Reminders

Luke 22: 7-20 (March 27, 2011)

1) The Text

7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” 9They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” 10“Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters 11and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 12He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” 13So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

14When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

2) The Context

Passover is one of the most sacred and significant celebrations on the Jewish calendar. It is the celebration of the deliverance of God’s people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. The last plague that God sent upon the Egyptians was the angel of death who was to slay the first born in every home in Egypt. The Jews were to kill an unblemished lamb, eat it in hast because they were going to flee the country, and put the blood of the lamb on the door posts and the lintel of the house. The angel seeing the blood would pass over the house and everyone inside would be safe. Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

An upper room would be an extra room, built onto the flat roof of a typical Palestinian house. It was probably "furnished" (Greek strunnuo, "to equip something with appropriate furnishings") with carpets and cushions on which guests would recline for their meal. It was customary to recline at the Passover meal. Guests would lean on their left arm and eat with their right, legs splayed out behind them. As host of the meal, Jesus begins to speak the ancient words of the Passover meal, telling of Israel's Exodus from Egypt by God's strong hand. For Jesus, this Passover meal looks forward to its fulfillment in the Great Feast in the Kingdom of God at the End Time (Luke 13:28-29; 14:15; 22:30; Revelation 19:9).

3) Interpretation

Jesus begins the night with a mind catching statement, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Jesus tells them he is about to suffer and that this is the last meal he will have with them until the kingdom of God is fulfilled.

All of Jesus’ time on earth was leading up until this point. He came for one reason and one reason only and that was to die for the sins of the world. Jesus was focused on the cross. The disciples were unaware of what was taking place. It was not a coincidence that Jesus chose the Passover to reveal himself at last to the disciples. The Passover was the celebration of the deliverance from bondage, an earthly bondage. Jesus was about to announce himself as the true Passover lamb; the one who would deliver his people from the bondage of sin and death.

At this one meal prior to the events that would unfold Jesus lays out what will happen to him over the next few days. Jesus was bringing the kingdom of God to fulfillment. During the meal he takes bread and after giving thanks he breaks it and offers it to them with the words, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” At the end of the meal he takes the cup and tells them, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus identifies himself as our sacrifice for sin. The celebration of a past event becomes the present reality for the disciples and for us.

Jesus comes to us each time we eat the bread and drink the wine. He is among us. The reality of his sacrifice is made real to us again. The bread and the wine remind us that our sins are forgiven. The kingdom is made real to us. The disciples did not know what was taking place at the time but after the resurrection they would gather in homes to break bread and drink the cup and remember the Lord’s death.

The gospel story moves us to this event and the Book of Acts takes us from this event, but the cross remains central to the churches theology. From the virgin birth until the cross the life of Jesus is seen as special, but in many ways he is witnessed as an important rabbi, a special figure. When demons recognize him he silences them. When someone is healed he tells them not to say a word to anyone. Jesus’ life and ministry is not about miracles and earthly power. Jesus’ ministry is about the salvation of lost humanity. Jesus on this night is not silent about who he is. All that was understood in the paschal celebration finds fulfillment in Jesus.

The days will unfold and go in the eyes of the disciples and followers of Jesus from bad to worse. He will identify his betrayer, be arrested and put on trial, Peter will deny him and the others will flee. Pilate will agree to have him executed and all will seem lost. In hind sight this night makes sense. The reason we celebrate the Lord’s supper is because in doing so we act out the passion story and we are refreshed and built up by the Christ who comes among us.

Christianity is all about Jesus. Our faith is all about Jesus. Our salvation is all about what Jesus has done for us. It is on this night that we understand that nothing we can do matters. It is in the recognition that Jesus is the one who died for our sins that we tap into the source of all life.

4) Thought Exercise

During communion, what do the cup and bread remind you of?

How does the communion experience serve you in daily life?

Faith Alone

Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17 (March 20, 2011)

1) The Text

4What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

2) The Context

The epistle that Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome was a letter he intended to be sent, not to one, but to a number of church communities scattered throughout the city. Therefore, he knew that he was writing to diverse audiences that did not always agree with one another. He also knew that he was coming in on the middle of a conversation. These Christians were not blank slates. They had been living their lives in a variety of cultures both political and religious. Some had been raised as Roman citizens, required to sacrifice to the empire's gods. Others had been raised in the synagogue, telling the stories of Moses and the children of Israel, following a prescribed set of laws. How do you think that these people, Gentiles or Jews, reacted when told by Paul that none of what they had done would make them right with God? It is not easy to give up old habits.

3) Interpretation

This passage puts before us a major understanding of what God was up to in Jesus and long before that, in Abraham. This chapter speaks to the very character of God. The question wrestled with in this text is simply, "how big is Abraham's family?" The answer Paul offers, derived from his reading of Genesis 15:5, is that Abraham's family is as big as the numbers of persons who have faith in God. Jews are part of the family to be sure. So are Gentiles who believe that God has rescued them through the obedience (crucifixion and resurrection) of Jesus.

