Shared from the blog www.extendbiblestudy.blogspot.com

This is actually a blog that I wrote for a Bible Study group but wanted to share it with friends beyond. Feel free to enter the discussion and comment.

The genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23ff

Sunday, September 25, 2011, we spent most of our evening discussing the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23ff with some comparisons to Matthews account in Matt 1:1-17. It was a great discussion. Thanks to all who were able to participate.

This will be for those who were not present and also a way to let those present (and absent) to add their comments to the discussion. Feel free to respond.

Some of our observations.

1. Matthew opens his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew 1:1 "An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (Mat 1:1 NRS) With clarity, he establishes Jesus link to Messianic kingship (the Davidic Covenant) and Israel's covenant as a people (the Abrahamic covenant). Jesus link to the Jewish covenant and his fulfillment of the promises they hold is a theme throughout Matthew's gospel.

The question asked the previous week: WHY DID LUKE WAIT TO GIVE THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS IN COMPARISON TO MATTHEW?

Of course, the simple and obvious answer is that Luke acknowledges in Luke 1:1-3 that, while other orderly accounts have been written, after careful consideration (study?), he too will write an orderly account.


"Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus," (Luk 1:1-3 NRS)

From this, we may assume that the order of Luke's account is significant. The placement of the genealogy is no mere afterthought.

Consider:
Luke 1:4 opens the story of the birth and role of the messenger sent to prepare the way. In Jewish tradition, this was Elijah, the great prophet. John is born of the high priestly lineage as both his parents are descendants of the Aaronic line of priests. The name of the messenger, while not Elijah, embodies the message for the name John, means "the grace of the Lord." What a fitting name. At the close of every Seder meal (Passover Meal), the cup of Elijah or the cup of Redemption, is poured but left untouched to wait for the Messiah. Indeed, this hope is found in the "mercy of God."

In Luke, every key character in these opening chapters recognizes that Jesus birth is the birth of the Messiah. From Elizabeth and Mary to Joseph and the Shepherds, they know. The events of Luke 2 further intensify the drama of this remarkable birth as a boy in the temple surprises the elders with his questions.

As the narrative continues with John the Baptizer's ministry, it becomes even more climactic. John declares:


 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire  17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
 (Luk 3:15-17 NRS)

Following his account of John's imprisonment, Luke returns to the event of Jesus baptism as the stage is being set. At the baptism, a heavenly voice speaks: "and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Luk 3:22 NRS)

God's son! It is time for the genealogy.

While Matthew begins with Abraham and David, declaring the covenant, Luke begins with Joseph, who we already know from Luke, is not the real father of Jesus. Luke moves through the generations back to David, to Abraham and continues all the way to Adam (of the earth). Luke 3:38b "... Adam, son of God."

Our lives come from God, the creator. Our redemption, our place within the family of God, comes in a son, who like Adam, was born through the mystery and power of the Creator's love. This second Adam has something new to give, something more. Luke does not want us to miss it. This is God at work within creation. The Lord of Sabbath is here. God has personally intervened and come to save us.

Wow!

Keep reading. It just gets better.

Did Jesus really call that woman a dog?

A friend of mine recently heard a sermon on Matthew 15:21-28 from another pastor.

In Matthew's retelling of the story, Jesus calls the Canaanite woman a dog. In some ways, the sermon's exegesis left him troubled. I just couldn’t envision Christ doing it out of frustration (seems very near to sin) or that he was taught anything by an earthly being.

Honestly, this has been an ongoing dialogue for me in understanding the humanity of Jesus. And, I have heard it said: "Historically, the church has struggled far more with the humanity of Jesus than we have with the divinity of Jesus."

Here is a brief account of some of my reflection on the story:

Some people take the position (an interpretation) that Jesus knew what he was doing and was putting the woman to the test to see how she would respond. My problem with this is that I do not see Jesus doing this. The Pharisees often put Jesus to the test. Jesus challenged people to do things that they might otherwise choose not to do; however, he never appears to put them to the test. In truth, he teaches us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation…" which can also be translated, "Lead us not into the time of testing…" Even then, the testing comes from life and life circumstances rather than God recalling in Hebrews 12 that we are told to consider difficulties as God's discipline.

In Jesus, the Son of God, we see God's mercy and love. And, after Jesus, God gives the judgment over to Jesus, who, as Paul notes in Romans, "died for us and sits at God's right hand and prays for us." In relation to this passage, it is Jesus who leads us in the right paths as the good shepherd leads the sheep.

So, the question, what's going on in this passage that would result in Jesus calling this woman a dog? The Bible makes it clear that Jesus came as a human being, lived as a human being, died as a human being and faced life's trials as a human. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus emptied himself of his divinity so that he could become like us. This means that he had to "grow in wisdom and stature" as every human being. It means that he learned "obedience through what he suffered" (Hebrews) even though he was God's son.

The implication in this is that Jesus would "come to know" his mission through the scripture, his tradition and in his relationship with the Father of all. Or, to put it into plain terms: Jesus would "come to know" with tools that are available to every human being.

Assuming that Jesus was fully human, as the scripture teaches and that he would learn in the way of humans, I believe that this story was a turning point (again, as I understand the scripture).

God works in mysterious ways. God speaks to his people. And certainly, the relationship of the Son, while the same as ours, is unique at the same time. I expect that one of the most important questions is: How does God speak to us? How do we learn? All of us know that people learn in many different ways. And, in reality, most of us do not learn simply by study or even prayer. We learn in the experiences of life. And, sometimes, God speaks to us through the stranger or even through those who may come from very different places. Was this true for Jesus as well?

