A few days ago, Jess, the kids and I were headed home from having dinner with some friends and we decided to stop for Krispy Kreme donuts along the way. As we were making our way through the drive-thru, before we had even arrived at the window and received our box of sugary goodness, Hannah pipes up from the back seat with a bit of urgency/panic in her voice "Daddy, I want a donut too!" Of course, I had no intention of ordering a dozen of the most delicious things on this earth and not sharing them with my children. However, the tone in Hannah's voice conveyed to me that she was not so sure of this.
While this trip through Krispy Kreme's drive-thru didn't exactly provoke some kind of deep existential angst about my parenting ability, it did cause me to wonder why Hannah's first assumption was that I wouldn't share with her. Didn't she remember that this was her daddy she was talking to? Couldn't she just rest in the knowledge that I would share any good thing with her and that if didn't I share it with her it was because I thought it wouldn't be good for her? And yes, in the few seconds that these questions were shooting through my mind I also remembered that she is only 3 and that such calm in the presence of such a strong desire is too much to ask of a 3 year old.
The truth is it often seems to be too much to ask of most adults as well. In Exodus 17, the people of Israel are grumbling against Moses because they don't have any water to drink. They say to Moses "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" On the face of it, that's actually not a bad question. After all, no water in the middle of the desert is a pretty seriously problem. I'd probably be grumbling too. But what makes this grumbling so sad, so short-sighted is that the people of Israel have already seen what God can do. God just delivered these powerless slaves from the most powerful nation on earth. God just displayed his complete sovereignty over creation through powerful plagues of hail, frogs, gnats, blood, darkness, and even the firstborn of every Egyptian family. Then God provided pillars of cloud and fire for guidance, made a path in the Red Sea for crossing, and provided manna from heaven for eating. In fact, this wasn't even Israel's first grumbling specifically about water. Just two chapters earlier God empowered Moses to turn the bitter waters of Marah sweet so that the people could drink. One might think that after the Israelites had seen God handle all of that they wouldn't be too worried about a little water shortage. They might reason "Hey, we don't have water but God has taken care of bigger problems than this. He'll take care of us again." Nope. Just more grumbling.
Of course, we often don't do much better ourselves. God has provided for us over and over again. So many of us have never even known real need, the kind of need one might experience without water in the wilderness. But when even a hint of trouble shows up, when just the chance of our standard of living being lowered comes along we fret. We worry. We grumble and complain. In those times I have to imagine that God wants to say to us "Don't you remember that this is your daddy you are talking to? Doesn't all your past experience tell you that I'll take care of you?"
As we awaited our treats in the Krispy Kreme drive-thru, I decided to tease Hannah about her uncertainty as to whether she would receive a donut. I turned to her and said in a mock seriousness "What kind of daddy do you think I am? Did you really think I was going to order a whole bunch of donuts and not let you have one?" Hearing my serious tone she got kind of a worried look on her face which then began to fade away as she thought about what I had actually said. Then realizing that I was obviously going to share with her a big smile came across her face and she said "Nooo" as if what moments ago had been such a major concern to her was now the silliest and most absurd thing she could think of. Shortly thereafter we were all enjoying these little, round frosted wonders together.
Obviously, I would be a pretty immature parent if I had taken Hannah's lack of faith in me personally and prevented her from having a donut because of it. Yet, it seems that is how we often think of God. If God were really as simplistic as some theologies make him out to be then he would have simply punished the people of Israel for their grumbling and lack of faith. Instead, God does just the opposite. God provides for the people of Israel once again in spite of their immaturity and failure to trust. This passage points us toward the reality that our relationship with God is just that: a relationship, a nuanced, sometimes complex, always mysterious relationship with the almighty God of the universe. What it certainly is not is a system of rewards and punishments for good or bad behavior. It is a relationship where God sometimes provides for us even when we fail to trust him and one where God sometimes asks us to trust him when it seems like he is not providing for us at all. God faithfulness often overcomes our own unfaithfulness but he also asks to place our trust in him and not in the things he provides.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Lord said...so Abram went
The call of Abram is recorded in Genesis 12 but in order to understand the context of that call we must take note of the final verses of Genesis 11. We hear in these final verses of Genesis 11 that Abram is one of three sons of Terah who lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (southern modern day Iraq). One of Abram's brothers, Haran, died while the family still lived in Ur. Abram's other brother, Nahor, was married to Milcah, Haran's daughter (so his own niece). Abram was married to Sarai who we are told was barren and had no children. In a culture where family and maintaining one's lineage was tremendously important, this is not a promising situation for Terah's family line. One son is dead, another's wife is barren, and another is married to his dead brother's daughter with no mention of any children of their own. Terah took this family of his and intended to move them to the land of Canaan but he never made it. Instead, they settled in Haran (north of Iraq in eastern Turkey, interestingly bearing the same name as the son who has died) and Terah died there.
"Now the Lord said..." begins Genesis 12:1. Into this bleak and unpromising situation, God speaks. This is the God whose words create and give life. This is the God who only a few chapters earlier was speaking all of creation into existence. And his word will bring life into this situation as well. God tells Abram to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house to go to the land that God will show him. God promises that if Abram will follow that command then this will not be the end of the family line but, in fact, just the opposite. God promises to make Abram into a great nation and to bless him and all the families of the earth through him.
But as powerful as God's word is, as much creative and life giving force as it has, it does not work apart from Abram. Here God does not speak and it become immediately so as in the creation story. Instead, these words take the form of a promise to be fulfilled, a promise that Abram must continually choose to live by. "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..." says v. 4. "The Lord said.... so Abram went." If there is any arguing, any complaining, any hedging of bets on Abram's part, we are not made privy to them. God commands and Abram goes.
At 75 years of age, with only his wife, his nephew, and his possessions, Abram went. Some commentators point out that Abram's family had always lived a nomadic existence so this move would not have been an unusual one for him. Still, the simplicity of the text is striking; "the Lord said ...so Abram went." There must have been some substantial temptations to stay. Abram's family was weak and vulnerable, its future in question. Perhaps if they could stay near some relatives they could work together to ensure their family's future. Whatever the temptations to stay, God speaks and Abram goes.
