He is not far from each one of us

Acts 17: 22-31 (May 29, 2011)

1) The Text

22Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 29Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

2) The Context

Paul is making an unexpected visit to Athens. His proclamation of Christ crucified had angered the Jews at Thessalonica so much that they had followed him to Beroea to incite riots in the crowds there. Rather than risk Paul’s safety, the Beroean believers had sent him off to Athens. There, while he waits for his colleagues to join him, Paul takes in the sights, tours the city and tries to learn something about its people. When he finds city shrines and altars dedicated to a variety of idols, he debates their existence wherever and with whomever he can: in the synagogue with the Jews, in the marketplace with the buyers and sellers, in the town center with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers.

In this last location, the Areopagus, Paul gives his only speech in Acts to an entirely pagan audience. He presents the good news to a people of a culture very different from the one in which it was first proclaimed.

3) Interpretation

The Athenians, whose altar is dedicated "to an unknown god," are trying to cover all the bases. If the gods of their other altars or shrines fail them, perhaps an "as-yet-unnamed" deity will look favorably upon them. Though this sounds like an ancient problem, people today continue to reach for an experience of the divine. They are seeking the highest high, the biggest vehicle, the most extreme sport, the most sordid confession on a reality show. Many in our culture are indulging in this cult of experience, which is actually a misguided groping for God.

Athenian philosophers bowed -- not to a god of personal experience, but to the god of sharp intellect. What is curious about Paul’s speech in Athens is the mild response it draws. The apostle’s preaching generally leads either to great disturbances or to large numbers of converts, but in Athens the reaction of the listeners is lukewarm. Some scoff; others are willing to hear Paul speak again; a few convert. Why such a minimal reaction? Perhaps it is because the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers wanted to engage God only as a concept, and not as the God-man who lays a claim upon our lives.

Will Willimon tells the story of an undergraduate who complained about her college’s religion department, which included four professors who taught courses in everything from Hindu beliefs to Christian history. "They know a great deal about a great many things in religion," she said, "but none of them in the department are practitioners of any particular faith. I find that strange. They know everything about God except God!"

To search for the divine as only an intellectual matter is another example of a misguided groping for God. The danger is twofold. First, we treat God as a topic to be conquered. If only I take another Bible study, if only I could get my questions answered, then I will know God. The second danger is using God as an endorsement for commitments we already have or projects we’d like to see carried out.

This idol of intellectualization creates distance from God. If we believe that a strong emotion or the right theory helps us worship God, we end up worshiping the emotion or the theory. And worship of anything but God separates us from God.

Furthermore, there is division between those who choose one type of idol over another. Those who place primary importance on a personal experience of God are skeptical of too much "book learning," while people who relentlessly search the limits of the knowable are skeptical of too much emotion. When people of both stripes are sitting in the sanctuary, what are we to do?

First, we are to heed Paul’s call to repentance, realizing that none of us has a corner on understanding God or living as Christ’s disciple. And since repentance involves concrete acts of turning away from the old and toward the new, we are to behave like family, the family that God created through baptism. We are made in the image and likeness of God, not in the image of the idols who tempt us. We are obligated to listen to one another, and to discuss our differences across denominational lines, theological persuasions -- and even across the center aisle of the sanctuary.

And all of us need to stop reaching so far in our search for God. God is, after all, "not far from each one of us." Our groping can end at the communion table, where we dine together as a family, where God is placed into our hands, and where we are reminded that God has come and will come again in Jesus the Christ.

4) Thought Exercise

What can you do to get to know God better?

What can you do to get to know others who have beliefs different from yours?

Make A Joyful Noise

Psalm 100 (May 22, 2011)

1) The Text

1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

2) The Context

Psalms is a collection of collections. The psalms were written over many centuries, stretching from the days of Solomon's temple (about 950 BC) to after the Exile (about 350 BC.) Psalms are of five types: hymns of praise, laments, thanksgiving psalms, royal psalms, and wisdom psalms. Within the book, there are five "books"; there is a doxology at the end of each book.

