LAW OF THE PLEDGE Rev. WILLARD D. PENDLETON 1957
"When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his
pledge. Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the
pledge abroad unto thee. And if a man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his
pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver him the
pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God." (Deuteronomy 24: 10-13)
In ancient Israel the home was a sacred institution. Every man was, as it were, king within his own house. The reason for this was that the land upon which the house stood belonged unto Jehovah, and neither king nor creditor could take it from him who held it as a direct grant from God. Thus it was that when Ahab, King of Israel, sought the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, Naboth said unto him: "The Lord forbid me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee" (I Kings 21: 3). In so speaking Naboth invoked the ancient law which, although it had been disregarded for many generations, was still the law of the land.
Intimately associated with this law was the statute of the
pledge. Not only was the debtor protected from the creditor in the possession of his house, but the creditor could not enter the house of the debtor to demand collateral for his loan. This was the law of the pledge-the law that required the creditor to stand abroad: "and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the
pledge unto thee." This was a matter of good faith with him who had borrowed of his neighbor, but under no circumstances was the creditor to enter the house of the debtor and require satisfaction for the debt.
In the spiritual sense of the Word a "loan" is a thought or an idea, for thoughts and ideas are the medium of exchange between minds. Hence it is that one who instructs or advises another is the creditor, while he who is instructed or advised is the debtor. As creditors, however, we are not to insist upon a recognition of the debt. According to the law we must await a willing response, which alone is evidence of an agreement between minds (AC 9213).
This affirmative or willing response is the
pledge spoken of in the text. When given, it is the sign of good faith; when it is withheld it is apparent that differences exist.
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This is the debtor's right-the right to exercise free will in matters of doctrine and in the application of doctrine to life. Let no man, therefore, seek to persuade another against his will. If, having heard us, he will not come out of his house, then we must go our way and await a change of state.
The spirit of persuasion is an evil thing. This is the meaning of the text. This is why it is that in our relations with others we must await the
pledge. If it be given we may press our claim to the truth: if withheld, it is not to be forced by subtle reasoning or an appeal to self-interest. As the Writings observe: "One should not bind or incite another to confirm one's own truths, but should hear him and take his answers as they are in himself. For he who binds and incites another to confirm his own truths, causes the other not to think and speak from himself, but from him" (AC 9213: 6). So to incite another is to possess his mind-to take by persuasion that which is not freely given.
This is the sin of the zealot-the sin of him who seeks to excite others to the religious way of life. To preach the Gospel is one thing; to excite states of religious enthusiasm is another. The one is an appeal to the self- evidencing reason of truth: the other is an emotional persuasion. This is the fundamental reason for the slow growth of the church. In the law of the
pledge we are warned of the debtor's right, and we are not permitted to enter the house of another to take his
pledge. The man of the church is to be a free man-a man who is free from all external compulsion in matters of doctrine and faith. Neither the priesthood, nor any other human authority, has the right to exact recognition of a spiritual debt.
When doctrinal differences arise, or when through ignorance or seeming indifference others are unmindful of their obligations to the church, we are not to insist. Our only recourse is to the Divine Law. We must "stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the
pledge unto thee." We may plead our cause, but we are not to force him against his will. This is the reason that the confessional is not included in the rites of the church, and that penitential practices are not observed among us. No man, be he priest or layman, is to require of another that which is not offered in freedom.
The appearance is, however, that the end justifies the means-that if our cause be righteous, persuasion is permissible. Yet the purpose of permissions, wherever they apply, is that freedom may be preserved. Hence the teaching that the Lord permits what He does not will, and this for the sake of freedom. If, then, through the exercise of a permission, a man is deprived of his freedom, it is not a permission of Providence, it is a thing of evil. So it is that he who instructs or advises another, he who in one way or another seeks to lead men to the good of life, must speak the truth.
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If the truth does not convince we are not to enter his house, for the spirit of persuasion is an evil thing.
The purpose in all instruction should be to lead men to the good of life by way of truth, yet the man of the church is not to be bound by such instruction as he receives. If in conscience he cannot accept the doctrinal interpretations of priests and leaders of thought, let him go to the Word and plead his cause. He is the debtor, and as such his is the right to question what is taught. Before the Law he is a free man-free to determine for himself what is true. So it is said in the Arcana: "He who believes differently from the priest, and makes no disturbance, must be left in peace; but [it is added] he who makes a disturbance must be separated" (no. 10798). To disturb is to insist upon our own interpretation of doctrine-to require of others that which we are not willing that others require of us. This is the sin of the unmerciful debtor spoken of in Matthew, who, when his lord forgave him his debts, demanded payment of his debtors.