The translation of Romans 4:1 has been much debated. As Richard B. Hays persuasively argues 4:1 is best rendered in two questions: "What then shall we say? Have we found Abraham to be our forefather according to the flesh?" Paul voices the second question in order to argue against it, a not unusual process for him. Paul believes that the text and order of events in Genesis 15 is crucial to a proper understanding of who is in Abraham's family.

In verses 16-17 Paul insists that humans are part of Abraham's family through faith rather than physical descent. To be part of Abraham's family by faith is to be an inheritor of God's promises, to be in covenant relationship with God, to be "justified." All these phrases are in apposition to each other (i.e., the act of placing together or bringing into proximity). All of them describe who we are, whose we are. Paul and other believers needed to establish how Gentiles can be part of God's covenant people without attention to the Torah. If God could simply cast aside all the covenant promises made to Abraham, David, and through the prophets in favor of a new people, it is God who is unreliable, indeed, unfaithful. And if God has been unfaithful to God's word to the children of Abraham according to the flesh, why should anyone trust that God will be faithful in the future? So, it is really important that God's promise be understood as from the beginning for a larger group than Abraham's children according to the flesh. The breadth and depth of God's promise, and our ability to trust and hope in God are all at stake in this argument.

It is also very good news for us, although challenging, to think about what other peoples God considers to be part of the family of Abraham by faith. What does faith look like? Surely the faith and faithfulness of the Gentiles would have been surprising to Abraham. What would surprise us, were we suddenly able to see who all is in God's family?

Finally, a most important point is that this faithful God justifies the ungodly, not waiting for them to shape up first. In verses 5 and 17, God is identified as the one who justifies the ungodly, the one who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Paul identifies the God who has created a new people, a new part of the family through the faithfulness of and faith in Jesus the Messiah. This people participate in the life of God's covenant family, those who receive mercy. God did not and does not wait for us to become a people. "While we were yet sinners, " as Paul will say later in this letter, God brought us into relationship, gave us the gift of the Spirit, showed mercy, and in all that acted faithfully to the promises long made and never forgotten.

In this passage, Paul establishes a simple truth that is very easily forgotten. Our approval with God does not depend on our faithfulness to his commands, but rather, it depends on our willingness to trust his faithfulness. Abraham stood right before God, righteous before God, on the basis of faith and not works of the law. If we follow the example of Abraham and put our trust in God, we will find that our faith is accounted to us as righteousness. As worthy sons, we inherit the kingdom promised long ago to Abraham - we all inherit eternity, as a gift of grace appropriated through faith. Faith alone is the instrument through which we appropriate the grace of God. Holy living or denominational faithfulness, play no part in appropriating God's grace. Our standing in the kingdom of God is through faith apart from good works. We see the promise of eternity and by resting on it we are given it.

4) Thought Exercise

What does your faith look like?

Who do you see as part of God’s family?

The Gift of Love and Grace

Romans 5: 12-21 (March 13, 2011)

1) The Text

12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

2) The Context

Romans is the first epistle in the New Testament. Paul wrote it to the church at Rome, which included both Jews and Gentiles. The book was probably written in 57 AD, when Paul was at the end of his third missionary journey around the Eastern Mediterranean. It is unusual in that it was written to a church that Paul had not visited. Therefore, unlike the other epistles that address issues and conflicts within a specific community, this epistle is written to present the gospel; his understanding of who Jesus was and how the death and resurrection of Christ had brought about a new creation. It is in this book that Paul presents his most sustained and complete theology.

In this selected passage, Paul views salvation from the curse of Adam to God’s cure in Christ. Adam’s one act of disobedience brought both sin and death upon mankind. Christ’s one act of obedience, on the cross, brought about the solution to this curse. The work of Christ offers all men not only the promise of the forgiveness of their sins, but a new identity and beginning, in Christ. The text falls into three sections. Verses 12-14 describe the similarity between the act of Adam and that of Christ. Both men are “federal heads” of mankind, whose actions affect all men. Verses 15-17 emphasize the many significant contrasts between the act of Adam and the act of Christ. The differences between them are the basis for His becoming the cure for the curse which Adam brought upon the human race. Verses 18-21 sum up the results of Christ’s work relative to the action of Adam and defines the role of Law in relation to man’s sin and God’s grace.

3) Interpretation

Paul paints on a broad canvas. He has just celebrated reconciliation, grounded in love and the foundation of hope (5:1-11). This world view now receives further elaboration in a complicated, repetitive statement about Adam and Christ (5:12-21). It introduces us to two major processes which Paul sees at work in humanity. The two processes head in opposite directions. One brings people into the state of sin, produces sins and leads to death in more than just a literal sense. The other produces life and goodness. Paul's intellectual world assumes that the human race began with Adam. Adam's sin or disobedience started a process. Paul speaks of this process in terms of rule or reign (5:13). It is a process which brought sin's negativity to all people.

