This passage occurs in the RCL, Year 3, most recently June 5, 2016.
Summary: Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here. I have two points I'd like to emphasize. First, that human grief over death is real. In our culture we expect people to move on so quickly. I think the church, even the church of the resurrection, should be a place where we have compassion on people as they grieve. Secondly, Jesus raises this child up. We often refer to Jesus "three fold messianic" prediction where he speaks of his death on the cross and resurrection. In Luke 7, 8 and 9 he raises up three only begotten children, perhaps also a place of foreshadowing his great work of resurrection.
Key Words:
First, a note. Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here in a just a few sentences.
Words related to death:
τεθνηκως 12: Particle form of "to die"
εκκομιζω 12: To carry out, often referring to act of carrying body for burial
σορος 14: coffin, bier
νεκρος 15: corpse (death in general)
κλαιε ("wail", 7:13) Some translations put this as weep. While it can mean weep, it signifies an intensity much more like "wail" than "weep." Like when Hagar is alone in the wilderness; or Joseph sees his brother; or when Mary is searching for the risen Christ.
χηρα ("widow"; 7:13) In this culture, a widow was not simply a marital status, but also a financial one. A widow would have lacked resources, likely. Her son was her social security. This detail can open up the door for a nice contrast between the story of the widow at Nain and the Centurion at Capernuam.
μονογενη ("only begotten", 7:13) Jesus heals three "only begotten" children in Luke 7, 8 and 9. While Jesus himself is never referred to as the only-begotten son in Luke, this three fold healing suggests foreshadowing for Jesus resurrection.
προφητης ("prophet", 7:16) The word prophet appears 24 times in Luke, often from Jesus' lips. Most often Jesus refers to prophets in two ways: Those who were killed or those who spoke of his (eventual) coming. To put it another way, people often associate being a prophet with the capacity to speak about the future (Harry Potter) or the audacity to speak about social justice. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus depicts the prophets as people who spoke of him and got killed for doing so.
For example:
Luke 13:34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! Luke 18:31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
But more to the point, look at how Jesus describes the work of prophets on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
As a side note: Jesus does declare himself greater than a prophet (Luke 7:26 says that John
was greater than a prophet; Luke 16:16 that the Good News, not the Law
and Prophets, is proclaimed through him).
εσπλαγχνισθη ("compassion", from σπλαγχνιζομαι, 7:13) I've frequently mentioned this before but this verb comes from the noun for intestines. In his gut Jesus felt sorry for the woman.
Grammar point:
μη + present verb (as in "weep" in 7.13) means "no longer do such and such," implying the action was going on before this.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Monday, May 23, 2016
Luke 7:1-10
This passage occurs in the RCL, Year C, most recently May 29, 2016
Summary: Like so many passages in Luke, there is layer of meaning regarding faith, healing and the Word of God; there is also another layer of complex social dynamics. Luke presents cultural rules and norms that are both being obeyed and broken. How to preach this?
One possibility is to ignore the social dynamics and focus on faith and healing (ie, preach as if you were preaching from Matthew's Gospel, in which the story is simpler!)
1) Jesus heals, even through the prayers of others;
2) Faith in Jesus changes everything; outsiders can have faith too.
Another way is to portray Jesus action over-and-against the social reality of his day. The world then and today is a messy, complex and broken place. The world is one of haves and have-nots; of powerful people with agendas (...in those days a decree went out from Emperor...) In spite of all of this, Jesus compassion and power triumph!
Key Words:
λαος ("people", 7:1). The word means "the people", as in the commoners. Luke pays careful attention to the λαος (36 references; Matthew 14; Mark 3 and John 2). This word sets up quite a contrast to Jesus interactions the rest of the pericope, where he is dealing with the leaders, religiously and politically. This reminds us that while Jesus cares for the commoners, he also cares about the leaders too. Compared to him, we are all chumps ;-)
δουλος ("servant" or "slave", 7:2) Because American history is defined by our freedom from England and then the freedom of slaves, we tend to value "freedom" greatly. Furthermore, we look with disgust on the entire concept of slavery. While I do not defend slavery, it is worth pointing out that within Greco-Roman culture slavery meant something different than American antebellum plantation-style slavery. At the very least, not all slaves were abused and many were considered part of the house. The centurion will even call the slave his "παις" or child; he considers the slave "εντιμος" or honored; so honored in fact, he seeks out Jesus' healing. This is a reminder that economic and social boundaries both then and today are often complex. More generally, the whole scene is one that really puts the preacher in a tough spot -- it is clearly a different world, one that we cannot imagine. An occupying army general asks the local Jewish healer for a favor regarding his boy-slave and then is found, bizarrely, to have more faith than anyone.
διασωζω ("save" or "heal"; 7:3) The root word here is σωζω, or save. It has dia- as a prefix. This prefix can intensify a verb, like adding the adverb "thoroughly." The point is that Jesus' salvation includes earthly healings.
αξιος ("worthy"; 7:4; appears later as a verb in 7:7) A reminder of the honor-shame dynamics in this culture (of which I know little). I do feel comfortable making two points though. First, it seems questionable whether Jesus should have been doing this healing for a non-Jew, especially a member of the opposing army. In fact, one must wonder about the relationship between the Centurion and Jewish leaders; could then even speak to each other directly? This is a difficult point for us to address or even consider as Americans. Second, Jesus power is overturning the cultural expectations of everyone.
πιστις ("faith"; 7:9) A reminder that faith is not a belief in a set of abstract principles, but trust in the divinity of Christ and the salvation he brings.
