This Sunday is Reformation Sunday. One of the gospel truths that the reformers tried to communicate is that Christ meets us where we are. We don't need the intermediary work of a priest or even, as important as it is, the Church. There were a number of cultural developments in Europe at the time of the Reformation that helped Luther, Calvin and others to recognize importance of the individual's place before God. There was the Renaissance and, of course, the development of the printing press. All this went into the proclamation of the "priesthood of all believers."
The gospel reading for this Sunday fits this theme perfectly. Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Jesus, presumably because he is short so he can't see over the crowd that envelopes Jesus. But also we know that Zacchaeus is a sinner, the chief tax collector for the Romans in Jericho. Therefore, he was hated by the townspeople, who considered him a traitor, a very rich traitor. So maybe up a tree serves the purpose for Zacchaeus of being a safe distance from those who dislike him and also a safe distance from the one holy man who could really deride him if this man knew of his occupation.
Jesus' actions are rather shocking. He calls Zacchaeus to come down from his safe, removed place. He calls him to hospitality by saying that he is coming to Zacchaeus' house. The text says that Zacchaeus came down immediately and received Jesus joyfully. All the good folks of Jericho no doubt left wagging their heads, but Zacchaeus is overcome with thanksgiving by Jesus' initiation of closeness with him. His subsequent commitment to the poor reveal his gratitude.
How is Christ close to you now? Are you safely up a tree or are you receiving the Christ joyfully?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Truer than Truth--2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
To sustain a journey of faith, an ongoing interaction with scripture is essential. Yet it is hard for us to stay engaged with the Bible. It was written so long ago by a people who understood the world differently than we do. It is full of fantastic stories and strange literary conventions. It is hard to know how to approach it. Should we operate by our modern minds 95% of the time and then shift into a pre-modern mindset when we read scripture or come to church, so that we can somehow affirm a six day creation and believe that Jonah survived in a whale? Is 2 Timothy ruined for us as a spiritual authority if we acknowledge that Paul, though his name is on it, probably didn't write it, but rather it was written by one of his disciples or maybe even someone who just knew of his life and figured that if Paul were writing to Timothy now, this is what he would say? Should we consider this book fraudulent? In what way can we say that the Bible is true?
Think about these questions. I'll be addressing them in the sermon on Sunday. Also think about your own conversation with scripture. Is it satisfying? Is it nurturing your faith? What could make it better?
To sustain a journey of faith, an ongoing interaction with scripture is essential. Yet it is hard for us to stay engaged with the Bible. It was written so long ago by a people who understood the world differently than we do. It is full of fantastic stories and strange literary conventions. It is hard to know how to approach it. Should we operate by our modern minds 95% of the time and then shift into a pre-modern mindset when we read scripture or come to church, so that we can somehow affirm a six day creation and believe that Jonah survived in a whale? Is 2 Timothy ruined for us as a spiritual authority if we acknowledge that Paul, though his name is on it, probably didn't write it, but rather it was written by one of his disciples or maybe even someone who just knew of his life and figured that if Paul were writing to Timothy now, this is what he would say? Should we consider this book fraudulent? In what way can we say that the Bible is true?
Think about these questions. I'll be addressing them in the sermon on Sunday. Also think about your own conversation with scripture. Is it satisfying? Is it nurturing your faith? What could make it better?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
This Might Take Awhile--Jeremiah 29:4-5
Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
My eldest daughter, who is doing urban mission work in Chicago, called last week and asked some questions about the Book of Leviticus. Seems she is reading through the Bible and has gotten bogged down amid the Levitical Code. No surprise there. I tried my best to explain who Moloch was (pagan deity, I believe). What I really wanted to advise her to do is to just move on. Skip it. But I didn't, realizing that maybe even Leviticus might have some soul-edifying content. If nothing else, it's a good discipline.
I'm no Old Testament scholar but I know enough to recognize that the two game-changing events in Israel's history were the Exodus and the Exile. This text from Jeremiah is part of a letter written by Jeremiah, who was still with a remnant of people in Jerusalem, to the recently exiled Jews in Babylon. Apparently, the recently exiled were being told by other prophets that their exile would be brief and that they would soon return to Jerusalem. They tended to believe this optimistic perspective. They kept their bags packed.
Jeremiah's message is that they should reconsider because this might take awhile. They should build houses, plant gardens and pray for the people and the city where they reside. God has put them in Babylon, and God would bring them out when God was ready. God's wasn't ready yet, apparently. It would be another 70 years or so before they returned to Jerusalem.
Are you in a place you'd rather not be? Is God saying to be patient because this may take awhile? Here's a cliche for you straight from 6th century BCE Babylon: Bloom where you're planted!
My eldest daughter, who is doing urban mission work in Chicago, called last week and asked some questions about the Book of Leviticus. Seems she is reading through the Bible and has gotten bogged down amid the Levitical Code. No surprise there. I tried my best to explain who Moloch was (pagan deity, I believe). What I really wanted to advise her to do is to just move on. Skip it. But I didn't, realizing that maybe even Leviticus might have some soul-edifying content. If nothing else, it's a good discipline.
I'm no Old Testament scholar but I know enough to recognize that the two game-changing events in Israel's history were the Exodus and the Exile. This text from Jeremiah is part of a letter written by Jeremiah, who was still with a remnant of people in Jerusalem, to the recently exiled Jews in Babylon. Apparently, the recently exiled were being told by other prophets that their exile would be brief and that they would soon return to Jerusalem. They tended to believe this optimistic perspective. They kept their bags packed.
Jeremiah's message is that they should reconsider because this might take awhile. They should build houses, plant gardens and pray for the people and the city where they reside. God has put them in Babylon, and God would bring them out when God was ready. God's wasn't ready yet, apparently. It would be another 70 years or so before they returned to Jerusalem.
Are you in a place you'd rather not be? Is God saying to be patient because this may take awhile? Here's a cliche for you straight from 6th century BCE Babylon: Bloom where you're planted!
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