Epiphany week 4

Psalm: Psalm 111
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise. 

(Psalm 111:10)

Our passages this week invite us to explore the idea of a prophet starting in the Old Testament and leading into the New.  In Deuteronomy, the Lord decides to raise up prophets for Israel when they are in the Promise Land.  Originally in Exodus when the Lord gives the 10 Commandments the people are so frightened by the thunder and smoking mountain that they ask Moses to only have him speak to them because if God did then they will die.  So Moses becomes the mouthpiece of God.  In Deuteronomy 18 we see that the prophetic role will continue.  The Israelites must listen to the prophets or they will be judged by God.  I must say that the way to know if a prophet is true or not is not very comforting.  The only way will people will know if the prophet is from God is if their words come true.  In the meantime, the people are to obey the word,s just in case.  It really is a catch -22 or better safe than sorry.

In Mark, we read the first miracle of Jesus presented in the Gospels and that Jesus taught with authority.  What surprised the people in the synagogue was that Jesus taught as one having authority.  Jesus was speaking as a prophet at a time when no prophet had been seen in Israel in hundreds of years.  Jesus not only taught with authority, but he was also able to order demons to leave and listen.  This first miracle of Jesus helps us to see why the disciples and others thought Jesus was a prophet.  Jesus acted like the mouthpiece of God and performed miracles in the vein of the prophets.

As we follow the story of the prophet, 1 Cor. 8 opens up the role of prophet to all believers.  More accurately, I guess, Jesus, through his Spirit, has opened up the role of prophet to us. Under the Levitical Law food rules were very set with no leeway.  But, Paul writes and says each believer is to follow food rules in relation to their fellow believers. If one’s brother or sister has a problem with eating food sacrificed to idols, then neither should we.  This is actually a continuation of Paul’s discussion we read to weeks ago in 1 Cor. 6:12.  Something might be permit able under Christ, but that doesn’t mean it is beneficial for us or for our brothers and sisters.  In this role, we kind of take the role of prophet in the line of Moses and are able to speak the words of God to our fellow believers.  Through the Holy Spirit we are able and empowered to be the mouthpiece of God.  This is a role we must not take lightly.

Rather a short blog this week, but my hope is that by writing these you will open up the Bible and really read these four passages for yourself.  May the Lord guide and bless you this week.

Epiphany week 3

Psalm: Psalm 62:5-12
Old Testament: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Welcome to week 3 of Epiphany.  This week’s readings present some interesting problems and connections to be made.  Sometimes I have to question the lectionary choices.  But, I also think of the beauty and gift we have to read the whole Scripture and to see how the Bible speaks to us as well to itself.

Our Psalm this week praises God as the God of Salvation.  God is the only one in whom we can place our trust.  Our reading is verses 5-12, but the second half of the Psalm repeats itself often word for word from the first half, emphasizing the importance of what was just said.  In this case, God is the God of Salvation.

It is not difficult to find the theme of salvation in the Bible and Jonah is just such an example.  In Jonah 3 God saves Nineveh from the Judgment they deserved.  Everyone knows the story, so let me just point out two things.  First, Nineveh is so big it takes three days to walk it, but it only takes Jonah one day of walking to reach the people with his message and even the kings repents and goes into mourning.  You have to imagine the whole city spreading the message.  Jonah only reaches 1/3 of the city so that means Jonah’s message is repeated and spread by the Ninevites.  They become evangelists and prophets of God’s message in the same way as Jonah.  Nineveh, a city defined by its evil was ripe for the coming of message of grace and repentance of God.

My second point is that God uses Jonah, a Jew, to bring his message of salvation.  This is a fulfillment of the covenant made to Abraham and repeated throughout Genesis that God would use Abraham’s descendants to bless all people.  Nineveh is saved by God using God’s chosen people.  But Jonah plays the part of wayward Israel perfectly.  He rebels, ignores, and ultimately requires punishment before he obeys God.  When God saves Nineveh, Jonah is mad and jealous that the God of Israel shows to mercy to non-Israelites.  Jonah reenacts the history of Israel in this story at every point.  Israel was supposed to be a blessing, but it so often failed.

