The Name Game

 

In the gospel reading for this past Sunday, John 1:43-51, Jesus called Phillip to follow him.  Phillip, in turn, found a friend – Nathaniel – and told him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote…”  When the two came to Jesus, the Lord said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’

We are accustomed to the “call stories” of Peter & Andrew and James & John.  Jesus is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and calls these fishers and calls them, saying, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”   The account in John of the summons of Phillip and Nathaniel are a bit less familiar to most of us.  I’ll talk about “call” and “response” in another post.  The thing that interests me in this moment is the number of titles for Jesus that this small reading contains.  In the nine verses of John 1:43-51 we have no less than five different titles referring to Jesus, not including his name.  Phillip calls him “(the one) about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.”  Nathaniel uses the terms “rabbi,” “Son of God,” and “King of Israel.”  Jesus himself makes reference to himself as “the Son of Man.”

That’s a pretty heavy menu of designations.  It is important to note that no one description takes in the entirety of who Jesus is or what it is that Jesus does.  But, these (and others) overlap and interlock and eventually they give us a complete picture of who Jesus is.  We can certainly add others: “Lord,” “Savior,” “Master,” “Redeemer,” “King of kings,” “Lord of lords.”  The list is practically endless.  Together these show the extraordinary nature of Jesus of Nazareth.  We might be more comfortable with some of these terms than with others.  But, somewhere in the roster of titles we find that one designation that describes our own touchstone with Christ.  It might be helpful for us to explore them all.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

Lost Tales

When Christmas falls on Wednesday of the week or later, there are two Sundays in the Season of Christmas.  That means that the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) in Cycle A will consider the narrative of the Slaughter of the Innocents today and the prologue to John next Sunday.  The provision for a second Sunday of Christmas is always John 1.  In Cycle B the first Sunday’s reading is the story of Simeon and Anna, and in Cycle C it is the boy Jesus in the Temple.

It can be a frustrating time for the church.  There is so little material available concerning the young Jesus outside of the Nativity itself. 

There is a lot of Christian legend surrounding the young Jesus.  There is an apocryphal story of Jesus striking dead a playmate at whom he was angry before restoring him to life.  (The Gospel of Thomas) That same document has a tale of Jesus molding pigeons out of mud at a riverbank.  When confronted by religious leaders, he tosses them into the air, where they become animated and fly away.  He thus eludes the charge of creating graven images.  There are legends that he traveled to England – some of the accounts say he went to the British Isles in the company of Joseph of Arimathea.  There are stories of the young Jesus learning magic while living in Egypt and using this knowledge to give the appearance of divinity when he returned to Israel.

But these things do not make for very faithful study.  They do illustrate the principle that nature abhors a vacuum.  These tales emerge in the absence of more genuine stories.

It wouldn’t really matter how much material we had about Jesus at age 1 or 5 or 10.  Jesus’ real work, and true significance comes a little later.  When he was about thirty.

On the daily lectionary reading

The Gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) daily readings for this date is Matthew 8:14-17:

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.  When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities

             and bore our diseases.”

Some would look at these verses and write them off: “Well, that’s jut another healing story.  Jesus heals people every time he stops and sits.  Nothing special about that.  There are dozens, scores of healings in the gospels.”

Like that makes any one healing mundane. 

Whenever Jesus performs one of his healing miracles, he is not only demonstrating compassion, he is declaring who he is.   In this passage, Jesus fulfills prophesy.  In this past Sunday’s Gospel Lesson from the RCL (Matthew 11:2-11), John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him, “are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  For a reply, Jesus offered a quotation from Isaiah 35:1-10 (the Old Testament lesson for Sunday) which says, in part,

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

   and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

   and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

   the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Each of Jesus’ deeds of power, no matter how relatively great or small, testifies not simply to what Jesus could do, but who he is.

God is with us.

The daily lectionary reading for today

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) daily reading from the Old Testament for December 11 is Genesis 15:1-18.  It is the story of God’s covenant with Abram.  In it God pledges two things to Abram: Abram will have descendants as innumerable as the stars; and, his descendants will occupy Canaan from Egypt to the Euphrates river.

One of the extraordinary aspects of this covenant is that one would expect a deity making such an agreement with a human to grant them possession of land would result in the deity steamrolling the current occupants and bringing about the promise rather quickly and easily.