Two small notes on verb construction that point toward something deeper:
παρακαλεω ("encourage", 7:4). This verb is in the imperfect suggesting repeated action. It is unclear why they needed to repeat the request -- perhaps because they felt it important, or because Jesus didn't want to do it. But something about their continued urging moves Jesus.
μη σκυλλου ("no longer be troubled", 7:6) A reminder about the negative present imperative: μη + present imperative means "no longer" ie, you were doing this, but stop and continue to stop this. (Often used in the construction "No longer be afraid" when angels begin speaking to humans.)
Lastly, two words that come into English related to health
υγιαινω -- "hygiene" (the υ has a rough breathing mark)
ιαομαι -- "iatry" like "psychiatry"
Summary: Like so many passages in Luke, there is layer of meaning regarding faith, healing and the Word of God; there is also another layer of complex social dynamics. Luke presents cultural rules and norms that are both being obeyed and broken. How to preach this?
One possibility is to ignore the social dynamics and focus on faith and healing (ie, preach as if you were preaching from Matthew's Gospel, in which the story is simpler!)
1) Jesus heals, even through the prayers of others;
2) Faith in Jesus changes everything; outsiders can have faith too.
Another way is to portray Jesus action over-and-against the social reality of his day. The world then and today is a messy, complex and broken place. The world is one of haves and have-nots; of powerful people with agendas (...in those days a decree went out from Emperor...) In spite of all of this, Jesus compassion and power triumph!
Key Words:
λαος ("people", 7:1). The word means "the people", as in the commoners. Luke pays careful attention to the λαος (36 references; Matthew 14; Mark 3 and John 2). This word sets up quite a contrast to Jesus interactions the rest of the pericope, where he is dealing with the leaders, religiously and politically. This reminds us that while Jesus cares for the commoners, he also cares about the leaders too. Compared to him, we are all chumps ;-)
δουλος ("servant" or "slave", 7:2) Because American history is defined by our freedom from England and then the freedom of slaves, we tend to value "freedom" greatly. Furthermore, we look with disgust on the entire concept of slavery. While I do not defend slavery, it is worth pointing out that within Greco-Roman culture slavery meant something different than American antebellum plantation-style slavery. At the very least, not all slaves were abused and many were considered part of the house. The centurion will even call the slave his "παις" or child; he considers the slave "εντιμος" or honored; so honored in fact, he seeks out Jesus' healing. This is a reminder that economic and social boundaries both then and today are often complex. More generally, the whole scene is one that really puts the preacher in a tough spot -- it is clearly a different world, one that we cannot imagine. An occupying army general asks the local Jewish healer for a favor regarding his boy-slave and then is found, bizarrely, to have more faith than anyone.
διασωζω ("save" or "heal"; 7:3) The root word here is σωζω, or save. It has dia- as a prefix. This prefix can intensify a verb, like adding the adverb "thoroughly." The point is that Jesus' salvation includes earthly healings.
αξιος ("worthy"; 7:4; appears later as a verb in 7:7) A reminder of the honor-shame dynamics in this culture (of which I know little). I do feel comfortable making two points though. First, it seems questionable whether Jesus should have been doing this healing for a non-Jew, especially a member of the opposing army. In fact, one must wonder about the relationship between the Centurion and Jewish leaders; could then even speak to each other directly? This is a difficult point for us to address or even consider as Americans. Second, Jesus power is overturning the cultural expectations of everyone.
πιστις ("faith"; 7:9) A reminder that faith is not a belief in a set of abstract principles, but trust in the divinity of Christ and the salvation he brings.
Two small notes on verb construction that point toward something deeper:
παρακαλεω ("encourage", 7:4). This verb is in the imperfect suggesting repeated action. It is unclear why they needed to repeat the request -- perhaps because they felt it important, or because Jesus didn't want to do it. But something about their continued urging moves Jesus.
μη σκυλλου ("no longer be troubled", 7:6) A reminder about the negative present imperative: μη + present imperative means "no longer" ie, you were doing this, but stop and continue to stop this. (Often used in the construction "No longer be afraid" when angels begin speaking to humans.)
Lastly, two words that come into English related to health
υγιαινω -- "hygiene" (the υ has a rough breathing mark)
ιαομαι -- "iatry" like "psychiatry"
1 Kings 18:20-39
This passage occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (most recently: Nov 8, 2015). This passage also occurs in year C of the RCL (most recently May 29, 2016)
Summary: The coolest thing in the Hebrew is reconstruction of the altar by Elijah. While Elijah is known in this passage for his courage, the Hebrew suggests he is also a healer. In fact, Elijah's work on the altar could really be seen as a model for understanding the necessary healing of the church today. First, it connects the people to God's work in the past; Second, it connects people to God in prayer. Third, it symbolizes the intended transformation of the people: a house of seeds, nourished by water and sent ablaze by fire. I don't want to miss the counter-cultural courage of Elijah; I just want to uplift Elijah's capacity to rebuild.
Key words:
פסחים (from "pesach", meaning "hobble?"; 18:21 and 18:26) This verb is crazy here. This word is likely a homograph, where two words are spelled the same, but have different meanings. (Like "bear" can have two meanings in English). The more common word with this spelling comes into English as "pass over", as "Passover." Elisha is playing on this here?
More likely, it means "be lame" or "hobble." In this sense you could translate this as "How long will you waffle between..."
The other possibility is "dance" The TWOT suggest,
"1Kings 18:21, "how long 'halt' ye (KJV) between two opinions?" Another suggested translation is, "how long will you 'hobble' on two crutches?" (i.e., Yahweh and Baal). (3) 1Kings 18:26, "and they (the priests of Baal) 'leaped' upon/'hobbled' upon the altar, " presumably a reference to some kind of pagan ritual dance. V.P.H."