I must admit that our New Testament readings seem to have little to do with the Old Testament.  But Mark’s calling of the first disciples points to one connection, that God will call and save who God wants.  It made no sense to call Abraham and his descendants in light of how unfaithful they were.  It made no sense to save wicked undeserving Nineveh.  It also made no sense to call Simon Peter or Andrew to be Jesus’ disciples.  Like we saw last week with Nathaniel in John, Jesus’ disciples weren’t the smartest guys.  They weren’t well educated or powerful, yet God calls them.  The arc of scripture tells the story of a God who saves based not on who deserves it, but on who God has chosen.

Finally 1 Cor. 7 is a difficult chapter to understand in general.  I challenge you to read it this week and see if you can figure out what Paul is trying to say.  If there is anything in the Bible that needs to be taken in context, it’s chapter I Cor. 7.  So don’t take these three verses out of context.  Paul is trying to hold in tension the ideas that time is short and that Jesus will return soon against the understanding that we must still be in the world and serve God.  Paul tells us that we still have a duty to our families just before verse 29.  So when he says that those who are married should live as if they were not married, it is in contradiction with what he says earlier in chapter 7. I don’t know what to do with this except to challenge you to read the chapter this week. 

I have one more observation about reading and interpreting the scripture.  Notice that Paul says some of things are his opinions and some things he thinks are from God.  We might remember this as we read other passages and interpret Scripture.  The Bible was not dictated by the Holy Spirit as the inerrant Word of God.  1 Cor. 7 is just such an example of Paul contradicting himself and trying to make sense of complicated ideas and issues.  It’s better to live in the tension knowing that the Bible sometimes contradicts itself then to try to do exegetical backflips to support the idea the Bible never contradicts itself.  The Bible is true and reveals who God is, (for example a God who saves) but we need to be on guard against bibliolatry and not reading the Bible in the way it was intended.  

Epiphany week 2

Psalm: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 11-20
Gospel: John 1:43-51
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

The year seems to be in full swing; we're already halfway through January.  This week’s Scriptures invite us to explore an important concept: predestination.  Psalm 39 proclaims the love and intimacy with which God created us.  The Psalmist says that God knows us in the present (vs. 1-3) that he knows our future (4, 16) and he knows our past. (13-15) The middle section of the Psalm tells us that there is absolutely nowhere we can go to escape from God.  Even in the depths of Sheol, God is present.

But, the picture of God’s foreknowledge gets more difficult when we turn to some of the Old Testament narratives. 1 Sam. 3 is the calling of Samuel.  If we look back just one chapter, we discover why Samuel was called in the first place.  In chapter 2 Eli, a priest of the line of Aaron, is told that despite God’s promise that his family would be priests, God was removing his line and revoking his promise.  The Lord says, “Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.” (2:30) Eli’s sons sinned against God and are killed by God, so Samuel becomes an adopted son.  To get back to the idea of foreknowledge, it is easy to read these narratives from the Old Testament and see how God has to adapt, change and respond to human choices.  We get a picture of a dynamic and engaged God, not a God who has set the clock in motion and has turned away.

The Gospel of John is always interesting to read because the Messiahship and deity of Jesus is proclaimed as a given even when it doesn’t really make sense. The calling of the Phillip and Nathaniel is just such an example.  Phillip just drops everything to follow Jesus, which we see in other Gospels as well.  But Nathaniel kind of seems like a gullible goof.  The conversation between him and Jesus is a crack up.  Jesus says, “Now here is an honest Israelite.” Nathaniel, who seems to have already decided that Jesus was the Messiah based off Phillip's report is in awe so he asks, “How do you know me already?” To which Jesus glibly responds, “Oh, I saw you under the fig tree as we were coming over.”  And Nathaniel, still looking for the supernatural here says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”  Now as the reader we know this is true, but we have thousands of years of proof backing us up.  It took even Peter walking on water, going through all sorts of stuff to claim Jesus is the Son of God, but not little ol' Nathaniel.  He just knows.  And all Nathaniel and Jesus' interaction consists of is Jesus watching Nathaniel without Nathaniel knowing it under a fig tree.  I just find this story funny.