This is not so with God and Abram.  God speaks of setbacks.  God foretells in general terms the enslavement in Egypt and the fact that there will be difficulties in the work of Abram’s descendants to claim the land for their own.  The history bears out the fact that, at times, the taking of the Land of the Promise was a labor that took two steps forward, then one step back over the course of years.

It is a reminder to us of the Advent promise:

As our nights grow longer and our days grow short,

we look on these earthly signs--light and green branches--

and remember God's promise to our world:

Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.

While some images of Christ’s coming have that event taking place “in the twinkling of an eye,” there are other metaphors that indicate that the timeline will be different.  God’s promise may be fulfilled over time, and in some ways that we don’t recognize until the entire thing has been realized.

As was the cased with the Advent of Jesus in Bethlehem, it may well be that our preconceptions about Christ’s return and the establishment of the true reign of God may look nothing like we anticipate.

That does not make the fulfillment of the promise incomplete.  Or invalid.  Or wrong.

Christ, our Light and Hope, will come.

It's (all) about time

In the 4-week Advent observance, things move along so quickly.  Or, maybe a more accurate reflection is that a lot of the season feels crowded.  It begins on the heels of the Thanksgiving weekend and St. Andrew’s Day.  By the end of the season, in spite of everything we might try to do, Christmas begins to come on hard and fast and it muscles Advent aside.

But I am finding that in this Extended Advent time that the season has its opportunity to do its work on me.  We have had several weeks of readings from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) that have pushed worshipers to consider the return of Christ from a number of perspectives.  This past Sunday the Gospel Lesson was Matthew 3:1-12.  It is the appearance and preaching of John the Baptist prior to the baptism of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus is nowhere to be found in this reading, except by implication.  It is true that John’s proclamation, “Repent!  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” from this lesson is echoed precisely by Jesus in chapter 4 after John is imprisoned and Jesus begins his public ministry.  But the lesson for the day is a foreshadowing of Jesus, nothing more.

But the reading, when coming in the middle of a seven-week stretch of time, gets an opportunity to present the intersection of the abstract idea of the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven with the practicality of the call to repentance in preparation for the appearance of Christ.  It is an appropriate time.  It is enough time.  I can still hear the echoes of the distant first days of the season, yet the end, the conclusion, is over two weeks away.  It is settling in a way that I have not experienced from Advent before.

Oh, I know that time still flies by.  And, I heard some Scrooge in a checkout line today reply to the question, “Are you ready for the holidays?” with the retort, “I’m ready for them to be over!”  Well, Bah!  Humbug! To him and his ilk. 

I am savoring every moment.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

Today's Lectionary Daily Reading

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) Daily Reading for the day is Matthew 24:23-35, which reads in part:

Then if anyone says to you, “Look! Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!”—do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, “Look! He is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look! He is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

 ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,

   and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from heaven,

   and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The reading is a reminder first, that no matter what the season, no matter what the observance, life goes on.  There are tasks to be done and responsibilities to be fulfilled and responsibilities to be discharged.  These do not go away merely because we are now well into December.

It is also an alert that the hope of Advent – the coming of Christ into the world – has its joys but also its caution.  Impostors and deceivers are ever a menace.  Throughout Christian history there have been “false messiahs,” those who claimed to be anointed of god and who caused significant numbers of people to stray.  Today we would call some of them cultists, and we don’t have to look back very to see what tragedy such figures can cause.

Be faithful.  Be vigilant.  Trust God.

Psalm 117

          ¹ Praise the Lord, all you nations;

              extol him, all you peoples.

          ² For great is his love toward us,

              and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

          Praise the Lord.

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) Psalter daily reading is Psalm 117.  It has the distinction of being the shortest chapter in all of scripture.  That does not make it insignificant.  It is a Psalm of invitation as well as praise.  In Advent, when we consider the coming of Israel’s Messiah who became the Savior of the whole world, we see a foretaste of God’s plan in this hymn.  It is not the few, or the many, but “all nations” and “all people” who receive the invitation to praise the One True God.  It is also the entirety of the human race to which God’s love and faithfulness are pledged forever.

That to which our observance points

The Gospel Lesson from the Revised Common Lectionary’s daily readings is Matthew 23:37-24:14. That reading contains Jesus’ Lament over Jerusalem and then his prediction of the destruction of the Temple.  This latter section is sometimes titled the Little Apocalypse or the Olivet Apocalypse (as it was spoken by Jesus to his disciples while they were on the Mount of Olives).

