John Shearman's Lectionary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Proper 6  Ordinary 11

Third Sunday After Pentecost

June 13, 2010 .

1 KINGS 21:1- 21a. This simply told tale echoes across the centuries as brilliant example of how the Israelites put their message about God’s justice so even a child could understand. The depressed bumbling of Ahab make for great irony and the deceit of Jezebel clearly describes how the powerful victimize the powerless. The dramatic words of Elijah reveal how God feels about such selfish injustice.

2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:10, 13-15. (Alternate)   This conclusion to the story about David’s lustful adultery with Bathsheba forcefully conveys the moral lessons that God’s justice is meted out equally to kings and commoners alike. The prophet Nathan confronted David about his deceitful arranging for Uriah’s death so that he might marry Bathsheba. Despite David’s confession of sin, Nathan declared God’s judgment against the king: Bathsheba’s child will die.

PSALM 5:1- 8. This lyrical lament may well have been recited by temple singers to the music of flutes. It tells worshipers making their way into the temple that God hears their cries for help because God has only steadfast love for all who follow God’s righteous ways.

PSALM 32. (Alternate) This prayer of confession has nothing to do with King David’s confession. It contains a hopeful expression of God’s forgiveness for any penitent relying on the steadfast love of God. This is something in which we too can truly rejoice.

GALATIANS 2:15- 21. Paul cites the basic difference between Jews and Gentiles as resting on the law given to Moses when he led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. Then Paul strikes down that distinction because Jesus Christ has established an entirely new relationship with God for Jews and Gentiles alike. It depends on faith in Jesus Christ who was crucified and raised from the dead to live in anyone who believes.

LUKE 7:36- 8:3. In this passage Luke told several things about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. He had friends among the Pharisees and one invited him to dine. He rebuked his host for neglecting a customary welcome. He also had great compassion for this disreputable women always thought of as a prostitute.

The parable Jesus told to drive home his message must have cut the Pharisee to the quick. The point of the whole incident is that forgiveness depends on our faith in God’s compassionate love, not on how righteous we may strive to be.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

1 KINGS 21:1- 21a. This simply told tale echoes across the centuries as brilliant example of how the Israelites put their message about God’s justice so even a child could understand. Yet its fine points speak to our age as crisply as it formed one of what is known as “the Elijah cycle” of stories about one of Israel’s greatest prophets and his conflict with King Ahab and his Tyrian queen, Jezebel. Two other cycles of stories closely related to this one featured the prophet Elisha and the reign of the weak King Ahab. Scholarly debates have not completely settled how the three have been melded into the whole of the Book of Kings. Several incidental narratives are scattered in different places in I and II Kings.

It is thought that these three sets of stories originated in the Northern Kingdom in late 9^th century BCE. They existed separately and circulated centuries before being included in the Book of Kings by an editor of the Deuteronomic school. Written after Israel’s return from the exile in Babylon in the late 6^th or early 5^th century BCE, the main concern of the Deuteronomic editors of the Book of Kings was the struggle to maintain the worship of Israel centralized in the temple Jerusalem against the incursions of alien gods. They believed that it was Israel’s infidelity to the worship of Yahweh and the Torah which brought the great disaster of the Babylonian exile upon them.

In this particularly dramatic incident, the depressed bumbling of Ahab make for great irony and the deceit of Jezebel clearly describes how the powerful can victimize the powerless. The dramatic words of Elijah reveal how God feels about such selfish unfairness.

Just reading the story to its conclusion at vs. 29 would make a great sermon in itself. If one chose to elaborate and draw parallels to present times, one would find ample illustration in the economic and political injustices rampant in the world as we see these described in our news media.

2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:10, 13-15. (Alternate)  This conclusion of the story about David’s lustful adultery with Bathsheba forcefully conveys the moral lesson that God’s justice is meeted out equally to kings and commoners, to rich and poor alike.

Whether or not this was indeed an historical event from the later years of David’s reign can never be proven. However, the narrative bears the marks of a much later time in the 8^th and 7^th centuries BCE when justice had become an important element of the preaching of Israel’s great prophets Amos, Micah and Isaiah.

The prophet Nathan confronted David about his deceitful arranging for Uriah’s death so that he might marry Bathsheba. But the wily prophet doesn’t do it with a blunt charge of misbehaviour. He skillfully tells a parable about a rich man who coveted his poor neighbour’s lamb. The rich man stole the poor man’s lamb to provide a feast for a visitor. When David challenged the prophet to identify the culprit of this injustice, Nathan pointed his finger directly at the king and in Yahweh’s name condemned the king for what he had done to Uriah and Bathsheba.

Despite David’s confession of sin, Nathan declares God’s judgment against the king: Bathsheba’s child will die. More than that, David’s household would experience nothing but strife, a prophecy that subsequent events proved. Indeed, by the time the story was redacted in the post-exilic period, the Davidic dynasty had disappeared.

PSALM 5:1-8. This lyrical lament may well have been recited by the temple singers to the music of flutes. It may have been used as a prayer during the morning sacrifice (vs. 2). While it is written as if sung as a solo, it tells worshipers making their way into the temple that God hears their cries for help because God has only steadfast love for those who follow God’s righteous ways.

We can only imagine the specific circumstances in which the psalmist had composed this prayer. It would appear that he was beset by a menacing group of fellows Israelites. He had suffered from their boastful arrogance and slanderous lies vividly described in vss. 6 & 9. The psalmist found relief from this unbearable annoyance in the assurance of Yahweh’s steadfast love communicated through worship (vs. 7). This results in his commitment to Yahweh’s righteousness, i.e. the Torah.

Vs. 7 contains what may be an oblique reference to the Babylonian exile. The psalmist may not have  been in the temple precincts at all, but far away in Babylon and turning toward the temple as he uttered his morning prayers (cf. Daniel 6:10). It is logical to assume, therefore, that the psalm comes from the post-exilic period.

The varying readings of vs. 3b suggest that this is so. The KJV has added the words “my prayer” to the Hebrew text, “I direct my prayer to thee, and will look up,” to convey a clearer sense of its assumed meaning. The RSV gives an alternate reading: “I prepare a sacrifice for thee, and watch.”  The NEB tends to agree: “I set out my morning sacrifice and watch for thee, O Lord.” The NRSV, however, stays closer to the Hebrew text conveyed by the KJV: “in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.” The rather obscure Hebrew verb *‘awrak* (= prepare) does have several meanings, but chiefly “to arrange or put in order.” One may choose which one to prefer.

PSALM 32. (Alternate) This prayer of confession has nothing to do with King David’s confession. It is one of series of penitential psalms frequently used in the Lenten season. The others like it are Pss. 6, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. It belongs to a class of wisdom psalms designed to instruct the faithful in times of sickness and distress. Like all theology in the ancient Middle East, it closely links sickness ands sin.

Although attributed to David in the superscription, it actually comes from the late Persian or early Greek periods (4^th century BCE) when wisdom literature strove to maintain the true faith of Israelites in the moral law of the ancient covenantal tradition.

Whatever its origins, the psalm contains a hopeful expression of God’s forgiveness for any penitent relying on the steadfast love of God. It describes quite effectively the process of being forgiven: sincere penitence, the acceptance of forgiveness, the resolution to guilt. It also includes a didactic moral with a touch of irony about our human resistance to true penitence. The psalm ends with a shout of praise for God’s compassionate grace in which we can truly rejoice.

GALATIANS 2:15-21. Paul’s primary concern in his Letter to the Galatians was to prevent recently converted Jews and Gentiles from falling away from the simple freedom of their new faith under attack from other Jewish Christians. These “Judaizers” had persuaded them that to be Christians they must also follow the strict Jewish laws. This conflict came a consequence of the division between the Jerusalem and Antioch Christian communities within two decades after the resurrection. In this passage Paul cited the basic difference between Jews and Gentiles. It rested on the law of the covenant given to Moses when he led them out of slavery in Egypt.

In Paul’s estimation, his fellow Jews were wrong in assuming that they put themselves in good standing with God (“justified” – vs. 16) by keeping the laws designed to create ritual purity worthy of admission to God’s covenant. Dietary restrictions and circumcision were the particular aspects of the covenant law against which Paul was arguing. Gentiles could not easily accept such rigorous purification as practical expressions of their relationship with God. Realizing this, and pleading freedom from the ritual restraints of the Jewish tradition, Paul worried that his Galatian friends would desert the Christian community altogether. As anyone who has been in conflict situations, in times of crisis it does not take much to create doubt and disaffection in the minds and hearts of Christian believers.

Then, in a series of rhetorical questions, (vss. 16b-17) Paul strikes down the distinction he had drawn between Jews and Gentiles. Jesus Christ has established an entirely new relationship with God for Jews and Gentiles alike. It rested on faith in Jesus Christ who had been crucified and raised from the dead to live in anyone who believes. The English translation of what Paul was saying is by no means easy to grasp.

He used his own experience as the main illustration of his argument. Does he not claim to have invalidated not just certain parts of the Judaic law, but the legalist tradition as a whole? Trying to understand Paul’s impact on both Judaism and Christianity, many scholars have followed this train of thought in the past century and a half. It was not so much Jesus, but Paul who is regarded as the architect of the Christian tradition distinct from its earlier roots in Judaism. We may firmly counter such a view by showing that, according to this passage, Paul himself believed that his faith depended entirely on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Great though it had been, he did not depend on his personal impact on the communities to which he had proclaimed the Gospel.

But what did he mean in vs. 19 that “through the law I died to the law? There may well be some specific act of transgression the memory of which still bothered Paul’s conscience.  We get much the same impression if we compare this passage to Romans 7:7-12 where he identifies a sin but does not specifically state what that sin might have been. It could have been something he coveted, but had to relinquish because it was unattainable or because his changed relationship with Christ prevented its achievement.

Paul had found a new hope, nonetheless. It was in Christ. Whatever his sacrifice had been, he saw it as being personally crucified, yet he was alive as never before. He knew this not because of anything he had done, but because Christ had forgiven him and had given him a much greater commission. He now could live for Christ assured that the risen Christ was with him always. Indeed the Spirit of Christ was alive in him transforming him day by day into a new creation. That was the faith which sustained him. His entirely new relationship with God rested on faith alone. If this were not so, he claimed in his final point to clinch his argument, then Christ had died for nothing.

LUKE 7:36-8:3. In this passage Luke told us several important things about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. One can easily assume that Jesus’ most ardent opposition came from those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. On the other hand, he also had many good friends among this ultra-religious party and this one had invited him to dine. Some Jewish rabbis today believe that Jesus himself was a member of the Pharisees.

In his Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, Bruce Chilton based much of his analysis of Jesus’ ministry on the frequency of his dining out with just about anyone who would invite him. Certainly, some of those who opposed him accused him of being a glutton and an alcoholic. Luke had reported that charge immediately before this passage. Chilton regarded Jesus’ penchant for being a guest at other people’s homes as being particularly significant in marking out his differences with the priestly authorities as well as the Pharisees.

When a sacrifice was offered in the temple, part of the offering was burned on the altar, but most of it was divided between the priests and the worshiper for their own consumption. Jesus may have regarded the temple sacrifices as dining in the presence of God. It culminated, in Chilton’s view, in the intimate fellowship meals of which the Last Supper was only one instance.

According to this pericope, Luke presented Jesus as not being afraid to rebuke his host for neglecting the customary welcome he ought to have received. The normal customs of the time required that on the arrival of his guests, the host would provide water for them to freshen up after walking through dirty and dusty streets. Ritual washing was also required of everyone who ate at home or as invited guests at a feast. In all probability, this stringent practice was frequently ignored, especially far from Jerusalem in Galilee.

The story set up an interesting contrast between Jesus rebuke of his host and his compassion for this interloping woman. Apparently she just came in off the street uninvited, knowing that Jesus was there. Perhaps she had followed him. She has always been thought of as a prostitute or an adulterer, but she could well have had other well-known sins which characterized her demeanor. Her presence quite naturally upset the host. He remonstrated with Jesus for allowing such a person to touch him thus making him impure according to the strict interpretation of the laws governing such behavior.

The parable Jesus told to drive home his message must have cut the Pharisee to the quick. Comparison with Paul’s words to the Galatians reveals that both are very clearly the good news Jesus came to reveal and make effective in reconciling us with God and with one another. The point of both passages is that forgiveness depends on our faith in God’s compassionate love, not on how righteous we may strive to be.

It is important not to ignore 8:1-3, Luke’s brief statement naming certain women who followed Jesus. In subsequent centuries, the unnamed woman who interrupted the feast at the home of the Pharisee has been conflated with Mary Magdalene and/or Mary of Bethany (vs. 2). More recent scholarship has shown this to be completely wrong. Miriam (Mary) was the most common Jewish name for women in those days. Throughout his gospel Luke showed that women held a special place in Jesus’ life and ministry. With regard to Mary Magdalene legend and fiction have made much of this.

So has feminist scholarship of the late 20^th century. In her study of Luke, however, Sharon H. Ringe has shown that the roles women filled in the ministry of Jesus did not differ from the customary roles for women in those times. In this instance, we have relatively little information about these particular women. Some of them had been healed by Jesus of evil spirits and demons, but that does not imply that they were sinful or of disreputable moral character. We are told that some of them were women of means. Apparently they chose to make use of their wealth in supporting Jesus’ ministry and joining him on the road to Jerusalem. Several of them reappeared in Luke’s Passion narrative. It would only amount to fruitless speculation to reconstruct anything more from what Ringe described as “a mere opening and closing of the curtain to indicate a new scene.”

SOME ADDITIONAL PREACHING POINTS.

PSALM 5:1-8. What happens during our liturgies? In 2009 a Conference on Performing Self and Community: Ritual and Ritual Practice was held at McGill University, in Montreal, Canada. Papers from this conference were published in Volume 37:2009 issue of ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies. These papers attempt to respond to the question, “What does scholarship on ritual have to say in the 21^st century?”

The papers range through many religious and secular fields. Some titles seem far away from religious studies, but on closer examination contain to be very appropriate hypotheses and incisive if tentative insights for our time. For instance, among the titles of papers are:  “Etiology, Neurology, and Emergence: Reductionism in Biological Perspective on Religious Rituals;” “ An Examination of Virtual Rituals Found in Online Gaming;” and “Rituals and the Everyday: Performing Food and Sex in Contemporary Visual Arts.” The major world religious traditions and specific pastoral concerns are not neglected: “Ritual is Not Religion: Exploring Balagangadhars’ Proposal for Understanding the ‘East;’” and “Journeys in Grief: Theorizing Mourning Rituals.”

Though not always easy reading, the introduction and thirteen papers may prove quite challenging for a summer of study. ARC is indexed in the Religion Index One: Periodicals published by the American Theological Library Association (http://www.atla.com/) and other well known social science indexes. Individual copies of the journal may be obtained for $15 Cdn within Canada and $15 US outside of Canada from ARC, Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, 3520 University Street,  Montreal, QC H3A 2A7 Canada. Cheques should be payable to “ARC, FRS, McGill University.” Annual subscriptions are $30 Cdn and $30 US per annum. The Faculty’s webpage is

www.relgstud@mcgill.ca.

GALATIANS 2:15-21. There is an ancient legend that part of the price Paul paid when he met Jesus on the Damascus Road was to give up any hope of marriage to the daughter of Caiaphas, the high priest. Was this an indirect reference to such an experience? It was unusual for a young rabbi not to marry and such a marriage would have been immensely advantageous to any ambitious young rabbi. How he would have coveted that! Dare we speculate that this could have been the reason why the “Judaizers” followed him wherever he went and tried to undo all he had done in the predominately Gentile cities of Galatia? As a servant of the high priest he had deserted his commission and had gone over to the enemy. How could that ever be forgiven by the priestly authorities whom he had betrayed?

