Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This passage occurs in the Narrative Lectionary, Year 2 (most recently: Oct 11, 2015).

For those working the 10 Commandments, here is my linguistic commentary based on Exodus 20.  What is an interesting insight is that the 10 commandments change, at least slightly, between when the people enter and exit the wilderness...but that is not what I want to focus on today.

Let's look at Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Summary:  There are a million and one good sermons in this passage.  I will focus on the importance of life-long, week-long and  home-based faith formation.  But for those wanting a different direction, read on.  There is plenty!

6:4 "Hear O Israel..."
שמע ("Shema" meaning "hear", 6:4)  This passage is often referred to as the "Shema" and forms the centerpiece of Jewish worship and theology.  Jesus would have 100% been aware of this passage, having prayed it and proclaimed it his whole life.


אחד ("ekhad" meaning "one" or "alone", 6:4).  The basic idea, between Deuteronomy 5 and 6 is ethical monotheism. There is one God who gives us rules to live by.

Hebrew textual lore:  The Hebrew Bible contains only handful of "large" letters.  Two are in this verse alone (שמע and אחד )!  If you are interested in this topic, it is a never-ending pool of lore.  Here is a good article that talks about how they are used in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

6:5 "Love the Lord with all..."
Where to begin:  heart, soul and might captures, in summary, what the Hebrew wants to say:  "EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU."  Fortunately for you, each word is impossible to translate in one word so you can have a great three point sermon ready to roll.

לבב ("lebab" meaning "heart", 6:5)  The word heart in Hebrew does not mean center of feelings but center of will.  As BDB lexicon says "the inner man, the soul, comprehending mind, affections and will."  In short, the part of us that makes decisions.  However, this should not be translated "brain" in the sense of a cool calculating machine.  This word also appears in the context of the emotional center of decision:
Psalm 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD.
Ezekiel 3:10 He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears;
In short, it not simply emotions as we would have them (ie, where emotion and reason have been split since the enlightenment).  The heart is the place emotions, home of the deep longings that guide our actions.

נפש ("nephish" meaning "soul", 6:5)  The word in Hebrew means the "that which breathes."  In short, this is not the ghost inside of us (thanks Greek philosophy).  This is the very essence -- the very breath -- the very spirit of us!  In Hebrew there is no separation of soul and body.

מאד ("moad" meaning "force" or "much, exceedingly."  This word is typically a describing word, as in "very" (God saw that it was "very good," for example.)  In this sense one could translate it in 6:5 as "in all one's abundance."  This is a more natural translation than with one's might.  This could be a fascinating sermon -- how to love God in our abundance when we don't think we have any!

Note:  If you do preach this, make the Gospel move and proclaim how Jesus loved God for us with everything he had.

(Further evidence of the impossibility of translating this verse word for word?  Jesus changes the LXX translation and in Mark and Luke's version, adds a word!)
6:7  "Recite them to your children"
Interesting point.  Read the instructions of 6:7
"Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up/stand."
Compare to Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
The Hebrew words line up for both walk and sit (hlk and yshv)

The connection is clear:  Meditation on the law is a command that bears fruit for the individual and as Psalm 1 reveals, the whole community. Thanks to Dr. Diane Jacobson for that insight.

Exodus 3

This commentary focuses on Exodus 3:10-15.  This covers two separate Narrative Lectionary passages:
Sept 29. 2013 (Year 4): Exodus 3:10-15; 4:10-17
Oct 4, 2015 (Year 2):  Exodus 1: 8-14 and 3:1-15

Summary:  The Hebrew reminds us that as Moses asks for God's name, Moses is really asking for God's character.  The answer given seems very much like a New Testament answer:  A radically free God, who binds himself to the life of particular humans (incarnation!!), and out of his great mercy he sends the people to do his work (mission!).  Also, in Moses' protests we find a very common human disease:  a lack of self-esteem, ultimately grounded in a lack of trusting God.  The solution?  Pep talks??  No!!  It is all about God.

Side comment:  I think our kids don't need more self-esteem, but trust in God, which is more durable and more easily built back up.