-> How long will you dance between two gods?!
Either way, waffle or dance could be pretty powerful stuff (okay, both a bit poetic, but we are talking about Elijah here. Gird your loins and preach it.)
בשם ((really ב+שם), shem, meaning "name"; 18:24) What is at stake here is really the "name" of the LORD. The name of the LORD does not simply mean the pronunciation, but the reputation of the LORD. Is the God of Israel the faithful God, the living God, the true God...the answering God? Or not?
ענה (meaning "answer" or "respond"; appears 8 times in this passage). Baal does not answer. God does. This is the crux of the matter for ancient Israel as it is for us today. Does God respond to us?
רפה ("rapa", meaning "heal"; 18:30) This word is translated here as "repair." However, it is normally translated as healing. If we are to rebuild churches, we need to heal them. Heal them first with their sense of the past by reaffirming God's presence in their history; second, heal them with prayer. Third, heal them with water (Baptism); Fourth heal them with fire (Holy Spirit); heal them with hope -- expect the church to be the seeds of the future.
בית סאתים זרע (three words meaning "house of grain seeds"; 18:32) Elijah has the people built a moat around the alter big enough for two bags of seed. The Hebrew opens up another layer of interpretation. The literal Hebrew is this: "Make a healing (or trench) as a house of grain seed, two bags, circling the altar." The altar will be circled as by a house of grain. What a beautiful image of the church, an alter surrounded by a house of seed grain, nourished by water, by prayer and by the fire of God!
And yes, in 18:38 the actual Hebrew word does mean lick; the waters were licked!
Summary: The coolest thing in the Hebrew is reconstruction of the altar by Elijah. While Elijah is known in this passage for his courage, the Hebrew suggests he is also a healer. In fact, Elijah's work on the altar could really be seen as a model for understanding the necessary healing of the church today. First, it connects the people to God's work in the past; Second, it connects people to God in prayer. Third, it symbolizes the intended transformation of the people: a house of seeds, nourished by water and sent ablaze by fire. I don't want to miss the counter-cultural courage of Elijah; I just want to uplift Elijah's capacity to rebuild.
Key words:
פסחים (from "pesach", meaning "hobble?"; 18:21 and 18:26) This verb is crazy here. This word is likely a homograph, where two words are spelled the same, but have different meanings. (Like "bear" can have two meanings in English). The more common word with this spelling comes into English as "pass over", as "Passover." Elisha is playing on this here?
More likely, it means "be lame" or "hobble." In this sense you could translate this as "How long will you waffle between..."
The other possibility is "dance" The TWOT suggest,
"1Kings 18:21, "how long 'halt' ye (KJV) between two opinions?" Another suggested translation is, "how long will you 'hobble' on two crutches?" (i.e., Yahweh and Baal). (3) 1Kings 18:26, "and they (the priests of Baal) 'leaped' upon/'hobbled' upon the altar, " presumably a reference to some kind of pagan ritual dance. V.P.H."
-> How long will you dance between two gods?!
Either way, waffle or dance could be pretty powerful stuff (okay, both a bit poetic, but we are talking about Elijah here. Gird your loins and preach it.)
בשם ((really ב+שם), shem, meaning "name"; 18:24) What is at stake here is really the "name" of the LORD. The name of the LORD does not simply mean the pronunciation, but the reputation of the LORD. Is the God of Israel the faithful God, the living God, the true God...the answering God? Or not?
ענה (meaning "answer" or "respond"; appears 8 times in this passage). Baal does not answer. God does. This is the crux of the matter for ancient Israel as it is for us today. Does God respond to us?
רפה ("rapa", meaning "heal"; 18:30) This word is translated here as "repair." However, it is normally translated as healing. If we are to rebuild churches, we need to heal them. Heal them first with their sense of the past by reaffirming God's presence in their history; second, heal them with prayer. Third, heal them with water (Baptism); Fourth heal them with fire (Holy Spirit); heal them with hope -- expect the church to be the seeds of the future.
בית סאתים זרע (three words meaning "house of grain seeds"; 18:32) Elijah has the people built a moat around the alter big enough for two bags of seed. The Hebrew opens up another layer of interpretation. The literal Hebrew is this: "Make a healing (or trench) as a house of grain seed, two bags, circling the altar." The altar will be circled as by a house of grain. What a beautiful image of the church, an alter surrounded by a house of seed grain, nourished by water, by prayer and by the fire of God!
And yes, in 18:38 the actual Hebrew word does mean lick; the waters were licked!
Monday, May 16, 2016
John 16:12-15
This passage occurs in the RCL for Holy Trinity Sunday, Year C, most recently May 2016.
Summary: This is not my favorite Holy Trinity passage; in fact, I think one needs to be really careful not to use this passage counter-productively. The use of the word paraclete (παρακλητος), often translated as advocate, suggests our need for a lawyer before our heavenly judge. While a legal metaphor of salvation may make sense in other contexts, let us be perfectly clear: In John's Gospel Jesus is not describing the Holy Spirit as our defense attorney before God the Father as judge.
Rather, Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as the abiding and living presence of God for the believers, particularly the whole community as they encounter and are challenged by the world. The Holy Spirit will continue the work of Jesus through the disciples. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit will make us holy, making us alive in Jesus Christ, both individually but also collectively. This is the work of the third person of the Trinity: to bring us into the life of God.
Key Words:
παρακλητος (paraclete, 15.26 and throughout John 15 and 16) The word parakletos for the Holy Spirit is a tough one to crack! The noun literally means "one called along side of." Originally it meant a "legal assistant." Hence the affinity for the term advocate.
