Gleanings From the Text
Mark 4:35-41
The location of this text within the Gospel of Mark is of primary importance. Jesus has been preaching to the home crowd throughout Galilee and has gathered quite a following. Mark 3:9 indicates that the crowds of people are growing so numerous that Jesus has his disciples prepare a boat so that he will not be crushed. For the majority of chapter 4, Mark then stations Jesus in this boat, preaching from it like a pulpit to the congregation which is safely held at a distance on the shore (Mark 4:1).
When evening comes Jesus and the disciples leave the shore in this same boat and set out to, of all places, Gentile lands. There, Jesus will surprisingly heal an unclean, unreligious, demon-possessed foreigner and send him to proclaim the Gospel to even more Gentiles (Mark 5:19-20). The movement of Jesus and his message across major geographic, cultural, and religious boundaries is the location of this pericope.
Can the mighty wind and waves that the disciples encounter on this voyage be understood as representative of challenges the church faces when it is called to expand the scope of its ministry?
An additional focal point of this text is Jesus’ authority over the created world. This miracle story echoes the story of Jonah where Jonah is aroused and called upon to pray that his ship might be saved (Jonah 1:6). The parallel between the two stories is then sharply broken in order to present Jesus as greater than a prophet (and also as one who follows God instead of fleeing). Instead of praying, Jesus himself rebukes the storm and commands the wind and the waves to be silent and muzzled. A calm then emerges that demonstrates Jesus’ control over the chaotic elements which threaten the disciples. Both Jesus’ authority and willingness to take action raise questions about who Jesus is and how we are to put our trust in him.
Food for Thought
Written initially for a church enduring stress, tribulation, and even persecution, this text provided a comforting reminder that Jesus is Lord over the Church and over all creation. In a similar manner, this story from Mark can provide comfort to our church today. Often, we can feel overwhelmed by the pressure, demands, and conflicts within our church and society. We may feel as though our small boat will be torn apart as we try to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that cross divides of geography, culture, and religion. We can find assurance in our faith that Jesus does indeed “care that we are perishing” and that Jesus does go with us even in our small and scarcely seaworthy boats.
Sink Your Teeth Into This
Last year, I had the joy and privilege of traveling to the Holy Land with Union-PSCE’s Middle East Travel Seminar. Among the most lasting impressions from the trip was the time that we spent on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was a powerful thing to see the hillsides that Jesus and the disciples walked upon. It was both beautiful and profound to look out across this large lake and see the far shore.
As we stood there in modern day Israel looking over to the shores of the Kingdom of Jordan, professor Sam Balentine remarked, “That is all that separated the ancient Israelites from the Gentile nations.” Recognizing in this experiential way that the Sea of Galilee is only a mile or two wide in places had a profound impact on me. It helped me understand in a new way just how close the religiously “clean” and “unclean” lived.
The Israelites and Gentiles would have been neighbors, would have had to trade and interact with one another. In some ways, Jesus’ crossing over to their shores in a boat would have been utterly unremarkable. Yet, the gesture of him going to heal people across the lake, going to proclaim the gospel and share in life and ministry, was enough to cause great storms and waves in the early church.
The storms, coupled with the Gospel’s eventual spread into socially and religiously unclean lands, give me perspective on how we are called to have faith and share faith across boundaries – boundaries that may challenge or even offend our religious institutions.
Biographical Information
Clark Scalera and Berry French are Pastoral Residents at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC. Clark graduated from Union-PSCE in 2007, and Berry in 2008.
Works Referenced
Hare, Douglas R. A., Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, KY, 1996.
Williamson, Lamar, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Mark (John Knox Press: Atlanta, GA, 1983.
Read more!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
June 14, 2009 - 2 Corinthians 5:6-17 - Fairfax F. Fair
Gleanings From the Text
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
This brief passage raises a number of intriguing questions. What does it mean to be “at home in the body?” Is the author (Paul) wishing his life away when he writes, “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord?” What must we do to please the Lord?
The gist of this text is the effect of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That act of God has changed everything for all times, and God’s act has changed us. We are no longer the same. Our perspective on others is different. The one we knew as flesh and blood – Jesus Christ – has broken through the finitude of human existence and done something wholly new. Our experience with the Christ has irrevocably altered our raison d’etre.
Several points should be made in the exposition of this text. Take a careful look at verse 14: “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all ...” Notice that this does not restrict the salvific effects of Christ’s death to the circumcised, to believers, or to any other group or classification of people. The statement is unequivocal: Christ has died for all.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (v17). This verse is worthy of careful attention. Consider the verb, gegonen. It is perfect tense, which denotes the continuance of completed action. What is its subject? It makes a difference! J. Paul Sampley lays out various possibilities in the New Interpreter’s Bible, volume XI, pages 93-94.
Food for Thought
Throughout human history the inclination has been to erect barriers, to self-select for privilege, to build dividing walls of hostility. The radical nature of sin infects our relationships. We may want to impose feelings of superiority on others. The truth of Jesus Christ is absolute. As Peter testifies in the Acts of the Apostles, “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34-43). The death of Jesus Christ is for all people.
Convicted of this truth, we can no longer regard anyone “from a human point of view.” What is a human point of view? We see disabilities where God sees possibilities. We see differences as flaws; God sees our individuality as beauty.
Sink Your Teeth into This!
From time to time one sees a child’s T-shirt with wisdom hidden beneath a grammatical veil. The shirt proclaims, “God don’t make no junk.” No one – child or adult, privileged or bereft, accomplished or dependent – is without earth-changing value. Jesus Christ voluntarily gave up his life for each of us. If we have that kind of value to God, blinders should fall off for the rest of us. We are to treat one another, regardless of personal feelings, as beloved children of God, human beings for whom Christ died.
In the pressures of everyday living, when we struggle to provide for our families, to find a sure path through economic minefields, to fend off the slings and arrows leveled at us, our tendency may be to strike out at another. This text requires us to pause. No one is beyond the circle of Jesus’ love. If we are in Christ – a part of his family, a beneficiary of his death and resurrection, a guest at his table – we must treat all others as valued fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We can no longer regard them from a human point of view.
A powerful sermon can be developed on this text, calling all of us to a re-evaluation of how we treat one another and to the theological basis for that treatment. We must be consistently gracious, merciful, and forgiving. We stand to be convicted of our sins. We deserve condemnation. Instead, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. We are forgiven and made new, again and again. Let us see one another not from a human point of view but with the eyes of Christ. Then let us live in an abundance of love.
Biographical Information
Fairfax F. Fair is Pastor of Highland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY
Read more!
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
This brief passage raises a number of intriguing questions. What does it mean to be “at home in the body?” Is the author (Paul) wishing his life away when he writes, “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord?” What must we do to please the Lord?
The gist of this text is the effect of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That act of God has changed everything for all times, and God’s act has changed us. We are no longer the same. Our perspective on others is different. The one we knew as flesh and blood – Jesus Christ – has broken through the finitude of human existence and done something wholly new. Our experience with the Christ has irrevocably altered our raison d’etre.
Several points should be made in the exposition of this text. Take a careful look at verse 14: “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all ...” Notice that this does not restrict the salvific effects of Christ’s death to the circumcised, to believers, or to any other group or classification of people. The statement is unequivocal: Christ has died for all.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (v17). This verse is worthy of careful attention. Consider the verb, gegonen. It is perfect tense, which denotes the continuance of completed action. What is its subject? It makes a difference! J. Paul Sampley lays out various possibilities in the New Interpreter’s Bible, volume XI, pages 93-94.