The payoff is not immediate either. God will bless Abram throughout his life and God will give Abram a son but he will never see the promise of land and "a great nation" fulfilled. This will not occur until many generations after Abram's death. Still, God's promise became the defining quality of Abram's life.
Haran is an easy place for us to get stuck. After all, its not Ur. Its not the starting point or the place of our loss. We can look back over the path from Ur to Haran and say "Look, how far we've come" and pat ourselves on the back because we trusted God to come this far. But its also not Cannan, its not the unknown, its not living by faith. It is familiar and comfortable. In a world where we feel threatened, where our future is in doubt, Haran seems like a safe place.
But the good news is that God still speaks...even in Haran. And wherever God speaks, God's words can still create and bring new life. But we must hear and obey the word that God speaks; "Go!". Go away from what is familiar and easy and enter unknown territory and trust that I, God, will bless you and guide your steps. We must go understanding that we may never see the promise fulfilled. The real blessing may come generations after we are long gone but we go because it is the God who speaks life into existence who has called us to go.
"Now the Lord said..." begins Genesis 12:1. Into this bleak and unpromising situation, God speaks. This is the God whose words create and give life. This is the God who only a few chapters earlier was speaking all of creation into existence. And his word will bring life into this situation as well. God tells Abram to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house to go to the land that God will show him. God promises that if Abram will follow that command then this will not be the end of the family line but, in fact, just the opposite. God promises to make Abram into a great nation and to bless him and all the families of the earth through him.
But as powerful as God's word is, as much creative and life giving force as it has, it does not work apart from Abram. Here God does not speak and it become immediately so as in the creation story. Instead, these words take the form of a promise to be fulfilled, a promise that Abram must continually choose to live by. "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..." says v. 4. "The Lord said.... so Abram went." If there is any arguing, any complaining, any hedging of bets on Abram's part, we are not made privy to them. God commands and Abram goes.
At 75 years of age, with only his wife, his nephew, and his possessions, Abram went. Some commentators point out that Abram's family had always lived a nomadic existence so this move would not have been an unusual one for him. Still, the simplicity of the text is striking; "the Lord said ...so Abram went." There must have been some substantial temptations to stay. Abram's family was weak and vulnerable, its future in question. Perhaps if they could stay near some relatives they could work together to ensure their family's future. Whatever the temptations to stay, God speaks and Abram goes.
The payoff is not immediate either. God will bless Abram throughout his life and God will give Abram a son but he will never see the promise of land and "a great nation" fulfilled. This will not occur until many generations after Abram's death. Still, God's promise became the defining quality of Abram's life.
Haran is an easy place for us to get stuck. After all, its not Ur. Its not the starting point or the place of our loss. We can look back over the path from Ur to Haran and say "Look, how far we've come" and pat ourselves on the back because we trusted God to come this far. But its also not Cannan, its not the unknown, its not living by faith. It is familiar and comfortable. In a world where we feel threatened, where our future is in doubt, Haran seems like a safe place.
But the good news is that God still speaks...even in Haran. And wherever God speaks, God's words can still create and bring new life. But we must hear and obey the word that God speaks; "Go!". Go away from what is familiar and easy and enter unknown territory and trust that I, God, will bless you and guide your steps. We must go understanding that we may never see the promise fulfilled. The real blessing may come generations after we are long gone but we go because it is the God who speaks life into existence who has called us to go.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Dust Thou Art...
Last night, I shared death with the group of people with whom I share life. I reminded them that we are all headed toward the grave. As I marked each of their foreheads with ashes, it occurred to me what an odd gathering this was; what an odd privilege my role in it was. What other group of people pays someone to remind them of their mortality? A lot of people get paid for just the opposite; to help others deny death, put it off, pretend its not on its way. But here were these people coming to me willingly leaning forward to be marked with dirt and hear the words "You are dust...". 
Prior to our Ash Wednesday service yesterday, I took a half day journey through Weldon Springs. This time of year, this place that is normally teeming with life and beauty was filled with the browns and grays of decay; too late in the year to be blanketed by snow and too early to show many signs of spring. While I walked through the decomposing leaves and lifeless brush, one thought seemed to occur to me repeatedly: "In spite of the appearances, no one doubts that the new life of spring is on its way." It might not come as fast we'd like but we all take it for granted that spring is near. I had come to the park expecting the dull lifelessness of late winter and that is exactly what I saw. And yet, all I could think about was the life that would soon surround this lifeless trail.
As the Church, we are not called to be a merely optimistic people but a hopeful people. What I mean is that we are not a people who simply ignore the death and decay of our world believing that its not really that bad or that it will work out somehow. Instead, we are a people who mark ourselves with dirt, who gather around a table and meal that commemorate a painful and unjust death, who put the cross at the center of our existence precisely because we recognize just how bad it is and that things will not simply work themselves out unless God intervenes. But while we are not merely optimistic, we are hopeful because we have no doubt that the new creation is on its way. It might not come as fast as we'd like it to but we all take it for granted that God's redemption of our world is near, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We are a people recognize the undeniable gravity of the tomb but who also look into its darkness to find it in empty. We are a people who acknowledge that we are dust but who also believe that the God who originally formed us from that dust of the ground can also raise us anew after we have returned to it. 
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Trust and Obey
If you've grown up in church, Genesis 3 is one of those passages of scripture you have heard so often that it becomes difficult to hear at all. One's inclination is to quickly read over thinking "Yeah, yeah, I know all of this. Let's get to something more interesting." Additionally, it is one of those texts that has had all kinds of tradition and centuries of theological debate poured into it. We designate this passage as "the fall" and we're off to the races discussing the doctrinal of original sin before we've even heard the Word of God. But before we assume that we already know that this is a story about the devil tempting Adam and Eve to fall from their created glory, let's pay attention to the details of what these verses actually have to say.