אות ("sign"; Exodus 3.12; 4:17).  Obviously the idea of signs and covenants is a crucial one in the Old (and new) Testaments.  Interestingly, these signs God offer (worship on a mountain; Aaron's rod) are signs that will require Moses to take the first step in order to see.  I think it also reflects the human desire for a sign.  The people of Israel, including Moses, have seen great suffering.  Of course they want a sign!

עוד ("serve"; Exodus 3.12)  The word for serve has a range of meanings from "worship" to even be "slave to."  This sets up the key question for Exodus:  Whom will the people serve/worship/be in slave to:  God or Pharaoh?  This is a key hermeneutic for the story of Exodus:  Whom will the people serve?

As Americans today, this word challenges our notions of "freedom"  and faith.  Will we serve (meaning trust, worship and obey) God or will we serve Pharaoh?  By Pharaoh I do not meant the ancient king of Egypt, but the "man"?  (Old Testament professor Walter Bruggemann provocatively discusses this, arguing that Pharaoh is the military industrial complex).  Furthermore, when it comes to faith, are we really willing to "serve" God as we would a king? 

Lastly, our racial history makes any "positive" discussion of slavery in the context of faith extremely difficult.  For this reason, I believe the translators prefer to translate this word as "worship" God; however, the concept should not be lost.  There is no freedom in the abstract -- it is serve either God or Pharaoh.  Which brings up the question -- where is true freedom found?

שלח  ("send", 3.10, 12, 13, 14)  A crucial word in this passage; the word means send.  The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.  Just as Jesus was sending disciples, God in the Old Testament was sending workers and laborers into this word.  The whole idea of sending (and equipping) is also an OT concept!

םה-שםו ("what is your name?"; 3:13)
This is not the usual way to ask someone their name.
From TWOT:  "This frequently-occurring interrogative pronoun is most significant when associated with the word 'name'.  'What is your name?' is not a question which inquires after a person's family or personal name; it endeavors to find what character or quality lies within or behind the person. To ask for simple identification, one would say in Hebrew, "Who (mî) are you?"

In short, the question gets at this question:  What kind of God are you??  Again, this goes back to the suffering of the people.  Why would the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob let this happen to the people!  Unlike the Biblical histories, which suggest the Babylonian captivity is a result of apostasy, the Bible portrays the enslavement of the Israelites as caused by the fear, greed and hatred of the Egyptians.

אהיה ("I will be"; 3.14) God's name here is often translated, "I am who I am."  Because the verb is in the imperfect (incomplete) tense, it may also be translated, "I am who I will be" or "I will be who I will be"; any permutations of these two!  The crucial idea is that God is radically free!

yet...
אבתיכם ("fathers"; 3.15)  This radically free God includes in his introduction, really in his name and reputation, his relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  While God may be radically free, God is also radically bound to the particular life and story of various individuals.  If the preaching passage includes

והוריתיך ("teach"; 4.12)  This word is fascinating in two ways here.  First, because the root word is the same root as "torah."  Moses will be "torahed" in a sense.  Secondly, the verb in its root form (as opposed to hiphil, as it appear here) means to throw, like throw an arrow.  As fundamental as bow and arrow were to early Israelists, so was the teaching of God's Word.  Something about using this word Torah, deriving it from shooting and teaching...I love it!

Genesis 2:4b-25

This passage occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (Most recently: Sept 13, 2015) 
 
Summary:  This passage shows God, humanity and the earth in beautiful concert.  A true paradise.  There are so many ways to go with this passage, especially ways that fit in with various political agendas.  I think the big point is less public policy (or even church polity policy) and the intentions of God for the world:  God, humanity and earth in concert, working together in joy.

Quick note:  I've read so many commentaries and heard so many lectures and sermons on Genesis 2 that I can hardly claim any of the following as exclusively mine. In some ways I am not offering a detailed commentary because I suspect that many of you have also heard bits and pieces.  Hopefully my comments jog some memories or spur some more questions on your part.


