Posts
I'm preaching this week and though I have looked at our scriptures in their original languages in preparation for my sermon, I haven't had time to do my ordinary blog work.
But, that's no excuse! You deserve a post!
Our scripture this week comes from Exodus 33:12-23 and Matthew 22:15-22.
In the Exodus scripture, God and the people have had a falling out. After the golden calf incident, God decided that maybe these people weren't the "chosen" ones after all. He's had enough of this stiff-necked people and decides not to go with them any longer. Thankfully, Moses intercedes and reminds God of all the promises God made to him and also to the people and God decides that he will remain with the people.
In our Matthew text, Jesus is confronted with the Pharisees who want to know if it is lawful to pay taxes to the government. They are trying to trap Jesus, but Jesus doesn't fall for it! Jesus points out to them that for a people who are so concerned about paying taxes to a secular government, they don't seem to have much problem dealing with Roman currency in the Temple. Moreover, he instructs them to give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and to God what belongs to God. It's a tricky statement--everything belongs to God! Even the emperor belongs to God!
Both of these scriptures seem to be dealing with issues of identity. Exodus deals with the identity of the people before God. God and the people of Israel are still working out how this relationship is going to be. Neither is too sure of the other. Israel can't seem to work out who they are before God and God often seems to lack commitment.
The Matthew scripture presents a question of the identity of Jews in a secular situation. They are not sure what kind of relationship they should have with others--namely the government. The relationship with God seems worked out, but they are not sure how to live in a world that may not be sympathetic to their relationship with God.
Both aspects of identity are important. We have to know who we are before God and we have to know who we are in relationship to the world we live in.
Want more? Come on Sunday!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
"Rejoice in the Lord always!"
Philippians 4:1-9
Therefore, my beloved brothers, my longing, my joy and crown, in the same way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Indeed, I ask you, loyal comrade, help these women, who worked together with me and Clement in the Gospel and the rest my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is near. Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your request be known to God. And the peace of God surpassing all reason will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Henceforth, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is praise worthy, if any virtue and if any praise worthy thing, consider these; that which you learned and you received and you heard and you saw in me, do these and the God of peace is with you.
"Rejoice in the Lord always!" These were probably the first words of scripture I ever memorized. Maybe even before John 3:16, because these words were part of a song that we all loved to sing in Sunday school when I was a child. Easy to sing, much harder to do.
I've been thinking about and reading scripture much more these days. Our canon is one of the few things that has not changed much in the last several centuries, so it is easy to take comfort in it in this time of turmoil for our nation, and indeed, our world. I've read lots of scripture, mostly from the Psalms, but this particular scripture is not one that is easily heeded in times such as these.
It's as if we live in a suddenly upside-down world, isn't it? The economy doesn't make sense. Politics doesn't make sense (if it ever did). Our financial future seems uncertain. In the midst of it all, it's hard to say "Rejoice in the Lord always!" when there doesn't seem much to rejoice about.
I'm constantly reminded that God's demands on my life are different from those of this world. For decades, our culture has been convinced that success would be proven in our bank accounts. There has be theological support for this, even. Some call it Prosperity Gospel. Others simply believe that if they are good, honest people that they will be rewarded in their bank accounts. Somehow, that logic seems flawed now.
So, I try to remember that God's covenant with God's people asks us to love God and love neighbor. God will be faithful to God's people. We are children of God and our hope is in the resurrection, not in material wealth.
So, in this stressful time of crisis, I think it must be possible to "Rejoice in the Lord always!" because we answer to a God who is bigger than this crisis.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, my longing, my joy and crown, in the same way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Indeed, I ask you, loyal comrade, help these women, who worked together with me and Clement in the Gospel and the rest my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is near. Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your request be known to God. And the peace of God surpassing all reason will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Henceforth, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is praise worthy, if any virtue and if any praise worthy thing, consider these; that which you learned and you received and you heard and you saw in me, do these and the God of peace is with you.
"Rejoice in the Lord always!" These were probably the first words of scripture I ever memorized. Maybe even before John 3:16, because these words were part of a song that we all loved to sing in Sunday school when I was a child. Easy to sing, much harder to do.
I've been thinking about and reading scripture much more these days. Our canon is one of the few things that has not changed much in the last several centuries, so it is easy to take comfort in it in this time of turmoil for our nation, and indeed, our world. I've read lots of scripture, mostly from the Psalms, but this particular scripture is not one that is easily heeded in times such as these.