Yet, the whole field of words related to parakletos pushes against a cold, judicial term, especially in terms of our relationship with God.
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John's Gospel the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
Furthermore, a look at the verb παρακαλεω, the related verb for the noun παρακλητος, really brings home that this word (really word field) is not primarily about legal matters:
Isaiah 40.1 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."
Psalm 23 "Your rod and staff, they comfort me."
Proverbs 8:4 "To you, O people, I call and my cry is to all that live."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God."
αληθεια (truth, 16.13). The Gospel of John uses the word truth a number of times. Jesus is full of truth (1.14 and 1.17) and the truth shall set you free (8.32) but what is the truth? The best I can tell, John's Gospel asserts few things as "truth". In fact, little if anything is actually specifically stated as true, but if you do some work around times when "truth" is being debated, you can conclude a few things:
The truth is: The Word of God (1.14)
The truth is: Anyone who sins is a slave to sin (8.34); the consequence of sin is death (8.24)
The truth is: By believing in Jesus, we have life (8.24)
The truth is: Jesus and the Father are one (8.26)
The truth is: Followers of Jesus hear his voice (18.37) and walk in the light (8.12)
The truth is: Jesus is King (18.37)
To put it another way, it turns out that only some really essential things are declared/implied as truth in the Gospel of John.
οδηγεω (guide, 16.13) The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb is used in describing Philip's interaction with the Eunuch, where the Eunuch invites Phillip to show him the way of understanding Scripture.
Summary: This is not my favorite Holy Trinity passage; in fact, I think one needs to be really careful not to use this passage counter-productively. The use of the word paraclete (παρακλητος), often translated as advocate, suggests our need for a lawyer before our heavenly judge. While a legal metaphor of salvation may make sense in other contexts, let us be perfectly clear: In John's Gospel Jesus is not describing the Holy Spirit as our defense attorney before God the Father as judge.
Rather, Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as the abiding and living presence of God for the believers, particularly the whole community as they encounter and are challenged by the world. The Holy Spirit will continue the work of Jesus through the disciples. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit will make us holy, making us alive in Jesus Christ, both individually but also collectively. This is the work of the third person of the Trinity: to bring us into the life of God.
Key Words:
παρακλητος (paraclete, 15.26 and throughout John 15 and 16) The word parakletos for the Holy Spirit is a tough one to crack! The noun literally means "one called along side of." Originally it meant a "legal assistant." Hence the affinity for the term advocate.
Yet, the whole field of words related to parakletos pushes against a cold, judicial term, especially in terms of our relationship with God.
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John's Gospel the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
Furthermore, a look at the verb παρακαλεω, the related verb for the noun παρακλητος, really brings home that this word (really word field) is not primarily about legal matters:
Isaiah 40.1 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."
Psalm 23 "Your rod and staff, they comfort me."
Proverbs 8:4 "To you, O people, I call and my cry is to all that live."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God."
αληθεια (truth, 16.13). The Gospel of John uses the word truth a number of times. Jesus is full of truth (1.14 and 1.17) and the truth shall set you free (8.32) but what is the truth? The best I can tell, John's Gospel asserts few things as "truth". In fact, little if anything is actually specifically stated as true, but if you do some work around times when "truth" is being debated, you can conclude a few things:
The truth is: The Word of God (1.14)
The truth is: Anyone who sins is a slave to sin (8.34); the consequence of sin is death (8.24)
The truth is: By believing in Jesus, we have life (8.24)
The truth is: Jesus and the Father are one (8.26)
The truth is: Followers of Jesus hear his voice (18.37) and walk in the light (8.12)
The truth is: Jesus is King (18.37)
To put it another way, it turns out that only some really essential things are declared/implied as truth in the Gospel of John.
οδηγεω (guide, 16.13) The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb is used in describing Philip's interaction with the Eunuch, where the Eunuch invites Phillip to show him the way of understanding Scripture.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
This passage occurs in the RCL's year C passages; it also occurs as one of the last passages in the Narrative Lectionary's Year 2 cycle. In the Narrative Lectionary it is partitioned as 1 Corinthians 12:1-13
Summary
Much has been written about spiritual gifts. A few brief reflections/directions for preaching:
- Everyone has gifts. For those that think they have no spiritual gift, ask them if they can confess Jesus as Lord. If so, then they have spiritual gifts!
- Gifts are to work together. (The Greek suggests this in vs 1-11; the rest of chapter 12 makes this abundantly clear)
- Gifts are for others, although how far outside of the church spiritual gifts go is a long and complicated debate.
- Faith (and love) are gifts, nothing we can do to earn them.
Key Words and Grammar Items:
πνευματικος ("spiritual", 12:1) The first word here for "Spiritual Gifts" is "pneumatikos," an adjective that means spiritual. It is transformed into a noun here (technical note: by the placement of the definite article before it). But the word "gift" is not used. In fact, the word for gift later on is "charisma." So really, this should just read: "Concerning the spiritual things." If you translate this as spiritual gifts then, in some ways, you are suggesting that all things spiritual are gifts!
εθνη ("Gentiles", 12:2) The translators render "ethne" here as "pagans" instead of "gentiles." A reminder of the tension, inherent in 1st century Christianity, between Jews and Gentiles. To be non- Jewish was to be an "ethne" (and ethnic) and not part of God's family!
ειδωλα (plural form of "idols", 12:2) Although there are some examples of true worship to statues, generally idols function a bit different in our culture than in 1st century paganism. However, we still have idols! We may not have a temple with a large marble statue of Venus or Pluto in our towns, but definitely still worship the idols of beauty and money!