First, it is worth noting that the serpent in the story is never equated with Satan by scripture itself. Later Jewish and Christian tradition will certainly make that equation and it may not be a wrong conclusion to come to it but it is not one that we will find in the book of Genesis.
Second, many translations describe the serpent as "more crafty" than any other animal. We thereby assume that the serpent is a schemer, a deceiver, one who intentionally outsmarts the man and the woman arguing and persuading them into sin. Again, that may not be entirely wrong. Later in the chapter the woman will accuse the serpent of deceiving her and God does not argue with her assessment and punishes the serpent accordingly. However, craftiness does not necessarily convey the idea of deceitful scheming. It can simply mean wise, resourceful, and sensible. It can carry a meaning similar to that of the steward in Luke 16 whom Jesus commends in his parable for being cunning in his use of unrighteous wealth, an example he calls upon his followers to imitate.
Third, the conversation between the woman and the serpent is not presented to us as in anyway unusual. The serpent does not contradict God's command and never says something that is blatantly false. The serpent simply asks the woman questions and not unreasonable ones at that. We could read this story as nothing more than an innocent theological discussion, the world's first Bible study. The serpent and the woman are simply discussing God and God's commandment. In fact, if either of them is twisting God's command it is the woman who adds the prohibition "neither shall you touch it" (3:3) whereas God had simply said not to eat from the tree.
Finally, when the man and the woman do eat from the tree which was forbidden to them they do in fact have their eyes opened. The serpent was right! The man and the woman gained knowledge; knowledge which apparently God had been keeping from them.
So what went wrong here? There doesn't seem to be some grand sinister scheme here. This all started out as a simple conversation and it ended with a gaining of knowledge.
But somewhere in the midst of this story was a serious breach of trust and obedience. God had provided everything for this man and woman. He had placed them in the midst of this luscious garden that provided food for them. They had no need of anything. And the only thing that God asked for in return was for them to trust him; to trust that he could provide for them, that he knew what was best. God had given them every reason in the world to trust him and all he asked for in return was that they obey this one commandment, avoid this one thing, and thereby show that they trusted God. But somehow along the way the woman and the man failed to see God as someone they were in trustful and obedient relationship with and instead began to see God as something to talk about, an object of discussion. They began to think that they knew better than God did, that they could make decisions for themselves instead of trusting in their creator and so they tried to become their own gods, the rulers of their own lives.
The rest of Genesis 3 describes the disastrous consequences of that human attempt to be gods. The man and woman's lack of trust in God's command obviously harms their relationship with God. While previously humanity had enjoyed a meaningful fellowship with his creator, now the man says to God that he hid himself because he was afraid. The previous relationship of trust and obedience is replaced with one of fear. But it is not only the relationship with God that is impacted. Our relationships with one another immediately begin to degenerate as well. When God asks the man if has eaten from the tree the first thing he does is lay the blame on his wife and when the woman is asked the first thing she does is pass the blame on to the serpent. The relationship between humanity and creation is corrupted as well, the earth no longer bearing fruit effortlessly as it once did. Finally, this damaged relationship with God even impacts our relationship with ourselves. Prior to eating from the tree, the man and the woman walked naked and proud through the garden. Their bodies were creations of the almighty God, nothing of which to be ashamed. (I get a pretty good representation of this when Malachi manages to get away from Jess or I in the middle of changing his clothes. He proudly streaks through the house as if to say "Look at me! I'm naked and its fantastic!) But now the man and the woman are so ashamed of their bodies that they have to make impromptu clothing out of fig leaves in order to cover their shame.
This story is a microcosm of Israel's and of all humanity. God also created Israel as a nation, graciously delivering them from their slavery. God gave them manna and quail in the wilderness and led them into an abundant land in which to live. God provided everything they could possibly ask for and gave Israel every reason to trust him and all that God asked for in return was that trust and obedience. But repeatedly the people of Israel act as if they know best, they want to be in charge, they want to make the decisions, they want to be gods for themselves. There are a few glimmers of hope along the way; individuals like Abraham, Moses, and David who exhibited remarkable trust in God but at times even they failed to trust God completely. The story of scripture is that God keeps calling us to place our trust in him. God promises that he will provide, he will defend, he will protect, if only we will trust and obey but instead our response is often "No thanks God. I think I can do better on my own." Over and over again, our story is a failure of trust...with the exception of one man. There is one man to whom God said "just trust me" and he did no matter the circumstances.
In the gospel reading for this week (Matthew 4:1-11), we hear a story that sounds eerily like the one in Genesis 3. Jesus is praying and fasting in the wilderness and the tempter shows up to have a theological conversation with him. In this conversation, the devil makes some very reasonable, we might even say sensible and crafty suggestions. Each of these suggestions is essentially an alternative to the cross. The devil is saying "Hey look, if you are really God's Son, the rightful king of the world, then you shouldn't have to go through the messy and painful business of a crucifixion in order to inherit your rightful kingdom. Surely there is an easier way. If you can turn stones into bread, that will surely get the people excited. If you jump off the Temple and survive, that will get people talking and you'll be king no time. Or let's just cut straight to the point, just bow down to me and I'll give you everything." And nowhere along the way can we say that the devil has said anything blatantly false. In fact, we know that Satan was right to say that most people will follow whoever can produce food and miracles. The devil even quotes scripture in this conversation.
But at stake in this story is the same thing at stake in Genesis 3. Will Jesus trust his own judgment when he sees an easier path to the same result or will Jesus trust his Father? Will Jesus grasp at power as Adam and Eve grasped the fruit of the tree or will he cling to his Father's direction no matter where it leads him? And we shouldn't turn a blind eye to where this path leads; straight to the cross and into the gaping jaws of death in a stone sealed tomb. But Jesus chooses trust and obedience over his own life. Jesus trusts his Father even to the grave. Jesus believes that his Father can provide even on the other side of death.
Paul tells us in Romans 5 that Jesus' trust and obedience has undone the impact of Adam's lack of trust and disobedience. He says just as sin and death spread to all of humanity because of what Adam, so also life and righteousness have come to all because of what Christ has done. Our broken relationship with God, our broken relationships with each other, our broken relationship with creation, even our broken relationship with ourselves can be mended because Jesus trusted his Father and that trust transformed our world.
