Month: December 2017

The Bible in a Year – 12 December

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

12 December. Hebrews chapters 1-6

The letter to the Hebrews is difficult to follow, since it consists of dense theological argument in the Jewish tradition, in which verses of scripture are quoted out of context in support of the writer’s argument, a practice that would be frowned on these days.  And the argument itself is difficult to follow.  Since the plan I am following covers the whole book in only three days, I can only scratch the surface of its meaning.

In the first two chapters, the focus is on angels. Angels have had a bad press at times.  Go back forty years and you would find that few people would claim to believe in them.  The “age of reason” had no time for angels, and classed them along with ghosts, fairies and UFOs as mere mythology.  But times have changed.  Spirituality is back in fashion, experience matters more than doctrine, and you will find plenty of people who claim to have experienced angels. I know at least two.

But what are angels, or rather where do they fit in a Christian worldview?  The danger is to consider angels as demi-gods and pay them too much attention.  The anonymous writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus was, in his earthly form, “a little lower than the angels” (2:7, quoting a psalm). But also that after his resurrection he ascended from earth, through the heavens (sky) in which he angels dwelt, to the throne of God above.  Such “up and down” imagery cannot be taken literally today – if it ever was – but as a metaphor it works, if by “up” we refer to importance.  Jesus is more important than the angels.  Why? Because as the Son of God he has more authority than angels who are mere servants of God.  And he came to earth, not to serve angels but people (2:16).

Not only that, but Jesus is also more important than Moses, the greatest of Jewish prophets and leaders (3:3).  The rest of chapters 3 and 4 concerns the concept of “rest”, which is an extension of the ides of the Jewish Shabat (sabbath). If God ‘rested’ after his work of creation, so he intends humanity to ‘rest’ after our work on earth.  That ‘rest’ might be seen in an individual sense of “rest in peace” after death.  But more constructively, it is the new heavens and earth” that Jesus promised would come at the end of time,  a new existence like an endless sabbath, where praise and worship are all that matters, and there is no toil or suffering.

Chapter 5 starts on the major theme of the book – Jesus as High Priest -and I will look at that tomorrow.

 

The Bible in a Year – 11 December

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11 December. 1 Peter chapters 1-5

The theme of this letter to several local churches is suffering.  The suffering of Christ, the suffering of the Body of Christ (the Church) and the sufferings of individuals for whatever reason.  We are not talking here about medical conditions but about punishment, deserved or undeserved: slander, discrimination, persecution, imprisonment or even murder.

Peter (if we assume the letter to have been written by him, which is contested) had seen first John the Baptist and then Jesus suffer all these things.  He had also witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit.   So it is no surprise that these themes all appear in the letter, some of them several times.

Peter emphasises the distinction between just and unjust suffering. He has no praise for those who choose the path of civil disobedience, for we must “accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong” (2:13-14), and there is no merit in suffering as a criminal (2:20) – which presumes that the law of the land is necessarily morally good. That is a whole different discussion!

The focus, then, is on suffering for doing good.  Why? Because that is how Jesus Christ achieved salvation for the rest of us. “If you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps” (2:20-21). Or again, “It is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.  For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God” (3:17-18).  And again, “rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed” (4:13-14). The fact that Peter says the same sort of thing three or more times in the same letter shows how important this was to him.

Persecution has never disappeared from the worldwide Church, though the location and nature of it have changed over the centuries.  In our own day, there is state persecution in Communist or post-Communist countries such as China and Russia where only the “official” state church is tolerated, persecution by terrorists in places such as Egypt and Syria (where minority forms of Islam are equally targeted), and persecution in the form of discrimination in secular states where any form of religion is viewed with suspicion, and believers may find it impossible to get paid work, or schooling for their children.

In this season of Advent, we are reminded that one of the reasons we look forward to the “last days” when Christ will come again is that he will honour those who have suffered for his sake, and bring a final justice that will vindicate them (5:10).

I will conclude with a verse from the service of Compline in traditional language, derived from the end of this letter, and which also reminds of the discipline of Advent: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in faith” (5:8-9).

The Bible in a Year – 10 December

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10 December. Titus chapters 1-3

The letter to Titus is similar in its content to those to Timothy: both men are given instructions on who will make a suitable elder or bishop, guidance for living with integrity, and guidance on how to teach older and younger men and older women (it was for the latter to teach the younger women, presumably to avoid any impropriety).

One difference is the hint found here in Titus of the hope in the Second Coming.  I’m picking that out as it is one of the themes of the present season of Advent.  Paul writes: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds” (2:11‑14).

The theme of Advent is often said to be that of waiting patiently for Jesus to return.   But that does not mean doing nothing.  On the contrary, the call is to be active in good works, as Jesus indicated in his various stories of the ten maidens with lamps, the tenants in the vineyard, and the rich man with his overflowing barns.  So Paul also writes here that Christians should “be careful to devote themselves to good works”.

He also tells them to avoid “stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” (3:8-9). It’s so easy to let our energies be diverted by discussions and debates, whether it is about politics, morality or church customs.  Not that any of these are inappropriate subjects for discussion, but if they distract us from the basic call of Jesus to serve the needs of others in his name, or if they result in divisions and distrust within the Church, then we have our priorities wrong.  When Jesus returns, there is nothing in the scriptures to suggest that he will judge people according to their preferred style of worship, the political party they support or how they have earned their living.  He will, however, judge us (living or dead) on what good or harm we have done for other people, whether immediate neighbours or unseen people across the world. Good works don’t save us, but unrepented evil acts will condemn us.