Matching Adam's sin is Christ's goodness. Paul focuses not on Christ as a life story, but as an event. He speaks of an act of grace or goodness. For Paul that usually means Christ's death, but this must not be seen in isolation from his life, ministry, or resurrection. Just as something happened which started a process of decay and destruction through Adam's sin, so something creative and liberating happened in Christ which began a new process. In Paul's repetitive text are the links between goodness/grace and its fruits in people's lives. Some of his statements could be read as though the process is automatic, but that misreads Paul. Paul never forgets we are dealing with people and relationships and thus personal response matters. This is true of the sin/death process - people choose to sin just as people choose to respond to the good news.

Paul has Christ match Adam. Christ makes it possible to become free from the process which Adam inaugurated. Ultimately that will not reach fulfillment until we reach an entirely renewed creation; everything needs to be liberated in Paul's view not just individual human beings. But in the interim we don't need to be caught in the power system which produces sin and hate and death. We can live, instead, by the Spirit, which produces goodness, and love and hope.

Sin is much more than individual acts of sin. Negative, destructive influence is more than what confronts one in the choice between good and evil. Such influences are also systemic in groups, organizations and families. We are very good at creating contexts that are destructive for people. We also know that "saving" means more than forgiveness of individuals' sins. It is a process. It is the undoing of the destructive forces and influences which we inherit and which find their form in our structures and settings. Organizations can be destructive even though they are peopled with loving individuals and exist for good. Churches and congregations can be prime examples.

Paul helps us be aware that sin in something big and sins are just the outworking of the malaise - which he can sometimes call death. Paul is therefore also making us aware that salvation is big. It is about getting things into right relationship ("righteousness", "justification'). This is not a one-off experience but a life-long process which may be dotted with dramatic episodes or may be simply a steady surge of maturity towards love. It includes more than individuals. It is the source of our passion for ecumenism and ultimately for a world of peace and a creation cared for.

Paul's final point is that the Law was powerless to bring the kind of change which was needed. Only the gift of love and grace could outrun the "gift" of sin and death (5:20). The focus on grace and love rather than law and rule as the basis for human transformation takes us to the heart of the good news and of hope for humanity.

4) Thought Exercise

In what ways are you choosing to respond to the good news?

How can we better incorporate grace and love in our groups or organizations?

Transfiguration

Matthew 17: 1-9 (March 6, 2011)

1) The Text

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

2) The Context

The Season of Epiphany begins (Jesus' Baptism) and ends (Jesus' Transfiguration) with a heavenly voice making Jesus known to the world (epiphany = "to make known").

The Transfiguration passage comes something out of nowhere, in each gospel playing to a greater or lesser degree a pivotal mark in the narrative (most noticeably in Luke), but not clearly connected to what comes immediately before or after. Both Matthew and Mark indicate that this event took place six days after something (Luke has "about eight days" 9:28) -- presumably it refers to those events that started with Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi and Jesus' first "passion prediction" (Mt 16:13 ff., Mk 8:27 ff.). In Matthew, it is followed by more passion predictions and the continuing story of Jesus' ministry in and around Galilee and his impending journey to Jerusalem. Clearly a "mountain top experience," it is nevertheless challenging to see how the account contributes to or advances Matthew's story of Jesus.

3) Interpretation

How many people feel called? How many believe they have heard and responded to God's voice. I raise this question of calling because I think that's part of the story of the Transfiguration that gets overlooked. We understandably focus on Jesus' transformation. But I think Peter gets transfigured as well, or at least the beginning of Peter's transformation may start right here, on the mountain with Jesus.

The scene moves so quickly that it's easy to miss. I mean, there is Peter, falling all over himself looking for something to do, when the voice from heaven literally interrupts him, saying (almost!), "Would you shut up already, and just listen to him!" But of course it's not funny for long. In fact, it's kind of terrifying, and so Peter falls to the ground, probably covering his ears and shutting his eyes hard. And then it's over – the voice, the light, the heroes of the past – nothing is left except Jesus, Jesus who is reaching out to him and telling him to "be raised."

We tend to think Peter's "moment" happened six days earlier, when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah and he was called "the rock." But I wonder.... I wonder if Peter's real sense of call didn't happen here, when the voice interrupts all his plots and plans and announces that this Jesus is none other than God's beloved Son and so the most important thing Peter can do is simply listen to him.

But of course it didn't last. Peter needs to be pulled up off the ground, perhaps wondering if anything had actually happened or whether he had imagined it all. And then on the way down the mountain Jesus will again intimate of his impending death and destiny. Peter will struggle to listen, to follow, to be faithful. Actually, he will more than struggle, he will fail. And Jesus will reach out, raise him up again, and send him forth. I have a hunch that each time Peter fell down and got up again, he would look back on this day and recall those words, "Just listen to him!"

That's what I mean by saying that this is the moment when Peter's transfiguration begins – when he fails, falls, and is lifted up again and realizes that above and beyond everything else, he is called to listen to Jesus. This pattern, I think, shapes the life of every Christian. We, too, of course, try our best, sometimes succeeding and sometimes coming up short. We, too, have moments of insight and moments of denial. We, too, fall down in fear and are raised up again to go forth in confidence. We, too, that is, are called to listen, called to discern God's way in the world, called to partner with God and in this way be transformed.

4) Thought Exercise

Have you ever felt called by God? How did you respond?

How can we better hear God’s voice?