The essential element of our faith hasn't changed from Genesis 3 to the life of Jesus to our own day. God is still calling us to trust him. God's call is still for us to obey his commands because we believe that he is God and we are not and therefore he knows what is best. God's call is for us to be a people who live in faithful obedience no matter the circumstances because we believe in a God who raises the dead.
First, it is worth noting that the serpent in the story is never equated with Satan by scripture itself. Later Jewish and Christian tradition will certainly make that equation and it may not be a wrong conclusion to come to it but it is not one that we will find in the book of Genesis.
Second, many translations describe the serpent as "more crafty" than any other animal. We thereby assume that the serpent is a schemer, a deceiver, one who intentionally outsmarts the man and the woman arguing and persuading them into sin. Again, that may not be entirely wrong. Later in the chapter the woman will accuse the serpent of deceiving her and God does not argue with her assessment and punishes the serpent accordingly. However, craftiness does not necessarily convey the idea of deceitful scheming. It can simply mean wise, resourceful, and sensible. It can carry a meaning similar to that of the steward in Luke 16 whom Jesus commends in his parable for being cunning in his use of unrighteous wealth, an example he calls upon his followers to imitate.
Third, the conversation between the woman and the serpent is not presented to us as in anyway unusual. The serpent does not contradict God's command and never says something that is blatantly false. The serpent simply asks the woman questions and not unreasonable ones at that. We could read this story as nothing more than an innocent theological discussion, the world's first Bible study. The serpent and the woman are simply discussing God and God's commandment. In fact, if either of them is twisting God's command it is the woman who adds the prohibition "neither shall you touch it" (3:3) whereas God had simply said not to eat from the tree.
Finally, when the man and the woman do eat from the tree which was forbidden to them they do in fact have their eyes opened. The serpent was right! The man and the woman gained knowledge; knowledge which apparently God had been keeping from them.
So what went wrong here? There doesn't seem to be some grand sinister scheme here. This all started out as a simple conversation and it ended with a gaining of knowledge.
But somewhere in the midst of this story was a serious breach of trust and obedience. God had provided everything for this man and woman. He had placed them in the midst of this luscious garden that provided food for them. They had no need of anything. And the only thing that God asked for in return was for them to trust him; to trust that he could provide for them, that he knew what was best. God had given them every reason in the world to trust him and all he asked for in return was that they obey this one commandment, avoid this one thing, and thereby show that they trusted God. But somehow along the way the woman and the man failed to see God as someone they were in trustful and obedient relationship with and instead began to see God as something to talk about, an object of discussion. They began to think that they knew better than God did, that they could make decisions for themselves instead of trusting in their creator and so they tried to become their own gods, the rulers of their own lives.
The rest of Genesis 3 describes the disastrous consequences of that human attempt to be gods. The man and woman's lack of trust in God's command obviously harms their relationship with God. While previously humanity had enjoyed a meaningful fellowship with his creator, now the man says to God that he hid himself because he was afraid. The previous relationship of trust and obedience is replaced with one of fear. But it is not only the relationship with God that is impacted. Our relationships with one another immediately begin to degenerate as well. When God asks the man if has eaten from the tree the first thing he does is lay the blame on his wife and when the woman is asked the first thing she does is pass the blame on to the serpent. The relationship between humanity and creation is corrupted as well, the earth no longer bearing fruit effortlessly as it once did. Finally, this damaged relationship with God even impacts our relationship with ourselves. Prior to eating from the tree, the man and the woman walked naked and proud through the garden. Their bodies were creations of the almighty God, nothing of which to be ashamed. (I get a pretty good representation of this when Malachi manages to get away from Jess or I in the middle of changing his clothes. He proudly streaks through the house as if to say "Look at me! I'm naked and its fantastic!) But now the man and the woman are so ashamed of their bodies that they have to make impromptu clothing out of fig leaves in order to cover their shame.
This story is a microcosm of Israel's and of all humanity. God also created Israel as a nation, graciously delivering them from their slavery. God gave them manna and quail in the wilderness and led them into an abundant land in which to live. God provided everything they could possibly ask for and gave Israel every reason to trust him and all that God asked for in return was that trust and obedience. But repeatedly the people of Israel act as if they know best, they want to be in charge, they want to make the decisions, they want to be gods for themselves. There are a few glimmers of hope along the way; individuals like Abraham, Moses, and David who exhibited remarkable trust in God but at times even they failed to trust God completely. The story of scripture is that God keeps calling us to place our trust in him. God promises that he will provide, he will defend, he will protect, if only we will trust and obey but instead our response is often "No thanks God. I think I can do better on my own." Over and over again, our story is a failure of trust...with the exception of one man. There is one man to whom God said "just trust me" and he did no matter the circumstances.
In the gospel reading for this week (Matthew 4:1-11), we hear a story that sounds eerily like the one in Genesis 3. Jesus is praying and fasting in the wilderness and the tempter shows up to have a theological conversation with him. In this conversation, the devil makes some very reasonable, we might even say sensible and crafty suggestions. Each of these suggestions is essentially an alternative to the cross. The devil is saying "Hey look, if you are really God's Son, the rightful king of the world, then you shouldn't have to go through the messy and painful business of a crucifixion in order to inherit your rightful kingdom. Surely there is an easier way. If you can turn stones into bread, that will surely get the people excited. If you jump off the Temple and survive, that will get people talking and you'll be king no time. Or let's just cut straight to the point, just bow down to me and I'll give you everything." And nowhere along the way can we say that the devil has said anything blatantly false. In fact, we know that Satan was right to say that most people will follow whoever can produce food and miracles. The devil even quotes scripture in this conversation.