Verses 24:4b-14 read:

‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.¹

It is not a very jovial passage.  But, in order fully to appropriate the significance of this season, it is necessary to remember that part of the emphasis of this time of the liturgical year is on the return of Christ in glory.  The New Testament maintains that this includes some unpleasantness.

Jesus pledges hope for those who endure.  But he does not promise an easy road.  May God grant us all the ability to endure to the end.

Daily Lectionary Reading for The First Friday of Advent

The Revised Common Lectionary has a daily reading component that is not as well known as the weekly listing.  The Old Testament reading for today is Isaiah 12:

You will say on that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
   for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
   and you comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;
   I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
   he has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
   call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
   proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
   let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
   for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

It is also the basis for the beautiful First Song of Isaiah:

"Go on your way..."

The Revised common Lectionary’s suggested gospel reading for this week is Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.  It is Luke’s version of the Commissioning of the Seventy.  A portion of the reading reads:

Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” -- Luke 10:3-11

This is certainly an example of the austerity that Jesus asked of his disciples (and we remind ourselves that this is not just an undertaking by The Twelve, but a much larger endeavor by seventy disciples).  It also speaks of the faith that Jesus asks of his emissaries that God will provide for their needs.  These are good words.

There is, however, another possible way of looking at the passage.  We remember that, while Jesus died around 35 CE, the gospel of Luke was not put to paper until around 75 CE, a bit after the fall of Jerusalem in 72 CE.  In the forty years between Jesus’ ministry and the composition of the Third Gospel the church dealt with a number of difficulties within its membership.  One of those was the abuse of hospitality or generosity by would-be evangelists.  Luke 10 has the ring of a document that has gathered some material in order to address a more recent situation.  That is to say that it is possible that Jesus gave a piece of instruction here and another there which Luke has gathered into one place for emphasis and instruction.

We notice that there is a marked similarity between this teaching and the first-century document that didn’t make the final cut for inclusion in the Bible: The Dicache (“The Teaching of The Twelve”).   There is a section of that work that reads:

Chapter 11. Concerning Teachers, Apostles, and Prophets

Whosoever, therefore, comes and teaches you all these things that have been said before, receive him. But if the teacher himself turn and teach another doctrine to the destruction of this, hear him not; but if he teach so as to increase righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord. But concerning the apostles and prophets, according to the decree of the Gospel, thus do. Let every apostle that comes to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain except one day; but if there be need, also the next; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodges; but if he ask money, he is a false prophet. And every prophet that speaks in the Spirit you shall neither try nor judge; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven. But not every one that speaks in the Spirit is a prophet; but only if he hold the ways of the Lord. Therefore from their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet be known. And every prophet who orders a meal in the Spirit eats not from it, except indeed he be a false prophet; and every prophet who teaches the truth, if he do not what he teaches, is a false prophet. And every prophet, proved true, working unto the mystery of the Church in the world, yet not teaching others to do what he himself does, shall not be judged among you, for with God he has his judgment; for so did also the ancient prophets. But whoever says in the Spirit, Give me money, or something else, you shall not listen to him; but if he says to you to give for others' sake who are in need, let no one judge him.

False prophets and money-grubbing wolves in sheep’s clothing did not cease appearing with the closing of the New Testament.  Anyone with a television who turns the set on during weekend evenings can see these a-plenty.  You’d think we would have caught up with them by now.

Further thoughts on Naaman the Syrian

I have been thinking a little more about this week’s Old Testament reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.  The lection is 2 Kings 5:1-14, which is the story of the healing of Naaman the Syrian.  There are some important characters in this tale about whom we know very little, not even their names.  But without them we have no story. 

We encounter the first in verses 2-3.  That section reads:

Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’

The story doesn’t spend time on details that we might find upsetting.  The narrative unfolds in the telling of the capture and enslavement of a young Israelite girl by some of the bad guys.  I kind of want there to be fire from heaven or for the oppressors to drop dead.  But that is not the way the story goes. This girl’s capture and enslavement is the vehicle by which Naaman, the Syrian general, comes to be aware of the authority of the prophet Elisha.

When Naaman arrives at the home of Elisha, he makes his healing request.  Then, verse 10 reports:

Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’

Elisha sends a go-between with his reply.  If we examine these verses, we see that the general and the prophet never do meet face-to-face.  It is a servant who brings the words of power.