עבד ("avad", meaning "serve/be slave/worship", 2:5)  The translation of this verb as "work" as in "no one to work the land" is really mild. The word עבד also means to slave or worship.  The original purpose of humanity was much closer to the earth than the sky...

אדמה ("adamah", meaning "soil/ground", 2:7)  The word for "man" in Hebrew is אדמ or "Adam" which comes from/is related to אדמה "adamah" the word for ground.  (Kind of like "human" comes from "humus", no not the chip dip, but part of the soil that is rich in nutrients).  This creation story reminds us of our connection to the earth.

נפש ("nephish" meaning "soul or living being", 2:7) The word for soul in Hebrew does not mean an the ethereal part of us that becomes a ghost when we die.  The word for soul in Hebrew is linguistically related to the verb for breath; but more to the point, the human is not a living thing until it has breath.  Interestingly, the verb for "in-breath" has God as its subject twice.  First here and then in John's Gospel when Jesus, after the resurrection ενεφυσησεν into the disciples. 

יצר ("yatzir" meaning "form" as in "form pottery" or "form a plan", 2:7/2:8)  I really love that this image here is for pottery.  God makes us like a potter makes a clay vessel.  This metaphor is picked up in Jeremiah 18:6 and also  Isaiah 43:1:
"But now thus says the LORD, he who created ברא you, O Jacob, he who formed יצר you  O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."
This verse in Isaiah is fascinating because it ties together the words for creation from the first and second creation stories.  Also it is really cool because it shows that ultimately what matters is not Adam's act of naming the animals, but God's act of naming us as children.

כוש (Cush, 2:13)  The point of the Hebrew usage of Cush is to say "the furthest south you've ever heard of"; ie,. the garden of Eden essentially covers all of the known civilized world.


לא-טוב ("lo-tov" meaning "no good", 2:18)  The first bad thing in the bible is not human rebellion but human loneliness.  Genesis 1 keeps saying things are declared good by God.  Now we have a hiccup!  Important point:  The human is created to be in relationship with the earth and with each other.

עזר כנגדו ("ezer - canagado", meaning "helper to him", 2.18. 2:20)  What is the purpose of a spouse; it is to be a helper.  But this is a tricky phrase to translate, because it is not one word or term, but really three of four.  Basically it is the word "help" (somewhat straight forward) with a slapped together term of pronouns and prepositions: "like/as - in front of / opposite - him"  This particular construction of words does not appear again.  So what can we make of this?  Spouses are meant to help each other.  I would argue they should be equal but also at some level opposite.  (yin-yang?)  But my sense is that we will always put more into this term than we will get out of it.

קרא ("qarah" meaning "name or call", 2:19)  Adam names the animals. Some want to claim this is co-creator power.  Others simply want to say God let Adam name the animals.  I'll stay out of this debate for now.

And for fun:  Genesis 2:4b starts with the phrase, in the Greek:
βιβλος γενεσεως
(an account/book of the creation)
Matthew 1 will also start with this.  John 1 is a play on Genesis 1; Matthew 2 is a play on Genesis 2 one could argue.

I've often used Genesis 2 as a marriage sermon text/pre-marriage counseling Bible study:
The purposes of marriage:  mutual helping, awe-filled companionship and new family streams
The promise of marriage:  husband and wife become one flesh
The cross of marriage:  husband and wife become one flesh know each intimately (are naked on all levels) yet still are not ashamed of the other person.  This last point leads powerfully into the reality of the cross in marriage, the reality that our sinfulness comes before us in marriage and our need for Christ and his forgiveness.

Hebrews 2:10-18: Not penal substitution

This passage occurred in a summer series of the Narrative Lectionary.
 
Summary:  A common way to understand the death of Jesus is "penal substitution" whereby Jesus' suffering and death "substitute" for the suffering and death we deserved before the law.   The imagery of sacrifice and Jesus' role as High Priest in the book of Hebrews often serve as proof texts of this understanding of atonement.  The problem with this way of looking at atonement is that God the Father becomes seen as a God of vengeance who needs to see Jesus tortured in order to be appeased.  I suggest that the atonement put forward in Hebrews, specifically chapter 2, does not support this view.  Rather, it supports a more complex notion of atonement, whereby Jesus death and suffering function in different ways.