Grammatically, this sentence is really odd and I've even read that it is considered a manuscript error because it reads so strangely. The NRSV nicely puts it, "however you were led." Paul uses the "αν" marker to show contingency and then uses two verbs: you were led, leading away. A poetic way to say: Whatever the heck road they led you on.
διακονια ("ministry" or "service", 12:5) This word is becoming increasingly difficult to translate. It has a non-religious origin, deriving from a waiter who serves. More generally it can to mean service; the New Testament certainly uses it as a term for serving others. For the church over the centuries the word has been picked up by a whole group of people who have dedicated their life to service (Deacons and related terms). Part of the challenge in translating the word is inherent in the tensions around service (the concept and not the word). Service can mean formal providing but it can also mean outpouring of mercy; furthermore, how the service conveyed by this term in the New Testament connected to the Word, proclamation and the Church? In short, to translate διακονια as "ministry" makes it "churchy" something that it was not originally; to translate this as "service" derives it, perhaps, of the religious meaning Paul and others wish to imply.
This particular passage highlights the challenge of translating this word. Luther's German, Tyndale and the KJV translate this not as "service" but as "office" or "administration." While this translation seems to make service overly formal, it opens up the door for profound thinking about vocation -- each of our "offices" in life is an opportunity for serving others. With this translation of διακονια as "office" Luther captures Paul's dynamic and far-reaching sense of the breadth of God's gifts. Whether this is a fair translation is up for debate. But no doubt Luther clearly connects vocation, even secular vocation, to spiritual gifts and service to the Lord.
ενεργεω ("energιζε", 12:6) The translations move in all sorts of directions here, but the word underneath all the working/doing by God is "energy." This is perhaps a nice connection into people's lives -- from where does our energy come to survive the treadmill called life?
συμφερον ("good", 12:7) The English translators tend to add the word "common" before "good"; Paul's term "sympheron" is more neutral, as in "profitable" or "beneficial"; furthermore, it does not necessarily mean "common" and the word "common" is not in the Greek. When this word appears elsewhere in Scripture, including its almost identical usage in Hebrews 12:10, it is not translated as "common good." What then gives them permission to translate it as the "common good"?
Well...here is my conjecture. The word is a combination of two words συμ meaning "with" (the "n" in συν becomes an "μ") and φερον meaning "bear" as in bearing fruit (John 15). This word means then "bear together" or "produce together." These gifts were given for the mutual harvesting of gifts!
Lastly, a Trinitiarian argument:
I believe that 12:11 this is the strongest statement in the NT that God is Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is said here to "ενεργεω" (energize) the activities, "διαιρεω" (distribute) the activities, which he "βουλεμαι" wills. Paul locates the will of God in the Holy Spirit! Moreover, in verse 7, the distributions are done by God who energies them. Same thing!
Summary
Much has been written about spiritual gifts. A few brief reflections/directions for preaching:
- Everyone has gifts. For those that think they have no spiritual gift, ask them if they can confess Jesus as Lord. If so, then they have spiritual gifts!
- Gifts are to work together. (The Greek suggests this in vs 1-11; the rest of chapter 12 makes this abundantly clear)
- Gifts are for others, although how far outside of the church spiritual gifts go is a long and complicated debate.
- Faith (and love) are gifts, nothing we can do to earn them.
Key Words and Grammar Items:
πνευματικος ("spiritual", 12:1) The first word here for "Spiritual Gifts" is "pneumatikos," an adjective that means spiritual. It is transformed into a noun here (technical note: by the placement of the definite article before it). But the word "gift" is not used. In fact, the word for gift later on is "charisma." So really, this should just read: "Concerning the spiritual things." If you translate this as spiritual gifts then, in some ways, you are suggesting that all things spiritual are gifts!
εθνη ("Gentiles", 12:2) The translators render "ethne" here as "pagans" instead of "gentiles." A reminder of the tension, inherent in 1st century Christianity, between Jews and Gentiles. To be non- Jewish was to be an "ethne" (and ethnic) and not part of God's family!
ειδωλα (plural form of "idols", 12:2) Although there are some examples of true worship to statues, generally idols function a bit different in our culture than in 1st century paganism. However, we still have idols! We may not have a temple with a large marble statue of Venus or Pluto in our towns, but definitely still worship the idols of beauty and money!
Grammatically, this sentence is really odd and I've even read that it is considered a manuscript error because it reads so strangely. The NRSV nicely puts it, "however you were led." Paul uses the "αν" marker to show contingency and then uses two verbs: you were led, leading away. A poetic way to say: Whatever the heck road they led you on.
διακονια ("ministry" or "service", 12:5) This word is becoming increasingly difficult to translate. It has a non-religious origin, deriving from a waiter who serves. More generally it can to mean service; the New Testament certainly uses it as a term for serving others. For the church over the centuries the word has been picked up by a whole group of people who have dedicated their life to service (Deacons and related terms). Part of the challenge in translating the word is inherent in the tensions around service (the concept and not the word). Service can mean formal providing but it can also mean outpouring of mercy; furthermore, how the service conveyed by this term in the New Testament connected to the Word, proclamation and the Church? In short, to translate διακονια as "ministry" makes it "churchy" something that it was not originally; to translate this as "service" derives it, perhaps, of the religious meaning Paul and others wish to imply.
This particular passage highlights the challenge of translating this word. Luther's German, Tyndale and the KJV translate this not as "service" but as "office" or "administration." While this translation seems to make service overly formal, it opens up the door for profound thinking about vocation -- each of our "offices" in life is an opportunity for serving others. With this translation of διακονια as "office" Luther captures Paul's dynamic and far-reaching sense of the breadth of God's gifts. Whether this is a fair translation is up for debate. But no doubt Luther clearly connects vocation, even secular vocation, to spiritual gifts and service to the Lord.
