, “What does the Lord require of you? Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” [Mi 6:8] The people of Israel had forgotten the character of God, and so the prophet Amos told them,

"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.” [Amos 5:21-23]

Instead of responding to who God was and what God had done for them with obedience, they were trying to bribe God to look the other way while they did whatever they pleased.