Food for Thought
Throughout human history the inclination has been to erect barriers, to self-select for privilege, to build dividing walls of hostility. The radical nature of sin infects our relationships. We may want to impose feelings of superiority on others. The truth of Jesus Christ is absolute. As Peter testifies in the Acts of the Apostles, “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34-43). The death of Jesus Christ is for all people.
Convicted of this truth, we can no longer regard anyone “from a human point of view.” What is a human point of view? We see disabilities where God sees possibilities. We see differences as flaws; God sees our individuality as beauty.
Sink Your Teeth into This!
From time to time one sees a child’s T-shirt with wisdom hidden beneath a grammatical veil. The shirt proclaims, “God don’t make no junk.” No one – child or adult, privileged or bereft, accomplished or dependent – is without earth-changing value. Jesus Christ voluntarily gave up his life for each of us. If we have that kind of value to God, blinders should fall off for the rest of us. We are to treat one another, regardless of personal feelings, as beloved children of God, human beings for whom Christ died.
In the pressures of everyday living, when we struggle to provide for our families, to find a sure path through economic minefields, to fend off the slings and arrows leveled at us, our tendency may be to strike out at another. This text requires us to pause. No one is beyond the circle of Jesus’ love. If we are in Christ – a part of his family, a beneficiary of his death and resurrection, a guest at his table – we must treat all others as valued fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We can no longer regard them from a human point of view.
A powerful sermon can be developed on this text, calling all of us to a re-evaluation of how we treat one another and to the theological basis for that treatment. We must be consistently gracious, merciful, and forgiving. We stand to be convicted of our sins. We deserve condemnation. Instead, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. We are forgiven and made new, again and again. Let us see one another not from a human point of view but with the eyes of Christ. Then let us live in an abundance of love.
Biographical Information
Fairfax F. Fair is Pastor of Highland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY
Read more!
Friday, April 3, 2009
May 31 - Ezekiel 37:1-14 - Joshua T. Andrzejewski
Gleanings From the Text
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Hebrew word ruah (spirit, breath) appears eight times in the first ten verses of the pericope, and once in its conclusion. The NRSV translation fails to make evident the connection between God’s “spirit” and the animating “breath” that gives life to the bodies in verse 10. The spirit of God is a unifying force that leads to life.
The verb hayah (to live) occurs six times in the pericope, usually appearing alongside ruah. The counterpoint to hayah in this pericope is ’etsem (bones), a word that occurs ten times and symbolizes the state of Israel: hopeless, cut off, dead.
Food for Thought
Ezekiel’s report of the valley of dry bones comes up often in discussions of resurrection imagery in the Old Testament; however, this vision has more to do with restoration than resurrection. Kevin Madigan and Jon Levenson put it this way: “The question it answers is not the familiar, self-interested one, ‘Will I have life after death?’ but rather a more profound and encompassing one, ‘Will God honor [the] promises to [the] people?’” (155). Madigan and Levenson’s book is an accessible introduction to the afterlife concept as it develops from the prophets to the time of Jesus.
Ezekiel began his prophetic work around 591 BCE, was taken into exile in Babylon in 597 BCE, lived through the destruction of Jerusalem ten years later, and continued his work until at least 571 BCE (Petersen, 139). He was designated a sopeh, a sentinal, and commanded to warn people of the coming destruction. In this week’s pericope, the exile has occurred and Ezekiel’s work is now to give his listeners the hope of restoration – “I will place you on your own soil” (verse 14).
Be sure to check out Job 10:8-9, 11 and Genesis 2:4-9 for intertextual connections.
Sink Your Teeth Into This
God’s promises have been impossible from the very start. There is the call of Abraham and Sarah, two impossibly old folks who were charged with giving birth to a nation as plentiful as the stars in the sky. The nation did grow up, but before too long it had been enslaved. When God liberated the people, they continually fell away – even when they had been given their own land, even when they had judges, kings, and prophets to try and keep them in line.
Ezekiel was faced with a situation in which a promise made thousands of years ago, a promise that seemed too good to be true, was turning out to be exactly that. The exile was one of the most traumatic events in Jewish history, and there’s a whole book of the Bible – Lamentations – dedicated to the words of despair and hopelessness God’s people felt at that time. The land was supposed to remind them of God’s promise; the king was supposed to remind them of God’s promise; the Temple was supposed to remind them of God’s promise. Now all those things were gone and the people were left despondent – utterly alone. We can hear their anguish in the words of Psalm 137.
Despite the 2,500 years that separate us from Ezekiel, I think each of us must have some idea how he felt, how his people felt. I suspect that there are things many of us treasure as reminders of God’s promise: a passage of scripture; words spoken by a dear friend at just the right moment; the memory of a particular star in the sky one night. They are meaningless to anyone else, but to us they are touchstones to which we cling when everything else falls away. Now imagine that you’ve lost even those, and I think you begin to grasp the magnitude of the exile.
So we return to that painful conversation between Ezekiel and God. Painful because Ezekiel knew. “Mortal, can these bones live?” And the prophet knew the answer; he knew it was impossible.
And yet, that’s precisely what happens in the vision that follows. In essence, God says, “You think it’s impossible for me to restore my people from exile? I’m going to show you that I could do something infinitely more impossible than that. Not only am I going to restore the bones and sinew and flesh, but I am going to return my breath to these bodies, and they are going to live again.
“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.” God keeps promises, even though they have been impossible from the very start.
Biographical Information
Joshua T. Andrzejewski is a second-level student at Union-PSCE in Richmond within the Masters of Divinity and Christian Education programs. He grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania – the birthplace of suburbia – and found his way to Richmond through Project Burning Bush. This summer, he will serve as a resident teacher for the program. Next year, he will be doing a year-in-ministry as a chaplain at a level-1 trauma center in Richmond. He can be reached at josh.andrzejewski@gmail.com.
Works Referenced
Kevin J. Madigan & Jon D. Levenson, Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), 146-155.
David L. Petersen, The Prophetic Literature (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 137-168.
Read more!
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Hebrew word ruah (spirit, breath) appears eight times in the first ten verses of the pericope, and once in its conclusion. The NRSV translation fails to make evident the connection between God’s “spirit” and the animating “breath” that gives life to the bodies in verse 10. The spirit of God is a unifying force that leads to life.
The verb hayah (to live) occurs six times in the pericope, usually appearing alongside ruah. The counterpoint to hayah in this pericope is ’etsem (bones), a word that occurs ten times and symbolizes the state of Israel: hopeless, cut off, dead.
Food for Thought
Ezekiel’s report of the valley of dry bones comes up often in discussions of resurrection imagery in the Old Testament; however, this vision has more to do with restoration than resurrection. Kevin Madigan and Jon Levenson put it this way: “The question it answers is not the familiar, self-interested one, ‘Will I have life after death?’ but rather a more profound and encompassing one, ‘Will God honor [the] promises to [the] people?’” (155). Madigan and Levenson’s book is an accessible introduction to the afterlife concept as it develops from the prophets to the time of Jesus.
Ezekiel began his prophetic work around 591 BCE, was taken into exile in Babylon in 597 BCE, lived through the destruction of Jerusalem ten years later, and continued his work until at least 571 BCE (Petersen, 139). He was designated a sopeh, a sentinal, and commanded to warn people of the coming destruction. In this week’s pericope, the exile has occurred and Ezekiel’s work is now to give his listeners the hope of restoration – “I will place you on your own soil” (verse 14).