Who were the Galatians? Primarily, they were the descendants of a tribe of Celts who had broken away from the main Celtic migration in the 7^th and 6^th centuries BCE. Originally from western Asia, they migrated up the basin of the Danube River in Europe to eventually settle first in Switzerland (known as Helvetians), and France (known as Gauls). Later they had crossed to southern England and Ireland. This break-away migration through Bulgaria and Greece to Asia Minor had taken place in the 3^rd century BCE. A relatively small but rather warlike tribe, they had settled in the central Anatolian plain at the invitation of the king of Bythinia. There they subsequently became known as Galatians.

See these websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatians; and

http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter113.html#1 .

LUKE 7:36-8:3. Do justice and political reconciliation ever meet? During one of Nelson Mandela’s visits to Canada, a member of the Parliament of Canada publicly condemned the South African leader as a communist who had advocated violent revolution in South Africa before and during his imprisonment. However true or false that accusation may have been, the gift Mandela has given to the world in his long struggle against apartheid cannot be denied. His long life has showed how the worst of enemies can be reconciled through the forgiving love of God working through ordinary people of every race and creed. This too is gospel.

Reconciliation can be seen too in current if tragic events. Quite recently a remarkable reconciliation between Poland and Russia has resulted from the death of many Polish political and military leaders in a plane crash near Smolensk. The Polish delegates were on their way to meet with their Russian counterparts and mark the anniversary of the massacre of more than 20,000 Polish military, political and intellectual leaders at Katyn Forest near Smolensk in April and May 1940 on the orders of Joseph Stalin.

On May 24, 2010 Ontario’s educational television station TVO held an hour long debate on the extent and character of this reconciliation featuring a Canadian, two Polish and two Russian political scientists now teaching at different Canadian and American universities. Among the five was Nina  Khrushcheva, the granddaughter of former Soviet president, Nikita Krushchev. At the end of the debate the question arose whether or not the Russians had apologized to the Poles for Stalin’s criminal behaviour. No, they conceded, it was not an apology, but it was an admission that a terrible crime had been committed.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Seventh Sunday of Easter (If Ascension not observed here)
May 16, 2010  

ACTS 16:16-34. With this double miracle story Luke makes the point that in Paul’s ministry, as in that of the other apostles, the divinely empowered ministry of Jesus continued. The miracle of casting out a demon from the girl with the spirit of divination seems to have been a distraction setting up the apostles’ imprisonment. Their release from prison and the conversion of their jailer would serve to convince Luke’s Gentile audience of the authenticity of the Christian message.

PSALM 97. This psalm is one of a group of psalms celebrating the enthronement of God. The others are Pss. 47, 93, 96, 98 and 99.

REVELATION 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21. The passage repeats many earlier references that point beyond the present to the second coming of Christ. That will be a time of judgment (vss. 12, 14-15) when those who are faithful will be admitted to the holy city and those who are impenitent will be excluded. The closing verses have a distinctive liturgical ring to them. They begin with an invitation to communion from Jesus himself (vss. 16-17) and end with a prayer by the expectant church (vss. 20b-21).

JOHN 17:20-26. This prayer almost certainly contains few if any actual words of Jesus. Rather, it is John’s interpretation of what Jesus’ life, death and resurrection meant for the Christian community for which he was writing late in the 1st century. Summarizing the discourse which began in chapter 13, as well as the whole gospel, it attempts to inspire and encourage John’s own community of disciples many years later.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS

ACTS 16:16-34. With this double miracle story Luke makes the point that in Paul’s ministry, as in that of the other apostles, the divinely empowered ministry of Jesus continued. What we perceive in this story, however, may not always be what the author intended. Some particular points need to be drawn from the details.

First, the miracle of casting out a demon from the girl with the spirit of divination appear to have little or nothing to do with Paul’s mission. From his point of view it seems more like inconvenient distraction than an object of compassion. Then it became the basis for the charge laid against Paul and his companions. Those who perpetrated this gross injustice upon both their innocent victim in the first place and the apostle who freed her from them had only one motive: to avenge their monetary loss. (vs.19).

Paul and Silas were charged as Jews, not as Christians. They were accused of “advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” (vs. 21) Cultural differences had little significance in such a cosmopolitan city as Philippi. Obviously the spurious charge bore no relation to their mission. It served only as an excuse to arouse the hostility of the local community against Jews who had recently been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius. Anti-Semitism may have been named only in the late 19^th century, but it certainly existed nineteen centuries earlier.

The miraculous liberation of Paul and Silas from prison and the conversion of their jailer would serve to convince Luke’s Gentile audience of the authenticity of the Christian message. Yet there is more to the story than the striking text which has generated so many evangelistic sermons: “What must I do to be saved? …. Believe on the Lord Jesus….”  One might go so far as to say that this exchange was no more than the opening gambit in the jailer’s conversion. Vs. 32 plainly informs us that more instruction followed as Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house.” In spite of the fact that baptism of the whole household followed “that same hour …without delay,” this did not occur without further catechetical instruction. These details leave no room for an anti-intellectual attitude toward conversion.

The story also gives us an opportunity to identify and respond to an important contemporary justice issue. The idea of a mentally sick or intellectually impaired girl being enslaved for profit sounds incredibly abusive to us. But is it so far from what we hear is happening on our own city streets? To save money governments have closed psychiatric wards and permanent care hospitals, then  released patients be cared for or to care for themselves through drug therapy. In allowing this to happen without public protest, are we not also perpetrating no less abuse?

A book by the late renowned urban scholar, Jane Jacobs, The Coming Dark Age, describes the growing number of homeless, helpless mentally ill and addicted people living on Toronto streets as one of the signs of the city’s decline even though the city produces many billions in taxation for federal and provincial governments while having too little to pay for essential public services.

PSALM 97. This psalm is one of a group of psalms celebrating the enthronement of God. The others are Pss. 47, 93, 96, 98 and 99) In many respects, the vocabulary of all these psalms is similar. This enthronement celebration occurred at each Jewish New Year. It acknowledged God’s awesome power, God’s justice and God’s absolute supremacy over all creation.

Jewish theology did not depend on abstractions. Anthropomorphism – defining the nature of God in terms of human characteristics – was featured in much of the Jewish concept of divinity. Perhaps it could not have been otherwise. The human mind abstracts from what it observes in the immediate environment such symbols and metaphors it can use to describe in words what is essentially indescribable.

Does God really reign majestically from a throne enveloped in “clouds and thick darkness?” Of course not, but these images enable this poet to convey the ideas of divine power, sovereignty, righteousness and justice. In fact, vss. 2-5 actually describes a violent thunderstorm raging over the mountains. In vs. 6, the storm has passed and glorious sunlight reflects the divine glory for all to see.

In vss. 7-9, the poet’s vision shifts from nature to religious objects of worship. The Greeks and Romans espoused many religions and absorbed them in a syncretist fashion. Their temples and cities were filled with idols of a wide variety of gods (as Paul saw in Athens in Acts 17). Israel’s prophets fought a continuing battle against such idolatry and false religion, although there is ample evidence that they too did succumb to syncretism. The psalmist shared this prophetic faith. He did not deny the existence of idols, but unequivocally declared their worthlessness (vs. 7) and Yahweh’s sovereignty over all (vs. 9). Hence there could be both hope for deliverance and security for the faithful, righteous believer. (vss.10-12)

REVELATION 22:12-21. The immediately preceding passage (vss. 6-11) indicated clearly that this reading formed part of the epilogue to the book.  This segment breaks into the middle of John’s testimony about his conversation with the angelic messenger whose words John recounted after being warned to worship God and not the messenger, as John had begun to do. That warning brings to the fore a singularly important truth about scripture: It is not the Bible, nor the words of the Bible, nor the one who preaches the Bible message who is to be worshipped; but God alone, for God alone is holy.

The passage repeats many earlier references and points beyond the present to the second coming of Christ. That will be a time of judgment (vss. 12, 14-15) when those who are faithful will be admitted to the holy city and those who are impenitent will be excluded. Professor Caird believed that John expounded a “realized eschatology “in which the final coming of Christ in judgment or reward is constantly anticipated in the crises of individual and corporate life. It exists in the midst of the daily life of Smyrna and Pergamum, Babylon, and the other cities to which John was writing Jerusalem.  So also the eschatological judgment of the Book of Revelation applies in Halifax and Victoria, Ottawa and London, Washington, Canberra and Moscow.

The closing verses have a distinctive liturgical ring to them. They begin with an invitation to communion from Jesus himself (vss.16-17), move on to a hortative warning and end with a prayer by the expectant church (vss. 20b-21). The invitation is open to “whoever hears.” Those who hear will also respond together with the antiphonal voices of the disciple community, “Come!”

The words of warning that nothing should be added or excluded from the book are somewhat curious.  Did John intend that his book should be read in the churches to which it was addressed, then passed on to the next town to be read there? Scrolls like the one for this text were extremely difficult and expensive to compose in those days. At first only a single copy existed. Multiple copies were made only as the decades passed and travelling missionaries moved from place to place created a demand for each church to possess its own copy for closer study.

One of the characteristics of Jewish scripture was that its text should be regarded as inviolate. Everything written must be preserved intact. (Deut. 4:2; 12:32) Few of the New Testament authors, especially those who wrote letters, had such an attitude toward their work. However, they did regard the Hebrew scriptures as authoritative. They had taken over this view from the rabbinic Judaism of the Pharisees. The scriptures had been given by God through revelation to the patriarchs and prophets to be communicated to generations that came after them. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 expressed this view completely.

John did not regard himself as the authority on which his book rested. His testimony was of Jesus, who is coming soon (vs. 20) but who also continually makes himself known to the gathered community in the breaking of bread and prayer. As Caird says, “he is using liturgical language to express what transcends liturgy. No one who has read his book can have any illusions about what the prayer is asking. It is a prayer that Christ will come to win his faithful servant the victory which is both Calvary and Armageddon.”  (G.B. Caird. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Black’s New Testament Commentary. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1966. p. 288)

JOHN 17:20-26. This prayer almost certainly contains few if any actual words of Jesus. Instead, it consists of John’s interpretation of what Jesus’ life, death and resurrection meant for the Christian community for which he was writing in the last decade of the 1st century CE. It also summarizes the discourse which began in chapter 13 as well as continuing much of same theme found throughout the Gospel as proclaimed from the beginning.

The whole prayer covers familiar themes: Jesus death and resurrection as glorification; eternal life as knowing God through faith in Jesus, the Christ/Messiah; the disciples as those chosen to represent Christ in and to the world; and the disciples’ need to be sustained in their mission through the truth they have received from Jesus and now are to share with the world.

In this excerpt, John attempted to inspire and encourage his own community of disciples as many as 60 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus as revealing the true nature of God as love became  the central message of the apostolic church. Their faithfulness in difficult times would keep them in loving fellowship with each other, with Christ and with God. It would also enable them to accomplish their mission of making the “glory” of Christ, the Son of God, known as well as maintain the elusive spiritual unity the mission requires.

This is still good news for us two thousand years later. Alas, through subsequent generations and probably in John’s own time, the disciple community has never achieved the level of faithfulness to which this prayer summoned us. Yet we must still make it our own prayer for our own community and our own time. For as this prayer bids: We must all be one, so the world may believe.

ADDITIONAL PREACHING POINTS.

ACTS 16:16-34. Do we at times take advantage of those who are disabled? Can this lesson be stretched to be of use for a sermon on the evil of such behaviour?

Some forty or more ago at a county fair in central Pennsylvania, I witnessed and actually filmed the re-enactment of the public execution by hanging of a young woman which had occurred in that community in the late 19^th century. As the narrator of the story told the audience, the young woman was probably “retarded.” (That was the term used then for an intellectually impaired person.) She had given birth to a child out of wedlock. The father of the child had never been identified. But when the child had died soon after birth, the mother had been charged and convicted of murder.

I have not recalled this horrible spectacle in many years. It came to mind as I prepared comment on this passage. The film has long since faded and been destroyed. I was surprised that time has not erased the incident from my memory. Was this any different than the tragic mistreatment of the Philippian girl from whom Paul drove out the demon? Was my filming of the re-enactment any different?

PSALM 97. Even our traditional beliefs and creeds have become idols for many Christians. Escaping from the metaphors of ancient traditions is no less a problem for us in the 21^st century.  Will our Christian traditions survive in the face of popular rejection, universal secularism and rampant atheism?  For a very challenging witness to the necessity of doing so, see such new approaches proposed by Bishop John Shelby Spong in his Eternal Life: A New Vision (HarperOne 2009), Gretta Vosper’s With Or Without God,” (HarperCollins 2009), and Andrew Prior’s “Progressive Christianity” website,

http://churchrewired.org/progressive-christianity.html.

REVELATION 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21. The legacy of the apostolic view of the inviolate character of the Hebrew scriptures hampered interpretation or commentary from the 1^st to the 19^th centuries CE. In the 2^nd century Marcion questioned the authority of the Hebrew texts as did the Alexandrians Clement and Origen in the 3^rd century.  At the same time the traditional view led to restrictive theological attitudes which placed undue sanctity in the inerrant words themselves rather than safeguard the message they communicate. Even Thomas Aquinas in the late Middle Ages and Calvin during the Reformation accepted this view. As late as the turn of the 20^th century, the Methodist Church in Canada charged a theological professor with heresy for adopting and teaching an alternative approach based on the developing theories of historical and literary criticism of NT texts. In some parts of the Christian tradition, the debate still rages unabated as ultra-conservative radio and television preachers reveal every day of the week.

JOHN 17:20-26. In1904, representatives of three Canadian Protestant denominations – the Methodists, the Presbyterians and the Congregationalist – began serious discussions about uniting in a determined effort to meet the challenges of a relatively young country rapidly expanding as immigrants from Central Europe poured into urban areas and across the western prairies. Within a decade, the terms of union had been fully negotiated and agreed upon before being interrupted by the fury of World War I. It took until 1924 for all the needed ecclesiastical and legal ratifications to be completed. On June 10, 1925, the first General Council of the United Church of Canada met in Toronto, Ontario. About one third of the Presbyterians, chiefly in central and eastern Canada, withdrew and formed a continuing Presbyterian Church. The United Church of Canada chose as its defining motto the Latin words of John 17:21a Ut Omnes Unum Sint. (“That all may be one.”)

My own personal experience of church union occurred through an interesting series of events. For at least three generations my family had been members of the Congregational Church. In 1919 my parents and maternal grandparents settled in a Montreal suburb where there was one small Presbyterian church. They were fully accepted and my father served a lay representative to Montreal Presbytery for the three point pastoral charge. He voted in favour of church union that created Montreal Presbytery of The United Church of Canada. He continued as a lay member of Montreal Presbytery until shortly before his death in 1982.   I believe I am one of the first United Church ministers to have been baptized, confirmed and ordained after church union. There are even fewer of us alive today.

A further attempt at union between the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church in Canada failed in the early 1970s after a twenty-five year search for a mutually acceptable view of the nature of ministry. Before the negotiations reached an impasse, a shared hymn book was published and adopted by both denominations. Today,  a generation later, many Anglican and United Church congregations in outlying regions share facilities and are served by each other’s ordained clergy. A corporate union still remains our hope and the goal toward which we press in a very much more complicated world.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 9, 2010

 ACTS 16: 9-15. This important transitions story marks the beginning of what scholars call a series of eyewitness accounts in which the pronouns switch from “they” to “we.” Scholars have assumed that the man who appeared to Paul in the night was Luke himself, the presumed author of Acts.

The passage also marks the beginning of the Christian mission in Europe. Of all the congregations Paul founded, he had warmest feelings for the Philippians, as his letter to that community shows.  

 PSALM 67. This simple hymn of praise may well have been a thanksgiving prayer after a successful harvest had brought relief from a severe famine. The psalm may have been sung antiphonally during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish thanksgiving festival. The untranslatable word, Selah, may have indicated a place for cymbals to sound.    

 REVELATION 21:10, 22-22:5. In John’s closing vision, he saw God’s holy city of the redeemed, for which God and Christ provide eternal light and life. A vision by the prophet Ezekiel and the Garden of Eden provided Old Testament models for the New Jerusalem. All believers may share this beatific vision made possible by the visible presence of God and Christ. Note that the whole scene takes place on earth, there is not temple or church, and God’s dwelling is among us, not “in the distant heavens” or outer space.