Psalm 100 is known as the Jubilate Deo, its first words in Latin. While the psalm does not specifically refer to God as king, its mood is similar to that of the preceding kingship psalms (95-99), all of which deal with the kingly rule of the God of Israel. This psalm is a doxology to these psalms. This theme was especially emphasized during the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). Psalms 96; 98; 99 also call on Israel and other nations to join in the worship of God; they seek acknowledgement of his divine rule.

Vv. 1-3 form one hymn (a call to joy) and vv. 4-5 is another (a call to thanksgiving). All people everywhere (“all the earth”, v. 1) are invited to praise God, to be joyful in him. Why? Those processing to the Temple would, in “The Lord is God” (v. 3), be reminded of the first of the Ten Commandments. (That he is the only god is implied.) The covenant brought the people into a special relationship with God. V. 4 was probably spoken by the priests: they invite the faithful to enter the Temple to give thanks and praise. Both the Temple and royal palaces had “gates” (v. 4) and “courts”, so God the king, present in the Temple and reigning from there, is envisaged. God is goodness; he is eternally compassionate and faithful to those who keep his law and follow his ways. In the original context, his goodness was specifically his concrete acts of love promised in the Sinai covenant and shown to Israel.

3) Interpretation

The psalmist in Psalm 100 encourages us to worship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts! Often, however, there can be certain factors that obstruct us from worshipping the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts. These include obstacles such as: (1) Anticipating an important future event (e.g., a job promotion, a scheduled surgery, a vacation we’re looking forward to, etc; (2) Sickness or poor health; (3) Worry or anxiety over something in our lives (e.g., something we said to a friend that we regret, or something we failed to do for a loved one, or worry about keeping our job, etc.; (4) Something that happened unexpectedly during the week that surprises us; (5) Preoccupation with what we don’t have.

How can we worship the Lord while contending against the many obstacles that prevent us from worshipping the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts? We can pray and ask God to give us the ability to focus our hearts and minds on Him. If worry has dominated our hearts, we pray for forgiveness. If we don’t feel good due to poor health we acknowledge our poor health to God. Through prayer we can worship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts!

The final verse in the psalm, vs.5, functions as the climax or high point of the psalm. Verse 5 has been written as a causal clause. The psalmist uses it to outline the reasons we can worship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts. What are the reasons?

1. The Lord is good and He does good things! The psalmist begins vs. 5 with this declaration: ”For the Lord is good”. The Bible tells us repeatedly of God’s goodness. The Psalms record numerous instances of God being called “good”. For instance, the psalmist in Psalm 34:8 writes “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. Thus, we observe that scripture both labels God “good” by nature and describes the good things He has done.

2. The Lord has an enduring love for us. The next part of vs.5 says “and his love endures forever”. We can worship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts because His love for us never ends! Knowing and experiencing God’s constant love serves as an impetus for worship.

An elderly man lay in the hospital with his wife of 55 years sitting at his bedside. “Is that you, Ethel, at my side again?” he whispered. “Yes, dear” she answered. He softly said to her “Remember years ago when I was in the Veteran’s Hospital? You were with me then. You were with me when we lost everything in the fire. And Ethel, when we were poor-you stuck with me then too”. The man sighed and said, “I tell you, Ethel, you’re just bad luck!!” How easily we can twist reality and fail to recognize the enduring love of someone who truly cares for us.

3. The Lord remains faithful to us throughout all times. Even in the most upsetting and tumultuous times of life, God still remains with us! On a short term mission trip to a leper colony on the island of Tobago, the Pastor leading worship asked if anyone had a hymn request. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. The pastor recalled, “it was the most hideous face I had ever seen. The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. The disease had destroyed her lips as well. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked “Can we sing “Count Your Many Blessings?”

Worship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving in your hearts! Prayerfully ask the Lord to remove sin and self-pity and other self-oriented distractions from you. Give him your worship, the worship He alone deserves! God deserves our worship for He is good, His love endures forever and our God remains ever faithful to us.

4) Thought Exercise

What are some examples of God’s good works in your life?

In what ways do you acknowledge God’s enduring love for you?