My friends observation about how Jesus response might be "very close to sin" is a question that cannot be ignored. This question requires that we examine again a definition of sin in the Bible. How do we define sin? In Romans, Paul gives a Jewish explanation. Paul explains that before the "law" (the Torah), sin did not exist. He goes on to say that the Torah was given so that we might recognize sin. In short: When we are enlightened by God, if we choose to make the light darkness, it is sin (my interpretation). This means for Paul that before the law was given to the people, sin did not exist -- although he says that there is a law given to every person that is literally written on our hearts -- but these laws are broad and non-specific about human actions -- rather they are the laws of the created world that allow us to know there is a God and to come to know this God. The specific law Paul speaks about is the Torah that God gave to Moses for the chosen people. About this he says that it was given to show us that we were sinners but it could not save us or make us righteousness (holy). The only thing he writes that can make us righteous is the righteousness of Christ.

Which brings us to your issue. If we follow some of this, does it mean that Jesus sinned? No. The difference between Jesus and us is that when the light comes on for Jesus, he never makes the light darkness. For this reason, we say with confidence, he was without sin. Consider what the gospel of John says about the light: the light (Christ) has come into the world but people preferred darkness to that light.

Someone might ask the question, did Jesus inherit the original sin from Adam if he was fully human? It depends on how we define original sin. For me, what we inherit from Adam is death. As in Adam, all die. It is this reality that Jesus comes to defeat -- in the flesh he will defeat death by dying.

Ok, this is deep. Back up. Look one more time at the story of Matthew 15.

What is the meaning of the story:

1. Jesus is seeking to be alone with his disciples and away from the constant probing of the scribes and Pharisees who argue about non-issues.

2. He goes to a non-Jewish region.

3. A non-Jewish woman approaches him with a Jewish plea (as if she is a Jew), "Son of David, help me."

4. He ignores her (if he is testing someone, it is his disciples).

5. The disciples say send her away.

6. She persists.

7. He reminds her that the "Son of David" (a messiah term) would be sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel -- save the Jews and they will save the world (Exodus 19 tells us that Israel is chosen to be a nation of priests and a light to the nations or gentiles)

8. She persists.

9. It is not right, Jesus says, to give bread prepared for children, to their dogs.* (Reminding her that she is not a Jew?). Perhaps this means, "Woman if you know about the Messiah, you will know this."

*As a Jew, you would expect Jesus to respond in this manner. What surprised everyone, was the woman's response.

10. The woman surprises all, even Jesus, with a declaration of faith that is bathed in humility. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs from their master's table." It is a statement that acknowledges the scripture (Salvation is from the Jews) and opens Jesus to the dreadful reality that will come. To be savior of the Jews, he must also be savior of the world and die a terrible death at the hands of some of the very people he came to save.

11. The question then comes, Did God use this woman to reveal this truth to Jesus? The transfiguration that takes place in chapter 17 of Matthew seems to put this forward. As Jesus tells his disciples that he must die, they reject it. In the transfiguration, God speaks to Peter, James and John and tells them: "This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him." (LISTEN TO HIM). Could this also be affirmation for Jesus that he is on the right path. After this, Jesus steps beyond the hesitancy of his disciples and walks resolutely to Jerusalem. Even so, he must go through Gethsemane where he prays, Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. But if not, not my will, they will be done.

There is one other intermediate event worth noting that comes after the encounter with the woman: The second miracle of the loaves and fishes occurs after the encounter. And this time, seven (for the seven most mentioned Gentile nations?) baskets of bread are left over -- does this mean that the crowd is most likely all Gentile? Previously, there were twelve baskets left over for the 12 Tribes of Israel. Enough bread for Israel. Enough for the World.

Now the real question: What does this mean for us that Jesus might have experienced life as we do? Does it make Jesus less? Certainly not. It means that Jesus overcame the weakness of the flesh so that he could truly defeat sin in the flesh. If he overcame sin as God, we could not follow him. He overcame sin in his humanity. However, this does mean that he limited himself to knowing God's will in the same way that you and I may know the will of God. This is why he could entrust the gospel message to human beings.

If we pursue this, it can give us confidence to ask, seek and knock as Jesus taught us, so that we might also come to know God's will. Can we learn to tap into the same power that Jesus found through prayer, the support of the scripture, in learning to hear the voice of God and through knowing that God still send his messengers to watch over us (remember how the angels ministered to Jesus at times) in critical moments?

I offer this as dialogue as one who also seeks. Please feel free to raise issues and respond.

Sam

REFLECTIONS ON THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

This is a search that has captured me for many years. It begins where my last blog (A Personal Testimony) left off. That blog closed with something was missing. That implied something missing in my relationship with the scripture and because of this in my understanding of Jesus.

Here is part of the story and the opening paragraphs of a book that encompasses more than a 20 year journey.

In 1983, I started doctoral work at Emory University Candler School of Theology. In my second year of course work as a part-time student, I took Professor Carol Newsom’s class on Images of God in the Old Testament. Turning in a paper that I felt was particularly well done, her response took be aback. “These are nice thoughts,” she said. As she handed me the paper, she went on, “but, it has little to do with the text.”

Embarrassed and shocked, I took it back with the intention of teaching her a few things about the book of Exodus. Seven years later, I was still in the wilderness of the Exodus. As I examined my approach to scripture, it soon became apparent. Carol was right. Over the years, I relied on my knowledge of the text from the past and used that knowledge again and again. As for the text, I looked up the passages that would reinforce whatever was the thesis of the sermon or lesson -- or in the case of Dr. Newsom, my paper.

