February 26, 2024. Ali Hakim, The Persian Peddler
Ali Hakim, The Persian Peddler
I love it when Paul uses a word picture, and it springs to life in my mind, a vista of what that word means to me. Paul has a habit of doing that in his letters.
Tonight I was reading in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. It says:
14 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”
That word “peddlers” has great significance to me. It’s one of those word pictures that explodes in my mind.
Why is “peddlers” so meaningful to me? How does it help me understand what Paul was trying to convey to his readers?
It was the 1960’s. Every year in our town of Grand Prairie, Texas, the High School A Capella Choir would produce what was called “The Capers”, a Musical which was performed in our beautiful H. H. Chambers high school auditorium. Many in our town looked forward to attending each year.
My Senior year our A Capella Choir Director, Earl Tom Keel, chose as our musical, “Oklahoma”, one of the outstanding musicals written & orchestrated by the dynamic and prolific Rodgers & Hammerstein. I was chosen as the Leading Man, and Kenna Bell was my Leading Lady. What great fun we had practicing and performing such a timeless musical, set in the late 1800s.
It just so happens the story includes a man by the name of Ali Hakim, a Persian Peddler. Ali was an opportunist and a shrewd businessman – a Peddler – who drove his wagon, pulled by a team of horses, from town to town in order to “peddle” his wares & knick knacks. Sometimes he even had an elixir that was said to miraculously heal what ails you, if you would just buy a bottle “for $1”. His flirtatious ways got him in big trouble, almost sweeping him into a marriage with Ado Annie, a young and very naive girl whose father is the local judge.
Paul’s use of the term “peddlers” not only brought back a ton of GREAT memories from our Capers Night, and the practice and preparation for such, yet also helped me understand a bit more what Paul was saying when he used the word “peddlers”. What an absolutely beautiful passage. We are NOT “peddlers” of a cheap message to be sold from town to town. We carry a message from the Living God, Himself, to those who would listen - the fragrance of Jesus to a world who needs Him soooo deeply and desperately, especially in this day and time.
I just love it when Paul uses such descriptive word pictures. Just one word, and a whole vista opens up in my mind.
Well, just my thoughts….