Be sure to check out Job 10:8-9, 11 and Genesis 2:4-9 for intertextual connections.
Sink Your Teeth Into This
God’s promises have been impossible from the very start. There is the call of Abraham and Sarah, two impossibly old folks who were charged with giving birth to a nation as plentiful as the stars in the sky. The nation did grow up, but before too long it had been enslaved. When God liberated the people, they continually fell away – even when they had been given their own land, even when they had judges, kings, and prophets to try and keep them in line.
Ezekiel was faced with a situation in which a promise made thousands of years ago, a promise that seemed too good to be true, was turning out to be exactly that. The exile was one of the most traumatic events in Jewish history, and there’s a whole book of the Bible – Lamentations – dedicated to the words of despair and hopelessness God’s people felt at that time. The land was supposed to remind them of God’s promise; the king was supposed to remind them of God’s promise; the Temple was supposed to remind them of God’s promise. Now all those things were gone and the people were left despondent – utterly alone. We can hear their anguish in the words of Psalm 137.
Despite the 2,500 years that separate us from Ezekiel, I think each of us must have some idea how he felt, how his people felt. I suspect that there are things many of us treasure as reminders of God’s promise: a passage of scripture; words spoken by a dear friend at just the right moment; the memory of a particular star in the sky one night. They are meaningless to anyone else, but to us they are touchstones to which we cling when everything else falls away. Now imagine that you’ve lost even those, and I think you begin to grasp the magnitude of the exile.
So we return to that painful conversation between Ezekiel and God. Painful because Ezekiel knew. “Mortal, can these bones live?” And the prophet knew the answer; he knew it was impossible.
And yet, that’s precisely what happens in the vision that follows. In essence, God says, “You think it’s impossible for me to restore my people from exile? I’m going to show you that I could do something infinitely more impossible than that. Not only am I going to restore the bones and sinew and flesh, but I am going to return my breath to these bodies, and they are going to live again.
“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.” God keeps promises, even though they have been impossible from the very start.
Biographical Information
Joshua T. Andrzejewski is a second-level student at Union-PSCE in Richmond within the Masters of Divinity and Christian Education programs. He grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania – the birthplace of suburbia – and found his way to Richmond through Project Burning Bush. This summer, he will serve as a resident teacher for the program. Next year, he will be doing a year-in-ministry as a chaplain at a level-1 trauma center in Richmond. He can be reached at josh.andrzejewski@gmail.com.
Works Referenced
Kevin J. Madigan & Jon D. Levenson, Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), 146-155.
David L. Petersen, The Prophetic Literature (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 137-168.
Read more!
May 24, 2009 - Psalm 1 - J.P. Kang
Gleanings From the Text
Psalm 1
Psalm 1 (along with Psalm 2 in some early collections) invites and welcomes the reader and hearer, not only to the Psalter proper, but beyond to a comprehensive vision of life. As such, special consideration may be paid to its anticipatory function and paradigmatic significance.
The somewhat irregular literary structure of Psalm 1 may be summarized by this pair of telescoping statements: “Happy the one . . . whose way is known by the LORD,” and perhaps parenthetically, “Not so the wicked . . . whose way will perish.” (vv. 1, 4, 6). This “didactic poetry” (so Krauss, p. 114) thus presents two ways and their corresponding destinies (see Mays, Psalms, pp. 43–44), thereby exhorting readers and hearers to choose the abundant life (a theme to which the Johannine lections for this Sunday also relate).
Food for Thought
v. 1: The opening word, Heb. ʾašrê (Gk. makarios), is translated as “happy” (e.g., NRSV and JPS) or “blessed” (e.g., KJV and NIV). How does the choice affect the understanding of the identity or character of “the righteous”?
v. 2: “the law” (JPS: “the teaching”) is “the Torah of YHWH” (Gk. nomos kuriou). What is Torah and what is the Christian’s relationship to it? For the semantic range of tôrâ (and much more!), see S. Dean McBride, Jr., “Perspective and Context in the Study of Pentateuchal Legislation” [read at Google Books].
Are life’s possibilities really as starkly opposed as the psalmist concludes? If the profile of the “righteous” strikes one as idealistic and/or hypocritical, it might be instructive to consider the exhortations to perpetual joy, prayer, and thanksgiving in 1 Thess 5:16–18. Many of us may even find it easier to identify, for various reasons, with the “wicked”! How, then, can we preach Psalm 1 without simply moralizing?
Sink Your Teeth into This!
Mays comments that “Psalm 1 teaches that life is a journey through time; living chooses a particular route of existence” (Psalms, p. 43; emphasis mine). Heschel observed that “The Bible is more concerned with time than space” (The Sabbath, pp. 6–7) and that our goal is to “become attuned to holiness in time” (p. 10).
The vital and temporal rhythms of sowing and reaping give root to the Psalm’s contrast of fecundity (“fruit in its season,” v. 3) and barrenness (“chaff that the wind drives away,” v. 4). If the sacred journey is yet one of perpetual struggle with the two ways, then it should come as no surprise that we should experience disproportionate yields in various seasons.
By God’s grace may we all hear this word, accept it, and bear fruit!
For further reading and reflection
John Calvin, Commentary on The Book of Psalms [read at CCEL].
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951).
Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 1–59: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1988), 112–22.
James L. Mays, Psalms (Interpretation; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 40–43.
James L. Mays, Preaching and Teaching the Psalms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 161–63.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs: NavPress Publishing Group, 2002). [read at BibleGateway]
S. Dean McBride, Jr., “Perspective and Context in the Study of Pentateuchal Legislation,” pp. 47–60 in Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present, and Future (edited by James L. Mays, David L. Petersen, Kent Harold Richards; Nashville: Abingdon, 1995). [read at Google Books].
Biographical Information
J. P. Kang is a recent graduate of Union–PSCE (Ph.D., Bible, 2007), and currently calls Seattle home. He was born in Wheeling, WV, to Presbyterian minister Edwin Kang (UTS B.D., 1966) and Mae Kang, and grew up as a missionary kid in Zaïre and Japan. He can be reached at jpkang@alum.mit.edu and via his blog at http://mymachero.com/.
Read more!
Psalm 1
Psalm 1 (along with Psalm 2 in some early collections) invites and welcomes the reader and hearer, not only to the Psalter proper, but beyond to a comprehensive vision of life. As such, special consideration may be paid to its anticipatory function and paradigmatic significance.
The somewhat irregular literary structure of Psalm 1 may be summarized by this pair of telescoping statements: “Happy the one . . . whose way is known by the LORD,” and perhaps parenthetically, “Not so the wicked . . . whose way will perish.” (vv. 1, 4, 6). This “didactic poetry” (so Krauss, p. 114) thus presents two ways and their corresponding destinies (see Mays, Psalms, pp. 43–44), thereby exhorting readers and hearers to choose the abundant life (a theme to which the Johannine lections for this Sunday also relate).
Food for Thought
v. 1: The opening word, Heb. ʾašrê (Gk. makarios), is translated as “happy” (e.g., NRSV and JPS) or “blessed” (e.g., KJV and NIV). How does the choice affect the understanding of the identity or character of “the righteous”?
v. 2: “the law” (JPS: “the teaching”) is “the Torah of YHWH” (Gk. nomos kuriou). What is Torah and what is the Christian’s relationship to it? For the semantic range of tôrâ (and much more!), see S. Dean McBride, Jr., “Perspective and Context in the Study of Pentateuchal Legislation” [read at Google Books].