It's as if we live in a suddenly upside-down world, isn't it? The economy doesn't make sense. Politics doesn't make sense (if it ever did). Our financial future seems uncertain. In the midst of it all, it's hard to say "Rejoice in the Lord always!" when there doesn't seem much to rejoice about.
I'm constantly reminded that God's demands on my life are different from those of this world. For decades, our culture has been convinced that success would be proven in our bank accounts. There has be theological support for this, even. Some call it Prosperity Gospel. Others simply believe that if they are good, honest people that they will be rewarded in their bank accounts. Somehow, that logic seems flawed now.
So, I try to remember that God's covenant with God's people asks us to love God and love neighbor. God will be faithful to God's people. We are children of God and our hope is in the resurrection, not in material wealth.
So, in this stressful time of crisis, I think it must be possible to "Rejoice in the Lord always!" because we answer to a God who is bigger than this crisis.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Well, it's time I admitted it, friends.
The Scripture blog needs to take a break for a week or two. The fact is, even the best intentions are not enough to get this done in the last few weeks. Things are getting busier as we swing back into our regular fall programming at Trinity. I love the blog and it is a wonderful discipline for me, but right now the "real" face-to-face ministry needs to come first.
I'll take a few weeks off, brush up on my languages and be right back where we left off: providing you with original translations and Bible notes each week for the texts we'll encounter in worship. I apologize for the recent lack in posts, but sometimes it's just very important to prioritize.
It's ta-ta for now, and see you in a week or two!
The Scripture blog needs to take a break for a week or two. The fact is, even the best intentions are not enough to get this done in the last few weeks. Things are getting busier as we swing back into our regular fall programming at Trinity. I love the blog and it is a wonderful discipline for me, but right now the "real" face-to-face ministry needs to come first.
I'll take a few weeks off, brush up on my languages and be right back where we left off: providing you with original translations and Bible notes each week for the texts we'll encounter in worship. I apologize for the recent lack in posts, but sometimes it's just very important to prioritize.
It's ta-ta for now, and see you in a week or two!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Exodus 1:8-22 for Sunday, August 24, 2008
Translation:
(1)A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. (9)And he said to his people, "Now the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than us. (10)Come now, let us deal wisely with them, lest they become great and meet in battle, joined also with those who hate us and wage war with us and leave the land." (11)They placed over them captains of forced-labor in order to oppress them with forced labor. And they built supply cities for Pharaoh; Pithom and Ramses. (12)But as the Egyptians oppressed them, they multiplied and they spread out and the Egyptians loathed the children of Israel. (13)And the Egyptians made the children of Israel labor ruthlessly. (14)They made their lives miserable with hard labor in mortar and brick and with all the labor in the field, all labor which they worked in harshness. (15)And the King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah. (16)And he said "When you deliver for the Hebrew women and you see upon the birthing stool that it is a son, you will kill him. And if it is a daughter, she will live." (17)The midwives feared God and did not do as the King of Egypt said to them and they preserved the children. (18)And the King of Egypt called the midwives and said to them "Why have you done this thing? You preserved the children!" (19)And the midwives said to Pharaoh "Because [they are] not as Egyptian women, the Hebrew women are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they give birth." (20)And God was good to the midwives, he multiplied the people and they were very strong. (21)Because the midwives feared God, he made for them families. (22)And Pharaoh commanded to all the people saying "All the boys born, you will cast in the Nile."
What a story! This narrative begins the book of Exodus narrative. It begins the story sometimes called "The Easter of the Old Testament." Truly an epic narrative.
I think this Pharaoh has some problems. He sees problems that don't exist! He worries needlessly and makes edicts that make no sense at all! First, he sees the Hebrews as a threat. They have not done anything that would cause him to feel threatened! He is only afraid of what could happen. We all know that if we walked around in fear of what could happen, we would never accomplish anything at all. The film What About Bob illustrates this nicely.
All the same, Pharaoh is worried that the Hebrews might cause an uprising that the Egyptians would not have the resources to handle. Worse yet, they might actually leave and then there would be no peasants to do the work no one else wants to do! So, Pharaoh implements plan A. He attempts to work them so hard that they will not have the strength to cause an uprising.
Plan A fails. The work seems only to cause the Hebrew people to grow stronger! Gluttons for punishment!