ενεργεω ("energιζε", 12:6) The translations move in all sorts of directions here, but the word underneath all the working/doing by God is "energy." This is perhaps a nice connection into people's lives -- from where does our energy come to survive the treadmill called life?
συμφερον ("good", 12:7) The English translators tend to add the word "common" before "good"; Paul's term "sympheron" is more neutral, as in "profitable" or "beneficial"; furthermore, it does not necessarily mean "common" and the word "common" is not in the Greek. When this word appears elsewhere in Scripture, including its almost identical usage in Hebrews 12:10, it is not translated as "common good." What then gives them permission to translate it as the "common good"?
Well...here is my conjecture. The word is a combination of two words συμ meaning "with" (the "n" in συν becomes an "μ") and φερον meaning "bear" as in bearing fruit (John 15). This word means then "bear together" or "produce together." These gifts were given for the mutual harvesting of gifts!
Lastly, a Trinitiarian argument:
I believe that 12:11 this is the strongest statement in the NT that God is Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is said here to "ενεργεω" (energize) the activities, "διαιρεω" (distribute) the activities, which he "βουλεμαι" wills. Paul locates the will of God in the Holy Spirit! Moreover, in verse 7, the distributions are done by God who energies them. Same thing!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11)
Here is a re-direct to my updated post from 2013.
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2013/05/acts-21-11.html
In a nut shell, I find the church of Acts 1 to be very common: A deeply loving and truly faithful community that doesn't outreach. How can the Spirit move us from Acts 1 to Acts 2? How can we as leaders be involved in this process?
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2013/05/acts-21-11.html
In a nut shell, I find the church of Acts 1 to be very common: A deeply loving and truly faithful community that doesn't outreach. How can the Spirit move us from Acts 1 to Acts 2? How can we as leaders be involved in this process?
Monday, May 2, 2016
Links for Preaching May 5 - 8
This week there are a couple of options for preachers.
One can preach on the Ascension on Thursday or Sunday:
Luke 24:36-48 (Why Jesus Ascension was actually necessary for his ministry)
or
Acts 1:1-11 (First Lutheran Church of Jerusalem)
Then there are the regular lectionary passages for Sunday
John 17:20-26 (Jesus prayer for his disciples
I play around a bit with the idea of God's purposes for creation and humanity.
Acts 16:16-34 (Jailed in Philippi)
Simply a powerful story with great preaching potential.
For those working with the narrative lectionary I have, at best, some scratch notes on Corinthians 15 that need some serious updating!
One can preach on the Ascension on Thursday or Sunday:
Luke 24:36-48 (Why Jesus Ascension was actually necessary for his ministry)
or
Acts 1:1-11 (First Lutheran Church of Jerusalem)
Then there are the regular lectionary passages for Sunday
John 17:20-26 (Jesus prayer for his disciples
I play around a bit with the idea of God's purposes for creation and humanity.
Acts 16:16-34 (Jailed in Philippi)
Simply a powerful story with great preaching potential.
For those working with the narrative lectionary I have, at best, some scratch notes on Corinthians 15 that need some serious updating!
Acts 16:16-34
This passage occurs in both the Narrative Lectionary Year 4 cycle, but also the Revised Common Lectionary, Easter 7C
For the Acts 16 passage:
Any English translation conveys the powerful scene of the jailer, trembling, before the prisoners! This is not a passage where the Greek changes the meaning of everything -- the images intended by Luke are adequately translated! But the Greek this week sharpens the reality that all of us are servants of something. The question is not whether we serve, but which God we serve and the outcome of this service.
κυριοις ("lords", 16:16) The word for for "masters" or "owners" here is no other than κυριοι (like kyrie elesion) At the end of the passage, the jailer will be told to believe in κυριος (singular) Jesus. The point that in life we are always serving one master or another, as Luther points out so astutely in his commentary on the first article.
δουλοι ("slaves" or "servants", 16:17) To reaffirm the above point, the slave-girl calls Paul and Silas slaves of the most high God. The question isn't whether humans will serve a master, the question is what path does the master send them on.
οδον ("way", 16:17) Some translators leave this word, meaning "way", without an article - "a way of salvation." Others add in an article, "the way of salvation" based on Greek grammar. Its fair to say that the grammatical case isn't very strong either way here based on the construction. It doesn't matter -- Luke doesn't see another path to salvation, even if this particular girl would have. And fine, go universalist for a second. The point remains, Jesus is a path of salvation.
Ιουδαιοι ("Judeans", 16:20) The only charge needed was that they were Jews interrupting normal business. A sad reminder that antisemitism long preceded Christianity....and that early Christians were primarily Jews.
πλαγας ("wounds", 16:23) The word comes into English as plagues. Paul and Silas were given a plague for their faith!
θεμελια ("foundation", 16:26) Their foundation is rocked. This is a great sermon entry point -- the foundation of their world is rocked. This is when the person can finally hear the word of the Lord!
ελουσεν ("he washed", 16:33) Poetically, the jailer washes them and then they wash him (baptize). But notice that the verbs are different. Baptism and washing aren't one and the same!
For the Acts 16 passage:
Any English translation conveys the powerful scene of the jailer, trembling, before the prisoners! This is not a passage where the Greek changes the meaning of everything -- the images intended by Luke are adequately translated! But the Greek this week sharpens the reality that all of us are servants of something. The question is not whether we serve, but which God we serve and the outcome of this service.