 JOHN 14:23-29. In these words attributed to Jesus John summed up the essential meaning of the Christ coming among us. His promise to send his Holy Spirit to dwell in, guide and strengthen his disciples is still valid. He is the ever present Lord available to everyone in all of life’s daily experiences.

JOHN 5:1-9. (Alternate)   This alternate reading presents us with the narrative of another miracle that leads to an expository discourse about Jesus’ authority deriving from God rather than from the legal restrictions of the Jewish Sabbath.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS

 ACTS 16:9-15. This is one of the important transitions in the story Luke is telling in Acts. It is the beginning of what scholars call a series of eyewitness accounts in which the pronouns switch from “they” to “we.” It has often been questioned whether Luke himself was the man who appeared to Paul in the night. But debate about the source of the “We” passages has generally concluded with Ramsay’s thesis of 1896 that these came from the author of the two volumes, the Gospel of Luke and Acts traditionally attributed to Luke.

It is significant that all the eyewitness passages (this one, together with 20:5-19, 21:1-18 and 27:1-28:16) include extensive sea voyages. This has prompted some analysts to suggest that Luke had access to a travel diary, perhaps his own or that of some other companion of Paul. Secondly, the effect of the “we” passages, according to Brevard Childs, “is to bring a broader confirmation of the apostolic witness and ground the material in a communal experience.” This literary device is distinct from other literary techniques Luke uses, but serves the same theological purpose of witnessing to the common faith proclaimed by all the apostles. It “render(s) the testimony in a particular fashion which serves to bridge the gap between the original author and the subsequent reader.” (Childs, Brevard S. The New Testament As Canon – An Introduction. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.)

Of all the congregations with which Paul was associated, he had warmest feelings for the Philippians, as his letter to that community showed. Yet unlike his visits to the Jewish Diaspora in Galatia, he did not find a synagogue in Philippi. Was there no Jewish community in that important Roman city? Or were they too few in number, since only ten male Jews were required to form a synagogue? Lydia appears to have been a Gentile “worshipper of God” (vs. 14) in whose home Paul made his headquarters?

The Greek word thus translated, sebomenos (Eng. = devout), appears several times elsewhere in Acts along with phoboumenos (Eng. = God-fearing) describing Gentiles who demonstrated sincere spiritual concerns. (cf. 10:2; 13:43, 50; 17:4, 17; 18:7). It is also possible that “a certain woman named Lydia” actually means “a woman from Lydia,” an ancient kingdom which under Rome became part of the province of Asia in which the prosperous city of Thyatira was located. If so, she may be identified with either Euodia or Syntyche of Phil. 4:2.

It also appears that she was a business woman or a widow who had taken over her former husband’s trade, as identified by being “a seller of purple.” Purple was the most valuable of ancient dyes, the source of which was a mollusk, each shade created by using different species of mollusk. The Hebrews valued the colour highly as a symbol of distinction, wealth and royalty. However we hypothesize about such minutiae, one thing is certain: in this instance, Paul’s testimony in Philippi marks the beginning of the Christian mission in Europe of which we too are the heirs.

 PSALM 67. This simple hymn of praise may well have been a thanksgiving prayer after a successful harvest had brought relief from a severe famine. (vs. 6)  It most likely found an appropriate place in the feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) prominently observed after the Exile. As a time for singing and dancing, this festival featured many liturgical compositions which may also have included such Psalms as 113-119 and 136.

The untranslatable word, Selah, which occurs twice in the text, may have indicated a place for cymbals to sound. The superscription indicates that stringed instruments were also used as accompaniment. Human voices in chorus, however, made the main music of worship in the temple. The psalm would have been sung antiphonally.

Another notable quality of this psalm is its missionary character drawn from such sources as Deutero-Isaiah and Jonah. God’s goodness to Israel, so visible in the abundant harvest, should be a revelation to all the world of God’s righteous ways in dealing with those who trust God. Accordingly, all nations should join Israel in reverence and praise.

REVELATION 21:10, 22-22:5. In John’s closing vision, he sees the New Jerusalem, God’s holy city of the redeemed, for which God and Christ provide eternal light and life. New Testament authors generally used Old Testament references to tell of how God’s redemptive purpose would be fulfilled through Christ. The models for the New Jerusalem were a vision by the prophet Ezekiel (47:1-12) Ezekiel and the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9-10). This beatific vision is made possible for all believers by the visible presence of God and Christ.

Quite rightly, the reading excludes the dimensions and description of the holy city, for these are symbolic. In fact, there is a double symbolism in that the city is also a bride bejewelled for her wedding.  So conservative an interpreter as Dr. Billy Graham has said that this passage does no more than describe heaven as a beautiful place where the faithful will live eternally with and should not be taken literally. But this is not heaven which John envisions.

Note especially where 21:10 places this eternal city of the redeemed. Most conceptions of the future life of the redeemed relocate earthbound creation and humanity to heaven. John does the very opposite: the heavenly city comes down to earth. There but one meaning for this statement. As Professor George Caird has pointed out: “To the crack of doom Jersualem can never appear otherwise than coming down out of heaven, for it owes its very existence to the condescension of God and not to the building up of men.”

The absence of the temple also has considerable significance. It symbolizes two essential aspects of Jewish thought and religion. One the one hand, it clarified the distinction between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. The temple was holy in that it had been set aside for the special service of God, separated from everyday, common use. On the other hand, the temple also represented the presence of God in the midst of God’s people, and God’s claim on the whole of the secular world. The fact that there is now no temple in the holy city means that the divine presence is no longer confined to a sanctuary set apart, but pervades the whole city and the world it represents.

Still more must be said about John’s vision of the holy city. The disappearance of the old and the condescension of the new conveys a dynamic redemptive message. Into the holy city come the nations and kings of the earth. Those who once trampled the holy city under foot have now come with willing tribute to adorn it. As Caird wrote: “Nothing from the old order which has value in the sight of God is debarred from entry into the new…. The treasure that men find laid up in heaven turns out to be the treasures and the wealth of the nations, the best they have known and loved redeemed of all imperfections and transfigured by the radiance of God….Nowhere in the New Testament do we find a more eloquent statement than this of the all-embracing scope of Christ’s redemptive work.”  (G.B. Caird. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Black’s New Testament Commentary. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1966. p. 278-280.)

 JOHN 14:23-29. We cannot tell if any of these words attributed to Jesus were part of the remembered tradition of what he actually said.  John appears to have cobbled together several disjointed themes within this much loved chapter of his Gospel. The way in which the editors of the lectionary have separated the various readings only serves to make the problem worse. There seems to no reason to separate Judas’ question (vs. 22) from the answer Jesus gave (vs. 23-24), nor to isolate that question and answer from the preceding segment about keeping the commandments to receiving the Father’s love. There is, however, some justification for the separation of the next segment (vs. 25ff) which the NRSV designates by a new paragraph. The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 8 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1952,  p. 707-715) seems to have done better by placing vss. 18-31 in three distinct sections: vss. 18-24, “the threefold union;” vss. 25-26, “the second Paraclete saying;” (the first Paraclete saying is in vss. 15-17) and vss. 27-31, “peace, joy and security.” In many respects, all such distinctions are speculative, for the original Greek text had no paragraphing or punctuation whatsoever and was written in capital letters.

In this particular reading, John was dealing with the issue of the church living in a hostile world at the end of the 1^st century CE without the visible presence of Christ. He told his community through these words attributed to Jesus that obedience and love are the conditions ruling the life of the church and therefore guaranteeing the sense of Christ’s living presence as God’s representative. He then went on to make an additional promise that the Holy Spirit would teach them and bring to their remembrance all that Christ had said to them. Was John here speaking about the Jesus’ story he was then actually writing down for his community? And did he also refer to what Calvin many centuries later would describe as “the inner testimony of the Spirit” enabling us to interpret holy scripture?

The final parting words John had Jesus speak have brought peace and security to countless distressed Christians. John obviously regarded the trials his community might be facing as similar to that which Jesus himself faced the night he was betrayed. The closer he came to the cross, the greater was Jesus’ sense that his ultimate of security lay in loving obedience to God’s will, not in his own desire for a longer life. This did not in any way remove him from the consequences of what others like Judas Iscariot, Caiaphas or Pilate would do. This was no facile counsel like “love God and do what you will,” as Augustine said five centuries later. Rather, this was the ultimate act of faith. For the disciples, for John’s community and for us, this is still so, as vs. 29 assures us.

JOHN 5: 1-9. (Alternate)   The reason for this alternate reading is not immediately obvious. It presents us with the narrative of another miracle that leads to an expository discourse about Jesus’ authority deriving from God rather than from the legal restrictions of the Jewish Sabbath.

John is very specific about the location of the pool called Bethzatha, but modern archeology has never satisfactorily discovered it. His description of the porticoes gives some background details about that fill out the where many invalids sheltered awaiting for the moment when an eruption of the water would provide a magical cure.

At first glance, Jesus’ challenge to the paralytic seems uncaring. Why else would he have laid there for thirty-eight years? Or is this just an extended period of time that John used to make the miracle seem all the more astonishing? The paralytic’s response seems pathetic, but still emphasized his credulity in the legend that the pool had magical powers.

Jesus’ initiative in selecting this man among many at the pool focused attention on his authority what God desires for every invalid: health of body, mind and spirit. Performing this miracle on the Sabbath set up the issue John wished to discuss at greater length: Jesus’ conflict with the Jews about his authority over all of life.

Additional Preaching Points:

• ACTS 16: 9-15.  Despite Lydia’s appearance only in this passage, creating a fictional background story about her could be a useful means of introducing the significant role women played in the ministry of Paul. Paul’s letters often referred to specific women who became leaders in the church or whose quarrels mitigated the appeal of the gospel and the mission of the church. This would counter the negative references to women often raised in some circles today against the role of women in leadership positions in the church or business.

• PSALM 67. Having recently witnessed from afar the 60th    anniversary of the refounding of Israel, we can easily imagine the unrestrained celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles during which this psalm may have had a significant part.

Bruce Chilton hypothesized that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and angry driving of the moneychangers from the temple actually occurred on the Feast of Tabernacles. The triumphal into Jerusalem entry was a parade celebrating that feast, not a political statement at Passover as the synoptic gospel narrative depicts. The upsetting of the money changer’s tables was Jesus’ protest against the lucrative commercialization of sacrifices which he believed every Jew had the right to present from his own means, however meager. (Chilton, Bruce. Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography. Doubleday, 2000.)

• REVELATION 21-22.  For those who may have missed it, Rev. Ron McCreary, of Gray Memorial United Methodist Church, Tallahassee, FL, commented that John’s vision of the New Jerusalem coming down out of  heaven from God and the assertion that God will tabernacle (NRSV “dwell”) with humankind, is a vision of the answer to the phrase from the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.”

This important insight is in keeping with such positive attitude toward history described in the new work of Jeremy Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization. Rifkin presents the view that, in the age of global electronic communication, following the empathic directive traditionally expressed in the Golden Rule is the best way to avoid total disaster through global conflict or environmental neglect.    (See more in Additional Preaching Points accompanying the lessons Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 25, 2010.)

• JOHN 14:23-29. It may seem inviting to link this gospel excerpt with a similar English words “dwelling” and “dwell” used in Revelation 21:3.  But be careful because the Greek words used in each instance were notably different. In John 14, the Greek verb was meno (English = remain; abide in KJV); “make our home” in NRSV); whereas in Revelation, the Greek verb was skéno (English = tabernacle). There was not only a different emphasis, but a significantly different meaning.

 Meno implied an enduring state of being present in the here and now, with a expectancy permanence in the future. Skéno referred to the tent or tabernacle where Yahweh was believed to reside temporarily as a symbol of protection and communion during Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. But in Revelation 21:1 & 22, there was no temple in the New Jerusalem, for it had vanished with the first earth, and God and the Lamb were its temple. Therefore, linking the two passages implies that it is the Spirit that makes the presence of God and Jesus Christ a permanent reality to the Church in every age, not the magnificent temples that we erect “to the glory of God.”

•  JOHN 5: 1-9. (Alternate).  Several sites in ancient Jerusalem have been considered as possible locations for the Pool of Bethesda (Beth-Zatha). A discovery made in 1888 by a German archaeologist best meets the biblical description.  In Jesus’ times it lay on the north side of the Old City walls at the foot of what was then known as Mount Bethzetha. Today it lies within the grounds of property owned by the “White Fathers,” near the Church of St. Anne. This is also close to the Arch of Ecce Home where the Via Dolorosa begins. This site suits well with descriptions by Origen and Eusebius in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries CE. Today tourists are shown this site as the best verified.  

Vs. 4 in the KJV regarding angels disturbing the waters does not exist in the best manuscripts. Scholars regard it as a 2^nd century CE interpolation. It was included in a footnote in the RSV and NRSV. The legend is believed to have risen to explain the phenomenon of a spring occasionally erupting in a ruddy stream of water.

There is doubt as to the pool’s use for the purpose named, the Sheep-Pool in vs. 2. It is believed to come from the practice of sheep being washed in a liturgical ceremony to prove their unblemished quality for sacrifice at the Passover. If so, a nearby gate, no longer visible beneath the massive north walls of the temple precincts, would have given access to the temple for the actual sacrifice.

For more information see here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Fathers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_of_Bethesda

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Third Sunday of Easter

April 18, 2010

 ACTS 9:1-6. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus marked the crucial turning point for the early church. As a multilingual, scholarly Jewish rabbi of the Diaspora (Jews who lived outside Israel), his controversy with the Jewish apostolic community in Jerusalem carried the Gospel beyond its Jewish boundaries. His many letters to congregations he founded began the process of creating the uniquely Christian scripture now forming our New Testament.

PSALM 30. This psalm of thanksgiving for recovery from a near-fatal illness came into liturgical use celebrating the re-dedication of the temple after the Maccabean Revolt of 165 BC. Its references to deliverance from death make it appropriate for use during the Easter season.

REVELATION 5:11-14. In John’s vision, the Lamb had been given the authority to open the scroll revealing God’s purpose of redeeming all of creation. The Lamb symbolized the crucified Christ whose victory over death began God’s final redemption. The twenty-four elders represent the task of the church to make God’s redemptive purpose known to the whole world.

JOHN 21:1-19. Scholarly consensus regards this chapter as an appendix to the Gospel. Jesus appeared in Galilee to several disciples who had returned to fishing. He showed that he had been raised from the dead by eating with the disciples. He also restored Peter’s leadership in the apostolic church in the light of Peter’s earlier denial.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS

 ACTS 9:1-6. (Alternate reading includes vss. 7-20.) The conversion of Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus to persecute those who believed in Jesus’ resurrection marked the crucial turning point for the Apostolic Church. Some scholars go so far as to say that it was the beginning of the church. They argue that without Paul and his mission to the Gentiles, the church would have remained a Jewish sect and would have vanished with the Jerusalem Christian community in the disastrous Roman-Jewish War of 69-70 CE. The only other sect of Judaism to survive was the Pharisees. Over the next two or three centuries, they evolved into rabbinic Judaism.