Are life’s possibilities really as starkly opposed as the psalmist concludes? If the profile of the “righteous” strikes one as idealistic and/or hypocritical, it might be instructive to consider the exhortations to perpetual joy, prayer, and thanksgiving in 1 Thess 5:16–18. Many of us may even find it easier to identify, for various reasons, with the “wicked”! How, then, can we preach Psalm 1 without simply moralizing?
Sink Your Teeth into This!
Mays comments that “Psalm 1 teaches that life is a journey through time; living chooses a particular route of existence” (Psalms, p. 43; emphasis mine). Heschel observed that “The Bible is more concerned with time than space” (The Sabbath, pp. 6–7) and that our goal is to “become attuned to holiness in time” (p. 10).
The vital and temporal rhythms of sowing and reaping give root to the Psalm’s contrast of fecundity (“fruit in its season,” v. 3) and barrenness (“chaff that the wind drives away,” v. 4). If the sacred journey is yet one of perpetual struggle with the two ways, then it should come as no surprise that we should experience disproportionate yields in various seasons.
By God’s grace may we all hear this word, accept it, and bear fruit!
For further reading and reflection
John Calvin, Commentary on The Book of Psalms [read at CCEL].
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951).
Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 1–59: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1988), 112–22.
James L. Mays, Psalms (Interpretation; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 40–43.
James L. Mays, Preaching and Teaching the Psalms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 161–63.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs: NavPress Publishing Group, 2002). [read at BibleGateway]
S. Dean McBride, Jr., “Perspective and Context in the Study of Pentateuchal Legislation,” pp. 47–60 in Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present, and Future (edited by James L. Mays, David L. Petersen, Kent Harold Richards; Nashville: Abingdon, 1995). [read at Google Books].
Biographical Information
J. P. Kang is a recent graduate of Union–PSCE (Ph.D., Bible, 2007), and currently calls Seattle home. He was born in Wheeling, WV, to Presbyterian minister Edwin Kang (UTS B.D., 1966) and Mae Kang, and grew up as a missionary kid in Zaïre and Japan. He can be reached at jpkang@alum.mit.edu and via his blog at http://mymachero.com/.
Read more!
May 17, 2009 - John 15:9-17 - Barry Chance
Gleanings from the Text
John 15:9-17
This text is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse in John. This discourse focuses mainly on preparing the disciples for life and ministry post-Easter and thus the topics include the coming of the Holy Spirit, persecution, and the nature of the continuing community of faith. This particular pericope is the second half of a section that began at 15:1 and focuses on the image of the vine as a symbol of the interconnectedness of Jesus and his disciples.
A few words of particular interest in the Greek:
Agape – One of three Greek words for love, John favors this word when speaking about a self-giving love as best illustrated by the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Philos – Most often translated “friend” it is more literally “loved one.”
In this pericope, Jesus effectively says “I love (agape) you, so I call you loved ones (philos).” The theological implication is that the identity of the disciples is tied up in the fact that they are loved—they are Friends of Jesus—Friends of God.
Food for Thought
What does it mean to be a Friend of God? When Jesus says “Love one another as I have loved you” he gives us a clue as to where we might begin to reorder our relationships with God and one another.
1. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” To be a friend is to give generously of yourself to your friends.
2. “I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” Friends do not hold back from one another; rather, the basis of friendship is trust and openness.
3. “I appointed you to go and bear fruit.” Friends take each other seriously; they recognize the gifts and purposes of the other and seek to help the other live a meaningful life.
Some might hear the commandment to love and wonder if it is still love if it is commanded. There is no good way to resolve that; however, I wonder how it might change the debate if we think of love as an action instead of a sentiment. If love is more about what I do to my neighbor than what I feel about my neighbor, does that change the dynamic? Perhaps sometimes we need to practice being loving until we learn how to love.
Sink Your Teeth Into This:
“You’re my friend ain’t you mamma? I mean daddy. I mean, Mr. Barry?” I hear those words at least once a week. Sometimes it is while I am shaking hands as people file out of the sanctuary, but usually it is at Bible study on Wednesday night. My answer is always “Yes, Mae,* and you’re my friend.”
Mae is one of the students in my congregation’s Friendship Bible Study, a weekly study for adults with intellectual disabilities. The class is called Friendship because the curriculum we use comes from Friendship Ministries, but I can think of no better name because it reminds me and all of the other mentors that our role is to be a friend.
Friendship has not always come easily to all of my friends. Some of them have been mocked, excluded, and abused because they are different. Some have difficulty expressing themselves and people aren’t patient with them as they try. Some are just hard to befriend. Still, they are my friends and Jesus teaches us what that means.
Friends give generously, trust and are open with each other, and help each other live meaningful lives. Friends tell the legislature when the laws aren’t working, say enough when someone is overmedicated, log many miles in the car getting people to church, share the details of their lives, let others pray for them, and help each other discover and use the gifts that God has given them.
* I have changed the name to protect my friend’s privacy.
For Further Reading & Reflection
Nouwen, Henri J. M. Adam, God’s Beloved. (Orbis Books: Maryknoll, NY, 2004)
Hauerwas, Stanley and Jean Vanier. Living Gently in a Violent World. (IVP Books: Downers Grove, IL, 2008)
www.friendship.org
Biographical Information
Barry Chance (M.Div., ’05) lives in Shreveport, LA, with his wife Katie. He is the pastor of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church where he teaches a weekly Bible study for adults with intellectual disabilities. He also serves on the board of two ministries that serve the needs of people with intellectual disabilities - Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries and Friendship Ministries - and would love to speak with anyone looking for ways to include people with disabilities into the full life of the church. Read more!
John 15:9-17
This text is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse in John. This discourse focuses mainly on preparing the disciples for life and ministry post-Easter and thus the topics include the coming of the Holy Spirit, persecution, and the nature of the continuing community of faith. This particular pericope is the second half of a section that began at 15:1 and focuses on the image of the vine as a symbol of the interconnectedness of Jesus and his disciples.
A few words of particular interest in the Greek:
Agape – One of three Greek words for love, John favors this word when speaking about a self-giving love as best illustrated by the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Philos – Most often translated “friend” it is more literally “loved one.”
In this pericope, Jesus effectively says “I love (agape) you, so I call you loved ones (philos).” The theological implication is that the identity of the disciples is tied up in the fact that they are loved—they are Friends of Jesus—Friends of God.
Food for Thought
What does it mean to be a Friend of God? When Jesus says “Love one another as I have loved you” he gives us a clue as to where we might begin to reorder our relationships with God and one another.
1. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” To be a friend is to give generously of yourself to your friends.
2. “I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” Friends do not hold back from one another; rather, the basis of friendship is trust and openness.
3. “I appointed you to go and bear fruit.” Friends take each other seriously; they recognize the gifts and purposes of the other and seek to help the other live a meaningful life.
Some might hear the commandment to love and wonder if it is still love if it is commanded. There is no good way to resolve that; however, I wonder how it might change the debate if we think of love as an action instead of a sentiment. If love is more about what I do to my neighbor than what I feel about my neighbor, does that change the dynamic? Perhaps sometimes we need to practice being loving until we learn how to love.