Please understand. The paper was well done. Well thought out. Well presented. That was not the issue. The issue was and is the text of scripture. What does the text say? I am still on this journey with the sacred text and with God. It is this journey that leads me to the most difficult challenge of life -- seeking the truth that sets us free.

For a moment before you continue, let me provoke you to examine your own approach to the scripture. Here is a statement for your reflection:Many people agree or disagree with what they have learned about the Bible from others while never examining the text of scripture themselves. Or, this one: Many people know that others tell them about the scripture but little about the text themselves.

REFLECTIONS ON THE HUMANITY OF JESUS AND HUMANITY IN GENERAL

A child arrives as a visitor from an ocean of emptiness. The emptiness is not a bad world, merely unformed, uncharted, and unknown. Like a wanderer, suffering the pain of amnesia, knowing only the most basic of hungers and thirsts, weak and helpless, totally dependent upon those who also struggle, the child enters the world. Look beyond the repository of human possibilities and beyond the basics of human need and a child is an empty book awaiting the authoring pen of life and it's myriad experiences which shape and form the void. In the beginning, the unordered chaos awaited the hovering Spirit for it's shape and form. The child also waits.

Now the earth was [ Or possibly became ] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:2

There is poetry in the birth of a child. Each civilization possesses birthing rituals. Life sustains life. In most societies, births are anticipated with joy and wondrous expectation. The birth of Jesus was such an anticipated birth. Even when we subtract the wonder of angels, shepherds and eastern Kings, the simple wonder of a child born to parents who are full of dreams for the child cannot be ignored. “And “she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the [room]”,” is descriptive of an astonishing moment for husband and wife. For Mary and Joseph, the arrival of shepherds, testifying about visions of angels, could have reaffirmed their faith in God's providential promises and reaffirmed their own dreams and visions about Jesus. Yet, for the child, the night was only filled with hunger and thirst, cold and warmth. The star that led eastern kings was as invisible to the child as the mother hen is invisible to chicks who have yet to break forth from the cocoon of an egg.

We cannot hurry Jesus, from babe in a manager to a fully self-differentiating human being apart from the normal processes of humanity — unless, of course, Jesus is not fully human.

Traditional Christianity presents Jesus as Savior and Lord — titles he received as a result of his committed act of obedience to God through the cross and the resurrection.

Did Jesus know from the beginning who he was and what he was sent to do? It is our contention that Jesus came to know in the manner of all human beings. Certainly, Jesus is an extraordinary person and yet, at the same time, he is limited by the humanity his birth assumes. Traditional theologians call this kinosis or self-emptying. Leaving the glory of eternity, Jesus entered this world with all the limitations of humanity. Whatever the explanation, the reality is the same. Jesus is a human being with all the struggles, difficulties and limitations that attend humanity.

Throughout history, certain individuals have achieved extraordinary accomplishments in science, the arts, military tactics and many other human endeavors that were out of what we call ordinary reach. Jesus’ accomplishments were in the realm of the spiritual. They were extraordinary. His teachings, his life, his personal spiritual development have guided believers for nearly twenty centuries. A greater spiritual teacher and example cannot be found. In this sense, then, is Jesus a spiritual Beethoven or Mozart? Or, is Jesus the kind of example that we may aspire too?

Jesus told his disciples, “Greater works than these, you will do.” (John 14:12) So many times, I have asked myself, “Is such spiritual awareness available to all of us. Can we come to know the will of God as Jesus did with such depth and clarity? Is it possible?

The superficial side of me wants to recoil from any suggestion that we, as followers of God, could achieve a depth of spirituality that even approaches that of Jesus. The possibility, however, is also intriguing and compelling.

How did Jesus come to know the will and purpose of God for his life so clearly? By what means did he come to such extraordinary knowledge about himself and his world?

This discussion assumes a manifest destiny for human beings. This is not a cheap view of predestination^⁠1 that assumes human beings are somehow preprogrammed before birth. It is, however, dependent upon a knowledge of Torah and the relation of humanity to God— and, the providence of God. This discussion will follow in the next chapter.

For now, two assumptions are made. First, every human may participate in Sabbath, discovering the presence of God in creation; and, second, God calls, determines, sovereignly chooses, certain human beings for significant tasks to further accomplish God's will.

The first assumption, every human may participate in Sabbath, does not mean discovering God as a part of creation. The biblical account clearly places the creator God as holy other and thus apart from creation. God's participation in creation is a willful act, on the part of God, described as Sabbath rest in the scripture. When the six days of creation are over, God enters into creation in Sabbath rest. For Christians, the climax of this perspective, the eternal God entering the temporal world, is Jesus Christ. Prior to Jesus, the humiliation of God as Jürgen Moltmann calls it, when God enters the world to interact with specific humans, happens sporadically and less clearly until Jesus. Hear again the promise to Israel: I will be your God; you will be my people; I will bring you into my rest.

As you read the following scripture, consider the cloud and pillar of fire that follows the Hebrews in the wilderness, the messengers appearing to Abraham, Moses on the mountain, and so much more.

Lev 11:45 = For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.

Num 15:40-41 = So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.

Exo 33:14 = The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Exo 16:23 = He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'"

In Sabbath is found the promise and the hope of fulfillment for God's clear presence within creation.

The possibility of encountering God is more than acknowledging that “the heavens are telling the glory of God,....” The knowing promised by the scriptures strikes at the heart of all personal relationships. In fact (check it out), the word for rest and Sabbath have the same root. Such relationships with God result in Noah's call to ship building, Abraham’s urge to travel, Moses’ interest in spontaneous combustion and David's music. Such ordinary activities take on profound consequences when they result from a relationship with the Almighty.