What exactly do we know about Paul? As a multilingual, scholarly Jewish rabbi of the Diaspora, he was uniquely equipped to carry the Gospel beyond its Jewish boundaries. He was born a Hellenistic Jew in Tarsus, Cilicia and hence a Roman citizen. More than likely he was named both Saul and Paul from birth, his Jewish and Roman names. Tarsus was a seaport on the Mediterranean coast of Cilicia, now southern Turkey.  Paul’s family were engaged in commercial trade, for at times Paul made his living as a “tentmaker” or “leatherworker.” (Acts 18:3) It was then necessary for a rabbi to have a trade to live by. In some respects, however, that was an unusual trade for a Pharisee to follow. The Talmud of later rabbinic Judaism regarded tanning as a disreputable occupation for the devout. Because of the odours caused by their work, tanners were forced to live outside the city walls. Simon the tanner in whose house Peter had a vision of many unclean animals being declared clean lived by the seaside in Joppa. (Acts 9:43)

Paul called himself a strict Pharisee. (Phil. 3:5). A rising party within Judaism in the first half of the lst century CE, they assumed the leadership of the Jewish community after the destruction of the temple. The synagogues of the Diaspora became the main centres for their teaching ministry, as for Paul himself. According to Acts 22:3, Paul’s mentor was Gamaliel, the leading Pharisee of the day. Gamaliel (aka “the Elder”) was a member of the Sanhedrin, and the grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel (ca. 60 BCE – 20 CE). His leadership prior to the Roman-Jewish War contributed largely to the influence of the Pharisees after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 CE. His grandson, Gamaliel II, led the Palestinian Jewish community in the last two decades of the 1^st century CE and the first two of the 2^nd century. His determined opposition to the Christian community resulted in their banishment from the synagogues after the assembly at Jabneh (Jamnia) ca. 85 CE.

It is unlikely that as a council of elite Jews with limited administrative and policing powers, the Sanhedrin had yet become the rabbinical court which later created the codification and commentary of rabbinic law in the Talmud and Mishnah after 200 CE. More probably, in Paul’s time, it had a role of administering the temple tax system and restraining the religious fervour of the recalcitrant Jewish population on behalf of their Roman overlords.

Following his conversion, Paul appears to have had a falling out with the Pharisees while at the same time making use of his earlier loyalties in his defense as an apostle. (Acts 15:5 cf. 26:5; Gal. 1:13-14.) Before then, with a mandate from the high priest to the Jewish synagogues in Damascus, he set out to bring all the members of the Christian sect he could identify back to Jerusalem as prisoners for trial before the Sanhedrin. One commentator has suggested that Paul’s mission to Damascus was “an under-cover operation” in which the prisoners would have been kidnapped and brought back to Jerusalem secretly. (Quoted from Hanson, R.P. C. The Acts, [Oxford, 1965] in A.N. Wilson’s Paul: The Mind of the Apostle. New York: Norton, 1997.) This possibility argues strongly for Paul having a responsible position in the temple police under the authority of the high priest and very closely aligned with the Roman administration.

En route to Damascus, Paul had an epiphany which he subsequently interpreted as being met by the risen Christ. (1 Cor. 15:8) There are major discrepancies between Luke’s version of this experience in Acts 9 and Paul’s own description of it in Galatians 1:11-17. The two make one point in common: The Jesus-story was never the same after this “conversion.” A.N. Wilson claimed, “The historicity of Jesus became unimportant the moment Paul had his apocalypse.”  According to Wilson, Paul’s genius shaped the Apostolic Church because he had a much wider experience of life in the Mediterranean world. He had also witnessed the religious experience of people other than Jews and their conversion to Christianity. This gave him a richer language-store and a different myth-experience, than some of the other NT writers whose “mythologies were limited to Jewish liturgy and folk-tale.”  (Wilson, 72-73) Thus he was chiefly responsible for transforming the Church into a Gentile institution.

 PSALM 30. This is a psalm of thanksgiving by a single individual for recovery from a near-fatal illness. Vss. 1-5 reflect this life-restoring experience. The illness had brought him so near to death that his healing was like redemption from the underworld (vs. 3). Thus his experience had given him a very personal sense of God’s favour as he offered his thanksgiving.

The next segment of the psalm (vss. 6-10) draws a picture of the psalmist’s former prosperity and false confidence: “I shall never be moved.” Devout though he may have been, he had been stricken with near fatal illness. He interpreted this as having overlooked the possibility that he might fall from God’s favour for no explicable reason other than that God might frown on him. In his distress, he cried out for help. His lament went so far as to employ the ancient belief that a deity with no one to praise him was extinct (vs. 9). In the end, it was God’s gracious initiative that saved him and gave him a new opportunity to sing God’s praise. (vss. 10-11)

W.R. Taylor, the exegete of this psalm in The Interpreter’s Bible (iv, 158), points to the superscription of the psalm as proof that the psalm came into liturgical use on the anniversaries of the dedication of the temple after the Maccabean Revolt of 165 BC. By then it was no longer a personal hymn of thanksgiving, but had become an expression of national faith that their survival was God’s doing and due solely to God’s grace and power. Such references to deliverance from death also make it relevant during the Christian celebration of Easter.

 REVELATION 5:11-14. This excerpt from John’s vision of the scroll (vss. 1-14) has lent itself to several interpretations. According to the late Professor George Caird, the scroll contains “God’s redemptive plan, foreshadowed by the OT, by which he means to assert his sovereignty over the sinful world and so achieves the purpose of creation….The redemptive plan, initiated by the archetypal victory of Christ, awaits further fulfilment in the victory of the Conquerors, which will contribute to the final victory of God.” (G.B. Caird. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Black’s New Testament Commentary. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1966. p. 72.)

In John’s vision, the Lamb had been given the authority to open the scroll revealing God’s purpose of redeeming all of creation. The Lamb, of course, is the symbol for the crucified Christ whose victory over death is the beginning of God’s final redemption. To make God’s redemptive purpose known to the whole world is the task of the church, “the royal house of priests” drawn “from every tribe, tongue, people and nation” (vs.10) and here represented by twenty-four elders (vs. 8), twelve for the tribes of the Older Covenant and twelve for the New Israel, the Church.

Caird noted that John does not think of Christ has withdrawn from the scene of his earthly victory to return only at the Parousia. Rather, his faithful followers continue to exercise his royal and priestly functions.

(cf.. 1 Peter 2:9-10) Further, Caird identified the similarity between John’s and Paul’s thinking about the cross: God had already reconciled the whole universe to himself (Col. 1:20). To make this act of amnesty and reconciliation known to the world is the task of the church. Yet the success of God’s holy purpose in already being celebrated in the heavenly court.

 JOHN 21:1-19. By scholarly consensus, this chapter is now regarded as an appendix to the Gospel. Jesus’ final post-resurrection appearance took place in Galilee where several of the disciples had returned to fishing. William Barclay clarified the quadruple intent of the chapter: to prove that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead; to proclaim the universality of the church; to re-establish the leadership of Peter in the apostolic church; and to point to John as the last of the apostolic witnesses. Each of these purposes is substantiated in the details of the story.

Who but someone who knew the Sea of Galilee would have been able to tell the fishermen where to cast their nets? Barclay described how two modern travelers in the Holy Land, W.M Thomson in The Land and the Book and H.V. Morton, saw something very similar to this happen. Who but a close friend would have prepared a seaside breakfast for the weary fishermen?

As in the pericope about the empty tomb, it was John who first recognized the reality of the situation: that Jesus was calling to them from the beach. But it was Peter who took action by jumping into the water and wading ashore to greet him. The fire, the fish and the bread are not merely symbolic details with which John so dearly liked to embellish his stories. They were real evidence for John’s community that Jesus was alive.

The 153 fish have something more to tell us. Barclay recounts three of the many ingenious suggestions as to their meaning. He concludes, however, that the net is a symbol of the universal church which is large enough and strong enough to embrace people of all nations. Inclusiveness and diversity are its chief characteristics.

That Peter drew the net to the shore led to his later conversation with Jesus. This exchange with its thrice repeated question and command, “Do you love me?… Feed my sheep” is the way John told how Peter was reinstated as the pastoral leader of the church. This must have had special meaning for John’s community for whom the Apostle John was the dominant personality among the disciples. We know that some sense of rivalry as to who was the greatest did exist. This was John’s way of saying that each had his special gifts to bring to the young church, gifts which Christ himself had fully recognized and acknowledged.

Finally, John’s contribution was not overlooked. Whereas Peter was named the pastoral leader of the church, John was the longest surviving witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Quite possibly, John had just died, or was still alive, but no longer capable of any activity. The Parousia which had been expected within the lifetime of the apostles had still not occurred. The author of the Fourth Gospel used this exchange between Peter and Jesus about John to deal with this concern in his own community. Christ will come according to his own and God’s timing, unhastened by our anxiety in waiting or desire to see the end.

PREACHING POINTS. 

• These readings all contribute to the theological truth of what German scholars call heilegeschicte – faith history. This concept developed from the Jewish conviction that God’s ultimate purpose was being worked out in the history of Israel. The Apostolic Church with its base in Hebrew scriptures and theology also adopted this approach to its destiny. The Book of Revelation expressed this faith through the mystical visions of John.

• Well into the 20^th century two British historians Arnold Toynbee (1889 -1975) and Herbert Butterfield (1900 – 1979) similarly believed that instances of the hand of divine providence could be discerned in human history. Toynbee saw it in the rise and fall of civilizations. Butterfield saw it in the hard won victory of the two World Wars of the 20^th century and the hope for more peaceful, cooperative times in the future.

• The fundamentalist belief that the Rapture will happen any day now and can be discerned in the events reported in the media tries to convey a similar point of view. But this is not a conviction expressed in the Christian scriptures. Its roots are found instead in the late 19^th century “premillinarian dispensationalism” of English evangelical preacher John Darby. (The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. By Barbara R. Rossing Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 2004, Hardback, 212pp., $24.00).

• A small chapel at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee not far from Capernaum marks the site where the incident recorded in John 21 is traditionally believed to have occurred. (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/tabgha-church-of-primacy-of-peter.htm) Nearby are a spot where seven springs provide a flow of fresh water to the lake. Fish still gather there to feed on algae near the springs. Tabgha is an Arabic translation of the Greek word heptapegai which means “seven springs.” Thus, the great draught of fish drawn in by the fisherman may not have been so miraculous. Some scholars believe that the catch of 153 fish represents all the known nations of that time.

• A mosaic from a 4^th century CE chapel in the floor of the present chapel at Tabgha reveals nearby the traditional site of the feeding of the five thousand.

1 SAMUEL 2:18-20, 26. How does a family bring up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” as one traditional baptismal liturgy reads? This scripture tells us that it can best be done by exposing them to the worship and teaching of our faith. Yet, as the passage just prior to this one relates, that isn’t all there is to it. The sons of Eli the priest did not follow in their father’s footsteps to become Israel’s spiritual leaders. That role fell to Samuel, who became one of Israel’s greatest prophets.

PSALM 148. We tend to forget that God loves all the created universe as well as the human race. This psalm summons all of creation to praise God just for being, as are God’s people Israel.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17. The heart of Christian worship and ethics, wrote Paul, is to create loving relationships – with God, with other people, and with God’s creation. To make his point more vividly, Paul introduces a metaphor about putting on new clothes. It is often said that in the early church newly baptized Christians were dressed in new, white robes as a symbol of the new life Christ had given them. Another metaphor of the indwelling Christ brings out the spiritual growth that comes from worshiping and witnessing within the Christian fellowship.

LUKE 2:41-52. In much the same way that he drew from Hannah’s Song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 for a model of Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55, Luke elaborated on the story of Samuel’s growth under Eli’s tutelage in the Old Testament lesson above. Thus he clarified for his readers that Jesus was a very human person, but with unusual spiritual insight and understanding. An early Christian heresy, called Docetism, claimed that Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be a real human being. In the traditional view based on scripture, he is both fully human and divine.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

1 SAMUEL 2:18-20, 26. The story of Eli and his sons is a tragic one. It appears to have been told to emphasize the contrast between Samuel’s childhood and that of the two wayward sons of Eli. Their sins appear to have been against religious customs or else demanding privileges which were not their due. (2:12-17). One commentator noted that this is an example of clericalism even in early Israel. It should surprise no one that there is still ample evidence of this human fault in clergy today as church leaders seek to protect themselves, their clergy and their institution from widespread public scandals .

The point at issue in our reading, however, deals with Samuel and the way his family was rewarded for dedicating their son to service of Yahweh. For our time this issue might be stated in the words of one traditional baptismal liturgy: How does a family bring up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?” By exposing them to the worship and teaching of the faith, this scripture tells us. Would that it was so simple! Many communities have tales to tell of faithful church members whose children betrayed everything the parents had stood for.

The sons of Eli the priest did not follow in their father’s footsteps to become Israel’s spiritual leaders. That role fell to Samuel, who subsequently became one of Israel’s great prophets. We know that dedicated parenting isn’t all there is to it. Even the most piously trained young people sometimes rebel against their parents’ devotion. How many adults absent themselves from the church because they claim to have had too much of it in their youth?

In practice, it is impossible to tell when and how parental efforts to educate their children religiously will be effective. We are dealing with moral and spiritual matters in which results are notoriously difficult to determine. Some would use authoritarian means to achieve the end they desire. That would be self-defeating, however, since it is an exercise of power rather than advancing the processes of education and spiritual development. Practiced by governments on a regional or national level, it becomes theocracy – a religious state where law is determined by religious mandate rather than by justice for all. This has become an important issue in some fundamentalist Islamic countries where Islamic shariah law has been enforced.

A few years ago, a great deal of publicity was given to a situation in the southern American state of Alabama where the chief justice of his state was removed from office because he defied a judgment by the federal court to remove a monument bearing the Ten Commandments he had erected at the entrance to the state court building. The federal court had ruled that the monument constituted a government endorsement of Christianity, so violating the separation of church and state. The judge argued that being constantly made aware of the laws of God would beneficially effect obedience to the laws of the nation.

PSALM 148. This is the third of five hallelujah psalms at the end of the Psalter. It summons all of creation to praise God just for being. So are God’s people Israel. The well-known hymn, “This is my Father’s world,” found its motif here. We do tend to forget that God loves all the created universe as well as the human race. The psalm has a liturgical structure with vss. 5-6, 13 -14 forming antiphons which could have been sung by a Levitical chorus.

The theological concepts of the psalm developed late in Israel’s history. Yahweh is transcendent, far removed from creation. There are several intervening heavens arranged concentrically like the walls of a city or superimposed one on the other. These concepts reappear in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; and again in Hebrews 4:14 and 7:26, so it must have been well-known in rabbinical Judaism. On the other hand, the celestial beings and stars worshiped as gods in other eastern traditions are here seen as
subordinate to Yahweh.

The “horn for his people” (vs. 14) which Yahweh raises up is a symbol of strength and dignity drawn from the horns of animals in the Israelites’ flocks, their ancient source of wealth and power, but not possessed by other animals, particularly those that preyed on the flocks. But is there another possible interpretation of the phrase?

In Exodus 27:2, the instructions for the building of the altar included horns at each corner. They were made of wood covered with bronze. Probably of Canaanite origin and possibly similar to the horns of a ram or a bull, tradition held that this was the most important part of the altar, with special powers to protect those seeking asylum. Adonijah and Joab grasped the horns of the altar to save themselves from Solomon during the struggle for succession to David (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).

Instructions for sin offering (Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25) also states that the priest should wipe some of the blood of the sacrificial animal on the horns of the altar. Lev. 8:14 refers to this being done by Moses when he ordained the Aaronic priesthood. Aaron did so also when he performed the sin offering ( Lev. 9:9). This gives a symbolic significance of divine power resting in this appurtenance of the sacred altar. By the time the psalm came into liturgical use in the late post-exilic period, it is possible that the historic symbolism remained regardless of the ancient sacrificial practice or sacred accountrements of the temple still remained.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17. Much scholarly energy has been expended in debating whether or not Colossians was written by Paul or by someone else. Perhaps the most satisfying conclusion to this observer, though admittedly unprovable, is that of Eduard Schweizer: The letter was composed by Timothy on behalf of Paul and himself while the apostle was imprisoned in Ephesus. (1:1)

The heart of Christian worship and ethics, this passage says, is to create relationships – with God and with other people. This is the special work of Christ whom believers encounter in their life together as the church in the real world. Thus the list of five virtues which the Christian must “put on.” These are summarized by “love” in vs. 14 and supplemented by the “peace of Christ to which you were called in the one body.” This all refers to the life of the Christian community, most likely a contentious mix of Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, employers and employees, perhaps even slaves and free.

To make his point more vividly, Paul reiterates a metaphor about “putting on” as one puts on new clothes contrasting with the “putting off” the five evils of v. 8. In the early church when catechumens came to be baptized, they took off their old clothes and were dressed in new, white robes as a symbol of the new life Christ had given them.