Farther along in the tale, Naaman reflects on the directions given by Elisha.  The prophet’s instructions are that the supplicant should go to the Jordan river and wash himself seven times.  Naaman is angry and complains both that the prophet did not engage him personally and that Elisha directs the general to wash in the local waters rather than in what Naaman considers to be the superior waters of his own country.  The narrative picks up in verses 12b-13:

He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’

Naaman washes in the Jordan and his leprosy leaves him. 

If we ask, “Who are the significant characters in this story?” the quick answer is, “Elijah and Naaman.”  But truth be known, it is these unnamed servants that make the story go.  Without the slave girl, Naaman may never become aware of the power of Elisha.  Without the messenger with the healing words, there is no contrast between the fantastic and the simple.  If the servants of Naaman don’t question him in his rage, perhaps the general goes back to his own land unhealed.  He may, as a slaveholder, take his anger out on the Israelite slave.  He may, as a general, wage war on Israel.  He may, as a leper, die a horrible death.

Naaman has all of these anonymous servants/slaves to thank in part for his healing.  And I am grateful to them for giving us a marvelous story.

The simple story of Naaman the Syrian

The Revised common Lectionary suggests this Sunday’s Old Testament reading to be 2 Kings 5:1-14.  It is the story of Naaman the Syrian.  It is a story that I greatly enjoy for a number of reasons.  In a nutshell, Naaman suffered from leprosy.  He goes to Elisha and sends the prophet word that he has come seeking healing of his malady.  Elisha sends the general instructions to go to the Jordan River and wash himself seven times.  Naaman gets angry, first that the prophet did not come and speak to the general himself; and secondly that Elisha’s instructions are so mundane as to go and take a bath.  He complains that the rivers of his home country should be at least as efficacious as these foreign waters.  He is about to leave “in a rage,” when his servants put it to him that if the prophet had demanded a mighty deed that Naaman would have done it in a heartbeat.  Why not, then, do this thing that Elisha directs?  The general capitulates, and his leprosy disappears.

I could go on and on about this story – trust me, you don’t want that.  One appealing aspect, though, is the initial refusal of the pilgrim general to carry out his healing prescription.  It is not complicated enough or difficult enough or miracle enough for him initially.  When cooler heads prevail, he undertakes the simple act and he receives that for which he asked.

I know a man who “just wasn’t feeling like himself,” and so he went to his doctor.  After a thorough examination, the physician took out a prescription pad, scribbled something on it, ripped the page out of his book and gave it to the patient.  When the seeker looked at the note, it said “Walk.”  The man objected a bit.  He said, “But, aren’t you going to give me any pills or tonic?  For the kind of money you charge, I at least want some Latin!”

While we sometimes try to make things more complicated than circumstances warrant, the simple – not simplistic – approach is frequently the most effective.

A New Testament echo of an Old Testament story

In the Season of Ordinary Time, the Revised Common Lectionary frequently offers two options for the day’s first reading.  This week the primary lesson is 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14, which is the narrative of the departure of Elijah.  The alternate reading is 1 Kings 19:19-21, which includes:

So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Go back again; for what have I done to you?’ He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Now, admittedly there is not a lot of sizzle and pop here.  But what I find notable is that this reading finds a reflection in the Gospel verses for the day.  These include, in part, Luke 9:61-62, which reads:

Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Now, there is a LOT going on here, and I don’t pretend to plumb the depths of it all in this one post.  But I find it intriguing that we have two very similar call stories, with two similar responses from those called, and yet the “main characters” – Elijah and Jesus – respond in very different ways.  Elijah feigns disinterest.  Jesus puts the whole event in terms of worthiness for the Kingdom of God.

One observation is that in the new way of doing things that Jesus ushers in, there is no room for indifference.  Jesus indicates that evaluation may be harsher in this new way of doing things.  As Jesus takes Old Testament verses and intensifies them in the Sermon on the Mount (You have heard it said by men of old… but I say to you…), so he does here with a person’s call to discipleship.

It is worth noting that, in Jesus’ eyes, Old Testament-based behavior is no longer enough.  Jesus does not refer here to laws or rules or regulations.  He speaks of behavior.  He speaks of behavior, and his Kingdom expectations of those who would follow him.

A thought on today's gospel lesson

Fred Craddock in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke¹ in the Interpretation Bible Commentary series makes an observation on this week’s gospel lesson that the Revised Common Lectionary suggests.  The reading is Luke 9:51-62.  That text reads, in part:

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

James and John reflect the response of Elijah to those who opposed him.  Twice the prophet called down fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:9-12).  Jesus “rebuked” them, but they had already done the moral damage.