Second, God calls, determines, sovereignly chooses, certain human beings for certain significant tasks to further accomplish God's will. Human beings possess the single purpose of making the glory of God known throughout the earth. We will discuss this in future blogs. However, for now, let's ask, "What was Jesus certain, significant task? "

WHAT WAS JESUS SIGNIFICANT TASK?

Jesus came to reconcile the created world with God. According to the Gospels, such reconciliation could only be accomplished by a gift from God called grace. This gift accomplished what the revelation of scripture pointed toward but could not achieve alone. Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, created a little lower than the angels, forgot. We lost the knowledge as if we had never possessed it. The precept was still present. The example, non-existent. Such knowledge Søren Kierkegaard alluded to as knowledge so completely forgotten that humanity could not remember it without help from beyond.

I am a great admirer of SK. And, in most cases resonate with his assessment of time and space. In this one particular concept, however, I believe that he is both right and wrong. The memory of that knowledge (humanity created in the image of God), came from beyond, from the eternal who dared to enter time, manifest in a blood and guts human being named Jesus. The problem: to be fully human, Jesus had to dissociate himself from such knowledge and become like the “rest of us” — people who live and breathe; people subject to warts, colds, bad attitudes and fits of inappropriate verbiage. Theologically speaking, Jesus gave up (forgot) precisely what he came to help us remember. And that paradox is the reason for this exercise in thought.

HOW DID JESUS COME TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD?

Often we speak of Jesus as if he always was what he became. Yet, the New Testament Book of Hebrews states:

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him....Heb 5:8-9

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Heb 2:18

Note that Hebrews 5:8-9 falls on the heels of the two edged sword passage.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Heb 4:12

Dividing the attitudes of the heart? If Jesus were indeed human, subject to bad attitudes, nasal drip and other human maladies, how did he grow beyond them? Or, how could Jesus be called sinless? (You were waiting for that one, right?)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Heb 4:15

Consider the New Testament understanding of sin presented in Romans. Also, remember that Paul is firmly rooted in the Torah, the prophets and the writing of the Hebrew text. Paul wrote to the Romans:

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” [ Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21 ]

But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.

Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. Romans 7:7-9

John states: This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19 Suppose that sin could be defined as: “Seeing the light and then making the light darkness.” Or try this one. “Righteousness is: Seeing the light and responding as an enlightened person.”

Begin with this premise and the concept of Christian perfection takes on a more accountable meaning. Begin with this premise for Jesus and you may stop making excuses for certain New Testament passages and ask: What light shined into the darkness^⁠2?

My contention: Only when Jesus is fully human can he be our example. Only as Jesus learned obedience and came to know^⁠3 can we find hope in his life and example.

¹ I do not mean demean the providence of God. However, it is my belief that God “decided” before we are born to give each human being the opportunity to respond to his will. As Paul writes in Romans 2 in a reflection of Psalm 119, the creation is a witness to God that leaves no one with an excuse to turn away from God’s love and kindness.

² Jesus is the one human being (the Word become human) who, as the light shined, never made that light darkness.

³ Luke 2:52

A Personal Testimony

Let me introduce myself. I grew up in the church. My parents, grandparents and family were all church people. Mom played the organ and piano at church, taught children and played for children’s choirs. Dad served on nearly every committee imaginable. In truth, some of my oldest memories, going back to the time of preschool years, were church. One Sunday, as the preacher preached about Jesus dying on the cross and coming back in the clouds, I fell asleep on my mom’s lap. As a four year old child, I put all the sermon into one visual dream and saw Jesus flying back into the church on his cross. To this day, I can recall waking up and pointing to the very place Jesus had been in my dream and shouting for everyone to “Look, it’s Jesus coming back.”

My books were Bible story books read to me by my grandmother who lived with us. All my life, Sunday School teachers would tell my parents: Sammy knows more about the Bible than we do.”

Then, at twelve years old, my father died and the world changed. He was 38 years old. One day he was the most important person in my world. The next day, he was gone. Where was the God who loved me? Where was the God who answered prayers? Who was God anyway?

For the next several years, I moved any direction that would take me away from God. A well meaning friend of my father’s, trying to console me at my dad’s graveside, put his arm around me and said: Be a man, Sammy. Don’t cry now. Although I said no words to him, I remember the words that formed in my heart and mind as I looked up. In my mind I said, if I can’t cry for my daddy, I won’t cry for you or anybody else, ever again. It would be more than six years before another tear fell from my eyes.

From twelve to sixteen, I challenged the existence of God and gradually began to push life to the edge. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God, I was angry and wanted God to know. Breaking the rules, tasting the forbidden fruit were angry cries to an unseen God who ignored me in a moment of great sorrow -- or so I thought.

My church never quit praying for me. My mother never gave up. And to my great surprise, neither did God.

Three teenage girls at my church, asked me to go on a church youth retreat to the gulf coast. I liked those girls and it was that attraction that led to my decision to go.

As much as I had once been in the church, I was now outside. Outsiders live in a different world, talk a different language and walk a different way. Nothing about my new life fit on the youth retreat. I knew it and so did they. With one disastrous encounter after another, I asked the youth pastor if I could go and walk alone on the beach. It was dark.

With a sense of relief, he sent me on my way. For me, it was a time to smoke a cigarette and enjoy the water and the night. For God, it was a moment to meet me as the night visitor met Jacob in Genesis 32:24. I wrestled with God. I was sixteen.