Another metaphor of the indwelling Christ brings out the spiritual growth that comes from the worshiping and witnessing of the Christian fellowship. The dynamic for creating the new relationships the church brings to the world is what Schweizer calls “the stream of love flowing from God to humankind via Christ.” In these times when the church’s influence has been so greatly diminished and we exercise our faith on the margins of society, this important ministry of the whole people of God is often neglected.

LUKE 2:41-52. In much the same way that he drew from Hannah’s Song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 for a model of Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-55, Luke elaborated on the story of Samuel’s growth under Eli’s tutelage in the Old Testament lesson above. However, this story should not be interpreted as Jesus’ bar mitzvah, a practice developed in rabbinical Judaism no earlier than the 15th century CE.

Luke clarifies for his readers that Jesus was an very human person as well as having unusual spiritual insight and at least an elementary awareness of his divine mission. The portrait we have here is of a headstrong adolescent who disappeared from the company of Galilean travelers as they left Jerusalem after the Passover festival. He went missing for three days, a terrifyingly long time for his anxious parents. They finally found him in the temple questioning the learned scholars about spiritual matters.

Naturally, Mary rebuked him, as all mothers would. Instead of submitting to her rebuke, he answered her back. The distance between the boy and his parents was already widening, in spite of Mary’s treasuring of this memorable experience. Who was this child-man who so mystified them?

In his biographical study of the biblical record, Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography (Doubleday, 2000), Bruce Chilton reasoned that Jesus was actually an outsider, a mamzer, even in his own family because of his unusual birth. (The term mamzer meant one born outside of his parents’ marriage.) Chilton believes that Jesus fled from Nazareth to join John the Baptist’s movement calling for repentance as young as sixteen or seventeen. Both those who hold to the virgin birth and those who do not can take some rationale for their respective points of view from this story. It would seem that Luke’s intention in telling it was the provide a narrative which later generations would codify in traditional creeds that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.

An early Christian heresy, still evident in some parts of the church today, claimed that Jesus was divine, but wasn’t a real human being. Today this may be no more than an overemphasis on Christ’s divinity in contradiction to the easy humanizing of Jesus and his ethical message so prevalent in our post-Christendom culture and the renewed search for “the historical Jesus” many traditionalists find so disturbing. On the other hand, to minimize the humanity of Jesus is as heretical as overemphasis on his divinity. Luke does not attempt to do anything more than tell his story and leave the reader to answer the crucial question which confronts us all: Who is this?

Nearly a century ago, some of the Protestant churches in Canada developed two strong teenage youth programs as a counterpart to the Scouting movement. The boys’ groups were called TUXIS and the girls’, CGIT (Canadian Girls In Training). TUXIS was an acronym for the program’s motto: “You and I training for service with Christ and nothing but Christ between us.” TUXIS groups were formed as midweek activities of Sunday school classes in many local congregations. Both of these groups had as their biblical basis the text of Luke 2:52 (KJV): “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

This text provided the four basic elements of the program of these two groups: healthy growth of mind and body, and of one’s social and spiritual relationships. A few of the boys’ groups lasted until the early 1950s, but eventually succumbed to a lack of strong male leadership and competition from the Scouting movement. A significant number of male lay and ordained leaders of the church received their strongest religious education from participation in TUXIS groups. There are still CGIT groups in some congregations of The United Church of Canada. Many of the prominent lay women as well as diaconal and ordained ministers of the present generation in the United Church began their leadership training in CGIT.

Panentheism holds that the divine spirit dwells in each person and in all of creation. It is not too much to say that the panentheism which characterizes the theology of many contemporary clergy stems from passages like this. Luke’s narrative in chapters 1 & 2 points to Jesus as being a human person in whom the Spirit dwelt from the time of his conception and was evident to him as early as his visit to the temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Christmas Eve & Day
December 24 & 25, 2009
Propers 1, 2 & 3

PLEASE NOTE: The Revised Common Lectionary follows the tradition of listing Propers 1-3 in the liturgy for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This Introduction combines the Lessons for this festive occasion into one format as the simplest way of analyzing them for preaching purposes.

ISAIAH 9:2-7. (Proper 1) The early Christians saw this passage as a prediction of the coming of Christ. Matthew quoted the opening and preceding verses as a prophecy of Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 4:15-16). For Jews it was not so intended, but regarded it as a promise of a future Messiah who would reign on David’s throne amid great rejoicing. The coming of this new king with lofty titles would bring in an age of justice and peace.

The term Messiah actually meant “the anointed.” The custom of so designating a future ideal king arose from the liturgical act of anointing each Israelite king on his coronation (2 Sam. 2:4; 2 Kings 11:12). He was thus regarded as “the Lord’s Messiah” having a unique relationship with Israel’s God, Yahweh. It would appear that vss. 1-6 originally existed as a dynastic oracle uttered on the occasion of a new king’s anointing or on the anniversary of that event.

The passage contains motifs found extensively in Psalms with reference to the Davidic dynasty, viz: the dawn of great light (Pss. 110:3, 118:24, 27); exaltant rejoicing (Pss. 118:15, 24; 132:9,16); the overthrow of Israel’s enemies (Pss.2:2, 8, 9); burning fire (Pss. 21:9; 118:12); gift of a divine son (Pss.2:7; 89:26-27); proclamation of divine qualities (Pss.2:6,7; 21:5; 72:17; 89:27; 110:4); establishing a permanent throne of peace and justice (Pss. 2:8-9: 21:4; 61:6-7; 72:1-8; 89:3-4;, 28-29, 36-37; 132:11-12).

This lends credence to the possibility that the oracle had been associated with the crowning of an unnamed Judean king and may well have come from the time of Isaiah himself in the late 8th century BCE. A Jewish tradition linked it with the coronation of Hezekiah (715-686 BCE) who worked closely with the temple priesthood. It may also have been associated with his predecssor Ahaz (735-715 BCE). The prophet Isaiah is known to have been closely associated with both the royal court and the temple during that period.

ISAIAH 62:6-12. (Proper 2) This passage consists of the final strophes of the last of three poems from the disciples of the unknown prophet of Israel’s exile in Babylon, sometimes referred to as Third Isaiah. The whole chapter (62:1-12) defines Israel as a messianic people and recalls many of the themes found in the work of Deutero-Isaiah (Isa. 40-55). This poem promises that Jerusalem will express a new relationship with Yahweh in which the nation’s fortunes will be reversed will never again be left helpless before its enemies and will be restored by divine providence.

The image in vss. 6-7 is of the prophet as a watchman on the walls of the city whose function is to pray unceasingly for the fulfillment of divine promises. Vss. 8-9 recalls Yahweh’s promise that never again will invaders reap the crops sown by Israelites. Vs. 9 may contain a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles when the first fruits of the harvest were offered to Yahweh as the festival was celebrated in the temple with much feasting (Deut. 12:17ff; 14:23ff; 16:13ff).

The final strophe in vss. 10-12 identifies Israel as the messianic community, the eschatological theme of Isa. 40:1-1 and 52:1-12. These lines contain many of the same images of those earlier passages from Deutero-Isaiah. They speak of the joyful enthusiasm of pilgrims (or possibly the exiles from Babylon) thronging the gates of Jerusalem as the redeemed people of Yahweh return to their holy city.

Would it be too much for Christians too, gathered in their multitudes for Christmas worship, to see themselves in a new light and rejoice as the inheritors of their status as the redeemed people of God prospering as result of God’s forgiving grace? Would not the conversation at many festive table be enriched by discussions of the true mission of the faithful community to share the redemptive tradition with the world, beginning within the gathered family circle?

ISAIAH 52:7-10. (Proper 3) In words that have inspired countless generations to hope for deliverance from disastrous experiences, these verses bring us too the simple message, “Your God reigns.” Would the survivors of the Holocaust have thought of these lines when they saw their deliverers drive into their prison camps with food and medicine to preserve what little life was left in their broken bodies? If only the people of Iraq and Afghanistan could have seen the military forces that invaded their countries in such a redemptive light.

The prophet’s vision is of a messenger running through the hills that surround Jerusalem bearing the totally unexpected news. From the sentinels keeping watch on the walls the cry goes out that the exiles are indeed on their way home. From the streets of the city songs of rejoicing break forth. The ruins in which they have lived in such desperation for two generations echo their joy. At long last, the comforting words of Yahweh’s redemptive love for Israel have not only been confirmed, but Israel’s mission to the world renewed. “Before the eyes of all the nations, all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.” (vs. 10)

Is Christmas in this war weary world not the time to reiterate again and again the message from God sung in Jerusalem and heard again over Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to all people of good will?”

In a moving article in The Living Pulpit, a quarterly magazine “dedicated to the art of the sermon,” Rabbi Michael Lerner pleads with his own people, the Jews of America and Israel, the Arab people of Palestine and the Middle East, and people of all nations, to find new ways to reconcile their differences. He offers a strategy, which if accepted by all parties, would begin the process of bringing security and peace by planting the seeds of Shalom not only with adults but with children. “In the final analysis,” he wrote, “no political settlement will work without a huge amount of compassion, open-heartedness, generosity of spirit, and ability to recognize the Other as equally precious in God’s eyes.”

PSALM 96. (Proper 1) This psalm, along with the two following it, Pss. 97 & 98, were meant to be sung as part of the enthronement liturgy at the beginning of each New Year. In many respects, the vocabulary of all these psalms is similar. This celebration acknowledged Yahweh’s awesome power, justice and absolute supremacy over all creation. The Incarnation, God’s coming into the world in the infant Jesus, is the Christian celebration of this sovereignty.

Ps. 96 may actually have consisted as three separate hymns sung during a long processional into the temple (vss. 1-6; 7-9; and 10-13). While much of the psalm is borrowed from other psalms, the first part rejoices in Yahweh, the one God and Creator who exercises dominion over the natural world. The second part proclaims the power and glory of Yahweh and summons the worshipers to present their offerings before the altar. At the high point of the enthronement ceremony, the cry goes up, “The Lord reigns!” as Yahweh has assumed his kingship. The heavens, the earth, the fields, tress of the wood and the sea are called to echo the praise of the people.

The performance of this ritual at the beginning of each new year reminded Israel that Yahweh’s sovereignty was neither a relic of the past or some future hope, but a present reality renewed once again for the coming year and for all time.

PSALM 97. (Proper 2) Jewish theology did not depend on abstractions. Anthropomorphism – defining the nature of God in terms of human characteristics – featured much of the Jewish concept of divinity. Perhaps it could not have been otherwise. The human mind abstracts from what it observes in the immediate environment such symbols and metaphors it can use to describe in words what is essentially indescribable. Does God really reign from a throne enveloped in “clouds and thick darkness?” Of course not, but these images enable this poet to convey the ideas of divine sovereignty, righteousness and justice. In fact, vss. 2-5 actually describes a violent thunderstorm raging over the mountains. In vs. 6, the storm has passed and glorious sunlight reflects the divine glory for all to see.

In vss. 7-9, the poet’s vision shifts from nature to religious objects of worship. Unlike the Greeks and Romans who espoused many religions and absorbed them in a syncretist fashion, Israel’s prophets fought a continuing battle against idolatry and false religion. The psalmist shared this prophetic faith. He did not deny the existence of idols, but unequivocally declared their worthlessness (vs.7) and Yahweh’s sovereignty over all (vs.9). Hence there could be both hope for deliverance and security for the faithful, righteous believer. (vss.10-12)

PSALM 98. (Proper 3) This psalm uses different sounds in nature as well as the human voice and musical instruments as the means of praise. The reason for such an outburst of rejoicing lay in the mighty saving acts of Yahweh extending in mercy to Israel. Their purpose was to draw the attention of the whole world and thus inform all peoples of what Yahweh was doing through this specially favoured people.

Vs. 4 identifies the songs of praise as worshipers process into the temple. In vss. 5-6, musical instruments add to joyous cacophony. Finally, all nature and all creatures are summoned to support the noisy disharmony.

The idea of Yahweh as a monarch to be enthroned each new year conveyed the spiritual truth of a supreme being to whose will the people owed obedience. This concept went as far back as the times of Gideon (Judges 8:23) and presumably also reflected the double roles of an ancient Middle Eastern monarch as ruler and chief religious figurehead or priest. The Israelites had adopted this concept after their settlement in Canaan. Yahweh was their King-God similar to the monarchs of other cultures. In the post-exilic period when there were no reigning monarchs, the annual ritual of the enthronement of Yahweh took the place of royal coronations. Ps. 72 refers to a coronation when the monarch ascended Israel’s throne as the representative and “son” of Yahweh. From these customs and practices came the concept of the saving messiah so familiar to Christians in the gospel depictions of Jesus as the Messiah and King of the Jews.

TITUS 2:11-14. (Proper 1) This brief letter attributed to Paul, but probably form the hand of a disciple of a generation or two later, reiterates the apostolic message that God’s gracious salvation for all came through Jesus Christ. But what was salvation for? Grounded in the faith that God through Christ has redeemed us, the author calls us to live a holy life while we await Christ’s return in glory.

In vs. 13, the epithet, “our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” refers to Jesus alone, not to God and Jesus. Scholars believe that this was a way of countering the emperor cult and mystery traditions of the Romans. There may have been a liturgical origin behind the unusual phrase.

Vs. 14 gives reiterates the purpose of redemption. Jesus gave himself for us in obedience to God’s will, so we also ought to be zealously obedient in going good. In other words, redemption means being freed from the binding powers of sin so that we may be purified and as new people no longer live under sin’s evil domination. We use the term ”sanctification” to describe the process. This reflects the experience of the Israelites who were led through the wilderness to be recreated as God’s people zealous for obedience to the covenant law. The same theme echoes through the whole of the New Testament because the early church saw themselves as God’s new people.

TITUS 3:4-7. (Proper 2) When read aloud this passage has an almost liturgical tone to it. In fact, as some scholars have noted, it could have been part of a baptismal liturgy used in maturing church of late 1st or early 2nd centuries. It also reiterates some well known Pauline concepts such as justification granted through grace alone entirely at God’s initiative, symbolized by baptism and effecting a moral and spiritual rebirth.

The emphasis of the passage is on a new beginning. That was how the apostolic age regarded what had happened in the Jesus story. God had created something entirely new. Whereas Jewish and Greek thought regarded change as decay and history as degeneration from a golden age, such words as regeneration and rebirth came to Christian thought full of new meaning, hope and faith. In Jesus God had begun a whole new creation despite the appearance to the very opposite.

This theme is found throughout the New Testament, not least of all in the Pauline epistles, John 3:6 and 1 Peter 1:3-4. This experience of regeneration was not ephemeral, like an ecstatic and momentary enthusiasm. It involved a moral redemption available to and characteristic of all Christians, making them a holy people, a colony of heaven even while still living in the real world. It should not surprise us in our time that this liturgical expression of the true meaning of the Good News has been made the epistle reading for Christmas Day.

HEBREWS 1:1-4, (5-12). (Proper 3) This sonorous sentence in the Greek text runs through to the end of vs. 4. It states the theme of the whole book that in contrast to all previous incomplete and imperfect revelations, the coming of Jesus is the final and perfect revelation because he is God’s Son.

Several quotations from the Hebrew scriptures follows this single sentence to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ. The quotations are taken mostly from a number of Psalms, although Deuteronomy 32:43 also appears to lie behind vs. 6. All were taken out of context, but that made no difference to the author because they served his purpose.

Noteworthy is the significance placed upon angels. Both Jews and Christians regarded angels as mediators and agents of the divine will. Scholars have suggested that the worship of angels may have threatened the unknown Christian fellowship to which the letter had been sent. The Colossians community faced a similar threat (Col. 2:8, 18). Angels, however, have no function not initiated by the divine will; they simply serve in assigned roles. The task of human redemption, however, is the act of the person who shares divine power in and of himself. Therein lies the authority and power of the Son. One because he is one with God could he undertake such a ministry.

With this precise argument, the author lets us peer behind the manger, the cross and the empty tomb to recognize who Jesus really is and why we still celebrate his birth.