But at stake in this story is the same thing at stake in Genesis 3. Will Jesus trust his own judgment when he sees an easier path to the same result or will Jesus trust his Father? Will Jesus grasp at power as Adam and Eve grasped the fruit of the tree or will he cling to his Father's direction no matter where it leads him? And we shouldn't turn a blind eye to where this path leads; straight to the cross and into the gaping jaws of death in a stone sealed tomb. But Jesus chooses trust and obedience over his own life. Jesus trusts his Father even to the grave. Jesus believes that his Father can provide even on the other side of death.
Paul tells us in Romans 5 that Jesus' trust and obedience has undone the impact of Adam's lack of trust and disobedience. He says just as sin and death spread to all of humanity because of what Adam, so also life and righteousness have come to all because of what Christ has done. Our broken relationship with God, our broken relationships with each other, our broken relationship with creation, even our broken relationship with ourselves can be mended because Jesus trusted his Father and that trust transformed our world.
The essential element of our faith hasn't changed from Genesis 3 to the life of Jesus to our own day. God is still calling us to trust him. God's call is still for us to obey his commands because we believe that he is God and we are not and therefore he knows what is best. God's call is for us to be a people who live in faithful obedience no matter the circumstances because we believe in a God who raises the dead.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A Passover People
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is urging the Corinthians to take action regarding a sexually immoral brother within their midst. Paul tells us that this person is engaging in a relationship that is not even condoned among the Greco-Roman culture of the day: a man is with his step-mother. It seems from what Paul writes that the Corinthians are not only condoning this behavior but actually boasting about it. While we may find this to be an odd thing for a group of Christians to boast about, it fits with the picture of the Corinthians we have gathered from the first several chapters of this letter. This is a congregation that thinks of themselves as so spiritual that they have been liberated from any sexual norms. They consider themselves to be "beyond" something as merely physical as sexuality. They likely regard this perverse relationship as proof of just how advanced they are in the ways of the spirit.
Paul says to the contrary "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" This saying was probably a popular proverb in Jewish culture similar to our saying "A bad apple ruins the whole bunch." Instead of seeing this behavior as something that the Corinthians can be proud of or even something that can simply be ignored, Paul says that it is a spiritual corruption which will spread throughout the entire community if it is left unchecked. It is worth noting here that Paul's address is to the church at large rather than to the immoral individual. This reinforces the notion that this immoral relationship is not merely an individual matter. It involves the health of the entire community.
However, Paul is not only making a point about the communal nature of their salvation. He is also making a point about the age or season, the epoch of history in which that salvation is taking place. Paul goes on to say "Clean out the old leaven in order that you might be a new lump of dough, just as you are unleavened. For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed." What does leaven have to do with Christ's death? The imagery here is that of the passover feast. Every year faithful Jew celebrated the passover meal as a reminder of God's deliverance of the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. One of the main parts of that meal was the eating of unleavened bread. It was unleavened as a symbol of Israel's hurried exit from Egypt... they had to be ready to go at a moment's notice, unable to wait around for bread to rise. Since unleavened bread was a part of the passover meal every year, it was an important custom to entirely cleanse one's house of all leaven before beginning to prepare the passover meal.... a kind of original spring cleaning. If you didn't, then there might be leaven on the surface where bread was prepared and the bread that was to remain unleavened might be contaminated with leaven.
By saying that Christ, our passover lamb, has already been sacrificed Paul is, in effect, telling the Corinthians that a new season in their lives has already begun but they have failed to carry out the appropriate cleansing in their lives for which that change in season calls. Christ's death and resurrection has inaugurated a new age in history, a new exodus, in which those who trust in Christ are set free from their slavery to sin. The Corinthians, however, are still living with the leaven of the old age in their lives by way of their boasting and sexual immorality. They must cleanse themselves of these old way of doing things in order to truly join in the celebration of their deliverance from the old way of life.
All of this leads Paul to make a clarification about something he said in an earlier letter to the Corinthians (now lost to us) which relates to the matter at hand. In that letter, Paul had told the Corinthians not to associate with sexually immoral people. It seems some in Corinth took this to mean that they couldn't have any contact whatsoever with anyone who didn't believe and behave as they did. Paul says that such a notion would be truly absurd; it would mean that you have to remove yourself from this world entirely. Paul now clarifies that the Corinthians should not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother and is sexually immoral - precisely the situation he is addressing in this chapter.
This chapter concludes with a statement which is an exceedingly apt principle for the Church to ponder today. Paul says "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the Church you are to judge? God judges those outside." In short, Paul's principle is this: hold those within the community of faith accountable for their actions but leave all other judgment up to God. Unfortunately, too much of the Church often does the exact opposite of this. We judge the culture around us for not living up to our values while we ignore and excuse those within our own fellowship who openly reject the life Christ calls us to while still calling themselves "Christian". If we are to be a people of this new season, this new exodus where we have been set free from the way of the old age by Christ's death and resurrection then we must not turn a blind eye to the sin and spiritual laxity within our midst.
Paul says to the contrary "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" This saying was probably a popular proverb in Jewish culture similar to our saying "A bad apple ruins the whole bunch." Instead of seeing this behavior as something that the Corinthians can be proud of or even something that can simply be ignored, Paul says that it is a spiritual corruption which will spread throughout the entire community if it is left unchecked. It is worth noting here that Paul's address is to the church at large rather than to the immoral individual. This reinforces the notion that this immoral relationship is not merely an individual matter. It involves the health of the entire community.
However, Paul is not only making a point about the communal nature of their salvation. He is also making a point about the age or season, the epoch of history in which that salvation is taking place. Paul goes on to say "Clean out the old leaven in order that you might be a new lump of dough, just as you are unleavened. For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed." What does leaven have to do with Christ's death? The imagery here is that of the passover feast. Every year faithful Jew celebrated the passover meal as a reminder of God's deliverance of the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. One of the main parts of that meal was the eating of unleavened bread. It was unleavened as a symbol of Israel's hurried exit from Egypt... they had to be ready to go at a moment's notice, unable to wait around for bread to rise. Since unleavened bread was a part of the passover meal every year, it was an important custom to entirely cleanse one's house of all leaven before beginning to prepare the passover meal.... a kind of original spring cleaning. If you didn't, then there might be leaven on the surface where bread was prepared and the bread that was to remain unleavened might be contaminated with leaven.