μισθαποδοσιαν ("payment" or "penalty", vs 2)  The book of Hebrews makes clear that there is a consequence of our disobedience from God.  However, it never suggests this consequence is physical torture.  The consequence of disobedience is death.  By death is I do not even mean instantaneous death, but the simply the reality of death.  For example, 2:14 ascribes the power of death to the devil.  But it does not suggest that someone who sins instantly dies.  Rather, it describes the human condition.  We are human.  We are rebellious.  We die. (see Genesis 3!)

Furthermore, when the anger of God does show up, it is not directed toward torturing of humans.  Hebrews 3.11-4.3 is a long argument of Old Testament quotes supporting the idea that the rebellious Israelites received the punished of being barred from the promised land; likewise, we who are rebellious will not enter the (eternal) rest of the (heavenly) promised land.  God's justice (and I would argue love, but that is another day) demands that the promised land is for the obedient; the old creature of rebellion must die.  But God's justice is not satisfied with torture. 

Clearly the book of Hebrews builds on the Old Testament imagery of sacrificing animals as a matter of atonement.  Jesus stands in as the ULTIMATE sacrifice, the sacrifice to end all other sacrifices.  But let us remember, the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament never drew their forgiving power from the suffering of the animal.  Not once does God seem interested in having an animal be tortured or mutilated.  If we want to make Jesus the new sacrificial lamb (which I am fine with!), let us remember that the power of the sacrifice was not in the lashes but in the blood.  (The cleansing blood imagery may present a big problem for a modern reader; fine, but the point remains; the blood, not the lashes, was where the forgiveness resided)

το ιλασκεσθαι ("one of many difficult verbs meaning expatiate, atone or something like this")  We have an articular infinitive form (its own little ball of wax) of this most difficult word to translate.  There is a whole cluster of words linguistically related to ιλασκεσθαι, which again means "reconcile."  It is connected with animal sacrifices on the ark of the covenant that "appeased" God.

What is worth noting is that this particular verb is rarely, if ever, translated elsewhere in Scripture as "make atonement" (definitely not the NRSV "make a sacrifice of atonement.")  It seems most often to simply mean forgive:
Luke 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
Lamentations 3:42 We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
Psalm 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
Psalm 78:38 Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
Psalm 25:11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Exodus 32:14 And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

To put it another way, the verb does not mean "make a sacrifice."  The Isrealites called the "ιλαστηριον", the place on the Ark of the Covenant where sacrifices went, the mercy seat.  This is because they viewed it as a primary and sure place of God's mercy.  But to say that all mercy demands sacrificial animals (ie, that ιλασκεσθαι means "make a sacrifice of atonement") is not the case.  Scripture is filled, as I have shown, with God's mercy flowing independent of animal sacrifices and the entire temple in Jerusalem!  It can still be the mercy seat, but it does not have a monopoly on mercy!

To put it simply:  The NRSV inclusion of "sacrifice" here is really not helpful.  Jesus' death is sacrificial, for sure, but this loads a lot into this verse.

παθημα  (sufferings, 2:9)  Jesus suffering and death are bound together.  The Greek literally reads in verse nine, "the suffering of death."  However, I want to separate out, from the book of Hebrews, Jesus death and Jesus torture.  The book of Hebrews does not dwell on Jesus' gory death on the cross (it only mentions this once, 12:2).  Rather, it focuses on Jesus death, like the sacrifices of the Old Testament.

What do we make of the suffering (really torture) of Jesus on the cross?  I suggest that the letter to the Hebrews makes the case that Jesus suffering (and death) enabled him to stand in our place, or to use more 21st century language, be in solidarity with humanity.  In short, take away the old testament quotes and some other language, this is what you are left with in this passage (2:9-2:18):

Jesus might taste death for everyone....For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters...Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity...Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect...Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

In order to reconcile God and humanity ( ιλασκεσθαι!) Jesus had to be fully human, endure temptation (2:17), endure shame (12.2) and bear the sins of the world (9.28).  What does this look like?  The cross depicts humanity at its worst.  Jesus has been there.  Suffering -- not just sin -- as a boundary between divine and human was permanently crossed.