LUKE 2:1-20 (Propers 1 & 2) Luke tells the story of the birth of Jesus as if it was history, but it is actually a folk idyll more akin to poetry than history. The details differ significantly from those in Matthew’s narrative and the two cannot be correlated in any way, as modern Christmas pageants tend to do. Here it is not wise men from afar, but angels in the heavenly host and humble shepherds from their pastures who come to marvel at this once in eternity event. Christian hymnody has made much of the story. We still sing those hymns and carols with sincere joy and faith. Exacting scholarship may question the factual truth of many romantic aspects of Luke narrative, but cannot detract from the reality of the Incarnation of God in human flesh.

Nonetheless, attempts have been made to find non-Christian sources for the birth stories in Matthew and Luke. Roman, Persian and Hellenistic Jewish mythologies have been suggested, but none have been proven. One recent speculative proposal by Bruce Chilton in his Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, supposedly based on archeological as well as biblical research, insisted that there was a second town of Bethlehem in Galilee. Such a town is named in Joshua 19:15 within the territory allotted to Zebulun and located just seven miles from Nazareth. Chilton argued that it was the hometown of Mary where Joseph met and married her at the tender age of thirteen. He also quoted the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 67a) of the 5th century CE as referring to Mary having slept with a Roman soldier. A more exacting study by Raymond E. Brown is non-committal as to the historicity of the birth narratives and the virginal conception. (The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Doubleday, 1993) Chilton clarifies the issue cogently as follows: “What about Jesus’ birth generated the divergent understanding of it in Christian and Jewish literature?” A more recent study by Geza Vermes, The Nativity: History and Legend. (Penguin Books, 2006) presents a very cogent discussion of the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke. Vermes drew on his vast knowledge of the Jewish textual and commentary background to the Christian scriptures to make a reasonable case for both traditionalists and progressives.

Traditional Christian art, liturgy and hymnody as well as modern commercial depictions of the first Christmas follow the scripture narrative ‘religiously.’ Perhaps this more than anything else is responsible for 65% of Americans believing in the Virgin Birth despite the vocal denial of most biblical scholars, The Jesus Seminar and Bishop John Spong. Not all presentations of Christmas are so literal.

The United Church of Canada recently carried a provocative advertising campaign intended to attract the attention of the generation of young adults 30-45 years old no longer significantly represented in its congregations. A full-page colour advertisement appeared in December issues of several popular consumer magazines. It pictured a bearded, traditionally robed Jesus sitting on Santa’s throne with a child on his knee and others standing by waiting their turn. They were set in a gaudy shopping mall surrounded by with all the customary consumer objects. The caption directed the reader to an Internet website. The media made the most of the opportunity to draw critical attention to the page. Yet in the first week after it appeared, 32,000 viewers logged on to the website and 306 topics were posted in a reasonably civilized discussion.

To avoid controversy, especially at Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, the preacher would be advised to maintain a position that the Incarnation, the embodying of God in human form, remains as much a mystery as the nature of God. Christmas is an emotional and/or a devotional occasion for most congregations. This may be true even for the occasional worshipers or non-believers who may not attend at most other times. Woe to the preacher who denies any congregation the opportunity to experience the true mystery of faith.

JOHN 1:1-14 (Proper 3). The Fourth Gospel establishes the mystery of the Incarnation in a totally different manner. This prologue to the narrative refers to the ancient Hebrew metaphors of the creative word of God in Genesis 1, the glory of God seen as light eternally shining in darkness and the expectation of the Messiah to whom prophetic witness is made by John the Baptizer. This prologue to the gospel also introduces the new concept of the pre-existent Christ as spiritual co-creator with God who bursts into the world of flesh and blood in a new creation.

Gail O’Day and Susan Hylen liken the prologue to John’s Gospel to “the overture to an opera, ballet or musical. They present in miniature the key themes that will come later.” (John. Westminster Bible Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 2006) The passage is not “straightforward introduction or recounting of events.” Rather, with these sonorous words John celebrates “the gifts and new life … given to the Christian community because of the presence of God in Jesus.” John’s purpose is to elicit a sense of “joy and anticipation for what is to come.”

This approach captures the essence of Christmas: joyful expectation. One of the best photographs I have ever taken was with a small, inexpensive camera on a black and white film. It shows a small boy of about three dressed in pyjamas and a bathrobe on Christmas morning peering around the banister of a stairway to see what wonders await in the living room beyond. The expectation on his face is beyond description.

So it is with John’s Gospel. When the passage is well-read in any version, one is left almost breathless at the words, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 20, 2009

MICAH 5:2-5a. This prophecy presents an overview of Israel’s long and tragic history from the time of King David onward. Following the return of a remnant of the nation from exile in Babylon, a new ruler was intended to bring peace and prosperity because he would be strengthened by God. The early church saw the promise of the Messiah in this passage.

LUKE 1:47-55. The psalm and the gospel lessons form a single reading from Luke 1. Mary’s Song, known for centuries by its Latin name The Magnificat, was almost certainly modeled on Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. It promises the social justice of the messianic age for which the world is still waiting in hope.

HEBREWS 10:5-10. The message of this obscure passage indicates that Christ was born to die as the sacrifice for the sin of the world. It quotes Christ, but in reality it is a quotation from Psalm 40:6-8. That psalm is a song of praise and petition seeking God’s help. This interpretation emphasizes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross which God willed as vastly superior to the repeated sacrifices in Israel’s temple ritual.

LUKE 1:39-45. The story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, has an air of immediacy and intimacy about it. Some have speculated that the story came from Mary herself. On the other hand, the birth narratives of Luke are in the form of oral legend and poetry which may have circulated as a separate collection long before the gospel was written about 80 AD. However they may have come into being, the stories were meant to convey the faith of the church, then and still, that in Jesus, the God who loves the world came to bring all who believe into a living relationship with God now and for all eternity. This is still as good news to our age as it was to the first Christians two thousand years ago.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS

MICAH 5:2-5a. Micah (or Micaiah, meaning “Who is like Yahweh?) Came from a small village in the Judean foothills, Moresheth-Gath, about halfway between Jerusalem and Gaza. He was a contemporary of the better-known Isaiah. Yet the two prophets had a markedly different outlook, perhaps because of their different status in Judean society. Micah had the viewpoint of the common people of the countryside; Isaiah, that of an aristocrat and courtier. Micah could speak from harsh experience of the suffering of ordinary folk in a time of intolerable injustice and political turmoil, roughly 742-697 BCE. His village lay near the Judean stronghold of Lachish and close to the cities of the Philistines, in the pathway of every invading force. No “minor” prophet, he and Amos became the voices of the rural people who suffered under almost constant oppression.

The late Bruce Vawter, of DePaul University, IL, described Micah’s time in these words: “His prophetic career may have begun about 725 BCE when it had become evident that the northern kingdom of Israel – where prophecy had begun and which had always been the ‘elder sister’ of the kingdom of Judah – was now doomed to disappear into the voracious Assyrian empire. Judah, by a combination of statecraft, collaborationism and religiously unacceptable compromise, would still be able to hold off the inevitable for a time; indeed, it outlasted the Assyrians only to become the prey to their Neo-Babylonian successors. But this was done by the sacrifice of national and religious integrity, and in the end the result was the same.” (Oxford Companion to the Bible, 517)

In the book as it now stands, Micah’s own prophecies have been considerably adapted to changed conditions, added to and amplified by later editors. Vawter thought that this excerpt came from the prophet himself. Rolland E. Wolfe, formerly professor of Biblical Literature at Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, thought that it was part of an appendix added in postexilic times dealing with “the restoration of Israel by resorting to militaristic means …. (which) breathes vengeance upon other nations.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 6, 922)

This prophecy presents an overview of Israel’s long and tragic history from the time of King David onward. It marvels that a Davidic lineage that lasted nearly half a millennium could come from such a small place as Bethlehem. Following the return of a remnant of the nation from exile, a new monarch of David’s line would bring peace and prosperity because he would be strengthened by God. This is distinctively different from the post-exilic vision of Deutero-Isaiah in that here the deity will delegate authority to the Davidic monarch in what will amount to a theocracy. Deutero-Isaiah envisioned Yahweh being the shepherd of reconstructed Israel. (Isa. 40:10-11)

As Matthew 2:6 states, the early church saw in this passage the promise of the Messiah and applied it to Jesus. The Matthean text is not taken from either the Hebrew or the Greek LXX of this passage and may be an original translation. Some scholars believe that the quotation is the sole source of the tradition that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

HEBREWS 10:5-10. The message of this obscure passage indicates that Christ was born to die as the sacrifice for the sin of the world. In our modern celebration of Christmas, we tend to neglect this important aspect of our faith: the Easter story begins at Christmas.

The passage quotes Christ, but in reality it is a quotation from Psalm 40:6-8. That psalm is a song of praise for God’s help and has no messianic connotations at all. However, this excerpt does echo the prophetic messages of Micah 6:6-8 and Jeremiah 31: 31-34. This interpretation lifts up the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, which God willed, as vastly superior to the repeated sacrifices of Israel’s temple ritual. The Christian doctrine of sanctifying grace which enables us to be obedient to God’s law of love finds its simplest definition here. It also opens us to the dangers of supersessionism and dispensationalism, theological positions that are no longer tenable in contemporary global religious and multicultural dialogue.

The interweaving of the Old Testament and the Gospel also stands out in this passage. Both testaments are essential elements of a mature Christian faith. From time of Marcion in the middle of the second century CE attempts have been made to exclude the Old Testament from Christian scriptures. This cannot be done because both parts tell the same story of God’s redemptive activity for the restoration of God’s creation – and all of humanity as part of creation – to its proper relationship to God.

This is what the author of Hebrews means by his use of the word “sanctified.” The Greek word is hagiazo (trans. “to make holy”). The only way for us to be made holy is in relationship to God who alone is holy. The claim of the author of Hebrews is that, according to divine will, only through faith in the sacrifice of Christ is this possible.

There has been a widespread misunderstanding that evangelical Christians emphasize only personal holiness. Such a limited view ignores the significant leadership of many 19th and 20th century evangelicals as William Wilberforce, Anthony Shaftesbury, Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhard Niebuhr and numerous others that to be fully expressed holiness must include the whole social order and all cultural systems. Even John Wesley himself in the 18th century regarded sanctification as incomplete as long as society remained unchanged by converted Christian men and women. Accordingly, the celebration of Advent and Christmas must include not only a genuine concern for the poor and disadvantaged, as in the original legend of St. Nicholas, but also a witness to God’s will that the reign of God be established in all human relationships and social institutions.

LUKE 1:39-45 AND LUKE 1:47-55. Because the psalm and the gospel lessons form a single reading from Luke 1, we comment on them together. These two passages are part of a series of Marian narratives from which the doctrine of the Virgin Birth and other aspects of traditional Christology developed. Together they form a creative and poetic flowering of what the church believed from its beginning: that God had come into human life for our salvation through faith in and following Jesus Christ in everyday living. Like so much else in the gospel story, the influence of the prophets of Israel, and especially their sense of divine justice and messianic hopes, can be clearly seen. The birth narratives read like an unfolding drama gradually introducing the central character of the gospel, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah/Christ.

The story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, has an air of immediacy and intimacy about it. Some have speculated that the story came from Mary herself. On the other hand, the birth narratives of Luke 1 and 2 are more likely oral legend and poetry which may have circulated as a separate collection long before the gospel was written about 80-90 CE. Later extreme examples of this kind of story show that the church needed to distinguish between what was valid revelation and what was merely imaginative speculation. This task fell to the Church Fathers of the late 2nd and 3rd centuries when the New Testament canon was given its final form.

On the other hand, the story as it stands gives some very natural insight into these two women’s experience. They rejoiced in each other’s pregnancy. They needed each other’s support. They realized how blessed they were to be bearing God’s miraculous gifts to humanity. What modern mother who willingly and intentionally bears a child does not sense the same joyful hope that they felt?

Mary’s Song, known for centuries by its Latin name The Magnificatt, was almost certainly modeled on Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. But that the circumstances of that source are more closely parallel to Elizabeth’s, who like Hannah, conceived late in life. Most likely Luke or his Jewish source composed a typical hymn of praise based on Hannah’s prayer and other Old Testament references. (vss. 49-50 cf. Ps. 103:17; 111:9) These were adapted to fit this situation, a common practice of New Testament authors. As it stands, the psalm promised the social justice of the messianic age for which the world is still waiting in hope.

However they may have come into being, these passages conveyed the faith of the church, then and still, that in Jesus, God who loves the world came to bring all creation into a living relationship with God now and for all eternity. This relationship extends to every human activity and institution as well as to each individual. There can be no social justice where people are not free or deprived of a fair share of the world’s resources. Some may see this as a basis for pre-emptive assaults against powerful opponents of political democracy and a free market economy. This would be a mistaken interpretation. The evidence of Old Testament prophecy and New Testament Christology is that God makes use of events manipulated by human agents to redeem creation. The Incarnation and the Resurrection had but that one purpose: the redemption of the world through the spiritual resources made available through faith in Jesus Christ, born of Mary.

WHO IS HE?

A poem for Christmas.
Rev. John Shearman

It was a stone manger, that place where he lay;
not a fine oaken cradle, but a box filled with hay.
His mother sang to him suckling her breast,
while shepherds came kneeling at angels’ behest.

Is this the Messiah? Not a king, but a child,
Just like our children in a world just as wild.
Does God really want us to follow this boy?
Can he be the Saviour who has not one toy?

The hopes of the world, invested in pain,
will not bring another; there’s nothing to gain
in pining and searching, in warring and strife;
for God’s saving love came in that helpless life.

An Epilogue:

For those who seek some resolution to the endless controversy about the Virgin Birth, a relatively new book by Geza Vermes, The Nativity: History and Legend, (Penguin Books, 2006) offers a reasonable position. Vermes concludes that since the custom of the times regarded child marriage as normal and virginity was thought to continue until puberty, it is entirely possible that Mary did conceive after her first ovulation but before her menstrual cycles began. That would mean that she was technically “a virgin” at the time of her conception. He supports this view with quotations from the Mishnah and the Talmud that distinguishes between two different understandings of virginity: one that terminates with sexual intercourse and one that ends only with the onset of menstruation, i.e “a girl who has seen blood even though she is married.” (See Vermes, “The virginal conception in Luke.” 78-81.)

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Third Sunday of Advent – December 13, 2009

ZEPHANIAH 3:14-20. After a long series of judgmental prophecies against Israel and its neighbours, Zephaniah promised a day of great rejoicing when God would be present among God’s people. This would bring not only forgiveness and security from oppression, but prosperity and renown among all people.

ISAIAH 12:2-6. Psalms like this one were often included in the writings of Israel’s prophets. This one provides a fitting conclusion to the prophet’s description of the Messiah and his role in the preceding chapter. This joyous thanksgiving psalm has also been set to music as a responsive chant in #880 in Voices United, the hymn book of The United Church of Canada.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7. A wonderfully confident faith shines through these few sentences. Paul’s expectation of the imminent return of Christ moved him to urge the Philippians to rejoice with him and to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner. The spiritual gifts of gentleness, thanksgiving and peace would keep them free from anxiety as they waited for that glorious day.

LUKE 3:7-18. John the Baptist’s preaching seems harsh and vituperative to our public relations sensitive ears. To his own generation, he must have appeared to be much like the early prophets of Israel – Amos, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah. Several traditional prophetic themes stand out in his message: the absolute sovereignty of God in spite of ritual correctness (vs. 8-9), far- reaching social justice (vss. 10-14), and the promise of a messiah who would come in judgment, not to win a glorious victory over Israel’s oppressors (vss. 15-17).
Luke interpreted John’s preaching as “good news.” That may surprise us because outspoken prophets are not welcome today when they attack established power structures as John did. Ultimately John was executed by the brutal puppet-king, Herod Antipas, for accusing him of an immoral marriage.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

ZEPHANIAH 3:14-20. Dating from the reign of Josiah (640-609 BCE), the prophesies of Zephaniah have both a nationalistic and a universal emphasis. This was a time of international intrigue and upheaval in which Israel played a relatively small part. On the other hand, it was a time of religious reform within Israel led by the school of Deuteronomists who re-emphasized the moral aspects of the Covenant with Yahweh and centralized worship in the temple at Jerusalem. The great threat to Yahwism during this period came from foreign influences which had provided various forms of idolatrous worship attractive to the common people.