κυριοις ("lords", 16:16) The word for for "masters" or "owners" here is no other than κυριοι (like kyrie elesion) At the end of the passage, the jailer will be told to believe in κυριος (singular) Jesus. The point that in life we are always serving one master or another, as Luther points out so astutely in his commentary on the first article.
δουλοι ("slaves" or "servants", 16:17) To reaffirm the above point, the slave-girl calls Paul and Silas slaves of the most high God. The question isn't whether humans will serve a master, the question is what path does the master send them on.
οδον ("way", 16:17) Some translators leave this word, meaning "way", without an article - "a way of salvation." Others add in an article, "the way of salvation" based on Greek grammar. Its fair to say that the grammatical case isn't very strong either way here based on the construction. It doesn't matter -- Luke doesn't see another path to salvation, even if this particular girl would have. And fine, go universalist for a second. The point remains, Jesus is a path of salvation.
Ιουδαιοι ("Judeans", 16:20) The only charge needed was that they were Jews interrupting normal business. A sad reminder that antisemitism long preceded Christianity....and that early Christians were primarily Jews.
πλαγας ("wounds", 16:23) The word comes into English as plagues. Paul and Silas were given a plague for their faith!
θεμελια ("foundation", 16:26) Their foundation is rocked. This is a great sermon entry point -- the foundation of their world is rocked. This is when the person can finally hear the word of the Lord!
ελουσεν ("he washed", 16:33) Poetically, the jailer washes them and then they wash him (baptize). But notice that the verbs are different. Baptism and washing aren't one and the same!
John 17:20-26
Summary: Don't miss the forest for the trees: Jesus is praying for his disciples! This fact alone is worth preaching on! One translation that perhaps opens up a door for preaching is found when Jesus speaks of the καταβολης of the world. This is often translated "creation", but could just as easily be translated "foundation." "Foundation" seems like a concept can be preached! Not simply does it provide an easy real world illustration (foundations of buildings are everywhere), but it speaks about God's creative intent for the world. The world was not complete in the beginning -- no foundation is complete! God intended and intends to see creation unfold. As humans we take our place on stage, unaware that it is an eternal stage with a clear destination -- union with Christ, in God's eternal love and joy.
Lastly, I hesitate to call this is a prayer for unity because that sounds too vague. Jesus does pray for unity, but he also prays for love, faith and the preaching of the Word. And moreover, this unity is set in the midst of humble servant-hood, betrayal, suffering, injustice, death and resurrection. If you decide to preach on unity, don't overlook the context of the passage.
Key Words and Concepts
λογος ("word"; 17:20) The Greek says here, "Those who are believing in me on account of their word." The word here for "word" is λογος (logos); NIV translates this as "message"; NET as "witness." This is a tricky matter of translation. Logos does not simply mean "words" but has a more lofty significance, both practically and theologically. It means more like "message" or "explanatory words" or "account" or "reason" or "communication." The NIV and NET are seeking here, by their translation, to capture this sense of the word as message/account/communication.
However, λογος is also crucial in John's theology (In the beginning was the λογος is how his Gospel starts out!). The λογος is the divine word of God that communicates God's love, both as it judges but also redeems. In this sense Jesus is saying, I would argue, that our preaching, our witness, our account becomes the living Word, the λογος. To translate it simply as "message" leaves out the explicit connection Jesus is asserting here between our words and the true divine word of God.
Side grammar note that is worth paying attention to: "Those who are believing" is a great and easy example of a substantive participle. However, the particular word order, I maintain, is of theological significance. The actual clause reads, "Those who are believing because of their word in me." This is quite clumsy in English but it drives home the point. In the middle of our believe in Jesus is the received and heard word.
παντες ("all", 17:21) The translation of 17:21 cannot be "They might be one." The subject of this sentence is not "they" but actually, "all." One could argue that "all" here refers to "all of the disciples." But it seems more natural, especially in light of the second half of the verse, that Jesus is not simply praying for unity among the disciples, but finally unity of all things (including the God-hating world) as he later attests in this verse.
τελειοω ("finish" or "complete," 17:23) The verb, "teleoi-oo" or its sibling, "tele-oo" mean "to finish, complete, or even make perfect." These are used throughout John as Jesus discusses his need to "telo-oo" his task; finally, the task is "telo"-ed on the cross (19:30). The construction of the participle here is rather strange here. It basically links being perfected with union into one. The goal of Jesus is ultimately to make us all one -- reconciled to the Father!
καταβολης ("foundation", 17:24) The word for creation/foundation is "καταβολης," literally meaning "thrown down." Two thoughts on this:
First, I like translating καταβολης as foundation because Jesus uses a more specific word than "create" here; he uses the word that means, "that which is thrown down." John is sophisticated of a writer if he wanted to use "creation" he would have.
Second, I think John - dare I say Jesus! - is making a point about how creation by using the word foundation. Foundations are built on. Creation is in itself incomplete, waiting for humanity to take their place in the story, finally in the consummation of all creation in union with Christ.
εν ("ιν", 17:26) The key word here is "εν" a basic preposition that can be translated a couple of ways. Jesus wants his love to be "en" them. If you translate this "in" then end up with a rather (American) looking individual understanding of Jesus -- in my heart. But if you translate this word, "among" then you get a more helpful understanding of Jesus intent: He wants to be among us to intimately that there is love in the community, a love that reveals something about the fundamental character of God to the world!
ινα ("in order", "that", 17:21) How to translate "ινα"? The question is -- does a "ινα" clause, which demands a subjunctive, actually signify purpose or result? This is a big grammar debate in which I have no skin. I offer it because it allows for an interesting theological possibility as I suggest later here:
a) Purpose (ie, translate this word as "in order that"):
-John 6:30 "What sign will you do (ινα) that we might believe"
-John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave...(ινα) that whoever believes in him, would have eternal life"
(These purpose clauses can be divided up into all sorts of levels of how hypothetical the condition is...)
b) Result (ie, translate the word as "that"):
-John 9:2 "Who sinned (ινα) that this man was born blind?