Plan B is less logical than plan A. Pharaoh decides Plan B is to kill all the Hebrew baby boys. This makes sense if you are worried about a future army rising up. It makes little sense if you are hoping for a second generation of hard workers.
Plan B fails. Unfortuantely, Pharaoh's plan had Hebrew midwives killing Hebrew babies. At some level, he almost had to expect failure!
Plan C is to throw all the boy babies into the Nile. We all know how well that worked out. One mother, following the edict, puts her baby in a basket and floats him down the river where Pharaoh's daughter finds him, raises him in Pharaoh's own court and before we know it we have a Hebrew hero ready to lead the people away from Pharaoh's land. The very thing Pharaoh feared has come true after all.
I think what we have here is a Pharaoh who constantly lives out of a culture of scarcity. None of this would have started if he wasn't so afraid of not having enough. He feared not having as many resources as the Hebrews. He feared not having enough labor to build up storage cities. Since he needed storage cities, he was evidently afraid of not having enough grain. Not enough, not enough, not enough.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew people are doing just fine with what God has given them. It's not much, but they grow to be a strong and numerous people, just as God promised in Genesis 12.
What is evident to me is that Pharaoh's greed and sense of scarcity led him to make a series of decisions with varying degrees of rationality. When we do not rely on God, do we not do the same? What do you think?
(1)A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. (9)And he said to his people, "Now the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than us. (10)Come now, let us deal wisely with them, lest they become great and meet in battle, joined also with those who hate us and wage war with us and leave the land." (11)They placed over them captains of forced-labor in order to oppress them with forced labor. And they built supply cities for Pharaoh; Pithom and Ramses. (12)But as the Egyptians oppressed them, they multiplied and they spread out and the Egyptians loathed the children of Israel. (13)And the Egyptians made the children of Israel labor ruthlessly. (14)They made their lives miserable with hard labor in mortar and brick and with all the labor in the field, all labor which they worked in harshness. (15)And the King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah. (16)And he said "When you deliver for the Hebrew women and you see upon the birthing stool that it is a son, you will kill him. And if it is a daughter, she will live." (17)The midwives feared God and did not do as the King of Egypt said to them and they preserved the children. (18)And the King of Egypt called the midwives and said to them "Why have you done this thing? You preserved the children!" (19)And the midwives said to Pharaoh "Because [they are] not as Egyptian women, the Hebrew women are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they give birth." (20)And God was good to the midwives, he multiplied the people and they were very strong. (21)Because the midwives feared God, he made for them families. (22)And Pharaoh commanded to all the people saying "All the boys born, you will cast in the Nile."
What a story! This narrative begins the book of Exodus narrative. It begins the story sometimes called "The Easter of the Old Testament." Truly an epic narrative.
I think this Pharaoh has some problems. He sees problems that don't exist! He worries needlessly and makes edicts that make no sense at all! First, he sees the Hebrews as a threat. They have not done anything that would cause him to feel threatened! He is only afraid of what could happen. We all know that if we walked around in fear of what could happen, we would never accomplish anything at all. The film What About Bob illustrates this nicely.
All the same, Pharaoh is worried that the Hebrews might cause an uprising that the Egyptians would not have the resources to handle. Worse yet, they might actually leave and then there would be no peasants to do the work no one else wants to do! So, Pharaoh implements plan A. He attempts to work them so hard that they will not have the strength to cause an uprising.
Plan A fails. The work seems only to cause the Hebrew people to grow stronger! Gluttons for punishment!
Plan B is less logical than plan A. Pharaoh decides Plan B is to kill all the Hebrew baby boys. This makes sense if you are worried about a future army rising up. It makes little sense if you are hoping for a second generation of hard workers.
Plan B fails. Unfortuantely, Pharaoh's plan had Hebrew midwives killing Hebrew babies. At some level, he almost had to expect failure!
Plan C is to throw all the boy babies into the Nile. We all know how well that worked out. One mother, following the edict, puts her baby in a basket and floats him down the river where Pharaoh's daughter finds him, raises him in Pharaoh's own court and before we know it we have a Hebrew hero ready to lead the people away from Pharaoh's land. The very thing Pharaoh feared has come true after all.
I think what we have here is a Pharaoh who constantly lives out of a culture of scarcity. None of this would have started if he wasn't so afraid of not having enough. He feared not having as many resources as the Hebrews. He feared not having enough labor to build up storage cities. Since he needed storage cities, he was evidently afraid of not having enough grain. Not enough, not enough, not enough.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew people are doing just fine with what God has given them. It's not much, but they grow to be a strong and numerous people, just as God promised in Genesis 12.