Signs and Wonders

Acts 2: 42-47 (May 15, 2011)

1) The Text

42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

2) The Context

This book is the sequel to the gospel according to Luke. Beginning with Jesus' ascension, Luke tells the story of the beginnings of the church. By no means a comprehensive history, it does describe the spread of the church from Jerusalem to all of Palestine, and as far as Greece. The episodes show how Christianity arose out of Judaism and describes the struggles the church underwent in accepting Gentiles as members.

In the book of Acts three summaries connect narratives to miracle stories and miracle stories to narratives (2:42-47; 4:32-35; 5:12-16). These summaries provide a picture of the activities the new believers engaged in when they congregated under the leadership of the apostles. This text, 2:42-47, the first summary, follows the massive baptism resulting from Peter's first speech at Pentecost. The summaries tell how the nascent group of believers constituted a community.

3) Interpretation

It is important that community building starts on the right foot. Verse 42 begins "And they were committing themselves (proskartereo) to the teaching of the apostles and to the koinonia” (i.e., the Christian fellowship or communion with God or with fellow Christians; in particular of the early Christian community). This is the first mention of the apostles' teaching in Acts. Many persons have now joined the Jesus movement who may never have heard Jesus' teachings. It is not clear in the Greek text whether the breaking of bread and prayers at verse 42 constitutes the koinonia or if they are activities distinct from the koinonia. Nevertheless, koinonia signifies mutuality and commonality among the new believers beyond potluck meals; it consists of building a shared existential reality and anticipatory future.

The Greek verb proskartereo describing the believers' mutual devotion is the same verb used for the disciples' commitment as they gathered in the upper room waiting for the outpouring of God's Spirit (1:14). The presence of proskartereo in both texts may demonstrate a paradigmatic relationship between Acts 1:14 and 2:42-47. Acts 1:14 is the model upon which the first (and subsequent) summary is based. Acts 2:42 reflects the charismatic growth of the community quantitatively and qualitatively expanding upon that first upper room gathering. Proskartereo occurs a second time at 2:46 where the focus shifts to how the believers committed themselves to the Temple and to house-to-house breaking of bread. If it were not for the proskartereo of the believers, their attention to the apostles' teaching, prayers, eucharistic celebrations, and participation in signs and wonders would be less than koinonia, but merely activities that they engage in simultaneously and in the same place. Proskartereo engenders koinonia mutuality--the giddy sharing of goods, self and time for the welfare of all.

Luke repeats here two other phrases used in 1:14 to describe the pre-Pentecostal assembly: "at the same place and at the same time" and they "were having all things common (koina)." It is not enough to share space and time, but an intentional act of koina is required. Verse 45 delineates more tangibly how the believers held all things common: "they sold their goods and their real property, and they distributed the proceeds to whoever among them was in need." Commonality and sharing was not limited to spiritual things, but included material possessions. This koina is what many scholars find least credible. These words are either descriptive of actual events or as a prescriptive ideal picture of how Luke envisioned a koinonia-governed community.

The Greek adverb homothumadon (in one accord) also occurs both at 2:46 and at 1:14. In both texts homothumadon follows proskartereo demonstrating a unified devotion among the disciples in the second floor room and among the early community after the Pentecostal increase (cf. 4:32-35; 5:12-16; 7:57). The harmonious commitment of the early believing community could be partly motivated by the many signs and wonders that the apostles performed (2:43).

We are called to bring about tangible signs and wonders on the earth. Signs and wonders signify that God's Spirit is at work. When we act with homothumadon to do our part to eliminate hunger, homelessness, child abuse, discrimination, and inequality in education, inter alia, God's Spirit, in and through us, performs signs and wonders on the earth. Mutual and unified commitment engenders marvelous acts of social justice within the community and beyond.

Our summary finally describes how the community praised God and demonstrated favor or grace toward one another. And the Lord (God) saved many more who were brought into the community. Ultimately, it is God who saves and expands the community, but not without our cooperation. God worked in and through people willing to teach and be taught, to believe in, perform and receive signs and wonders, and to create mutual koinonia.

4) Thought Exercise

What signs and wonders have you seen that show God’s spirit at work?