Craddock says, in relation to the response of James and John: “Is it not interesting how the mind can grasp and hold those Scriptures which seem to bless our worst behavior and yet cannot retain past the sanctuary door those texts which summon to love, forgiveness, and mercy?  Jesus rebukes James and John for an attitude of revenge and retribution, an attitude totally foreign to his ministry and theirs.”

I like that line.  I think it’s a tremendous insight.  And… I am sad to say that I see more than the occasional example of exactly what Craddock is talking about.  Not only do folks cherry-pick as they move through the Bible, but their selectivity in terms of what they sanction or how they act or what they believe a particular text empowers them to hate is extraordinary.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

¹Interpretation A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching,

Louisville: John Knox Press, c. 1990

The Lesson for the Day

The Revised Common Lectionary recommendation for The Psalter reading for this past Sunday includes Psalm148:3 “Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!”  This is an important passage for me because it was a memory verse that my children included in their night-time prayers for years.  On the one hand, these rote verses may just burn themselves into our minds so that over time we become numbed to their power.  On the other hand, though, I haven’t joined in one of my children’s night-time prayers in well over fifteen years, and I remember that verse.  I can quote it.  And I can be moved by it as an affirmation of the majesty of God Almighty.

When I was in eighth grade – and you remember, that was a different moment in our history – our homeroom teacher had us take turns reading a scripture passage aloud each day.  We quickly discovered the shortest chapter in the Bible:  Psalm 117

Praise the Lord, all you nations!

    Extol him, all you peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!

And so we read it, day after day, week after week for an entire school year, with only a handful of exceptions.  Droning, right?  And yet these fifty-odd years later, I recognize those words, I know them by heart, and I find comfort in them on a regular basis.

Engaging scripture is never wasted.  These references point out that the benefit of knowing such passages may not be evident right away.  But I am much the richer for having these words irrevocably imprinted on my soul.

Revelations about The Revelation

The epistle reading for this week according to the Revised Common Lectionary is Revelation 5:11-14.  It reads:

 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,

‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!’

And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.

Angels, living creatures, elders, Lamb – there are a lot of strange images here.  I don’t tend to preach from The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John for a number of reasons.  Imagery such as this is just the tip of the iceberg.  The historical context, the place of the church – and churches – in this historical moment, the numerology, the representations and other puzzles are all too much to unpack in a single sermon.  And, since the preacher can never count on addressing the exact same group two Sundays in a row, a pastor can either go back over previously-plowed ground, or just leave this week’s newcomers behind in a morass of confused jargon.  I have said throughout all my ministry that “there are 66 books in holy scripture, and I will be glad to lead a study of any of the first 65.”

The other element is that, in order to be able to interpret The Revelation responsibly, a person (teacher/preacher or congregant/student) needs to be Old Testament-literate.  There are over 500 Old Testament allusions in The Revelation.  If we don’t get that, we can never make since of the 66^th book.

There is some kind of infatuation with The Revelation in part, I think because so many people (especially non-prime time TV preachers) represent the book as being some kind of code regarding the end of time, and that if one could just uncover the key, vast knowledge would come to the reader.

No serious scholar takes this position.  No genuine student does, either.  The casual reader recognizes references to 666 or the seven-headed beast, but pursuit of the key to the end of the world is energy mis-spent.

And yet, that perception persists.  It is a hill I choose not to die upon.  There are too many aspects of the faith that are so much more vital than what some late-night, spooky doom-sayer says while trying to sell a set of DVDs.

Is it Scripture? Sure.  Is it inspired of God?  Without a doubt.  Is it the most important thing we will ever read in the Bible?

Not so much.

The Name Game

I have been thinking about John 21:1-19, which is the gospel reading for the week according to the Revised Common Lectionary.  As I have noted, this reading is chock-full of significant items both great and small.  There are the teachings that are grand in scope.  But there are also little nuggets that are worth our consideration as well.

One such piece of material is in the exchange between Jesus and Simon Peter in verses 15-17.  Three times Jesus asks this disciple, “Do you love me?”  And three times this disciple responds in the affirmative.  After each of the disciple’s responses Jesus gives a piece of direction: ‘Feed my lambs.’ ‘Tend my sheep.’ ‘Feed my sheep.'