What is evident to me is that Pharaoh's greed and sense of scarcity led him to make a series of decisions with varying degrees of rationality. When we do not rely on God, do we not do the same? What do you think?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Genesis 32:22-32 for Sunday, August 3, 2008
Translation:
(22) And he arose that very night and took his two wives, two maids his eleven children and he crossed the ford of Jabbok. (23)And he took them and crossed the wadi and that which belonged to him. (24) And Jacob remained apart and a man wrestled with him until dawn. (25)And he saw that he was not prevailing over him and he struck him in the hip socket and dislocated Jacob's hip as he wrestled with him. (26)And he said "Let me go for it is dawn." And he said "I will not let you go unless you bless me. (27)And he said to him "What is your name?" and he said "Jacob." (28)And he said "Jacob will no longer be your name, but Israel for you persisted with God and with people and you prevailed. (29)And Jacob asked and said "Now tell me your name." And he said "Why do you ask for my name?" and he blessed him there. (30)And Jacob called the place Peniel because "I saw God face to face and my being was delivered." (31)And the sun rose as he passed through Penuel and he limped upon his hip. (32)Thus the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh upon the hip socket this day because he was struck Jacob's hip socket in the sinew of the thigh.
How many times have we all wished that God would answer our prayers in obvious ways? Wouldn't it be better if God would just call you up on the telephone? Wouldn't it be easier if God would meet you in the mirror with the answers to your questions?
I've often thought this. To be honest, I am a little jealous of Jacob. He gets such awesome encounters with God and I somehow wish my own encounters were this dramatic. Jacob wrestles with God. Who among us hasn't? Jacob wrestles with God and comes away as a different man. Who among us hasn't?
Though I wish that I could see God "face-to-face" as Jacob did (what must that have been like?!), I know that my own encounters with the holy have been just as transformative. Christians have this tendency to talk about a life of faith as if it were a walk in the park with Jesus. Jacob's story proves that it doesn't work that way. A close and intimate relationship with God can sometimes cause you to walk away, not only changed, but maybe even a little disabled.Jacob walks away from Peniel with a limp. He is not the same person. He has a new name, and he is disfigured.
It works that way in the life of faith sometimes. Anyone experiencing a call to ministry knows that. How do you explain to your friends and family that God "told" you to go into ministry? There is a part of that calling that cuts very deep and feels a little painful.
How do you suppose Mary made out after discovering she was pregnant prior to marriage? Sure, the story seems to have a happy ending, giving birth to the Savior and all, but how do you suppose her life was changed? Imagine how she explained to her friends and family that God had chosen her to bear a special child. Maybe she was just a little disfigured too.
What about Moses, who received a calling from a burning bush to go face the strongest government in the region with the demand to let the slaves go free. Is that the course he imagined his life taking?
The story of Jacob wrestling with God always reminds me that the life of faith is not for the faint of heart. Frankly, it's hard and it hurts a lot. It means wrestling with God and walking away changed, and maybe not in the way you wanted to be changed.
(22) And he arose that very night and took his two wives, two maids his eleven children and he crossed the ford of Jabbok. (23)And he took them and crossed the wadi and that which belonged to him. (24) And Jacob remained apart and a man wrestled with him until dawn. (25)And he saw that he was not prevailing over him and he struck him in the hip socket and dislocated Jacob's hip as he wrestled with him. (26)And he said "Let me go for it is dawn." And he said "I will not let you go unless you bless me. (27)And he said to him "What is your name?" and he said "Jacob." (28)And he said "Jacob will no longer be your name, but Israel for you persisted with God and with people and you prevailed. (29)And Jacob asked and said "Now tell me your name." And he said "Why do you ask for my name?" and he blessed him there. (30)And Jacob called the place Peniel because "I saw God face to face and my being was delivered." (31)And the sun rose as he passed through Penuel and he limped upon his hip. (32)Thus the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh upon the hip socket this day because he was struck Jacob's hip socket in the sinew of the thigh.
How many times have we all wished that God would answer our prayers in obvious ways? Wouldn't it be better if God would just call you up on the telephone? Wouldn't it be easier if God would meet you in the mirror with the answers to your questions?
