Church in the World

“Pentecost”, István Dorffmaister
1782, Oil on canvas, 55 x 33 cm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

For Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Once again this week I’ve decided to offer some commentary on each of this week’s readings. There is such great refreshment and encouragement to be found in each of these passages, each of which point to the resurrected Jesus of this Season of Easter.

Acts 10:44-48: A Gospel for Every People
In this passage the Holy Spirit falls upon those hearing Peter’s words. The “circumcised believers” (a.k.a. Jewish Christians) who had come with Peter were astounded that the Holy Spirit was being poured out not only on Jews but on Gentiles (non-Jewish peoples) as well. The reason they knew this was happening was that they heard these Gentiles “speaking in tongues” (v. 46). The NIV contains an important footnote indicating that speaking “in tongues” can also be translated as speaking “in other languages”. The Greek word used here, ‘glossa’, means literally “tongue” but with reference to a known language that has not been naturally acquired. Given the context of Jewish Christians being surprised that the Holy Spirit was being poured out on non-Jews as well, it seems reasonable to conclude that what these Gentiles were speaking was not glossolalia (unintelligible sounds) but rather other (known) languages.

The larger point of the passage is that the gospel was not intended to elevate the Jewish people above all others, but rather to bless all peoples of the earth beginning with the Jews. In a world torn apart by ethnic strife this can be good news indeed: the gospel is for everyone and is the means by which every nation on the earth can be blessed and in fact will be blessed.

Psalm 98: A New Song
This passage encourages us to sing a “new song” to the Lord because he has done “marvelous things” (v. 1). What are these marvelous things? Several are listed but the one I would like to focus on is that God has “remember(ed) his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.”
The Hebrew word used here for “steadfast love” is ‘hesed’. This is one of the beautiful words of the Hebrew Scriptures that ties them together. Hesed is the same word used throughout the book of Ruth to communicate how the love of Boaz and the love of God repeatedly saved her from disaster.
God has shown us his ‘hesed’, his steadfast love, his unwavering affection, in providing a way for us to return to Him through the death and resurrection of His one and only Son Jesus.

1 John 5:1-6: The Connection Between Grace and Obedience
What is the gospel really all about, grace or obedience? This passage shows this to be a false dichotomy. We become Christians by “believing that Jesus is the Christ (in other words, the one “sent by God to save us from our sins”). Yet those who believe this invariably demonstrate this by loving God and his children. This love is expressed through their obedience to the way of Christ. Obedience does not bring us into grace but it is the inevitable expression of grace.

We can’t get away with saying we love God without obeying him. Nor can we get away with loving God while refusing to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Listen carefully to the Spirit on this: is there a brother or sister in Christ from whom you have withheld love? What does the grace of God compel you to do about it?

John 15:9-17: The Secret to a Fruitful Life
Would you like to live a joyful, peaceful, and fruitful life? Here’s the secret: abide in the love of God. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love” (v. 9). What does it mean practically to “abide” in God’s love? The Greek word used here, ‘meno’, means “to dwell, endure in, or be present in”. How has God wired you to be present in his love? For me, writing this blog is part of it, which is ultimately what I enjoy so much about it. What most helps you to be present in the Lord’s love. Go to that thing, and continue in it. If you will do this, then no matter the trials and discouragements that come your way, you can rest in the assurance that you will be fruitful beyond your wildest imagination, for the Father will give you whatever you ask in the name of his Son, Jesus (v. 16).

Mark Rothko
Red, Orange, Tan and Purple, 1954
Oil on canvas
84 1/2 x 68 1/2 inches (214.5 x 174 cm)
Private collection
©1999 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

For Sunday, April 22, 2012
Third Sunday of Easter

Sometimes I like to focus on one of the week’s readings but this week I’m offering some comments on each of them. A way to tie these all together might be under the title “Resurrecting life”. If we are honest with ourselves, our lives are a mess, until Jesus appears.