Obviously, there is a lot in play here.  Historically the church has interpreted Jesus' three-fold questioning as being a response to Simon Peter’s three denials of Jesus during the time of Jesus’ arrest.  The church has also looked to this passage – and others – to find out about Simon Peter’s role in the organization of the early church. 

But there is a little something else there, and I emphasize “little.”  But I don’t mistake little for insignificant.

In each instance, Jesus' inquiry is, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Part of what interests me here is not the inquiry, but the address.  The narrator tells us, When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter…  Throughout the narrative the storyteller refers to this disciple as “Simon Peter.”  Yet Jesus himself begins each question, “Simon, son of John.”  I don’t think that is an accident.  Nor do I refer to it as being without meaning.

In chapter 1 verse 42, when Jesus and Simon first meet, Jesus says, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).  Yet here Jesus refers to Peter by his former name.  Everyone knows Simon, John’s son.  Jesus gives him a new name.  Such a thing always reflects a major transition in scripture.  Abram become Abraham.  Sarai becomes Sarah.  Jacob became Israel.  Later, Saul of Tarsus will become the apostle Paul.  The change of name mirrors a transition in role or significance.

And Simon came to be known as Peter.  The writer of the Fourth Gospel refers to the apostle usually, but not exclusively, as Simon Peter, although he occasionally just uses Peter as the name.  "Simon” is not a reference that this writer uses.  But here, here Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  I think that the address is as much a challenge as the question.  It is as if Jesus is saying, “Simon, when I met you, I gave you a new name.  It bespoke of your place as my disciple, my apostle, my witness in the world and as one who would speak with my authority once I departed.  So, Simon, are you worthy of that new name.  Will you be Peter?  Will you be the rock upon which I establish my church?”  The thrice-asked question and a triad of addresses are really saying the same thing: “Simon, do you love me so that you can be my rock?  Will you take up again the mantle of Peter that you have cast aside?  Will you leave behind the fish and truly fish for people?”

When Simon says, “Yes,” he is really affirming both.  He is saying, “I will feed, tend, feed."  

"And I will be Peter.”

The net will hold

The gospel reading for this past Sunday that the Revised common Lectionary suggests is John 21:1-19.  It is the last chapter of John’s gospel.  Some consider it an “epilogue” that someone added to the work after its original completion.  But there is only one dubious ancient manuscript that exists without the inclusion of chapter 21.  So, the argument that it does not belong, while interesting, is suspect.

This is the account of the appearance of the Resurrected Christ to some of his disciples by the shores of the Sea of Galilee and the subsequent great catch of fish.  There is a wealth of material here, and I intend to address some of it in the coming days.  But there is one nugget that captures my attention in this moment.  When Jesus shows the disciples that their overnight labor has been fruitless, and he instructs them to cast their net over the other side of the boat, the catch is enormous.  At this point the gospel writer is quick to point out that, according to verse 11, (they) hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.  It should not be lost on us that this is a tremendous load of “large” fish (what fisher is going to tell his audience about the puny fish that s/he caught?).  We can infer that these professional fishers had never had such a haul in a single cast of the net in their lives.  It is important on the reporting for the author to tell us that in spite of the size of the catch, the net itself endured.

In other gospel accounts (not in John, interestingly enough) Jesus summons some of these disciples by charging them that they will some day catch folks instead of fish.  It is the call both to discipleship and to evangelism.

“Evangelism” is a word that desperately needs rehabilitating in our world.  For a lot of people, it carries with it images of tent revivals, or of fanatics shoving tracts under folks’ noses on street corners.  We use other terms, of course.  “Making disciples” is the current hot label.  “Faith-sharing” as a description had its day.  “Witnessing,” though a sound biblical principal, carries with it a sense of the aggressive.  People undertake certain (ineffective) practices like scattering tracts in the post office.  Putting a fish on the bumper of cars is a favorite, although I have never – not once – heard a story of someone coming to faith because they saw a fish on an automobile.  In point of fact, that symbol may have the opposite effect from what the driver intends, if that driver operates their vehicle in a discourteous manner.

So, there is a lot wrong with “evangelism.”  But, as I said, the solution is rehabilitation, not abandonment.  There is no more direct charge from Jesus than “Go, make disciples of all nations…”  What I am here to say is that, for the determined fisher, the net always holds.  It is sufficient for the task.  “It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”  There is nothing wrong with the net.  It is the fisher who needs examination.