I think where the Lectionary is going with this is that Jesus knew Nathaniel.  Jesus seems to have this ability to read people and understand their stories and their needs.  I don’t think this is the same way that God does, but Jesus still is a perceptive person.  And he might also receive knowledge from the Father concerning people.  I don’t know, but I just want to hold the humanity of Jesus here in this story and also remember that Jesus gave up his heavenly abilities when he descended to earth.

1 Cor. 6:12 is one of my favorite verses and an important one to remember.  We must live in our lives in such a way that we don’t cause our brothers and sisters in Christ, or otherwise, to turn away from God.  Some things might be lawful, but that doesn’t mean they should be pursued for the sake of others.  This is a hard concept to get, and one I’m still working on.  It reminds also of Gal 6:2 where we are told to carry each other’s burdens.  What if burden doesn’t only mean cares and concerns, but also people hang-ups, quirks, and habits?  I think Scripture is clear that we are in fact our brother’s keeper.  To bring it around to knowing again, how can I know what other’s burdens and weaknesses are if I don’t truly know them as a person.  How can other people lift me up and encourage me in my faith if I don’t share and let them get to know me?

The message this week is first, God knows us (I encourage you to explore your own understanding of foreknowledge and predestination because it is complicated). Second, we need to get to know our siblings in Christ and be open enough to let others truly get to know us. 

I hope by now the pattern of this blog is becoming clear. My goal is to only point out certain things in the passages.  My hope is that you read them and make your own observations as I am only trying to make broad strokes and pull themes together.

May God bless you this week, Grace and Peace.

Epiphany week 1

Psalm: Psalm 29

Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5
Gospel: Mark 1:4-11
Epistle: Acts 19:1-7

Friday marked the day of Epiphany in the church year.  Epiphany has traditionally been a time of celebrating the wise men who visited Jesus and worshiped him as King.  Thus, in some cultures, Epiphany is called Three Kings Day. The wise men “reveal” or “show” who Jesus is.  Matthew portrays these Gentile pagan wise men as the first people to recognize who Jesus is.  For some Christians, Epiphany is also a time to celebrate Jesus’ baptism when Jesus was “revealed” as the Son of God.

Our brief passage from Genesis this week invites us to God’s original act of revelation.  Creation is God’s act of revealing who He is.  Creation is an expression of who God is and it is only through creation that we know God or are even known by God.  At Epiphany the message is that God continues to use creation to bring about salvation.  In the church, we have a tendency to deny the importance of creation or matter, but Christian doctrine doesn’t allow this.  From the very beginning, God has used creation to meet us and to speak to us.  This very idea is what the Psalmist proclaims.  The Lord is the Lord over creation, which sings his praises

Both of our New Testament passages deal with John or some of his disciples.  In Mark we have the message of John followed by his baptism of Jesus.  Notice first, that in Mark’s gospel, John doesn’t recognize Jesus as the “coming one.” He baptizes him without any protesting and there is also some ambiguity as to who hears the voice from heaven or sees the dove. Mark’s gospel doesn’t report John’s later inquiry from prison as to whether Jesus is the coming one or not.  So, in some sense, Jesus’ baptism is an epiphany or revelation, but no one really gets it yet.

The passage from Acts brings up more questions than answers.  For starters, who were these 12 men disciples of? John? If they followed John, didn’t they realize John’s message was pointing to someone who would come after him?  They seem ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah and had probably heard of him, but how had they never heard of the Holy Spirit?