I've often thought this. To be honest, I am a little jealous of Jacob. He gets such awesome encounters with God and I somehow wish my own encounters were this dramatic. Jacob wrestles with God. Who among us hasn't? Jacob wrestles with God and comes away as a different man. Who among us hasn't?
Though I wish that I could see God "face-to-face" as Jacob did (what must that have been like?!), I know that my own encounters with the holy have been just as transformative. Christians have this tendency to talk about a life of faith as if it were a walk in the park with Jesus. Jacob's story proves that it doesn't work that way. A close and intimate relationship with God can sometimes cause you to walk away, not only changed, but maybe even a little disabled.Jacob walks away from Peniel with a limp. He is not the same person. He has a new name, and he is disfigured.
It works that way in the life of faith sometimes. Anyone experiencing a call to ministry knows that. How do you explain to your friends and family that God "told" you to go into ministry? There is a part of that calling that cuts very deep and feels a little painful.
How do you suppose Mary made out after discovering she was pregnant prior to marriage? Sure, the story seems to have a happy ending, giving birth to the Savior and all, but how do you suppose her life was changed? Imagine how she explained to her friends and family that God had chosen her to bear a special child. Maybe she was just a little disfigured too.
What about Moses, who received a calling from a burning bush to go face the strongest government in the region with the demand to let the slaves go free. Is that the course he imagined his life taking?
The story of Jacob wrestling with God always reminds me that the life of faith is not for the faint of heart. Frankly, it's hard and it hurts a lot. It means wrestling with God and walking away changed, and maybe not in the way you wanted to be changed.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
It's been a while
I apologize to any regular readers that might actually be out there for the lack of posts. I will try to post again next week. It is just that ministry has been keeping me busy and I try to make sure my real life ministry comes before the virtual ministry. If you want to see what's really been keeping me busy, bring your kids to VBS this week! :-)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Matt 11:28-30 for Sunday, July 6, 2008
Translation:
(28)Come to me all who labor and who have been burdened and I will refresh you. (29)Take up my yoke on yourself and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. (30)For my yoke is good and my burden is light.
What a Scripture, huh? And convenient that it is the Scripture right before July 4th. Who among us isn't ready for a break?
It's an interesting invitation. When Matthew wrote these words, it's likely he had in mind the religious baggage and burdens the Scribes and Pharisees carried. It's hard saying what exactly Jesus had in mind. The "yoke" in the Hebrew Scriptures usually refers to servanthood, and since Jesus was familiar with those scriptures, that's probably what he was talking about.
The "yoke" though? How is that restful? How is that a relief? Sounds like work to me! Well, truth be told, it is. But, it's a much better load than any other "religion" we force on ourselves. Like that "religion" that tells us we need to work 26 hours a day. Or that "religion" that tells us our life won't be complete without a boat. Or the "religion" that tells us we'd be better off walking the dog Sunday morning with our Starbucks. Or how about that "religion" that says bigger is always better?
Compared to these societal "religions," Jesus really is offering relief. Following Jesus means you don't have to conform to society. You only have to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. Sounds loads easier than what our society would have you believe doesn't it?
So, do you really need to work 26 hours a day? What would happen if you didn't? Do you really need that boat? What would happen if you didn't buy it?
(28)Come to me all who labor and who have been burdened and I will refresh you. (29)Take up my yoke on yourself and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. (30)For my yoke is good and my burden is light.
What a Scripture, huh? And convenient that it is the Scripture right before July 4th. Who among us isn't ready for a break?
It's an interesting invitation. When Matthew wrote these words, it's likely he had in mind the religious baggage and burdens the Scribes and Pharisees carried. It's hard saying what exactly Jesus had in mind. The "yoke" in the Hebrew Scriptures usually refers to servanthood, and since Jesus was familiar with those scriptures, that's probably what he was talking about.
The "yoke" though? How is that restful? How is that a relief? Sounds like work to me! Well, truth be told, it is. But, it's a much better load than any other "religion" we force on ourselves. Like that "religion" that tells us we need to work 26 hours a day. Or that "religion" that tells us our life won't be complete without a boat. Or the "religion" that tells us we'd be better off walking the dog Sunday morning with our Starbucks. Or how about that "religion" that says bigger is always better?
Compared to these societal "religions," Jesus really is offering relief. Following Jesus means you don't have to conform to society. You only have to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. Sounds loads easier than what our society would have you believe doesn't it?
So, do you really need to work 26 hours a day? What would happen if you didn't? Do you really need that boat? What would happen if you didn't buy it?
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