-John 9:22 "The Jews had agreed (ινα) that whoever believed would get kicked out of the church"
In fact, the second example here probably better belongs to an entirely different category where the word "ινα" almost has no real purpose at all other than to say, "expect another verb to complete the thought."
In other words, ινα doesn't necessary have much subjunctive function, as we as English speakers think about the subjunctive. So is Jesus praying with the purpose that we might be one or praying with the result that we are in fact, already one!
BDAG does solve our dilemma, "In many cases purpose and result cannot be clearly differentiated, and hence ινα is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject or God. As in Semetic and Gr-Rom thought, purpose and result are identical in declarations of the divine will."
So the point here is that actually, if Jesus is praying then this is established. Jesus Word is active! (Going back to the word logos!)
Lastly, I hesitate to call this is a prayer for unity because that sounds too vague. Jesus does pray for unity, but he also prays for love, faith and the preaching of the Word. And moreover, this unity is set in the midst of humble servant-hood, betrayal, suffering, injustice, death and resurrection. If you decide to preach on unity, don't overlook the context of the passage.
Key Words and Concepts
λογος ("word"; 17:20) The Greek says here, "Those who are believing in me on account of their word." The word here for "word" is λογος (logos); NIV translates this as "message"; NET as "witness." This is a tricky matter of translation. Logos does not simply mean "words" but has a more lofty significance, both practically and theologically. It means more like "message" or "explanatory words" or "account" or "reason" or "communication." The NIV and NET are seeking here, by their translation, to capture this sense of the word as message/account/communication.
However, λογος is also crucial in John's theology (In the beginning was the λογος is how his Gospel starts out!). The λογος is the divine word of God that communicates God's love, both as it judges but also redeems. In this sense Jesus is saying, I would argue, that our preaching, our witness, our account becomes the living Word, the λογος. To translate it simply as "message" leaves out the explicit connection Jesus is asserting here between our words and the true divine word of God.
Side grammar note that is worth paying attention to: "Those who are believing" is a great and easy example of a substantive participle. However, the particular word order, I maintain, is of theological significance. The actual clause reads, "Those who are believing because of their word in me." This is quite clumsy in English but it drives home the point. In the middle of our believe in Jesus is the received and heard word.
παντες ("all", 17:21) The translation of 17:21 cannot be "They might be one." The subject of this sentence is not "they" but actually, "all." One could argue that "all" here refers to "all of the disciples." But it seems more natural, especially in light of the second half of the verse, that Jesus is not simply praying for unity among the disciples, but finally unity of all things (including the God-hating world) as he later attests in this verse.
τελειοω ("finish" or "complete," 17:23) The verb, "teleoi-oo" or its sibling, "tele-oo" mean "to finish, complete, or even make perfect." These are used throughout John as Jesus discusses his need to "telo-oo" his task; finally, the task is "telo"-ed on the cross (19:30). The construction of the participle here is rather strange here. It basically links being perfected with union into one. The goal of Jesus is ultimately to make us all one -- reconciled to the Father!
καταβολης ("foundation", 17:24) The word for creation/foundation is "καταβολης," literally meaning "thrown down." Two thoughts on this:
First, I like translating καταβολης as foundation because Jesus uses a more specific word than "create" here; he uses the word that means, "that which is thrown down." John is sophisticated of a writer if he wanted to use "creation" he would have.
Second, I think John - dare I say Jesus! - is making a point about how creation by using the word foundation. Foundations are built on. Creation is in itself incomplete, waiting for humanity to take their place in the story, finally in the consummation of all creation in union with Christ.
εν ("ιν", 17:26) The key word here is "εν" a basic preposition that can be translated a couple of ways. Jesus wants his love to be "en" them. If you translate this "in" then end up with a rather (American) looking individual understanding of Jesus -- in my heart. But if you translate this word, "among" then you get a more helpful understanding of Jesus intent: He wants to be among us to intimately that there is love in the community, a love that reveals something about the fundamental character of God to the world!
ινα ("in order", "that", 17:21) How to translate "ινα"? The question is -- does a "ινα" clause, which demands a subjunctive, actually signify purpose or result? This is a big grammar debate in which I have no skin. I offer it because it allows for an interesting theological possibility as I suggest later here:
a) Purpose (ie, translate this word as "in order that"):
-John 6:30 "What sign will you do (ινα) that we might believe"
-John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave...(ινα) that whoever believes in him, would have eternal life"
(These purpose clauses can be divided up into all sorts of levels of how hypothetical the condition is...)
b) Result (ie, translate the word as "that"):
-John 9:2 "Who sinned (ινα) that this man was born blind?
-John 9:22 "The Jews had agreed (ινα) that whoever believed would get kicked out of the church"
In fact, the second example here probably better belongs to an entirely different category where the word "ινα" almost has no real purpose at all other than to say, "expect another verb to complete the thought."
In other words, ινα doesn't necessary have much subjunctive function, as we as English speakers think about the subjunctive. So is Jesus praying with the purpose that we might be one or praying with the result that we are in fact, already one!
BDAG does solve our dilemma, "In many cases purpose and result cannot be clearly differentiated, and hence ινα is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject or God. As in Semetic and Gr-Rom thought, purpose and result are identical in declarations of the divine will."
So the point here is that actually, if Jesus is praying then this is established. Jesus Word is active! (Going back to the word logos!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