What signs and wonders are you producing to the show God’s spirit at work?

The Lord’s Prayer

Luke 11: 1-4 (May 8, 2011)

1) The Text

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

2) The Context

Then and now, a religious community has a distinctive way of praying; ours is exemplified by the Lord’s Prayer. In 5:33, Pharisees and scribes have noted that followers of John the Baptist “frequently fast and pray”; now Christians have their own prayer. Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer is shorter than Matthew’s (which we use). We approach God in a personal way, as “Father” (v. 2). His “name” is more than just a name: we pray that all may give respect due to him, so all may see his love. “Your kingdom come” looks forward to the Kingdom, where all barriers – of wealth, sex and ritual cleanness – will no longer exist. Of the five petitions, the last two seek filling of our needs. “Bread” (v. 3) is what we need to live; it is God’s gift to us. We share it with all, especially in the Eucharist. “Daily” here means day after day. The “time of trial” (v. 4) is the final onslaught of evil forces, before Christ comes again; it is also the temptations which assail us day-by-day.

3) Interpretation

In this passage we have the shorter and probably earlier form of the Lord’s Prayer. Luke brings it in a context which teaches about prayer. It is just as much also teaching about God.

This is already the case in the simple way with which the Lord’s prayer begins: ‘Father’. Jesus was one of those who gave the formal designation of God as the great father in heaven and creator a familiar tone: ‘father’. Elsewhere we find traces of the common family term: ‘abba’. It is not baby talk, but it does reflect the kind of intimacy one might expect in a family. It assumes a parent who is not remote but accessible, not violent and overbearing, but supportive and caring.

The kind of supportive relationship Jesus has with the Father is not exclusive, but rather a model of the relationship which all can have. That is made possible because of the kind of God God is. This is a theme repeated elsewhere, not least in the image of the father in the parable of the prodigal son. Compassion and caring are central.

Jesus would have known about abusive fathers, just as he knew about abusive rulers. He used the ambiguous images of king and father because they were part of the tradition in which he was nourished. He engaged that tradition critically, subverting its violence and asserting its love. The ambiguity of the traditional images of king and father has been reflected in the very diverse consequences which they have spawned throughout history. Interpreters of the tradition in every generation have a responsibility to engage these images critically, helping people perceive where they bring life and where they bring death. This ambiguity needs to be named, not least because among our hearers are many, both women and men, for whom the image of father is almost irrecoverably destructive.

Hallowing means respecting, treating as holy. This is fundamental to our relationship with God and to all other relationships. Acknowledging the holiness, the dignity, the otherness of the other, must not be reduced to a metaphor of cringing before one who is more powerful, even if that is dressed up respectably as obeisance before the almighty. For then it reinforces the assumption that might is right and the bigger and stronger is the better. Such thinking often results in abusive relationships. Parents emulate their god. People emulate their god. The victims are disempowered. There is, however, an awe in relationships which flows from profound respect and love. It is often when we are standing on our feet face-to-face or bowed, not the one before the other, but together in service and mutual care.

‘Your kingdom come’ remains in the realm of the same ambiguity and has been equally a source of life and death. Our eucharist remembers the image of that kingdom as a great feast where all are included, from east and west and north and south, where swords become ploughs, spears become pruning hooks. It is also a feast focused on a life broken and poured out in compassion. This is one of the central images and actions which has the capacity to control the ambiguity, if we make the connections. But even it is capable of subversion until it becomes a feast of exclusion and a trivialised appendage for people claiming privilege.

Day by day human need has a firm place in Jesus’ prayer. There can be no separation between visions and life here and now. The same need for food and forgiveness is fundamental to every human being. That is why it is also part of the vision of the kingdom. As the prayer continues, Jesus has no shame in abandoning the ideal of the hero; instead we are to pray not to have to face the hard times. This will be as much personal as it is linked with the adversity we are likely to face if we take the kingdom vision as our agenda and engage in all our relationships on the basis that the other is holy.

4) Thought Exercise

How does the Lord’s Prayer help you build a relationship with God?

What does the Lord’s Prayer teach us about relationship building?