Let those, therefore, who feel that they are being deprived of their freedom by the pressure of human opinion go to the Word. Here there is no persuasion, no false emphasis which impels belief. Note well the teaching of the Writings that the "Lord never compels any one; for he who is compelled to think what is true and do what is good is not reformed (AC 1947). Wherefore it is a law of Divine Providence that the understanding and will of another is not to be forced, for that which compels takes away freedom (AE 1150: 3). It is added, however, that man should compel himself, for to compel one's self is from freedom" (ibid.).
If the Writings were other than what they are, that is, were they other than a rational formulation of the Divine truth, man would not be in freedom. The exercise of freedom is a power which is peculiar to the faculty of rationality. Indeed, the rational may be defined as the ability to discriminate between good and evil. This is God's gift to man, and it is that which makes him a man. So he can think in favor of God, or against God, as he wills. In this he is protected by the form in which truth is revealed, for that which is truly rational never compels. It is the way of the Lord who in the supreme sense of the word is the creditor of all. He it is who stands abroad and awaits the pledge-that affirmative response which is the sign of faith in Him. All wisdom, all knowledge, all truth are His. Even the house in which we dwell is of His building. Yet the Lord does not enter the house and force acknowledgment of the debt; for: "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man will hear My voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3: 20). If, therefore, the Lord does not require satisfaction of us, wherefore should we, who are His debtors, require satisfaction of those who have borrowed of us?
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Rather should we pray, saying, "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors."
A respect for the freedom of others is the highest form of charity. In all human relationships it takes precedence over every other good. This is why we are not to place others under a sense of obligation to us, and where such obligations are incurred we are not to insist upon a recognition of the debt. It is a grievous thing to bind others with a sense of personal indebtedness-to require of them what they would not do were they left in freedom. Thus it is that we are permitted to stand abroad and call upon our neighbor, to remind him of his responsibilities to the church and to society at large, but we are not to enter his house and force his conscience.
A man's conscience consists of such truths as he possesses, that is, those truths which by way of regeneration he has made his own. In the Word they are likened unto raiment which clothes the body-the body representing the good of life. Hence it was that among the Israelites, particularly the poor of the land who had few possessions, garments were used as pledges. Because of their representation they served as a sign of good faith, even as we accept a man's word as an ultimate expression of moral integrity. Yet a man's word is not to be forced. We are not to exact a promise of another, either implied or expressed, which in conscience he cannot keep. So it is said in the text: "If a man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his
pledge. In any case thou shalt deliver him the
pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord."
The reference here is to the hyke, a coarse blanket which the nomad nations of the East used as a cloak by day and as a covering by night. It was an all-purpose garment and an essential of life. According to law it could be used as a
pledge, but if the man was poor it was to be returned by the going down of the sun. So it is said in Exodus: "If thou at all take thy neighbor's raiment to
pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: for that is his covering only it is his raiment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious" (Exodus 22: 26, 27).
The outer garment of the spirit is woven of natural truths-those truths which are drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and form a social and moral conscience. In states of spiritual obscurity, that is, when the sun goes down, it is, as it were, our only possession. It is in such states that we lose the vision of the spiritual ends for which we are laboring, and we perform our uses from a sense of duty rather than from delight. It is a time of spiritual recession in which the mind is not responsive to the appeal of interior truth. Like the debtor we hear the voice of the creditor as He calls upon us from without, but "hearing we hear not."
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Yet the Lord does not force our states. At no time does He compel a recognition of our spiritual debts. His mercy is upon us when the sun is up and when it goeth down, "For I [the Lord] am gracious."
In remembrance of His mercy we, too, must extend to others that spirit of understanding when they will not hear us. In matters of life, as well as in matters of faith, we must not force their hands. When men are apparently unmindful of their obligations to society and the church, the temptation is to force their conscience, to gain by persuasion what we cannot accomplish by a presentation of use. The appearance is that the end justifies the means, yet the truth is that the end is not served where freedom is impaired. If, therefore, a man is beholden to us, if he is under a moral or social obligation to us, we are to return his garment to him before the sun goeth down; "and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord."
To return the garment is to return to the neighbor the full use of his own conscience in the application of doctrine to life; or, where differences exist, to desist from dispute when it is apparent that the mind of another is being forced. Especially is this true when men come into states of uncertainty regarding doctrines and principles. In such states instruction is needful, and this is the creditor's right. He may stand abroad and call upon the debtor, but he is not to enter his house; and if he hold his neighbor's garment in
pledge he is to return it to him before the sun goeth down. As for the debtor, he is not bound by the
pledge. In the recognition of his spiritual obligations he is to be left in freedom, for this is the debtor's right. Amen.
LESSONS: Deuteronomy 24: 5-22. Matthew 18: 21-35. AC 9213: 4-6.
MUSIC: Liturgy, pages 497, 416. Psalmody, pages 26, 1.
PRAYERS: Liturgy, nos. 16, 22.