By saying that Christ, our passover lamb, has already been sacrificed Paul is, in effect, telling the Corinthians that a new season in their lives has already begun but they have failed to carry out the appropriate cleansing in their lives for which that change in season calls. Christ's death and resurrection has inaugurated a new age in history, a new exodus, in which those who trust in Christ are set free from their slavery to sin. The Corinthians, however, are still living with the leaven of the old age in their lives by way of their boasting and sexual immorality. They must cleanse themselves of these old way of doing things in order to truly join in the celebration of their deliverance from the old way of life.
All of this leads Paul to make a clarification about something he said in an earlier letter to the Corinthians (now lost to us) which relates to the matter at hand. In that letter, Paul had told the Corinthians not to associate with sexually immoral people. It seems some in Corinth took this to mean that they couldn't have any contact whatsoever with anyone who didn't believe and behave as they did. Paul says that such a notion would be truly absurd; it would mean that you have to remove yourself from this world entirely. Paul now clarifies that the Corinthians should not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother and is sexually immoral - precisely the situation he is addressing in this chapter.
This chapter concludes with a statement which is an exceedingly apt principle for the Church to ponder today. Paul says "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the Church you are to judge? God judges those outside." In short, Paul's principle is this: hold those within the community of faith accountable for their actions but leave all other judgment up to God. Unfortunately, too much of the Church often does the exact opposite of this. We judge the culture around us for not living up to our values while we ignore and excuse those within our own fellowship who openly reject the life Christ calls us to while still calling themselves "Christian". If we are to be a people of this new season, this new exodus where we have been set free from the way of the old age by Christ's death and resurrection then we must not turn a blind eye to the sin and spiritual laxity within our midst.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Only God Can Judge Me... Sort Of
Only God can judge me. That is essentially Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 4:1-5. The Corinthians have been judging Paul. More specifically, they have judged Paul as inadequate to be their leader and teacher in the faith. They believe that they have outgrown his weak preaching and humble presence. In these verses, Paul scolds them for this attitude. He tells the Corinthians that their judgments mean very little to him because he is not their servant. He is God's servant and as a result it is only God who can judge him as to whether or not he is a trustworthy servant. Paul says that even his own judgments of himself don't mean much because even if he considers himself to be guiltless, what is that before the judgment of almighty God?
But wait a second. Isn't Paul judging the Corinthians? Isn't that what he has been doing throughout this whole letter; judging their behavior? And doesn't he actually encourage them to judge one another? In the very next chapter of the letter when Paul urges the Corinthians to remove the sexually immoral from their midst, isn't he urging them to make a judgment about that person's behavior? Is Paul just encouraging a double standard here where he judges the Corinthians and encourages them to judge one another but they are not allowed to say one bad word about him since he is their father and leader in the faith?
I think it is often tempting for us as Christians to take precisely that attitude where we want to tell other people what they are doing wrong but as soon as anyone speaks to us about something our attitude becomes "You can't judge me. Only God can judge me." Or "That's between me and Jesus." Obviously, there is some truth to that idea. If there wasn't, Paul wouldn't have spoken of it here. There is a very real sense in which we will one day be judged only by God and no one else. Perhaps some of us could even use a little more of that kind of attitude; that is, we could care a little more about what God thinks of us and a little less what others think about us. After all, who among us hasn't failed to proclaim the gospel in one way or another at some point in our lives because we were afraid of what someone else might think?
But we can only fully understand what Paul is saying here by reading it along side his larger body of writing and the rest of scripture as a whole. Paul does constantly exhort, not only the Corinthians, but all the churches to which he writes concerning their behavior. In fact, that is usually the very purpose of his writing; to correct something he sees as an error in their life together as a community. Of course, Paul is not alone in this. The other letters in the New Testament carry much the same task. Jesus himself condemns the entire religious establishment of his day and in doing so stood in a long line of Israel's prophets who called upon the people of God to correct their ways and turn back to God. So we can be sure that when Paul says "only God can judge me" he is not saying that brothers and sisters in Christ can not correct each other in the faith.
Instead, what we must recognize is that there is a difference between accountability and correction on the one hand and the kind of judgment that Paul is talking about on the other hand. Accountability and correction are absolutely essential aspects of the Christian life and what it means to be the Church. We must be willing to speak the truth in love to one another, pointing out our sins and weaknesses to one another within the Church as the Spirit leads us. And if we use an attitude of "only God can judge me" as a shield against our brothers and sisters holding us accountable in the faith, then we have deeply misunderstood what Paul is saying and the nature of our faith as a whole. Such an attitude will certainly lead us away from Christ.
The Corinthians, however, were not calling Paul to account for a specific behavior that they regarded as sinful. Instead, they had simply judged Paul himself as inadequate and irrelevant. They had judged him as too weak and lowly to be their teacher and leader. They were ready to toss him aside so that they could move on to bigger and better things. This is evident not only from what we have seen earlier in the letter but even in what Paul says in these verses. In v.5 Paul says "Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes...". It seems that the Corinthians were not merely calling Paul a lousy preacher. Instead, they were trying to pronounce God's judgment on Paul in God's place as if Jesus had already returned, God's kingdom had already come, and Paul had been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
It is that attitude that causes Paul to say that only God can judge him. Paul is, in effect, saying "I don't care what you think of me as a preacher and spiritual leader. My task isn't to impress you. Instead, God has entrusted me with proclaiming the mystery of the Gospel and I am going to do that even if it doesn't win me any popularity contests. And in the end, only God can judge whether or not I have been faithful to the task that God himself gave me as his servant and steward."