I believe that the book of Hebrews still portrays an atonement that demands the death of the old creature before the law and justice of God.  However, I think it also opens up the door to an amazingly merciful God, who totally embodies the suffering found in the human condition.

Baptismal Festival: Activities for kids

For Pentecost this year we had nine Baptisms.  The folks becoming baptized were people of all ages (6 mon to 35 years) which caused much celebration but also a bit of a catechetical task:  How do we teach and preach about Baptism to people at different ages.  We ended up having a big inter-generational class on Baptism.  Here were some activities we did and some learning for next time:

1)  Jesus Baptism
The basic point we wanted to get across to kids was that Jesus was baptized.  We had some coloring sheets, mazes and a YouTube video we showed.  I give this an A/A- for effectiveness. 

I was anticipating 10 kids and 30 showed up so I had to divide them into groups.  It was great to have parental help.









2)  Following Jesus

The next point we wanted to make was that Baptism is an invitation and command to follow Jesus.  To this end we did two things.  First, we had the kids make two footprints.  In one footprint they wrote their name; in the other they wrote something they could do to follow Jesus.  (Pray; go to church; be kind, etc). 

This picture here shows one of a three groups that did this.  We ended up with a sheet 100 feet long that made a great children's sermon!

The other thing we did was have kids color in a big poster that said "Come Follow Me."  This was a great filler of time when the activities went to quick/slow.

I give this an A+





3)  Forgiveness of sins

I wanted to convey something about the forgiveness of sins in Baptism.  I had this chemistry example set up whereby I would have a liquid (vinegar) clean off sins (baking soda).  It didn't really work because one kid kept saying over and over "That is vinegar."  Regardless, there are much better examples of chemistry and color change that I would use in the future, like this one.








4)  Adoption as child of God

We had each child make a sign that said "I, ____, am a child of God, claimed in my Baptism."  We took pictures of the kids.  I hoping to make a collage of the pictures.  Again, we had a bunch more kids than anticipated and I don't know if we got enough photos taken!

This was great overall and the picture I have here is absurdly cute.















5)  Baptism as Body of Christ; Communion of Saints

I made a weaving craft that used the waters of Baptism (blue strips of paper) to weave together three hearts, one for Jesus, one for saints in glory, one for saints living.

I think the craft was super cool.  But it proved too hard for many kids.  I think had I had a smaller crowd, I could have worked with the kids more; it was not at the "give them the supplies and model and let them figure it out" kind of thing.

There would be a way to simplify this in terms of multiple hearts; as it was, kids used lots of tape to make something that looked a bit like what I intended.

Romans 8:18-39

The Narrative Lectionary uses a longer section of Romans 8 (Year 1; most recently on May 24, 2015).  I offer here links to the two pieces that entail this larger section.

http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/07/romans-812-25.html 
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/07/romans-826-39.html

Easter 5: John 15 and Acts 8 (Year B)

This post links to the Revised Common Lectionary passages for Easter 5, Year B, most recently May 3, 2015.  You can find my post by clicking here.

A tidbit of a sumptuous post:
αμπελος ("vine"; 15.1)  Like many metaphors in John's Gospel, a person new to the Bible can grasp its meaning, but a knowledge of the OT amplifies its significance.  The OT (Hosea 14; Jeremiah 2; perhaps also Ezekiel 19, but who understands Ezekiel...) makes the claim that Israel is the vine of the Lord.  Jesus here is saying "I am Israel."  All the promises, all the hopes (if not the judgment) of Israel in the Bible have been transferred to Jesus.

I have a bit older post on Acts 8 here.
Its all about the "way" but before we get there, a tidbit:
αναστηθι και πορευου ("Get up and go"; 8:26) Philip is told to "Get up and go" (a very familiar line from the OT; Abraham -- Get up and go!). The question is whether this is verbal coordination Hebrew style (Go in a quick way) or whether Luke is implying two separate verbs.