Ninth of the twelve minor prophets in the OT, Zephaniah emphasized the anticipated Day of the Lord with its judgment on Israel and all nations. The prophet’s name is in itself a prophecy meaning, “Yah(weh) protects.” There may be some doubt as to who he really was. The name may have been a pseudonym for an unknown opponent of the establishment of the many local sanctuaries formerly used for Baal-worship by the Canaanites. The opening verse is really a superscription which goes to great pains to trace his Jewish ancestry four generations back to Hezekiah, one of Judah’s great kings. Zaphon, the city from which the name may derive, was a sacred shrine of one of the chief Canaanite gods, Baal-Zephon. It lay on the east side of the Jordan about halfway between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. According to Joshua 13:27, the Israelites captured it and gave it to the tribe of Gad.

The book consists of seven oracles, each designed as a dialogue between Yahweh and the prophet. Baal worship, idolatry and the profane leadership of the priests have a large place in these brief oracles. The forces of Assyrian oppression also lurk in the background as the means of Yahweh’s judgment. Could Zephaniah, who some believe to have been a cousin of Josiah, be the code-name of a prophet who supported the Deuteronomic centralizing of worship which Josiah pursued with such fervour for political as well as religious reasons?

After a long series of judgmental prophecies against Israel and its neighbours for their worship of gods other than Yahweh, Zephaniah promises a day of great rejoicing when Yahweh is present in Israel to judge and to save. The nation’s only hope lay beyond this day of judgment. These prophecies are given in the first person singular, as if Yahweh is speaking throughout.

The lectionary passage, ending the book, offers Israel the promise that the coming Day of the Lord will not only bring forgiveness and security from oppression, but prosperity and renown among all people. Like their Jewish antecedents, the early church regarded this as a messianic prophecy heralding the coming of Jesus.

The eschatological emphasis has given rise to many modern misinterpretations as preachers struggled to explain why the imminent return of the Messiah/Christ has not occurred as prophesied. Speculation has frequently misled many into believing that the peace and prosperity they so longed for and found in such beliefs are close at hand. A simplistic literalist reading of prophecies like those of Zephaniah can be very seductive in this regard. One has to understand them in their own context within the religious, social and political history of their times to discover what meaning they may have for our time and place. Their main message for today is that history lies within the providence of God whose purpose is to bring all things in a reconciling fellowship motivated by the everlasting love envisioned in Yahweh’s covenant with Israel, fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ and still being brought to completion by the work of the Spirit in all who believe.

ISAIAH 12:2-6. Not all Psalms are in the Psalter, but may be found throughout the writings of Israel’s prophets and elsewhere in the OT. This one provides a fitting conclusion to the prophet’s description of the Messiah and his role, and the return of the remnant of Israel from exile in Babylon.

The two parts of the current reading cannot be specifically located within Israel’s history. They appear to have been drawn from unknown sources and inserted here as was common in other prophetic literature (Jonah 2; Habakkuk 3; Jeremiah 20:13; 31:7). The second part of vs. 2, however, is identical with two other OT passages, Exodus 15:2 and Psalm 118:14. It is impossible to tell which may be the original.

It was the late Professor R.B.Y. Scott who pointed out that the passage actually contains two brief psalms, vss. 1-2 and 3-6 (The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 5, 253). The first is an individual thanksgiving for deliverance. The second brings out the metaphor of life-giving water as the symbol of God’s saving power. Compare that with Exodus 15:22-25; Numbers 21:16-17; Judges 5:11; and John 4:13-14. It was well within the ancient tradition that Jesus described himself metaphorically as one who provides life-giving water to all who desire it.

Superficially observed, water appears to be so plentiful in our country that we have no concept whatsoever of how it could be regarded as a means of grace given by God. Much of Israel is extremely arid and water is precious. One of the crucial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has to do with access to adequate water supplies. The incredibly crowded Palestinian city of Gaza, for instance, has a fraction of the water available for its more than a million citizens than Israeli citizens enjoy in the less thickly inhabited cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Haifa.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7. No one seriously doubts that the Letter to the Philippians came from the hand of Paul or was dictated by him to an amanuensis. But is it a composite of two or possibly three letters as Gerald Hawthorne, of Wheaton College, Illinois, suggests? (The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 590.) Is there not an abrupt break between 3:1 and 3:2? And 4:10-20 also appears to be a separate segment. Or are we merely exposed to the vagaries of a man dictating his wide-ranging thoughts at different times? Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, (obit. AD 155) knew of several letters Paul had written to the Philippians, though he appears also to have used this one.

William Barclay provided an interesting solution to the problem which affects our understanding of this particular reading. He separated the whole into three parts written at different times, as follows: In 3:2-4:3 Paul expressed thanks and gave a warning about Judaizers challenging the gospel Paul had preached. Then, much later while imprisoned, probably in Ephesus, he sent a warm letter of thanks and encouragement, (1:1-3:1 and 4:4-23) asking them to welcome the bearer of the letter, Epaphroditus, who had been very ill.

Other scholars have proposed even more radical solutions as to the number of letters in this composite document and how they may be separated. The consensus appears now to be that such partitions make for the sounder hypothesis, although ultimately inconclusive. Because we now have a brief if composite letter, we must try to understand its legacy to the church in it present shape.

However we may wish to debate these unanswerable questions, a wonderfully confident faith shines through the few sentences of this excerpt. Foremost in Paul’s mind is his expectation of the imminent return of Christ. This moves him to urge the Philippians to rejoice with him and to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner. The spiritual gifts of gentleness, thanksgiving and peace – gifts of the Spirit so frequently referred to in other Pauline correspondence – will keep them free of anxiety as they wait.

Is that how we feel as Advent moves inexorably toward the celebration of Christ’s coming in Bethlehem? Are we similarly free of anxiety as we ponder just what the Second Coming of Christ may be like and when it may happen? Is it possible that in having received through faith in him and the gift of the Spirit, Christ has already come to us who are “in Christ?” Are not these gifts sufficient cause for us now to rejoice with Paul and his Philippian correspondents as well as the millions o Christians now preparing to celebrate Christ’s coming in Bethelhem?

LUKE 3:7-18. John the Baptist’s preaching seems harsh and vituperative to our modern ears, so sensitive as we are to good public relations. Just think of the furor in this country if the Moderator of The United Church of Canada or the Archbishop of Canterbury had spoken like this?

To his own generation, John must have appeared to be much like the early prophets of Israel. It is obvious that Luke so regarded him too. Evidence of this is seen in the quotations from Isaiah as found in the Greek OT. Several recent studies have hypothesized that John was one of the Essenes, but was not resident in their community of Qumran. That is unprovable; but he may well have been influenced by their bitter opposition to the temple priesthood of the time which they regarded as totally illegitimate and unholy.

Several themes stand out in John’s message: the absolute sovereignty of God in spite of ritual correctness (vs. 8-9), far-reaching social justice (vss. 10-14), and the promise of a messiah who would come in judgment, not to win a glorious victory over Israel’s enemies (vss.15-17).

When people in his audience asked what they were to do, John proclaimed a far-reaching social justice (vss. 10-11). He challenged everyone who heard him to share their resources. The naming of specific clothing symbolized the essential necessities of life. His challenge received a significant response from the most unlikely persons – tax-collectors. They were among the most despised people in Israel because they were hirelings of the hated Roman imperial government. When they asked for specific directions for their reform, he attacked the crucial issue in the Roman taxation system. It depended on greed. Hired revenue officers had freedom to exact whatever amount they could, regardless of how much they had contracted to collect. John directed them to limit their revenues to what had been officially prescribed and nothing more. No sane tax collector would consider such a revolutionary approach to his miserable job.

John’s challenge extended even to the heart of imperial security forces. When soldiers asked for their directions, he had an equally harsh answer for them. Presumably it was fairly common for soldiers to supplement their wages by extorting bribes from anyone they caught and imprisoned. To be satisfied with their meagre wages as John required was unthinkable.

These two sets of questioners should be regarded as examples rather than a total list of those who responded to John’s harsh message. Even if he did limit his challenges to these two groups, the authorities would draw the immediate conclusion that John was preaching revolution. Every Jew would immediately think of the expected Messiah. Hence their questioning whether or not he himself was the Messiah. John’s answer to that speculation described a messiah who would come in judgment, not to win a glorious victory over Israel’s oppressors as the popular messianic tradition held (vss.15-17).

Luke interprets John’s preaching as “good news.” That may surprise us because outspoken prophets are no more welcome today when they attack established power structures as John did. Even in the smallest, intimate congregations, prophetic preaching is not often heard as the Word of God. Church officials are often called in to discipline the preacher who is too outspoken, especially if that differs from the dearly held, accepted tradition of the local power brokers. Isn’t that what has been happening in those denominations where the right of homosexuals to marry is being debated? A few decades ago, it was unmarried parents and divorced persons who were frowned upon or rejected by many congregations? Is it possible that those church leaders who take a rigid moralistic stance on such issues may see themselves as prophets much like John the Baptist?

Luke may have had in mind the moral depravity of Graeco-Roman society of his own time, exemplified by Herod Antipas, the puppet king whose moral degradation John denounced most vociferously. Without question, a significant part of the catechesis of the early church included teaching new Christians to lead a life very different morally than that to which they had been accustomed before their conversion. In those days as in ours, love for God and neighbour generated totally different quality of life and depth of sacrifice than the way most people lived. The challenge today for every Christian personally in every walk of life and for every Christian congregation is to demonstrate to an unbelieving world that there is a difference in the Christian way. This was Luke’s message as he described John the Baptist as the prophetic forerunner for the Messiah/Christ.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Second Sunday of Advent – December 6, 2009

MALACHI 3:1-4. This short selection from the last book in our Old Testament answered a question immediately preceding it in 2:17, “Where is the God of justice?” Speaking for God, the prophet’s response was, “I am sending a messenger….” The messenger’s task of cleansing the temple came at a time of spiritual decline in the 5th century BC when slovenly priests and careless worshipers made unworthy offerings. Five hundred years later, the authors of the New Testament gospels interpreted this as a reference to John the Baptist and his role as the forerunner of Jesus.

BARUCH 5:1-9. (Alternate) The Revised Common Lectionary lists this alternate selection from one of the books excluded from both the official Hebrew canon and the Protestant canon but included in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons. It purports to be the work of Baruch, son of Neriah, Jeremiah’s friend and secretary, dealing with events of the Babylonian exile in the 5th century BCE. More than likely, it dates from the Hellenist period of Israel’s history, 4th to 2nd centuries BCE.

This selection is a poetic summons to the people of Jerusalem to look eastward for the return of the exiles. It vividly reflects the prophecies of Second Isaiah, especially the words of Isaiah 40. This magnificent expectation rests on the integrity of God to fulfill ancient covenantal promises to guide Israel according to the divine purpose. There is, nonetheless, a strong element of righteousness required of Israel if it is to receive this blessing.

LUKE 1:68-79. Also known by its Latin name, Benedictus, the Song of Zechariah was an early Christian hymn. It wove together a series of phrases from several Psalms. Specific Christian content comes only at the end in vss. 76-79 where Zechariah celebrates the birth of his son, John the Baptist.

PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11. This is possibly the last letter Paul wrote. Tried and imprisoned for his work as an apostle, Paul thanked God for the support of the Philippians. He wrote of them “sharing” the gospel and God’s grace, and prayed that this would bring forth an overflowing of love and righteous living as they waited for the anticipated return of Christ.

LUKE 3:1-6. The introductory stories of the birth of both John the Baptist and Jesus completed, Luke skipped over nearly three decades to place John the Baptist’s ministry in a specific historical context. He recognized John as another of Israel’s great prophets by quoting from Isaiah 40.

In so doing, Luke defined John’s role in the life and ministry of Jesus as that of the one of whom that earlier prophet spoke: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” More significantly, this also placed Jesus expressly within the sacred tradition of Israel.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

MALACHI 3:1-4. We do not know whether Malachi, translated from Hebrew as “my messenger,” was the prophet’s name or the description of his office. In the history of Israel The book message stands between the return from exile as recorded in Haggai and Zechariah, and the coming of Ezra and Nehemiah in the middle of the 5th century BCE. The covenant of God with Israel and the corruption of the temple priesthood which prevented the true liturgical expression of that covenant appear to have been Malachi’s predominant concerns. He employed an unusual, rhetorical style of questions and answers which may have been a literary device reflecting the teaching and preaching in the temple at that time.

This short selection from the last book in our Old Testament answered a question immediately preceding it in 2:17, “Where is the God of justice?” Speaking for God, the prophet’s response was, “I am sending a messenger to prepare the way before me ….” This recalls Deutero-Isaiah’s message in Isaiah 40:3. But it was the Levitical priesthood who must be purified before the offerings of the people could be pleasing to God.

This task of cleansing the temple and its priesthood came at a time of spiritual decline in the 5th century BCE when slovenly priests and careless worshipers made unworthy offerings. It revealed a concern for the temple and its worship as well as for ethical living. This stood in contrast to some pre-exilic prophesy like that found in Micah 6:6-8 by placing emphasis on both aspects of religious life.

Five hundred years later, the authors of the New Testament gospels interpreted this passage as a reference to John the Baptist and his role as the forerunner of Jesus.

BARUCH 5:1-9. (Alternate) The Revised Common Lectionary lists this alternate selection from one of the books excluded from both the official Hebrew canon and the Protestant canon. Baruch does appear, however, immediately after Lamentations in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons. It purports to be the work of Baruch, son of Neriah, Jeremiah’s friend and secretary, although this claim appears only in the opening verses (1:1-10). The content of the book deals with events of the Babylonian exile (586-539 BCE), but it was obviously intended as a message of reconciliation and hope for a much later period, most likely the Hellenistic age of the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE. All existing texts are in Greek like that of the Septuagint, but scholars have argued that it may have been written in either Hebrew or even Aramaic. Composed of three distinct sections, it is the product of traditional Israelite wisdom with similarities to both Job and Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), but not to the more Hellenistic wisdom literature such as the Wisdom of Solomon. Very few early Christian writers made reference to it. One oblique reference (3:37) was understood as a prophecy of the Incarnation.

This selection is a poetic summons to the people of Jerusalem to look eastward for the return of the exiles. It vividly reflects the prophecies of Second Isaiah, especially the words of Isaiah 40. This magnificent expectation rests on the integrity of God to fulfill ancient covenantal promises to guide Israel according to the divine purpose. There is, nonetheless, a strong element of righteousness required of Israel if it is to receive this blessing. The words of vs. 4 in the Jerusalem Bible puts this aspect succinctly: “The name God gives you for ever will be, ‘Peace through integrity, and honor through devotedness.’” That text may surely light up a sermon of reconciliation and hope suitable for our own time and place.

LUKE 1:68-79. Also known by the Latin translation in Jerome’s Vulgate of its first word, Benedictus, the Song of Zechariah was an early Christian hymn. It wove together a series of phrases from several Psalms: vs. 68 = Ps. 41:13, 111:9; vs. 69 = Ps. 132:17; vs. 71 = Ps. 106:10; vss.71-72 = Ps. 105:8-9. Specific Christian content comes only at the end in vss. 76-79 where Zechariah celebrates the birth of his son, John the Baptist.

The psalm is primarily a celebration of the fulfillment of Jewish messianic hopes. John is to be the Messiah’s forerunner. This prediction combines Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Though from the hand of Luke, it reflects the teaching of the Apostolic Church in linking the Incarnation with the divinely ordered religious history of Israel. Searching the Jewish scriptures for references applicable to the gospel story was a practice evident throughout the whole New Testament. Numerous other examples can be found in Paul’s letters, the Pastoral and General Epistles, and Revelation.

PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11. We do not need to go into the exegetical problems of whether this is a single letter from Paul to the first congregation he founded in Europe or a composite of several letters. Nor is the question of its provenance – Rome, Ephesus or Caesarea – of great concern except to scholars. Tried and imprisoned for his work as an apostle, Paul thanked God for the support of the Philippians. It would appear that they had been in touch with him during his trial and imprisonment (vs.7). He wrote of them “sharing” the gospel and God’s grace reflecting his close association with them and their response to his ministry during at least three visits. (See Acts 16:12; 2 Cor. 2:3; Acts 20:6). As William Barclay points out in his Daily Bible Readings on this passage, partnership in the gospel involves not only a gift, but a task.

Paul then prayed that this will bring forth an overflowing of love and holy living as they waited for the anticipated return of Christ. This, Paul believed, would produce “knowledge and full insight to help you determine what is best.” (vs. 9) In other words, love, the supreme gift of the Spirit, would lead to spiritual growth and moral discernment, all to the glory and praise of God. This is an appropriate mandate for any congregation in our own time as it was for the Philippians in the 1st century CE.

LUKE 3:1-6. The introductory stories of the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus completed, Luke skips over nearly three decades to place John the Baptist’s ministry, and hence Jesus, in a specific historical context.

The 15th year of the reign of Tiberius corresponds to 28-29 CE. The Roman imperial government during this period included Pontius Pilate as governor of Judea and the named tetrarchs, Herod Antipas, Philip, Lysanias, of other nearby Roman provinces. The term tetrarch was used inconsistently in the NT, but usually referred to a ruler whom Rome appointed over a limited territory who might or might not be a petty monarch. They had little power or purpose other than to maintain a watch for any threats against Roman sovereignty. By also naming the high-priesthoods of Annas and Caiaphas, Luke gave a religious context to this historical note. The gospel tradition he was about to relate was no minor event. It had both political and religious significance.

By quoting from Isaiah 40, Luke recognized John as someone even more important than another of Israel’s great prophets. He defined John’s role in the life and ministry of Jesus as that of the one of whom that earlier prophet spoke: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” More significantly, he placed Jesus expressly within the sacred tradition of Israel.

While repeating the same excerpt from Isaiah 40:3 quoted by Mark, Luke expanded it to include vss. 4-5, thus adopting Deutero-Isaiah’s universalism as his own. Luke was a citizen of the Roman world. As we shall see in our study of Luke throughout the coming year, he had a wider Gentile audience in mind than the predominantly Jewish community which had first heard and responded to the gospel. By introducing John the Baptist in this manner, Luke was trying to bridge the gap between the Jewish and Gentile environments to which the gospel had been proclaimed by the apostles, most of whom may well have disappeared behind the shadows of history.

Luke wrote as long as two decades after the Jewish war with the Romans (66-70 CE) resulting in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the end of its traditional sacrificial worship. The synagogues of the Diaspora had become the centres of Jewish religious observance. Early Christian congregations had been a part of that post-war milieu, but had become centres of considerable tension that Paul had sought to dispel. The tradition of James, the brother of Jesus, emphasizing the ultimate importance of the Torah and the rite of circumcision, struggled against the influence of Paul who had turned to the Gentile world as the church’s mission field. Luke stood with Paul in seeking to foster a wider unity of the church than the narrow tradition of James. Like Paul, he envisioned a unity in the church based on faith in Jesus, the Messiah of God, long promised to Israel and now come to fulfill God’s promise and Israel’s mission to bring the whole world into a perfect relationship with God. For Luke, John the Baptist was the link between the two traditions.

A new year begins on the liturgical calendar of Christian worship. This will be the third year, Year C, in the cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary.

Advent is the time when we make our spiritual preparations for the coming of Christ by thinking first about his return in glory as promised throughout the New Testament.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
1st Sunday of Advent – November 29, 2009

JEREMIAH 33:14-16. Jeremiah lived seven centuries before Christ was born. Yet he spoke with intense hope of a time when an anointed king of David’s line would come to bring righteousness and justice to Israel and so give the nation the security it so desperately needed and earnestly desired.

PSALM 25:1-10. The personal faith of the individual Israelite expressed in a prayer forms the central theme of this instructional psalm. In Hebrew, each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew language. This was done for easier memorization. The special covenant relationship between God and Israel also lies behind the prayer as a secondary theme.

1 THESSALONIANS 3:9-13. The two letters of Paul to the Thessalonians were probably the first part of the whole New Testament to have been written, possibly no more that twenty years after the death and resurrection of Christ. Prominent throughout these two short letters is the expectation that Christ would soon return to establish his eternal reign of justice, peace and love. Here Paul urges that continued spiritual growth and warm personal relationships be maintained by these early Christians until that glorious day.

LUKE 21:25-36. The expectation of Christ’s return dominated early Christian thought. Bible scholars debate whether these teachings came from Jesus himself or the early apostolic church. Many of the concepts and images are drawn from typical Jewish apocalyptic writing found in the Hebrew scriptures and similar writings of the period between the two parts of our Bible.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

JEREMIAH 33:14-16. Jeremiah lived seven centuries before Christ was born. His ministry spanned four decades from about 627 to 586 BCE. Two great crises occurred during this time. The break-up of the Assyrian empire and the rise of the Babylonian empire changed the economic and political environment for the kingdom of Judah. The resurgence of religious nationalism during the reign of King Josiah (ca. 640-609 BCE) created a new social, moral and spiritual environment. Jeremiah may well have been greatly involved in that revival as the narrative parts of the book describe.

As the Book of Jeremiah comes to us now, it is a composite work of several different types of literature drawn from several sources and dealing with several themes. But like most pre-exilic prophets, Jeremiah was primarily a preacher, not an author. So the book that bears his name must be regarded as only partially his. The lectionary passage comes from a so-called “Book of Consolation” (chs. 30, 31 and 33) into which is inserted an incident from Jeremiah’s life illustrating this hopeful theme (32). These oracles are probably of varied origin that offer hope beyond national disaster. They also show the influence of the earlier prophet Hosea and close links with Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55). Some of the material is undoubtedly that of Jeremiah himself as well as from Baruch, the scribe. (See Robert Davidson’s article “The Book of Jeremiah,” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 343ff) Baruch may have been responsible for writing down some of the prophecies attributed to Jeremiah.

This passage speaks with intense hope of a time when an anointed king (Hebrew = masiah) of David’s line would come to bring righteousness and justice to Israel and so give the nation the security it so desperately needed and earnestly desired. It emphasizes the prophetic faith that the nation’s fate will not be not decided by the Babylonians, but by Yahweh. This faith in Yahweh as Lord of history is found throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the oracles of the great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It presents a hopeful faith for difficult times such as our own.

Our problem today is to recognize and accept this biblical faith that God does indeed have a providential purpose to be fulfilled through the actual events of human history. This faith implies an interventionist God who cares what happens to creation, but this is also open to wide misinterpretation found so often in some narrow theological views that claims God is really on our side and against our enemies. Such views have frequently led to civil, international and interfaith warfare. The mediaeval Crusades and the Irish Troubles of the past several decades occurred because of such disastrous religious prejudices. The great danger of the present moment is to see the extremist Islamists’ jihad, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories in a similar light.

It also has to be recognized that such a narrow view is evident in the scriptures themselves. After the global wars of the 20th century, one is tempted to reject all theological interpretations of history. How could we ever conceive of a God in control of such tragic events when millions of innocent civilians died because they belonged to an “enemy” nation or a particular race or ethnic group? It is at this point that the vision of Jeremiah of the Messiah “executing righteousness and justice” becomes relevant to our own time. Without these qualities dominant in human character and practiced in personal, national and international relations, history will continue to be a record of human failure to do as God wills.

PSALM 25:1-10. The special relationship between Yahweh and Israel as well as the personal faith of the individual Israelite form the central theme of this psalm which is both liturgical and instructional. It is a prayer of supplication for Yahweh’s intervention in some unstated personal problem and as such was useful to anyone seeking divine help in distress.

The psalm has the form of an acrostic, however. In Hebrew, each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew language. This was done for easier memorization. It also contains similarities to Wisdom literature, e.g. vss. 4-5; 12-14. As such, its superscription “Of David” is an anachronism attached to the psalm to give it liturgical authority. This type of psalm appeared only in the late post-exilic period when the worship of temple was highly structured by the Levitical priesthood. It may have come from a collection of psalms of varying age and authorship attributed to but certainly not composed by David.

While the implications of vss. 1-2 indicate an external human enemy whose treachery the psalmist feared, there is no reason why this could not also refer to an inner, spiritual enemy. The habit of personifying the impersonal can be found quite commonly in Hebrew literature. Mediaeval art and some modern literary images depicting various forms of temptation as evil angels (e.g. C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters) followed the same pattern.

The psalmist had found that obedience to the way of Yahweh led to moral uprightness and spiritual strength when confronted by life’s vicissitudes. Dependence on the mercy and steadfast love of Yahweh yielded the power to overcome (vss. 6-10). A note of sincere humility crept into the prayer as the psalmist openly confessed his youthful transgressions and personal guilt (vss. 7 & 11). He also had concern for others, that they would reverently seek to be taught by Yahweh and reap the reward of prosperity through keeping the covenant (vss. 12-15).

Vss. 16-21 return to the original petition. The psalm ends with a brief reference to the need for Israel’s redemption from troubles which are never disclosed. The personal and national distress to which the psalm gave expression can best be understood in the light of the covenant relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Each Israelite, as a “son of the covenant,” (b’nai b’rith) felt a deep sense of personal identification with what happened to the whole community. Today, we can see this in the way our Jewish neighbors feel about and defend Israel whenever they perceive some incident as threatening to that modern state.

1 THESSALONIANS 3:9-13. The two letters of Paul to the Thessalonians were probably the first part of the whole New Testament to have been written, possibly no more that twenty years after the resurrection of Christ and relatively early in Paul’s ministry. Prominent throughout these two short letters is the expectation that Christ would soon return to establish his eternal reign of justice, love and peace. Paul shared this viewpoint with the whole church of the Apostolic Age. It greatly influenced the oral transmission of Jesus’ teachings and the writing of the earlier Gospels.

Paul’s intimate relationship with some of his early European converts comes to the fore in this passage. The immediately preceding verses (3:1-5) describe his considerable anxiety for them as they struggled to live their recently acquired faith in very difficult circumstances. They were probably mainly Gentiles experiencing strong persecution from non-believers of their own community not unlike the opposition confronting Jewish Christians in Judea (2:14). Accordingly, Paul had sent his colleague Timothy to encourage them (3:2). Timothy had returned with good news (3: 6). So Paul was writing this first letter in response to what Timothy had told him.

Thanksgiving and intercessory prayer for the Thessalonians highlight Paul’s very personal concern. He earnestly wanted to return to see them and strengthen their faith. In the meantime, he urged that they continue to grow and maintain warm personal relationships within their fellowship until that glorious day when Christ returns. He did not elaborate on the details of the apostolic expectation of Christ’s second coming.

In general, all NT writers concentrated on the purpose rather than the manner of this anticipated event. It was as if they felt that Jesus’ work of establishing God’s kingdom had been left unfinished by the crucifixion and resurrection. In all honesty, the world still seemed – then and now – as if the reign of God had not yet come. The promise of Christ’s coming again offered hope that what had gone before had not been in vain. The love of God in Christ would triumph in the end and those who refused to believe and follow his way would be rejected
in the final judgment.

The phrase “strengthen your hearts in holiness” in 3:13 offers a very appropriate Advent text. Instead of rushing around in consumer panic, we need these four weeks before Christmas to prepare spiritually for Christ’s coming. Holiness in daily life is best expressed in love for God and neighbour. It is not just happenstance that charities make their strongest appeal for public support during the last few weeks before Christmas. The problem most of us face is how to share our resources, material and well as spiritual, in this particular season when so many demands are placed upon us. Childhood Christmases during the Great Depression of the 1930s showed me personally how it is that while material resources may be limited, spiritual resources for this season can be truly unlimited.

LUKE 21:25-36. The expectation of Christ’s return dominated early Christian thought. Bible scholars debate whether Jesus himself or the early apostolic church taught in such terms. Uniformly, the gospels and Acts attribute this teaching to Jesus, although in John’s Gospel there is some ambiguity whether certain sayings of Jesus referred to his resurrection rather than an eschatological Parousia at the end of historical time. Many of the concepts and images were drawn from standard Jewish apocalyptic writing found in the Hebrew scriptures and similar eschatalogical literature of the intertestamental period.

The prophets much earlier had declared their faith in a future historical event, the Day of the Lord, when God’s rule of righteousness, peace, justice and prosperity would become permanent for Israel. The earliest gospel statement in Mark 1:15 set the ministry of Jesus as the dawning of this new age. Matthew and Luke shared this belief. But the moment had not yet come by the eighth or ninth decade of lst century CE when Luke’s Gospel was composed. Later New Testament writers, notably the author of the Pastoral Epistles to Timothy and Titus, dealt with the delayed expectation of the church.

There may well be actual historical events behind this apocalyptic passage in all three Synoptic Gospels. As can be seen by comparing Matthew 24:4-36 Luke 21 5-38 to Mark 13:5-37, Matthew and Luke were dependent on Mark’s original statement of the early oral tradition. The differences in the three accounts may have been due to an earlier version of Mark which the two other authors had before them, but were altered in what is now a much debated “Secret Gospel of Mark.” (Biblical Archeological Review, , “Secret Mark: A Modern Forgery?” November-December 2009. Vol.35, No. 6. 43ff.)

All four Gospels were written after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and reflect that momentous event. Written about 70 CE, Mark’s Gospel was closest to the catastrophe . There is a strong tradition that shortly before that fateful event in Jewish history, the Christian community in Jerusalem fled from the city and settled in Pella, an established flourishing Roman and Greek town on the eastern side of the Jordan River about 16 km (10 mi) south of the Sea of Galilee. Hence the reference in Luke 21:21 “Then those is Judea must flee to the mountains ….” (Cf. Mark 13:14; Matt. 24:15-16). The tradition came from that fact that the Christian community there existed there until the Moslem period in the 7th century CE. Thus, in this passage we may well be reading the leaders of the Christian community cast their counsel and hope for Christ’s return to their endangered community in the eschatological words of Jewish apocalypse taken from the Hebrew scriptures they knew so well.

Nor has that hope in the future return of Christ yet been fulfilled twenty-one centuries later in the traditional manner in which it has been declared. In the meantime, the church’s faith in the Second Coming has been variously interpreted, depending on the approach to scripture taken by the interpreter. Is it specific prediction? Or more general prophecy of God’s intention? Or is the descriptive Second Coming more of a symbol of God’s ultimate triumph? Or are we merely discussing the personal identification of the individual with Christ? Or has it already taken place – at Pentecost? Stephen H. Travis, of St. John’s College, Nottingham, England, writes: “In any case, it is possible to affirm the basic structure of Christian hope, with its emphasis on the second coming as the goal and fulfillment of God’s past work in Christ, without committing oneself to any precise view about its nature or when it will be.” (The Oxford Companion to the Bible, p. 686.)

That may not be a satisfactory approach for some, but it does give us a continuing hope and a commission to carry on the ministry of God’s love for the world so fully expressed in Jesus Christ. How each person fulfills that commission is to be realized in the choices and priorities one makes in the myriad human relationships which engage one’s energies day by day. For some it may mean quiet prayer and contemplation. For others it may mean active participation in ministries that seek justice for all. For still others it may have extensive economic and/or political ramifications. One form or expression of hope does not fit all situations.

To some extent, there was truth in what former US President George H. W. Bush (1988-92) advocated when he said that we all have a responsibility to create “a thousands points of light”. It would be a grave mistake, however, to regard any specific political or military events occurring at this or any other moment in history, no matter who may perpetrate them, as signs that the end times have begun. The Day of the Lord envisioned by the prophets of Israel and the eschatological passages of the NT is always here and now.