Psalm 4 (True prosperity?)
Where will we find true prosperity? The temptation for those of us living in material abundance is to base our lives on our ability to provide for ourselves. Yet to live this way dishonors God. God asks, “How long … will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” It is a delusion to think we can captain our own ships. We may at times experience the blessings of material prosperity but what we need more than anything is spiritual prosperity. As the Psalmist puts it, “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Luke 24:36b-40 (Jesus as the key to the Scriptures)
Jesus “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” What was the main point he wanted to convey? That all the Scriptures, from the Law to the Prophets to the Psalms pointed toward him as the pinnacle of God’s revelation to Man. The Scriptures teach that a Son of Man would come and then die and that through his death forgiveness of sins would be available to every nation on earth. Sin has alienated us from God. The forgiveness made possible by Christ’s death on the cross can redeem and restore us. Have you been redeemed? Are you being restored? The offer is right in front of you.

Acts 3:12-19 (Repent and repent)
This passage gets us over this week’s “so what” hump (a favorite phrase of Stuart Briscoe’s). “Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins might be wiped out.” We could understand this both in terms of repenting for the first time (the big R), and repenting on an ongoing basis for our subsequent sins (the little ‘R’). True believers are those who have turned to God and still do.

1 John 3:1-7 (the joy of being children of God)
This is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. “… that we should be called children of God, and this is what we are!” As a result of a traumatic childhood my internal tape too often says, “You aren’t doing enough.”. Yet God has given me a new tape that says, “You are now a child of God, so relax and rejoice!” This brings us full circle back to the end of Psalm 4, our first reading: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone are my safety.“

Which of this week’s readings is speaking to you most powerfully and why?

Christ is risen!

Portrait of Karl Marx

For Sunday, April 15, 2012
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 4:32-35

The mood of our secular culture this second Sunday of Easter might well be captured by the title of this post: “Christ is risen … and?” What difference is this purported resurrection supposed to make?

It purports to make every difference in the world. The people in whom the good news of
Christ has taken hold enjoy a transforming sense of community. They are “of one heart and soul”, sharing everything in common. Rather than devoting their lives to obtaining more they now devote their lives to sharing more.

This is the community in which everyone wants to live. There is such abundance that no one is left needy. Even Karl Marx, a man ardently opposed to Christianity, recognized that this was where everyone wanted to live. He said, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” This dream has never been realized within a communist country. Having lived in Russia for a number of years I can tell you that the reality was this: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his connections.” The difference between the roads of communism and Christianity is that where communism compels through the muzzle of a gun, Christianity invites through the death of a Savior.

“But nobody actually does this today.” you might object. “What are you suggesting, that I go down to church, sign over the title to my house, and expect that all will be wonderful?” No, this isn’t what I’m suggesting, because you could do far less and begin to experience the blessings being described here. Rather than setting aside your real estate, why not start with a $20 bill. Take that over to your church and ask how you might best bless someone else with it. You’ll be on your way.

There are people today selling beautiful homes so that they can move into impoverished areas and begin to make a difference there. Yet the blessing they are experiencing doesn’t require this. It’s as close to your $20 bill as it is to the title of their home. Just know this: Christ is indeed risen, and it makes every difference in the world.

Marc Chagall French, born Vitebsk, Russia (present-day Belarus), 1887–1985 White Crucifixion, 1938 Oil on canvas 60 3/4 x 55 in. (154.3 x 139.7 cm) Signed and dated, l.r.: "MArc ChAgAll/ 1938" Gift of Alfred S. Alschuler, 1946.925 © 2008 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

For Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
Psalm 147 

Does today find you brokenhearted?  Maybe you’ve lost your job, your spouse, or your way.  Don’t despair. There is a God reaching out to us who wants to bind up our wounds and set us back upon the healing path:

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. . . 
He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.
No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
(Psalm 147:3, 10-11, NLT) 

Marc Chagall speaks to broken hearts in his 1938 work entitled ‘White Crucifixion’.  Chagall was a Russian Jew watching his world crumble around him.  Communism was sweeping into his world from the left while Nazism wreaked it’s own havoc from the right.  The distressed figures in the foreground just want to escape.  Yet amidst all of this stands the constancy of the cross of Christ, in which the suffering of all peoples, whether Jew or Gentile, comes together where redemption breaks into the chaos (1).

Let the good news of the gospel bind up our broken hearts, for God is here, and his love is indeed unfailing.