As the Church, we are called to what can be a difficult and sometimes awkward task. We are undoubtedly called to hold each other accountable. We must point out to our brothers and sisters what we see as sin in their lives. God wants us to help each other grow in righteousness and holiness by correcting one another. But nowhere in Scripture are we ever called to make a judgment about someone's eternal standing before God. That is an attempt to be God ourselves, to take God's place and make judgments that only God is entitled to make. On the flip side, we also must be willing to be held accountable ourselves for our own sin. We must have the humility and love that allows others to correct us where we have gone wrong. We can not use these verses as a shield for our own un-Christ-like behavior. To say that only God can judge us is not an excuse to turn a deaf ear to the prophetic voices around us. But neither should we be held captive by mere popular opinion. We must imitate Paul in his robust confidence, proclaiming the Gospel even if we are regarded by others as weak and lowly in the process.
But wait a second. Isn't Paul judging the Corinthians? Isn't that what he has been doing throughout this whole letter; judging their behavior? And doesn't he actually encourage them to judge one another? In the very next chapter of the letter when Paul urges the Corinthians to remove the sexually immoral from their midst, isn't he urging them to make a judgment about that person's behavior? Is Paul just encouraging a double standard here where he judges the Corinthians and encourages them to judge one another but they are not allowed to say one bad word about him since he is their father and leader in the faith?
I think it is often tempting for us as Christians to take precisely that attitude where we want to tell other people what they are doing wrong but as soon as anyone speaks to us about something our attitude becomes "You can't judge me. Only God can judge me." Or "That's between me and Jesus." Obviously, there is some truth to that idea. If there wasn't, Paul wouldn't have spoken of it here. There is a very real sense in which we will one day be judged only by God and no one else. Perhaps some of us could even use a little more of that kind of attitude; that is, we could care a little more about what God thinks of us and a little less what others think about us. After all, who among us hasn't failed to proclaim the gospel in one way or another at some point in our lives because we were afraid of what someone else might think?
But we can only fully understand what Paul is saying here by reading it along side his larger body of writing and the rest of scripture as a whole. Paul does constantly exhort, not only the Corinthians, but all the churches to which he writes concerning their behavior. In fact, that is usually the very purpose of his writing; to correct something he sees as an error in their life together as a community. Of course, Paul is not alone in this. The other letters in the New Testament carry much the same task. Jesus himself condemns the entire religious establishment of his day and in doing so stood in a long line of Israel's prophets who called upon the people of God to correct their ways and turn back to God. So we can be sure that when Paul says "only God can judge me" he is not saying that brothers and sisters in Christ can not correct each other in the faith.
Instead, what we must recognize is that there is a difference between accountability and correction on the one hand and the kind of judgment that Paul is talking about on the other hand. Accountability and correction are absolutely essential aspects of the Christian life and what it means to be the Church. We must be willing to speak the truth in love to one another, pointing out our sins and weaknesses to one another within the Church as the Spirit leads us. And if we use an attitude of "only God can judge me" as a shield against our brothers and sisters holding us accountable in the faith, then we have deeply misunderstood what Paul is saying and the nature of our faith as a whole. Such an attitude will certainly lead us away from Christ.
The Corinthians, however, were not calling Paul to account for a specific behavior that they regarded as sinful. Instead, they had simply judged Paul himself as inadequate and irrelevant. They had judged him as too weak and lowly to be their teacher and leader. They were ready to toss him aside so that they could move on to bigger and better things. This is evident not only from what we have seen earlier in the letter but even in what Paul says in these verses. In v.5 Paul says "Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes...". It seems that the Corinthians were not merely calling Paul a lousy preacher. Instead, they were trying to pronounce God's judgment on Paul in God's place as if Jesus had already returned, God's kingdom had already come, and Paul had been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
It is that attitude that causes Paul to say that only God can judge him. Paul is, in effect, saying "I don't care what you think of me as a preacher and spiritual leader. My task isn't to impress you. Instead, God has entrusted me with proclaiming the mystery of the Gospel and I am going to do that even if it doesn't win me any popularity contests. And in the end, only God can judge whether or not I have been faithful to the task that God himself gave me as his servant and steward."
As the Church, we are called to what can be a difficult and sometimes awkward task. We are undoubtedly called to hold each other accountable. We must point out to our brothers and sisters what we see as sin in their lives. God wants us to help each other grow in righteousness and holiness by correcting one another. But nowhere in Scripture are we ever called to make a judgment about someone's eternal standing before God. That is an attempt to be God ourselves, to take God's place and make judgments that only God is entitled to make. On the flip side, we also must be willing to be held accountable ourselves for our own sin. We must have the humility and love that allows others to correct us where we have gone wrong. We can not use these verses as a shield for our own un-Christ-like behavior. To say that only God can judge us is not an excuse to turn a deaf ear to the prophetic voices around us. But neither should we be held captive by mere popular opinion. We must imitate Paul in his robust confidence, proclaiming the Gospel even if we are regarded by others as weak and lowly in the process.
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Temple of God
There are at least two things that are exceedingly important for understanding Paul's profound statement concerning the Church in 1 Corinthians 3:16. The first of these is grammatical in nature. In English when we address someone in the second person we use the word "you" whether we are addressing one person or a group. The word "you" is both the singular and plural form of the second person address. Likewise, the form of the verb "to be" does not change from the singular to the plural form. In both instances, we would say "you are". This is not the case in Greek in which there is one pronoun and verb form for addressing a single individual and another for addressing a collective group. The closest parallel we have in English is the southern variation of "ya'll" used to distinguish an address to a group from an individual. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul uses that plural form of the second person Greek pronoun and verb. In other words, Paul is not saying in these verses that each of the individual Corinthians are themselves God's Temple (although he will say something like that in 1 Cor. 6:19). Here Paul is saying, in effect, "Or don't ya'll know that ya'll are the Temple of God in Corinth and that God's Spirit dwells among ya'll?" That is to say, that Paul's statement here is, in fact, a statement about the Church and not about individual believers. The Church is the place where God's Spirit dwells.
The second thing we must recognize in order to appreciate Paul's statement here is the vast significance of the Temple to 1st century Judaism. The Temple in Jerusalem represented the presence of God with the people of Israel. This was God's house. The very place where God's Spirit dwelt. It was the salvation of the Jewish people that God had chosen to make his dwelling among them. It is difficult to overstate just how meaningful the Temple was to Paul and his contemporaries, how much it signified God's presence with his people. This was so much the case in Jeremiah's day that it seems some believed that no harm could possibly befall Jerusalem as long as the Temple still stood because, it was thought, God would not allow his holy dwelling to come to ruin. The Temple = God's presence.