Sink Your Teeth Into This:
“You’re my friend ain’t you mamma? I mean daddy. I mean, Mr. Barry?” I hear those words at least once a week. Sometimes it is while I am shaking hands as people file out of the sanctuary, but usually it is at Bible study on Wednesday night. My answer is always “Yes, Mae,* and you’re my friend.”
Mae is one of the students in my congregation’s Friendship Bible Study, a weekly study for adults with intellectual disabilities. The class is called Friendship because the curriculum we use comes from Friendship Ministries, but I can think of no better name because it reminds me and all of the other mentors that our role is to be a friend.
Friendship has not always come easily to all of my friends. Some of them have been mocked, excluded, and abused because they are different. Some have difficulty expressing themselves and people aren’t patient with them as they try. Some are just hard to befriend. Still, they are my friends and Jesus teaches us what that means.
Friends give generously, trust and are open with each other, and help each other live meaningful lives. Friends tell the legislature when the laws aren’t working, say enough when someone is overmedicated, log many miles in the car getting people to church, share the details of their lives, let others pray for them, and help each other discover and use the gifts that God has given them.
* I have changed the name to protect my friend’s privacy.
For Further Reading & Reflection
Nouwen, Henri J. M. Adam, God’s Beloved. (Orbis Books: Maryknoll, NY, 2004)
Hauerwas, Stanley and Jean Vanier. Living Gently in a Violent World. (IVP Books: Downers Grove, IL, 2008)
www.friendship.org
Biographical Information
Barry Chance (M.Div., ’05) lives in Shreveport, LA, with his wife Katie. He is the pastor of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church where he teaches a weekly Bible study for adults with intellectual disabilities. He also serves on the board of two ministries that serve the needs of people with intellectual disabilities - Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries and Friendship Ministries - and would love to speak with anyone looking for ways to include people with disabilities into the full life of the church. Read more!
May 10, 2009 - 1 John 4:7-21 - Carol Clarke
Gleanings from the Text
1 John 4:7-21
By now, the Easter lilies have withered along with the enthusiasm of some for preaching more of “John,” either Gospel or epistles. In addition to the recurrent Johannine themes, however, this pericope offers an eloquent and theologically rich treatment of divine love.
Biblical scholar Raymond Brown attributed these writings to the “community of the Beloved Disciple.” The Johannine community experienced conflict and some left, but the perspective of the writer(s) is less that of an outsider telling them how they got it wrong than an insider imploring them to get it right. Here the prophetic word is spoken as reasoned exhortation (first person plural and third person references).
Words worth noting --
Love -- agape love; some form of which (noun, verb, or vocative of address) appears 27 times in 15 verses.
God is love (verses 8 and 16). We teach our children these words almost as soon as they can talk. Not only by implication and example, but by divine essence, God is love. John Wesley commented: “[God] is said to be love; intimating that this is his darling, his reigning attribute, the attribute that sheds an amiable glory on all his other perfections.”
Love perfected -- It has realized its full potential; its purpose is fulfilled and so it is mature, full-grown.
Boldness -- Not bodacious audacity but confidence which stands in awe of what God has done for us in Christ. We can live without fear of judgment because Christ is our “atoning sacrifice” (NRSV).
Abiding -- When we love, we are living at home (abiding) in God, because God (Father, Son, and Spirit) is the source and substance of divine love and our love for one another.
Food for Thought
A song we love to sing from the 60’s is “If I Had a Hammer” by Hays and Seeger. The first stanza contains the line: “I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” Relationships sometimes have to be hammered out before we can sing and celebrate them.
How far do we have to go to hate someone? Does personal preference or intolerance count? Is indifference toward others equivalent to hatred?
About the Johannine community conflict -- Did the very strength of the arguments made within the community contribute to its undoing? Did these people seem a little too sure of themselves for others? Were there significant socioeconomic differences (see 3:23)? Was the conflict really theological? (We humanoids are good at putting a theological face on interpersonal conflicts or outright prejudice.) Are our “brothers and sisters” only believers who believe as we do?
What can we learn from this passage about mentoring or counseling in times of conflict?
Sink Your Teeth into This
God has given us a tremendous gift in one another. As we love those we can see, we learn to love God whom we can’t see.
The first faces that many of us can remember seeing are those of our mothers and fathers. The flawed humanity that we are and that they were is somehow used by God to teach us to love. Now that’s miraculous!
One of my earliest memories is playing too close to an embankment, dancing and swinging my doll in the air. Somehow she flew out of my hands and fell 20 feet to the creek bank below. My mom rescued me and my doll. Now that I think on it, today would be a good day to say thanks to her and to God for love.
References
Raymond Brown. The Community of the Beloved Disciple (Paulist Press, 1979).
Judith Lieu. I, II, and III John: A Commentary (Westminster John Knox, 2008).
John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, Christian Classics Ethereal Library (http://www.ccel.org/)
1 John 4:7-21
By now, the Easter lilies have withered along with the enthusiasm of some for preaching more of “John,” either Gospel or epistles. In addition to the recurrent Johannine themes, however, this pericope offers an eloquent and theologically rich treatment of divine love.
Biblical scholar Raymond Brown attributed these writings to the “community of the Beloved Disciple.” The Johannine community experienced conflict and some left, but the perspective of the writer(s) is less that of an outsider telling them how they got it wrong than an insider imploring them to get it right. Here the prophetic word is spoken as reasoned exhortation (first person plural and third person references).
Words worth noting --
Love -- agape love; some form of which (noun, verb, or vocative of address) appears 27 times in 15 verses.
God is love (verses 8 and 16). We teach our children these words almost as soon as they can talk. Not only by implication and example, but by divine essence, God is love. John Wesley commented: “[God] is said to be love; intimating that this is his darling, his reigning attribute, the attribute that sheds an amiable glory on all his other perfections.”
Love perfected -- It has realized its full potential; its purpose is fulfilled and so it is mature, full-grown.
Boldness -- Not bodacious audacity but confidence which stands in awe of what God has done for us in Christ. We can live without fear of judgment because Christ is our “atoning sacrifice” (NRSV).
Abiding -- When we love, we are living at home (abiding) in God, because God (Father, Son, and Spirit) is the source and substance of divine love and our love for one another.
Food for Thought
A song we love to sing from the 60’s is “If I Had a Hammer” by Hays and Seeger. The first stanza contains the line: “I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” Relationships sometimes have to be hammered out before we can sing and celebrate them.
How far do we have to go to hate someone? Does personal preference or intolerance count? Is indifference toward others equivalent to hatred?
About the Johannine community conflict -- Did the very strength of the arguments made within the community contribute to its undoing? Did these people seem a little too sure of themselves for others? Were there significant socioeconomic differences (see 3:23)? Was the conflict really theological? (We humanoids are good at putting a theological face on interpersonal conflicts or outright prejudice.) Are our “brothers and sisters” only believers who believe as we do?
What can we learn from this passage about mentoring or counseling in times of conflict?
Sink Your Teeth into This
God has given us a tremendous gift in one another. As we love those we can see, we learn to love God whom we can’t see.
The first faces that many of us can remember seeing are those of our mothers and fathers. The flawed humanity that we are and that they were is somehow used by God to teach us to love. Now that’s miraculous!
One of my earliest memories is playing too close to an embankment, dancing and swinging my doll in the air. Somehow she flew out of my hands and fell 20 feet to the creek bank below. My mom rescued me and my doll. Now that I think on it, today would be a good day to say thanks to her and to God for love.