Bringing Acts and Mark together, a couple observations can be made.  First, the importance of baptism.  Baptism is assumed in the New Testament and there is no debate as to if or how.  So, I get a bit upset with people who say that baptism is optional.  Nazarene’s only have two sacraments and we better use them. We believe that a sacrament must be an explicit command from Jesus, comes associated with a promise, and have a physical element.  Why would we want discourage any means of grace for a person?  To say this paradoxically, baptism isn’t an option but neither is it required.  God in his loving grace extends salvation to those who, by some circumstance, haven’t been baptized, but at the same time, obedience requires of us that we be baptized as a seal, symbol, and marker of death and new life in Christ.

Secondly, Jesus Christ brings the Spirit to those who are baptized in him.  The Holy Spirit is the promise we have when we live for Christ.  Although I find this a difficult teaching, I think at least Acts is clear that the Holy Spirit comes as something as a “second work,” to quote the old time Nazarenes.  Whether there is a short elapse of time or a longer period sometime after receiving Christ and being baptized the Holy Spirit comes to the believer.  How anyone can live a Christian life without the Holy Spirit I don’t know, but as the timeline plays out there is a definite “second-ness” to it.

Well, what baptism and the Holy Spirit have to do with epiphany that is for you to figure and discuss. But let me leave you the thought that God is still at work revealing himself to us through his creation.  Just as God was able to use a star for the wise men to follow, I challenge you during this time of Epiphany to be mindful of how God is speaking to you through his creation.  You might actually have to take a walk for this to happen, so do it. I already went to the Kansas City Zoo today and experienced many blessings and wonders of God’s creation.

First Sunday after Christmas

Psalm: Psalm 148
Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7

To all a continued Merry Christmas, today is the eighth day of Christmas. And I don’t want to make any jokes about “eight maid a-milking.” Also, for another 12 days of Christmas cultural reference, Thursday is “Twelfth Night” or the last night of Christmastide if you ever wondered where Shakespeare got the title to his play. My point is only that we are in Christmas time until Friday, so fell free to keep the decorations up and the Christmas tunes playing. We are at our house.

Today is also New Year’s Day. I don’t normally make New Year’s resolution, but this year I am. My goal is to read the Lectionary each week and to blog about it. So if anyone wants to join me that would be nice and you might already be doing that at church. (Probably unlikely however since I know so many Nazarenes) But if you wanted you could check in each Sunday and I will give you the scriptures each week and a little note and you can do your own readings and ponderings throughout the week and maybe comment back.

Like last week on Christmas day we reflect this week on the coming of Jesus. God has come in the flesh to redeem and save his creation. I love the Psalm this week because it reminds me how important and appropriate it is to praise the Lord. So often in our prayer or in our services we focus on what God can do for us and benefit we can receive. But it is important that we just praise God for who God is. The church confesses the goodness of God and if we lose this then we fall back to the original temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. The crafty Serpent misquotes God and questions God’s goodness. In the course of the narrative it is that this point that the “Lord God”, a relational term, becomes only “God.” The Lord God becomes distant when we question God’s goodness.

In the Gospel of Luke this week we read of Simeon and Anna meeting the young Jesus, recognizing him, and praising God for sending the Messiah for the salvation of the world. These two people understand the importance the importance of who Jesus is and they response is to immediately praise God.

At first glance our reading for Galatians doesn’t seem to fit with the other passages. The Old Testament passages don’t predict adoption. Israel was already the child of God and there is no mention of the Gentiles. But where Galatians fits in is that after reading it our only response can be to praise God who has done this amazing work. Galatians calls us to actually reread Psalm 148 in light of what God has done in Jesus to adopt us as children. We, who were once far off, have been brought into the people of God only by the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:13) Not only are we adopted as children, but as heirs. We are given the birthright as the firstborn through the blood of Jesus. This is the Gospel message. It is purely by the love and grace of God that we are saved.

My prayer is that this week we will reflect on God’s goodness and our adoption as children of heirs of God’s kingdom. Grace and Peace.

Here is the link for the Lectionary, we are in year B: http://www.crivoice.org/RCLmenu.html
I enabled editing for anonymous users. So anyone can comment now.