“Walk out on the drain pipe,” an inner voice compelled. No, I won’t get my new clothes in that dirty water. Walk out, the voice repeated. At the end of the pipe were concrete pilings. I climbed on the concrete and sat in the darkness as the waves sprayed all around. The voice spoke: Why won’t you give me a chance? You’ve been looking and I am right here.

I knew the voice belonged to God.

Going back to the retreat, I climbed in bed and turned my face toward the wall. The next day, when the youth pastor asked if anyone had anything to share, everyone was silent. Uncertain about what I had experienced but knowing it was something significant, I finally told my story of the night before. It was so shocking to the group that they asked me to tell it again that Sunday night. By Monday, the story spread throughout the high school.

It would be two weeks later before I responded — to God. For two weeks, I enjoyed the attention but still remained the same rebellious teenager. Late on a Friday night, as my best friend and I got ready to repeat our usual misbehavior, I heard the question again. Truthfully, hearing the question in a teens mind was probably different from what God was saying. My interpretation of that voice was once again framed in the words: Why won’t you give me a chance. Telling my best friend about it, I got up and started walking a different path. I went to find our pastor and tell him that I wanted to return to God.

As obnoxious as my behavior had been running away from God, it paled compared to my overbearing zeal as a Christian. I now wanted to save everyone, including the people who had prayed for me, taught me in Sunday School and stood by me in my rebellion. All instances of my former misbehavior became targets as I swung the sword of the Lord in all directions. Dancing, alcohol, swearing and rock and roll all became certain tickets to hell. Living with my new faith posed no less challenge than my former life. I looked for church services at all times of the night, of every variety. Hungry to regain the lost years, I forged on hiding my grief and pain under the new blanket of being born again.

Not all that energy was lost. During these years, I memorized large portions of scripture, passages and verses. And, I read the Bible as if it were the only book every written. My pastor never tried to put out my fire. Instead, he taught a group of us and pushed us in Bible studies and theological discussions. As young people he gave us some good advice that remains until this day:

•Read little books by big people, he said.

•Study the writings of those who disagree with you for you will learn from them.

•Study to show yourself approved unto God (Paul’s advice to Timothy).

•The Holy Spirit is not an it but one of the persons of the Trinity.

•Jesus is the only one who will never let you down.

•When you offer Jesus, you offer the best we have to give.

While there were many others, these stand out.

My life continued to quickly transition as I pushed forward. From the time I reached 17 years old as a High School senior, I have served a church as pastor or youth pastor. What was missing because of age and inexperience, I tried to make up for in enthusiastic faith and work. I listened and learned. What I received, I tried to give back. Through college, through seminary, and through the first fourteen years of ordained ministry, life and ministry moved forward together. God put people in my path that encouraged me and helped me up when I fell. It was the church at it’s best.

Something was missing. (to be continued)

Viewing the Scripture continued ....

As Christians, we believe in studying the scripture even when we do not read the Bible. Candidly, reading the Bible presents a challenge. The scripture is a near eastern book, given to a Semitic people in a place and time far removed from our reality. The language of the book, even when translated into our everyday language, still rocks us with earthy descriptions of humanity and God. At the very moment we are drawn into the beauty of the poetic or literary passages, an uncomfortable passage appears. We may respond by moving beyond the passage, ignoring it, pretending it is not there, or, in the case of some, use the very passage as a reason to read more books about religion, theology and the Bible -- but not the text itself!

For those who believe God actually gave us the Pentateuch (the Torah, books of Moses or simply the first five books of the Bible) as the Word of God and the subsequent scripture as inspired by the very Spirit of God, studying the scripture is not an option. Persons who hold this view of scripture as sacred text, consider studying the text to be a commandment (in Judaism a mitzvah or commandment).

If reading the Bible and studying the text of scripture is vital and important, how does the average person do this with integrity? A good question.

The dilemma:

Most Christians are not scholars. Biblical scholars spend years preparing to study the text and then more years devoted to analysis and examination in great detail. Busy people often find it extremely difficult to devote significant time to study the text. And, yes, even pastors and other professionals in the church, find themselves depending upon what others say about the text over what the text of scripture contains.

The scripture is a gift from God to the community of faith. I once heard Dr. James Saunders of Clarmont School of Theology say, The Bible is the church’s book, implying that the scripture was meant to be studied in the community of faith. In my understanding, Dr. Saunders was right on target for no effective study is successful apart from a frank and open dialogue with the community of faith, past and present. More study?

This very idea raises the statue of small group Bible Study — provided that it is a study of the text in tension with our historical understanding and in dialogue with credible modern biblical scholarship.

Even in such groups, the language and customs of the scripture are strange to us. And, then, there are so many scholarly and non-scholarly opinions. How do you choose wisely? How do you pronounce all those words? Just where are these places that don’t appear on any modern map and have the strangest names that are easily forgotten from one reading to the next?

The opportunity:

Beyond the challenges, studying the scripture opens our heart and mind to the heart and mind of God. The late Howard Freeman, minister turned psychiatrist turned neurosurgeon once said to me: Every emotion of the human heart can be found in the book of Psalms. He was correct. The emotions found in the sacred text span the spectrum of human existence. Why are we here? How did we get here? What purpose do humans serve? How do we get along with others? What is the value of lives that appear and then disappear like grass? Where did God come from? Is God one or three or three hundred or more? Why do people suffer? If God has so much power, why doesn’t God clean up the mess in the world? How do we know God? Why would we want to know God?