References
Raymond Brown. The Community of the Beloved Disciple (Paulist Press, 1979).
Judith Lieu. I, II, and III John: A Commentary (Westminster John Knox, 2008).
John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, Christian Classics Ethereal Library (http://www.ccel.org/)
Biographical Information
Carol Clarke (MDiv. 1999, ThM. 2001) who has worked in the Louisville Presbyterian Center and pastored in Virginia and Pennsylvania, has just moved to Marble Falls, Texas.
May 3, 2009 - All Texts - Various Contributors
A Special Invitation!
Today we invite you to participate in blogging about the lectionary passages assigned for May 3, 2009. Give us a brief though, anecdote, or insight that occurs to you as you sink your teeth into the texts. We want to create the opportunity for genuine online interaction, so get typing!
Lectionary Texts for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23:1-6
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
Today we invite you to participate in blogging about the lectionary passages assigned for May 3, 2009. Give us a brief though, anecdote, or insight that occurs to you as you sink your teeth into the texts. We want to create the opportunity for genuine online interaction, so get typing!
Lectionary Texts for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23:1-6
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
Feel free to answer any or all of the following questions in the comments section below:
- What is your first response to the pericopes for this week?
- What do you find most challenging in these texts?
- What is one thing you would choose to say about these passages?
- Do you have a particular insight to share?
- Do any of these passages bring a memory to mind?
- How have these texts impacted your life?
- What should a congregation come away knowing after having heard a sermon based on one of these passages?
Read more!
Friday, March 6, 2009
April 26, 2009 - I John 3:1 – 7 - Andrew Taylor-Troutman
Gleanings from the Text
1 John 3:1-7
From antiquity, readers have noticed the similarities between the epistles ascribed to John and the Gospel that bears the same name. So, it is quite natural for us to note the parallels found with our lectionary text. When our pericope begins, “You know what kind of love the Father has given to us (3:1),” one could easily invoke John 3:16 as the faith confession that the community “knows.” In addition, the language of “children of God (3:1, 2)” can be read as an echo of John 1:12. In both texts, incorporation into the Divine family includes an understanding of the community of believers.
Despite such similarities, many scholars believe that the Epistles reflect the mindset of a community that existed several decades after the original audience of the Johannine Gospel. In I John, tense changes support this hypothesis. For example, the present tense sense that, “we are children of God” made in 3:1 and 3:2, is paired with a future understanding: “what we will be (3:2b, c).” Such looking ahead does suggest that, as generations passed, the believers continued to anticipate “when the Messiah would be revealed” (3:2), but with a newfound priority of sustaining community with hope in the present age.
Therefore, one way of reading the First Epistle is as a development of theological claims initiated in the Gospel. For instance, what it means to have “hope” in the Messiah is explicated throughout the Johannine Gospel, but here it is specifically nuanced with a call to piety: the notion that each would “purify” the self “just as the Messiah is pure (3:3).” The author further ups the ante by advancing a quid pro quo argument: since the Messiah was revealed “in order to take away sin” and “sin is not in him,” then “all who are remaining in him” are not sinning either (3:5 – 6). The Gospel does contain beautiful phrases about “remaining” in Jesus (6:56; 8:31; 15:4, 7), but the Epistle alone makes this direct connection to sinlessness. In case there is any doubt, the pericope concludes with an exhortation: “Let no one deceive you (3:7)!” As the Messiah is righteous, so is the “one who is doing righteousness.” Such exhortations to high ethical standards of living represent one possible theological claim by a community striving to discern the meaning of the Word made flesh.
Food for Thought
I have read, albeit briefly, this Epistle as representing one vein of the theological reasoning put into practice in a faith community. Certainly, this text provides important ideas for living out faith on the ground; personally, I am inspired by the certainty of the pronouncement, “we are children of God” combined with the humble acknowledgement that “what we will be” is not yet revealed (3:2). This does offer hope in uncertain and even painful times. But (and one can attribute this to my Calvinist leanings), I admit that I am suspicious of any absolute claim that appears to set unequivocal distinctions between the righteous and the sinners (3:6. 7). Such stringent categorization may very well inspire some to noble acts of piety, but I am concerned about the possibility of denigration into finger-pointing and even outright nastiness: I John 3:8 libels ones committing sin as from the Devil!
Sink Your Teeth into This!
In the summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to attend an interfaith conference with Religions for Peace. While engaging in dialogue with fellow Muslim and Jewish theological students, I was acutely sensitive to Christianity’s infamous role in propagating worldwide imperialism. In light of this tragic history, I found myself limiting my theological statements to what I thought were universal (and therefore non-offensive!) statements about the Divine. Finally, after I had made one too many of these bland comments, an Orthodox Jewish woman threw up her hands: “You are a Christian! You cannot just leave Jesus at the door!”
How do we, as Christians, reconcile our absolutist claims in Scripture that have undeniably caused death and destruction with our firm convictions that God has revealed God’s own self in the flesh for the good of the world? Even attempting an answer is beyond the scope of my assignment here, but as the reader wrestles with this question in an increasingly pluralistic society, I commend the notion of “we are” held in tension with “what we will be” as a fruitful starting point…one that does not require us to leave Jesus at the door!
About the Author
Andrew Taylor-Troutman has completed his coursework for the Masters of Divinity degree and will officially graduate from Union-PSCE in May, 2009. He and his wife, Ginny, plan to move to Charlottesville, where Andrew has accepted admission to the University of Virginia in a biblical studies program that places New Testament exegesis in conversation with Muslim and Jewish scholars and the sacred texts of these traditions. Andrew is also one of the founders and editors of Join the Feast and can be reached at andrew.taylortroutman@union-psce.edu.
Read more!
1 John 3:1-7
From antiquity, readers have noticed the similarities between the epistles ascribed to John and the Gospel that bears the same name. So, it is quite natural for us to note the parallels found with our lectionary text. When our pericope begins, “You know what kind of love the Father has given to us (3:1),” one could easily invoke John 3:16 as the faith confession that the community “knows.” In addition, the language of “children of God (3:1, 2)” can be read as an echo of John 1:12. In both texts, incorporation into the Divine family includes an understanding of the community of believers.
Despite such similarities, many scholars believe that the Epistles reflect the mindset of a community that existed several decades after the original audience of the Johannine Gospel. In I John, tense changes support this hypothesis. For example, the present tense sense that, “we are children of God” made in 3:1 and 3:2, is paired with a future understanding: “what we will be (3:2b, c).” Such looking ahead does suggest that, as generations passed, the believers continued to anticipate “when the Messiah would be revealed” (3:2), but with a newfound priority of sustaining community with hope in the present age.
Therefore, one way of reading the First Epistle is as a development of theological claims initiated in the Gospel. For instance, what it means to have “hope” in the Messiah is explicated throughout the Johannine Gospel, but here it is specifically nuanced with a call to piety: the notion that each would “purify” the self “just as the Messiah is pure (3:3).” The author further ups the ante by advancing a quid pro quo argument: since the Messiah was revealed “in order to take away sin” and “sin is not in him,” then “all who are remaining in him” are not sinning either (3:5 – 6). The Gospel does contain beautiful phrases about “remaining” in Jesus (6:56; 8:31; 15:4, 7), but the Epistle alone makes this direct connection to sinlessness. In case there is any doubt, the pericope concludes with an exhortation: “Let no one deceive you (3:7)!” As the Messiah is righteous, so is the “one who is doing righteousness.” Such exhortations to high ethical standards of living represent one possible theological claim by a community striving to discern the meaning of the Word made flesh.