An account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus

The First Lesson suggested by the Revised Common Lectionary for the Third Sunday of Easter is Acts 9:1-20.  It is the first account in Acts (there are three altogether) of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  Paul’s story is an intriguing one.  Set aside his writings for a moment (he composed more New Testament material than any writer except Luke), and we still find a man who led an interesting life.  (The church’s Feast Day commemorating this event occurs on January 25.  This reading observes a portion of the church’s liturgical cycle rather than the Common of the Saints.)

Paul was born a Roman citizen.  He was well-educated in the tradition of Pharisaic Judaism.  He apparently had some standing in the Judaic hierarchy as the priests granted his petition to be credentialed to apprehend and bind any practicing Christians he found in the synagogues of Damascus.  While on that journey, the events of this scripture lesson occurred.  Paul went on to be the major figure in Gentile Christianity through the formative years of the church.  His missionary journeys and literary career spread the gospel message from Ephesus to Rome and in many points in between.  Tradition holds that he was under arrest in Rome when the government sentenced him to death by beheading around 64 C.E.

The observation I would make here is that Paul did not undergo his conversion one day and leap to the forefront of Christian mission the next.  The scriptural accounts (Acts 9, 10 and Galatians 1 in particular) record Paul as taking some time for reflection and formulating his own understanding about faith before he entered the public arena with any gusto.  Three years after his conversion – a time that includes a desert sojourn in “Arabia,” perhaps visiting Mt. Sinai itself – Paul visits some of the apostles in Jerusalem.  He then goes about his missionary work and does not return to Jerusalem for fourteen years. 

What I mean to say is that Paul (a.) understood the need for preparation and clarity before he began his work; and (b.) he was wholly reliant on instruction by the Spirit of God in achieving this clarity.  There were _no_ New Testament scriptural texts available to him.  He wrote all of the earliest himself.  There were other voices to instruct him, but they were involved with the Jewish-Christian movement of Jerusalem and Judea.  It took a lot of work on Paul’s part to establish a beachhead in the Gentile mission field.  Peter’s vision of the unclean animals eventually led to some credibility of Gentile acceptance, but he was never involved in Gentile evangelistic work to the extent we find in the work of Paul.

Paul more than once found himself in tough situations.  The abuses – physical and spiritual – that he endured would have turned back many a strong person.  I think that it was his foundation, his deepening of faith between the time of his conversion and his active ministry, that enabled him to persevere.

In the modern church, we are quick to give new converts or new church members responsibility for which they are not prepared.  When they encounter obstacles – and they will – they are ill-equipped for their ordeal.  So, they get discouraged, they fall away from church endeavors, and sometimes they are lost to the faith altogether.

In the twenty-first century I am careful about recommending Paul as a personal example in some areas.  But, his model of preparation for gospel work is as valid today as it was for Paul almost twenty-one hundred years ago.

Subsequent readings for Easter

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) has suggestions for Easter Evening, after having provided readings for Easter Vigil and the Main Service of Easter.  It contains this note regarding these lessons:

The following readings are for occasions when the main (eucharistic) Easter service must be late in the day. They are not intended for Vespers (Evening Prayer) on Easter Evening.

It is an interesting note.  I assume that the lectionary compilers believe that a congregation has already conducted some earlier service – either a vigil or sunrise service – before a worship time containing these readings come around.

The Gospel Reading for this grouping is Luke 24:13-49, which is the somewhat lengthy account of the walk to Emmaus.   That event takes place over in the day on the first day of the week, but it is certainly not at daybreak.  The empty tomb scenario is narratively in the past.  This is not to quibble, but I merely observe that this is a story that the contemporary reader has trouble assigning to Easter Day.  The storytelling is there, and there is no doubt.  But I think that we are so accustomed to hearing this on the week after Easter, or the week after that, that we double-take at the thought of rehearsing these events Easter Day.  I don’t know that I have ever been a part of “occasions when the main (eucharistic) Easter service must be late in the day.”  Even in churches that usually conducted evening worship, we always took Easter night off.

In considering this, I think that it is too bad that I have never been in a situation that allowed for this time-line.  It is a powerful story, but when I consider the possibilities of concluding the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord with this tale I boggle at the possibilities.

So, I am a day (three, actually) late and a dollar short.  But, I intend to live with the Emmaus passage a while before too much time passes.