This is one small book in a sea of books. It will not answer these questions. It will lead to a path, a way of walking where a few answers may be found. It is a path, a journey with God, with Jesus and with the holy scriptures, that will help you live with the questions you cannot answer and follow the ones you may. You may even discover that the unanswered questions, while unknown to us, are answerable in the economy of God.

In all of creation, Genesis declares that only one thing is not good. It is not good for Adam (humans) to be alone. As John 1:1 says: In the beginning was the Word…, Martin Buber writes in his wonderful little book, I You: In the beginning was the relation(ship). The book you are about to read is about a living relationship with the sacred text and ultimately with the ONE who gave us the text. It is in this living relationship with God where humans discover the promise above all others: I AM with you.

More on Viewing the Scripture

What is your view of scripture? If you are a child of the church, you have a crafted view – crafted by the traditions that formed you. Later in this chapter, we will consider some of these and the divergence from them presented in these pages. On the other hand, if you were not formed by the church, the chances are strong that you still have a firmly crafted view of scripture.

American cultural views vary. While the church may consider the canon of scripture to be that defined by the council of Laodicea 363 CE, this is not so with many others. Jews define scripture in terms of Torah (books of Moses) and, to a lesser extent to the writings and the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Islamic scripture is primarily the Koran. Hindu’s hold many writings sacred, depending upon the particular sect. In America, strongly patriotic people, without thinking about it, often add the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence to their repertoire of sacred texts. Whether we call it new age or some other term, there is a move toward what is loosely defined as spirituality. Spirituality often embraces many texts across cultures and makes little distinction between them. (To take a 70’s phrase, this approach may tend toward a ‘whatever turns you on’ approach to scripture’ – something that we may discover has it’s limits but is not all bad and is an approach that is not confined to one group. It’s just that those looking through the wide angle lens of spirituality embrace this approach openly). Others make a point to reject all sacred writings and in turn create their own inspired writings by following the popular trends of those books or philosophies which help them cope with their life – because, as Scott Peck wrote in the opening line of The Road Less Traveled, “Life is difficult.”

In reality, there’s not much difference in the philosophy expressed by Merle Haggard when he sang, “I’d rather be an Oakie from the Scokie” and more upscale approaches of associating Mother Earth and environmental causes. Each of these are attempts to find connection, community, a mantra, a Halakah (way of walking) or some means by which to measure our lives and the lives of others in a way that gives meaning. While some might call it justification, rationalization or some other indifferent term, it is something that we all do – every one of us – every human being. We find a world view that helps us cope or, as Uriah Heap of Charles Dickens’s novel who spoke of ‘humblin this and that’ as a way of ‘getting on’, it gives us a little power in a world where powerlessness appears to reign. For Christians, our world view is revealed to us in the scripture. Regretfully, if our view of scripture is skewed or misshapened, our world view will be inadequate.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, Life Together, "Let the one who is afraid to be alone with God beware." He continues this dialogue as a caution for those who only seek the "group" god or the god within their inner circle of friends. "Alone," we come to know God, he wrote. Even so, Bonhoeffer continues: "Let the one who is afraid of community beware." Just as we meet God alone, it is this God who drives us into the community, the body of believers, the church. Bonhoeffer states that we are not to treat the community as a therapy group but rather we are to offer our gifts to strengthen the community. Only when the whole is strong can the community of faith give the support for the individual that is so vital.

"The Bible is the church's book," stated James Saunders of Claremont. The scripture is best served and understood in the community of faith. It is not a book that can be fully understood in isolation from the body of Christ. And, this does not mean viewing scripture from the narrow lens of my little part of the body of Christ. No. It implies a dialogue with the church through the ages as well as the church of the age (now).

Sometimes, we in the church believe in believing in the Bible while paying little attention to the book itself. This can be tragic. And, it is the very reason that our views of scripture come out in the dismissive language of the earlier paragraphs in the previous blog.

Because the Bible is an eastern book, an ancient book, and a book expressed through human culture and language as well as a sacred text, it presents challenges to anyone seeking to understand it today. In the next blog, I will offer an approach to the scripture that may help us stay balanced, making the text more accessible and leading us closer to the God who is revealed to us through the scripture.

Viewing the Scripture in a Post-Modern World

“The Bible is boring. Not in its entirety but boring just the same.” “The Bible is an ancient text, hardly relevant for our contemporary times.” “The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are different. How do you know which one to believe in?” “The Bible contradicts itself and is full of inconsistencies.” “I read the Bible; but I read the B’hadvagita, the Koran and other holy writings as well.” “With so much stuff out there, you don’t have to limit yourself to one book. Just take the best of the ones you find and find the parts that have meaning for you.” “You can learn more from walking in nature, sitting in a circle of drumming friends until your hearts are in sync, or meditating on a crystal until you are spiritually aware than studying the bible.” “The Bible is just a book.”

How I wish these views of scripture came from secular sources! They did not. This collection of attitudes came from the mouths of Sunday School Class members and other baptized Christians. While many of them are superficial comments from adult children whose spiritual experience in the church never moved from head to heart, the loss defies expression. Though some church people appear to border on what might be called bibliolatry, the attitudes expressed above are even more crippling. In my opinion, the darkness implied (darkness is the absence of light) in such random and perhaps even superficial dismissal of scripture, sends post-modern people on truth quests apart from the church.

This is not all bad. With such ambivalence existing in some traditional churches, these quests may lead to life giving discoveries.

The contemporary world of post-moderns (we don’t know what to call this era), overflows with information. Search the internet and immediately, in seconds, your quest for information exceeds your time to process it. And, while our information queues overflow, neither our ability to give form to the abundance of information nor our time to process that information matches the pace. Here are a few of those reasons.