Food for Thought
I have read, albeit briefly, this Epistle as representing one vein of the theological reasoning put into practice in a faith community. Certainly, this text provides important ideas for living out faith on the ground; personally, I am inspired by the certainty of the pronouncement, “we are children of God” combined with the humble acknowledgement that “what we will be” is not yet revealed (3:2). This does offer hope in uncertain and even painful times. But (and one can attribute this to my Calvinist leanings), I admit that I am suspicious of any absolute claim that appears to set unequivocal distinctions between the righteous and the sinners (3:6. 7). Such stringent categorization may very well inspire some to noble acts of piety, but I am concerned about the possibility of denigration into finger-pointing and even outright nastiness: I John 3:8 libels ones committing sin as from the Devil!
Sink Your Teeth into This!
In the summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to attend an interfaith conference with Religions for Peace. While engaging in dialogue with fellow Muslim and Jewish theological students, I was acutely sensitive to Christianity’s infamous role in propagating worldwide imperialism. In light of this tragic history, I found myself limiting my theological statements to what I thought were universal (and therefore non-offensive!) statements about the Divine. Finally, after I had made one too many of these bland comments, an Orthodox Jewish woman threw up her hands: “You are a Christian! You cannot just leave Jesus at the door!”
How do we, as Christians, reconcile our absolutist claims in Scripture that have undeniably caused death and destruction with our firm convictions that God has revealed God’s own self in the flesh for the good of the world? Even attempting an answer is beyond the scope of my assignment here, but as the reader wrestles with this question in an increasingly pluralistic society, I commend the notion of “we are” held in tension with “what we will be” as a fruitful starting point…one that does not require us to leave Jesus at the door!
About the Author
Andrew Taylor-Troutman has completed his coursework for the Masters of Divinity degree and will officially graduate from Union-PSCE in May, 2009. He and his wife, Ginny, plan to move to Charlottesville, where Andrew has accepted admission to the University of Virginia in a biblical studies program that places New Testament exegesis in conversation with Muslim and Jewish scholars and the sacred texts of these traditions. Andrew is also one of the founders and editors of Join the Feast and can be reached at andrew.taylortroutman@union-psce.edu.
Read more!
April 19, 2009 - Acts 4:32-35 - Greg Bolt
Gleanings From The Text
Acts 4:32-35
In this brief passage, Luke uses the ancient rhetorical device known as “chiasmus”, which is used to order the details of a story into an inverted parallelism. It usually follows the pattern of ABCB`A` with C as the vertex in the middle as a focal point.
A. Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, an no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (4:32)
B. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (4:33a)
C. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. (4:33b-34a)
B`. For as many as owned land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the feet of the apostles. (4:34b-35a)
A`. And it was distributed to each as any had need. (4:35b)
In this case, the renunciation of private ownership and sharing of goods is A (4:32), the redistribution of goods according to need is A` (4:35b), the great power of the apostles is B (4:33a), and apostles’ authority as seen by the laying of proceeds of what was sold at their feet is B` (4:34b-35a). The focal point (C) in this chiasmus is Luke’s emphasis on the need for God’s grace when we seek to be in community and share the gifts of God with one another.
Food For Thought
At first glance this passage appears to advance an impossible standard. How many of us would willingly give all of our possessions for the common good? When reading this passage recently with my youth group, some heard a call to communism. But, based on further reflection on this passage, it is more about grace than a vow of poverty. Luke places the grace of God at the center of this passage. This grace implores those in this group to act with one heart and soul; it drives them to respond to the needs of others before tending to their own wants and desires. If we focus only on the actions of the group without understanding its motivations, we miss Luke’s point that all needs are met in responding to grace granted to us by God through Jesus Christ. If the group did not act with one heart and soul, the sharing of goods would be an empty gesture and one destined to failure. Since this group acts with one heart and soul, it is uplifted and held as an example to the growing community of believers.
Sink Your Teeth Into This!
When reading this pericope, I was reminded of my childhood. When I was in elementary school, I had a group of friends that in some ways acted with one heart and soul. I hesitate to claim that the grace of God was overtly upon a group of young, energetic, and sometimes rambunctious boys, but I think the similarity holds. We could be found together at all hours of the day and night and in all parts of the neighborhood. We would spend hours at each other’s houses for sleepovers, video games, and whatever else we could dream up.
Different people had different things to offer: one had a video game system, one had a big back yard, one had a basketball goal, and one had the best action figures. But the beauty of this group was that we all treated them as if they were held in common. When the group was at my house, we ate the food provided there; if we were at another’s house, we ate there. We shared everything, from clothes and toys to meals and games, so it was like we were all living in abundance. We shared, not out of duty or a sense of rule, but out of a sense of community and grace. It is that type of community that can only come when the members are acting with one heart and soul. Maybe in the long run we should listen to the call from Christ that we should have faith like a child.
Works Consulted
The New Interpreter’s Bible: Acts, Introduction to Epistolary Literature, Romans, 1 Corinthians Volume X, Abingdon Press Nashville, TN 1995.
Read more!
Acts 4:32-35
In this brief passage, Luke uses the ancient rhetorical device known as “chiasmus”, which is used to order the details of a story into an inverted parallelism. It usually follows the pattern of ABCB`A` with C as the vertex in the middle as a focal point.
A. Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, an no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (4:32)
B. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (4:33a)
C. And great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. (4:33b-34a)
B`. For as many as owned land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the feet of the apostles. (4:34b-35a)
A`. And it was distributed to each as any had need. (4:35b)
In this case, the renunciation of private ownership and sharing of goods is A (4:32), the redistribution of goods according to need is A` (4:35b), the great power of the apostles is B (4:33a), and apostles’ authority as seen by the laying of proceeds of what was sold at their feet is B` (4:34b-35a). The focal point (C) in this chiasmus is Luke’s emphasis on the need for God’s grace when we seek to be in community and share the gifts of God with one another.
Food For Thought
At first glance this passage appears to advance an impossible standard. How many of us would willingly give all of our possessions for the common good? When reading this passage recently with my youth group, some heard a call to communism. But, based on further reflection on this passage, it is more about grace than a vow of poverty. Luke places the grace of God at the center of this passage. This grace implores those in this group to act with one heart and soul; it drives them to respond to the needs of others before tending to their own wants and desires. If we focus only on the actions of the group without understanding its motivations, we miss Luke’s point that all needs are met in responding to grace granted to us by God through Jesus Christ. If the group did not act with one heart and soul, the sharing of goods would be an empty gesture and one destined to failure. Since this group acts with one heart and soul, it is uplifted and held as an example to the growing community of believers.
Sink Your Teeth Into This!
When reading this pericope, I was reminded of my childhood. When I was in elementary school, I had a group of friends that in some ways acted with one heart and soul. I hesitate to claim that the grace of God was overtly upon a group of young, energetic, and sometimes rambunctious boys, but I think the similarity holds. We could be found together at all hours of the day and night and in all parts of the neighborhood. We would spend hours at each other’s houses for sleepovers, video games, and whatever else we could dream up.