So when Paul tells the Corinthians "you are God's Temple", he is making a bold statement about the Church. Paul is telling the Corinthians that the Spirit of God is no longer limited to dwelling in the Temple. God has actually made his home, his dwelling among the Corinthians themselves. This is the significance of Pentecost; that God's own Holy Spirit has been poured out on all those who place their trust in Jesus Christ. While that Spirit certainly works in each of us individually, here Paul is emphasizing that it is in the Corinthians relationship with one another that God's Spirit dwells and is at work. It is in their coming together as a unified community of faith that they are God's Temple. When we call ourselves the Church we are saying nothing short of claiming that God's Spirit resides among us as a people.
Of course, this serves well the point that Paul has been making all along. He has been telling the Corinthians for three chapters now that they must be unified rather than fragmenting themselves into different groups centered around different leaders. Here, Paul reminds them they are all together the Temple of God. Therefore, if they destroy their relationships with one another then they are destroying God's Temple. Paul is telling them that their lack of unity is actually destroying the very place where God's Spirit wishes to make his dwelling. The Corinthians are destroying the house of God by destroying their relationships with one another. This means that disunity in the Church is more than people just not getting along. It is a driving out of the Spirit of God; the very thing that makes us who we are as God's people. It is a failure to be the Church at all.
Paul finishes this section by reminding the Corinthians (again!) that human wisdom is not God's wisdom. Therefore, they should not boast in men (or human leadership). And he goes on to say "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present of the future- all are yours, and you are Christ's and Christ is God's". I think what Paul is essentially saying to the Corinthians here is that they have taken to small and narrow a view of things. Here the Corinthians are striving after mere men, mere human leaders and their positions of honor and authority and Paul is saying "Why would you strive after those things. As followers of Christ, as the Temple of God, everything already belongs to you. You have already been given everything you could ever ask for. God's very own Spirit has made you his home. The Spirit of the almighty God and creator of the universe is at work in your relationships with one another and you want to strive after merely human positions of honor? God has given himself to you and you want to trade that for human leaders who are nothing but servants of that very same God!"
But, of course, this is what we continue to do. God has given himself to us, made his own Spirit to reside among us, and all we can seem to think about is "if we just had a little more money... if we just had a little higher attendance...if we just had a few more young able bodies to do the work...if we just had....". We have the Spirit of God among us! What else do we need to do the work God has entrusted to us when God has entrusted his very self to us? Paul encourages us to take a larger view of things; encourages us not to dream so small that we go after these merely human things but instead to remember that we are the Temple of God and that in itself is a truly miraculous things. God's Spirit has made his dwelling among us.
The second thing we must recognize in order to appreciate Paul's statement here is the vast significance of the Temple to 1st century Judaism. The Temple in Jerusalem represented the presence of God with the people of Israel. This was God's house. The very place where God's Spirit dwelt. It was the salvation of the Jewish people that God had chosen to make his dwelling among them. It is difficult to overstate just how meaningful the Temple was to Paul and his contemporaries, how much it signified God's presence with his people. This was so much the case in Jeremiah's day that it seems some believed that no harm could possibly befall Jerusalem as long as the Temple still stood because, it was thought, God would not allow his holy dwelling to come to ruin. The Temple = God's presence.
So when Paul tells the Corinthians "you are God's Temple", he is making a bold statement about the Church. Paul is telling the Corinthians that the Spirit of God is no longer limited to dwelling in the Temple. God has actually made his home, his dwelling among the Corinthians themselves. This is the significance of Pentecost; that God's own Holy Spirit has been poured out on all those who place their trust in Jesus Christ. While that Spirit certainly works in each of us individually, here Paul is emphasizing that it is in the Corinthians relationship with one another that God's Spirit dwells and is at work. It is in their coming together as a unified community of faith that they are God's Temple. When we call ourselves the Church we are saying nothing short of claiming that God's Spirit resides among us as a people.
Of course, this serves well the point that Paul has been making all along. He has been telling the Corinthians for three chapters now that they must be unified rather than fragmenting themselves into different groups centered around different leaders. Here, Paul reminds them they are all together the Temple of God. Therefore, if they destroy their relationships with one another then they are destroying God's Temple. Paul is telling them that their lack of unity is actually destroying the very place where God's Spirit wishes to make his dwelling. The Corinthians are destroying the house of God by destroying their relationships with one another. This means that disunity in the Church is more than people just not getting along. It is a driving out of the Spirit of God; the very thing that makes us who we are as God's people. It is a failure to be the Church at all.
Paul finishes this section by reminding the Corinthians (again!) that human wisdom is not God's wisdom. Therefore, they should not boast in men (or human leadership). And he goes on to say "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present of the future- all are yours, and you are Christ's and Christ is God's". I think what Paul is essentially saying to the Corinthians here is that they have taken to small and narrow a view of things. Here the Corinthians are striving after mere men, mere human leaders and their positions of honor and authority and Paul is saying "Why would you strive after those things. As followers of Christ, as the Temple of God, everything already belongs to you. You have already been given everything you could ever ask for. God's very own Spirit has made you his home. The Spirit of the almighty God and creator of the universe is at work in your relationships with one another and you want to strive after merely human positions of honor? God has given himself to you and you want to trade that for human leaders who are nothing but servants of that very same God!"
But, of course, this is what we continue to do. God has given himself to us, made his own Spirit to reside among us, and all we can seem to think about is "if we just had a little more money... if we just had a little higher attendance...if we just had a few more young able bodies to do the work...if we just had....". We have the Spirit of God among us! What else do we need to do the work God has entrusted to us when God has entrusted his very self to us? Paul encourages us to take a larger view of things; encourages us not to dream so small that we go after these merely human things but instead to remember that we are the Temple of God and that in itself is a truly miraculous things. God's Spirit has made his dwelling among us.
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