The information is easy to access; however the presentation of the information is most frequently from anonymous sources. Whether the information is accessed by the individual or by a community, it is likely to be isolated from the source making it very difficult to process or discern in native tongue – native tongue means understanding the contextual meaning resulting from the source’s agenda, bias or other pertinent data which bears upon appropriate understanding^⁠1. Such process lacks boundaries. While the modern world produced this overflow of information, it is the dilemma of the post-modern world.

Symptomatic of the age, patients frequently bring a list of possible conditions matching their symptoms to the doctors chosen to administer healing. Where is the authority? Where are the boundaries? Second, third and fourth opinions often result from a quest to find a more ‘desirable’ diagnosis. Without a savior, we try to save ourselves.

The Absence of Authority

The baby boomers of the modern generation are more likely to choose this approach to their ailments. For post-moderns, the unspoken message in such a world cries out: There is no authority.

For post-moderns, the lack of authority and boundaries does not lead to anarchy, which is a modern dilemma. Rather, in the post-modern world, it compels the seeker toward a spiritual quest – a quest that is more likely to be defined by dream-catchers and drum circles than the church. After all, they view portions of the church as not knowing what to believe and those in the church that do believe as debating over doctrines that don’t matter to post-moderns who are on a spiritual quest that captures the heart. So, they presume, why not look anywhere other than the church?

It is not as though the post-modern world ignores boundaries. They define their own. If the age of enlightenment is characterized by reason, the post-modern era, or at least in the interim between where we are and where we are going, is characterized by a heart felt search for a meaningful life. They are drawn to authenticity of emotion, to that which appears to be life giving for the heart. They love the journey and each person and place on the journey for each person or place possesses the possibility of being a spiritual guide. Without ever hearing the phrase about ‘entertaining angels unaware’, post-moderns open their hearts and minds to the possibility of a divine encounter as they journey. If you doubt this, look for the spiritual imagery in their music videos; look at their tattoos and be amazed at the religious icons adorning their bodies.

Of course, while this is not true all the time nor does it accurately describe all post-moderns, it does describe the spiritual quest of the post-modern world. In my opinion, the church has much to learn from them.

Eating With Sinners

Several years ago, my brother invited me to Key Largo where he lived in the Florida Keys. Having recently gone through a divorce, he chose this place to recover. The invitation went something like this: “I’m living in paradise but no one can stay in paradise forever (a prophetic phrase). You need to come visit me soon.” As we agreed to the visit, he added: “By the way, there are a few people here you need to talk too.” I knew what he meant. “There are people who need to talk to a minister. That’s your job.” What neither my brother nor I realized is that I needed to talk to them for my own spiritual journey.

Frank lived in temporary quarters consisting of a converted Step Van with a screened in area outside. The van was parked next to the water. At the time, I struggled to keep a 150 gallon salt water aquarium in my office. Frank laughed and said, I have the worlds largest aquarium as we watched an assortment of tropical fish, including two fairly large Octopi, move below the pier that served as his front porch. If a little beach house in the tropics symbolizes paradise for you, this was it.

Nearby, it was ‘local’ night at the Marina Restaurant, where my brother, a musician, entertained each Thursday. A tike bar with limited seating extended from an open covered area to a large uncovered area on the dock. By locals, I mean the people who worked at the Marina, those who lived in boats anchored just off the Marina, and those living in the trailer park behind the Marina. They were not patrons of any traditional church.

While waiting for the tables to be set up outside following a brief shower, Judy, my wife and I sat at the bar. My brother told me about the young bartender. At twenty-six, Jeanne was a single mom for three children. Frank had loaned her money for a car a few weeks previously. She obviously appreciated his friendship (and that’s what it was) and extended that warmth to us acting as if we were all family. A man, who I would later discover was a 46 year old ex-convict, sat next to me. He talked without stopping.

Suddenly, Jeanne came to my rescue. “That’s it,” she said to the man. “Time out! Ten minutes and no talking,” she said looking at him while making a zipping motion over her mouth. He started to say something but Jeanne pointed to the clock and repeated, “Ten minutes.” Imitating her zipping motion over his own mouth, the man nodded as Jeanne gave him a smile and a thumb’s up.

While it looked like a game and was given in a friendly manner, the man played along for the required ten minutes before resuming his conversation. This time, he participated with us instead of dominating everything. Jeanne didn’t embarrass him. She didn’t tell him to leave. She didn’t scold. She drew a boundary that kept him sitting at “the table,” to borrow a phrase often used in the church.

We moved outside on the dock near the place where Frank was playing. At his break, he sat with us. “Who is that?” I asked, gesturing toward a man whose right side appeared partially paralyzed. “That’s Jimmy. He was to be a member of Nixon’s cabinet until he had a stroke.” Watergate? I asked. Frank indicated that he didn’t know.

About that time, Jimmy tried to ask a question of the waitress who was passing near the spot where he stood leaning against a piling. Struggling, Jimmy said a few words before his vocal cords appeared to give way and he lost the ability to form the sentence. “Hold that thought,” the waitress said to Jimmy touching him lightly on his arm. “I’ll be back,” she said smiling as she served her customers. “We all have to help Jimmy,” Frank said explaining.