Different people had different things to offer: one had a video game system, one had a big back yard, one had a basketball goal, and one had the best action figures. But the beauty of this group was that we all treated them as if they were held in common. When the group was at my house, we ate the food provided there; if we were at another’s house, we ate there. We shared everything, from clothes and toys to meals and games, so it was like we were all living in abundance. We shared, not out of duty or a sense of rule, but out of a sense of community and grace. It is that type of community that can only come when the members are acting with one heart and soul. Maybe in the long run we should listen to the call from Christ that we should have faith like a child.
Works Consulted
The New Interpreter’s Bible: Acts, Introduction to Epistolary Literature, Romans, 1 Corinthians Volume X, Abingdon Press Nashville, TN 1995.
Read more!
April 12, 2009 - Mark 16:1-8 - John Carroll
Gleanings From the Text
Mark 16:1-8
Only once do I recall hearing an Easter sermon based on the Easter narrative of the Gospel of Mark (chapter 16). That’s not really surprising, as Mark’s ending has often been regarded as incomplete and unsatisfying. Consider the way both Matthew and Luke fill out the story in their own gospels (Matthew 28; Luke 24), or the way Mark’s own story grew longer and longer in the history of its textual transmission. (The earliest reliable ending, at verse 8, received a variety of extensions.) But the unit for proclamation today is 16:1-8. Let the story end where it does!—which of course means the narrative ends in a way that only begins to open up possibilities, closes in a fashion so true to form for this gospel. Mark leaves us, at the end of the story, with hope, to be sure (along with fear and confusion), but also face to face with profound mystery. The God of Mark’s ending works in our world in ways that defy expectation and elude our every attempt at control.
Food for Thought
Mark’s readers observe as Mary Magdalene, Mary [mother?] of James, and Salome bring spices to the tomb on Easter morning to honor Jesus. (Do they know that an anonymous woman has already anointed him for burial, at least in his interpretation of her gesture [14:3–9]?) Like other “minor” characters in Mark who exemplify insight and faithfulness missing in the inner circle of disciples, these women step forward to extend devoted care to Jesus after his death. Thus they become the first to hear the good news of Jesus’ resurrection; they, not the twelve who fled in panic at the scene of Jesus’ arrest, are the faithful followers who must - beyond the narrative - have been the first to proclaim the Easter message.
Mark, though, withholds that report from the reader, leaving as a last impression not attentiveness to the word but fearful silence. But who are we to find fault with these women, whom fear reduces to silence as the gospel ends? Faced with God’s disruption of things as they are in this world, overcoming even death’s imperious final word to human life, their path — and ours — to joyful hope, to living faith, is neither swift nor easy. If there is hope for the future, it rests not on disciples’ insight and obedience but on Jesus’ fidelity to his promise (“He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there, as he told you” [v. 7]), and on God’s mighty reign, which continues, right to the end of the story, to transform and re-create in yeast-like, mustard-seed ways, full of mystery.
And that means Mark’s narrative ending does what this whole gospel does: it invites and evokes faith, openness to seeing God’s work in the world when our eyes can’t show it to us.
Sink Your Teeth into This!
Mark’s Easter story speaks powerfully to our time and culture. To be sure, Easter worship is festive and joyous, as it should be. Yet on this Easter with Mark’s gospel, may the proclamation of the gospel not be too easy and confident, lest we fail to notice the real obstacles to authentic faith in this narrative, and in our world. God is God, and that means despair yields to hope, life emerges from death.
And through our own encounters with the Risen Lord, our experiences of divine presence, we do come to know good news, but it is sometimes difficult to believe. So the last image of Mark’s gospel — fearful silence — gives us a crucial role to play. The message is now entrusted to us to proclaim, in our time. The burden, and delight, of witness now falls to us.
For further reading and reflection
Donald H. Juel, A Master of Surprise: Mark Interpreted (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), 107–21.
Biographical Information
John Carroll is Harriet Robertson Fitts Memorial Professor of New Testament at Union-PSCE, where he has taught since 1992 and served as academic dean for nearly ten years. He is perhaps best known for his unique blend of music (trombone), sports (baseball) and humor (puns), although he hopes that his commentary-in-process on the Gospel of Luke (New Testament Library) will eventually compete with those identity markers.
Read more!
Mark 16:1-8
Only once do I recall hearing an Easter sermon based on the Easter narrative of the Gospel of Mark (chapter 16). That’s not really surprising, as Mark’s ending has often been regarded as incomplete and unsatisfying. Consider the way both Matthew and Luke fill out the story in their own gospels (Matthew 28; Luke 24), or the way Mark’s own story grew longer and longer in the history of its textual transmission. (The earliest reliable ending, at verse 8, received a variety of extensions.) But the unit for proclamation today is 16:1-8. Let the story end where it does!—which of course means the narrative ends in a way that only begins to open up possibilities, closes in a fashion so true to form for this gospel. Mark leaves us, at the end of the story, with hope, to be sure (along with fear and confusion), but also face to face with profound mystery. The God of Mark’s ending works in our world in ways that defy expectation and elude our every attempt at control.
Food for Thought
Mark’s readers observe as Mary Magdalene, Mary [mother?] of James, and Salome bring spices to the tomb on Easter morning to honor Jesus. (Do they know that an anonymous woman has already anointed him for burial, at least in his interpretation of her gesture [14:3–9]?) Like other “minor” characters in Mark who exemplify insight and faithfulness missing in the inner circle of disciples, these women step forward to extend devoted care to Jesus after his death. Thus they become the first to hear the good news of Jesus’ resurrection; they, not the twelve who fled in panic at the scene of Jesus’ arrest, are the faithful followers who must - beyond the narrative - have been the first to proclaim the Easter message.
Mark, though, withholds that report from the reader, leaving as a last impression not attentiveness to the word but fearful silence. But who are we to find fault with these women, whom fear reduces to silence as the gospel ends? Faced with God’s disruption of things as they are in this world, overcoming even death’s imperious final word to human life, their path — and ours — to joyful hope, to living faith, is neither swift nor easy. If there is hope for the future, it rests not on disciples’ insight and obedience but on Jesus’ fidelity to his promise (“He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there, as he told you” [v. 7]), and on God’s mighty reign, which continues, right to the end of the story, to transform and re-create in yeast-like, mustard-seed ways, full of mystery.
And that means Mark’s narrative ending does what this whole gospel does: it invites and evokes faith, openness to seeing God’s work in the world when our eyes can’t show it to us.
Sink Your Teeth into This!
Mark’s Easter story speaks powerfully to our time and culture. To be sure, Easter worship is festive and joyous, as it should be. Yet on this Easter with Mark’s gospel, may the proclamation of the gospel not be too easy and confident, lest we fail to notice the real obstacles to authentic faith in this narrative, and in our world. God is God, and that means despair yields to hope, life emerges from death.
And through our own encounters with the Risen Lord, our experiences of divine presence, we do come to know good news, but it is sometimes difficult to believe. So the last image of Mark’s gospel — fearful silence — gives us a crucial role to play. The message is now entrusted to us to proclaim, in our time. The burden, and delight, of witness now falls to us.
For further reading and reflection
Donald H. Juel, A Master of Surprise: Mark Interpreted (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), 107–21.
Biographical Information
John Carroll is Harriet Robertson Fitts Memorial Professor of New Testament at Union-PSCE, where he has taught since 1992 and served as academic dean for nearly ten years. He is perhaps best known for his unique blend of music (trombone), sports (baseball) and humor (puns), although he hopes that his commentary-in-process on the Gospel of Luke (New Testament Library) will eventually compete with those identity markers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