Credits:
1) Chagall, Ingo F. Walter and Rainer Metzger, 2006, Taschen, pp. 61-62.

For Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
Third Sunday After Epiphany

God’s will is a stubborn thing.  In this week’s first reading from the Book of Jonah the text begins, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.”  What did God say this second time?  The same thing he said the first time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh . . . “.   God’s will in this instance wasn’t general but rather very specific.  Jonah had rejected God’s call the first time and ended up on the shore of  a beach, cold and wet, laying in fish vomit.  God may speak to us specifically in certain circumstances.  We ought to be listening so that if and when he does we are in a position to respond affirmatively.

So then this second time Jonah obeys and goes to the city of Nineveh.  This was a major Assyrian city located just across the Tigris river from modern-day Mosul in Iraq (1).   There was great “wickedness” (Jonah 1:2) taking place here.   God says, “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence (Hebrew hamas) (Jonah 3:8).”  Nineveh was known as a place of self-confident pride (2).   One inscription discovered on the wall of King Sennacherib’s palace says this concerning his conquest of Babylon: “Its inhabitants, young and old, I did not spare, and with their corpses I filled the streets of the city.”(3)  There was a “We’re number 1″ mentality.  To those of us who are citizens of the USA this ought to give pause.

The message which God gave to Jonah for Nineveh was stark: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned (v. 4)“.  Before embarking on the trip Jonah called a couple of church growth consultants who went apoplectic when hearing what Jonah planned to say.  However Jonah had learned his lesson: he would say what God had called him to say, and leave the results to God.

Remarkably this self-confident and violent Assyrian city listened and response en masse.  Why?  It seems so unlikely that a foreigner could come in, proclaim this stark message, and have an entire city believe and repent in response.  There are several possibilities based on attendant circumstance.  First, the Assyrians may have suffered a recent military defeat.  Second, a major earthquake may have occurred in the region. Third, on June 15, 763 BC a total solar eclipse over Assyria occurred (4).  As we speak the gospel into our own culture we need to remember that we are not alone: God himself will move on our behalf to move our listeners to believing faith.

When the Ninevites responded in repentant faith God had compassion on them and withdrew his threatened destruction.  God will not tolerate evil and wickedness forever.  On this side of the cross, God has made us his final offer in Jesus Christ.  If in light of this, we persist in our evil, destruction will be the inevitable result.  May we therefore like the Ninevites recognize our own evil, repent both individually and corporately, believe in God, and like the Ninevites become the objects of God’s compassion.

Reader’s Corner:
Where are you aware of wickedness occurring in your own city whether in its urban areas or suburbs.  What might God be calling you to say or do in response?

References:
1)  Wikipedia, ‘Nineveh’.
2)  Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Jonah 1:2.
3)  Wikipedia, ‘Nineveh’.
4)  New Bible Commentary, p. 820.

Philip the Apostle

For Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Second Sunday after Epiphany

I’d like to share with you why I find so powerful the weekly rhythm of reading, praying through, and applying the weekly lectionary readings.  It is because every time I read and reflect I sense the Holy Spirit pressing me into his mold.  This is a good thing because I still need a great deal of pressing.  Yet how refreshing it is to invite something other than the secular culture to mold me in its image.

In this week’s first reading Samuel says, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3).  The irony is that Eli, the man who told him to say this, was unwilling to say it himself.  Eli knew God was there but this reality wasn’t important enough for Eli to care about being molded accordingly along with his own sons.

Will we be people who know what to say but refuse to say it (a.k.a. Eli’s)?  Or will we be people who wake up each morning and say to God as Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Do you have a plan for your own Bible reading for 2012?  If not, how about committing with me to read the weekly lectionary readings?  The four readings together can be read in 30 minutes per week.  Yet I can promise you that if you commit to this, and do it with a heart that says, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening,” you will be changed, and it will happen quickly.

Reader’s corner:

• To what plan of Bible reading is God calling you this next year?
• Would you like to join me in reading the weekly lectionary readings?  If so, what would be a good way for us to encourage each other?
• What has God been saying to you recently about how he wants to bless your life?