I looked across the dance floor at an obnoxious man that tried to be too friendly with a woman who obviously kept moving his hands and pointing her finger at him. Each time, he would dance for a while and, then as if by instinct, she would sense his untoward move and catch his hands. Not once did she treat him with anything but kindness. It was a true example of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Who is that man? What’s his story? I asked my brother. That’s the Rocket Scientist, he replied. He moors his boat by one of those pilings in the harbor. You don’t have to pay anything. Just tie up. He lives there. And, hey, the guy’s brilliant but a social misfit – even here. He hits on all the girls. Most of them won’t let him come anywhere near them. Brenda, the one that he’s dancing with, took him on as a project to keep somebody from getting mad and hurting him.

About that time, Susan came to our table. She was an attractive twenty-two year old who sang, at times in a duo with my brother. She wasn’t singing that night. Introducing herself, she asked, Are you Sam, Frank’s brother?

Affirming a yes, I rose to shake her hand. She looked at Judy and said, “Are you Sam’s wife?” Judy responded with a nod and Susan continued, “You’re beautiful.” My wife denies it to this day but I distinctly remember her telling Susan to please sit down, right at that moment.

For the next several days, Susan went everywhere we went. When we went sailing and snorkeling, she showed up with her flippers and mask. “I believe in God,” she told me, “but I don’t believe in Jesus. He was just too long ago for it to mean anything.” We talked about many things but mostly about God and our lives.

Susan tried hard to convince me to smoke ‘weed.’ How can you be against something if you’ve never tried it? She would say. Although I brought up no specific issues, like smoking marijuana, Susan assumed that I would be against it because “… that’s what the church is, against things,” she said. (To answer your question, I didn’t smoke weed.)

Walking across the dock, two very large men sported tee shirts that proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord.” Do they believe that? I asked my brother.

I don’t know, he responded. But, I know they believe in Vern. Looking at my puzzled face, he explained. Vern is a guy that tied his boat to one of the public pilings. He would come into the Marianna to buy gas and a few supplies making friends with the owner and the people here. Nobody knew he was a ‘preacher.’ One day he asked if he could hold services in the Marina, Frank said, pointing to a cross mounted on top of one of the pilings. They met here for awhile, he continued, until the crowds outgrew the space. Now they meet in a storefront just down the road. Vern still lives on his boat.

I looked around at this assortment of humanity. If someone moved from a trailer, the next person willing to pay the site rental and the utilities could move in behind them. As I related to colleagues who were assessing ‘church plants’ I told them: “We would have done a survey of the trailer park. After the first ten occupants told us where the road lay in language not used by church liturgy, we would have written these people off. Vern loved them first. Won their friendship and through that won them as disciples of Jesus.” What are we missing? There was a painful lesson for me in this.

I could tell that God was working in that place and especially with Susan. Susan invited us to her apartment for a meal our final evening in paradise. She lived with Richard. Arriving, we discovered an assortment of people already present. I had assumed that it would be a quiet evening and that we would continue our discussions, perhaps leading Susan to a new direction on her journey with God. It would not happen – at least not by my efforts.

One of the guests, a woman I’ll call Jan, arrived on her Harley Davidson motorcycle with an outdoor smoker she had welded that day in the shop where she worked. A woman of medium build, she wore mostly leather and looked the part of a motorcycle ‘momma.’ Frank told me that she had been married to the leader of a motorcycle gang. He beat her one too many times. She shot him with a 45 caliber handgun in his soft flesh, without killing him to let him know that if he ever touched her again, she would kill him. Needless to say, he never did.

In all my life, no man or woman ever spoke with such a profane tongue. The more Jan talked, the more frustrated I became. There was no one around to tell her ‘time out.’

Every few minutes, I found myself walking outside on the veranda. Frank would follow. “I can’t take Jan,” I spoke with anger and frustration.

“She gets way out of line,” Frank told me. I could tell – at least that was my viewpoint. Jan had just finished telling us that she didn’t know why the parents of her daughter’s friends got so upset about her sixteen year old birthday party. “They knew where their (profanity) kids were. What the ______? All I did was keep them from going the _____ out. So we had a keg of _______ beer and they all got a nickel bag of _______ weed. What the _____ do they think they ______ do anyway? I don’t know why the _____ they got so _______ pissed off.”

This was a foreign world and I had just met the demoniac who charged forth from the tombs on a Harley Davison Motorcycle.

I was angry with Susan. She ruined my plans for the evening. Returning home, I couldn’t get the thought of that evening out of my mind. Looking back, I saw the hand of God.

Susan invited us to dinner for a community of the lost, the blind, the lame and the demon possessed; but I wanted nothing to do with them. My wife Judy talked with Jan for two hours, enduring her profanity and listening. “I never knew a woman with more hurt in her life,” she would tell me.

That experience led to a time of repentance and transformation for me. I did not realize that I had traded the work of God and Christ for the work of the institutional church. I was the one that needed deliverance from evil – a subtle evil that came like a ‘thief in the night.’

There was redemption in this story. Several months later, Susan called us to tell us that she and Richard had married and wanted to come and visit. “I found Jesus,” she said. “I went to Church and asked to be baptized. Something happened. I didn’t know Jesus or really believe until them. When I was baptized something happened. I knew I was forgiven. I just knew it.” That story sounded strangely familiar – a little like that of an English reformer of the 18^th Century named John Wesley who experienced an unexpected transformation. “I felt my heart strangely warmed. That Christ had died for me, even me,” he said.

I confessed to Susan what I felt. She interrupted saying: “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Jan would act like that. I just thought they all needed to hear what we would talk about.” A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. Acts 5:16

¹ (Accessibility to information often manifests itself anonymously on the internet leaving the processing of such information to individuals or to communities that maybe too isolated from the source to come to an accountable discernment of what is being said. In other words, can you know the information is accurate, factual or in the language of theology, is it true?)