Hear again what Jesus will do on that day for which we wait: “purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds”.  That is the Advent call.

The Bible in a Year – 9 December

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9 December. 1 Timothy chapters 1-6

The letters to Timothy are called “pastoral” because they are clearly addressed to one person, rather than a local church or Christians as a whole. Having served as Paul’s assistant, he seems to have been appointed as a church leader.  The letter refers to “overseers” and “deacons” in the church – titles that have varied down the centuries from one part of the Church to another, but the basic idea remains that each congregation, or group of congregations in an area, should have one identifiable leader, and others who serve as part of a leadership team.  So we might have a bishop and priests, or a pastor and elders, or a minister and deacons.  Then there are specialist ministries that were not known by name in Paul’s time – youth leaders, readers, pastoral assistants and so on.

The overall intention of Paul’s letters to Timothy sees to have been threefold – to remind him to stick to teaching the Christian doctrines that Paul has passed on, and not be swayed by other forms of religion that he may encounter; to keep order in the church, seeing that the other leaders are suitably experienced and not bringing the church into disrepute by their way of life; and to maintain his own spiritual integrity.

As a Reader in the church myself (probably close to Paul’s concept of a deacon) I need to pay particular attention to how he says they should live – “serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money; they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and … blameless” (3:8-9).  Later in the letter, he gives further instructions to Timothy that seem to apply to all deacons or other assistants in church leadership: “set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching” (4:12-13).  If any of my friends and church colleagues are reading this, do remember to hold me to account!

The Bible in a Year – 8 December

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8 December. Acts chapters 26-28

These final chapters of the book of Acts seem to modern readers to have a strange emphasis.  There are nearly two whole chapters (27:1 – 28:16) covering Paul’s last journey from Jerusalem to Rome as a prisoner awaiting trial; and yet only the last  two verses of the book cover his two years in the Eternal City: “He lived there for two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (28:30-31).  What it does not mention at all is Paul’s death, though it is usually assumed that at the end of the two years his appeal was heard and refused, and he was executed.

Going back to before his last journey, the two rulers who had interrogated him in Caesarea, Agrippa and Festus, had agreed that “this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to the emperor” (26:32). So should Paul have not made his appeal?  He could, it seems, have saved his life and gone back to preaching in the eastern Mediterannean area.

But on the other hand, if he had not let himself be taken to Rome, with all the dangers that the journey involved, he would never have had the chance to preach to the Jews in Rome, and thereby establish the Church in Rome.  A church which over the next few centuries so influenced the society in which it was situated that the Emperor was eventually converted, and which became the centre of the Christian faith in Western Europe.  The Bishop of Rome, under his alternative title of Pope, is still the most influential Christian leader in the world.  And all because Paul took advantage of his Roman citizenship to seek the Emperor’s final decision on his case, even although that decision seems to have gone against him.

Jesus once said, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).  Paul understood this: his own life was sacrificed, but in a way that led to billions of people becoming followers of the Jesus who had appeared to him on that road to Damascus.  From that moment on, his life had been devoted to Jesus, whether in good times or (more often) in difficult and dangerous circumstances.   That unswerving devotion to a cause greater that one’s own comfort or even survival is a challenge to all of us who count ourselves as Christians: are we willing to suffer, as Paul did, for the faith, and for the sake of others who may come after us?

 

The Bible in a Year – 7 December

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7 December. Acts chapters 23-25

The parallels between Paul and Jesus did not stop with him going up to Jerusalem and being caught up in a mob with false accusations.   Like Jesus, Paul is brought before a series of courts – the unnamed tribune in Jerusalem, the high priest Ananias, the Roman governor Felix and his successor Festus, and King Agrippa.  None of them (apart from Ananias) could see the point of the charges brought against Paul, because like those against Jesus, they had to do with Jewish ‘law’ (religious rules) and not the law of the land under the Romans.  If it were not for Paul’s Roman citizenship which had already got him out of danger twice, he may have been handed back to the Jews to be killed. But he uses his privilege again to claim the right to appeal to the Emperor in Rome.

The balance between religious and secular law is another one that is familiar to us.  People of faith living in a multi-cultural society have to consider both.  In many ways the two reinforce each other – to love your neighbour and to keep the civil peace amount to much the same thing.  But sometimes the two clash, and then we have to make a choice.  If you want your son brought up in the understanding of your own faith but the local state school wants to teach about all religions and atheism equally, is it right to refuse to send him to those lessons even if it risks a fine?  If your place of worship is vandalised by non-believers, is it more important to show an example of “forgiving your enemies” according to religious teaching, or to expect the police to prosecute them, and risk increasing division in the local community?   If you belong to a religious tradition that is strongly pacifist, but the country you live in has compulsory military service, is it right to refuse on grounds of conscience and risk imprisonment?

Where is the balance, in other words, between obeying the law of the land and following your religion?  There are, of course, no right answers.  Paul knew that, acknowledging that there was a risk he would end up being found guilty of sedition under Roman law and executed (25:11) but for him, obeying Christ was always more important.

The Bible in a Year – 6 December

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6 December. Acts chapters 20-22

These chapters cover the end of Paul’s missionary journeys, as he returns to Jerusalem where he knows (from his own revelation and the prophecies of others) that he will be arrested and tried.  But he goes voluntarily, like Jesus on his own final journey to Jerusalem, believing that this is God’s will.  In each place he goes along the way, where there are existing communities of Christians, he makes his farewell speech, sometimes (as at Troas, 20:7-11) lasting all night.

We can get an idea of what his farewell speech would have focused on from the episode in Miletus (20:28-35) where he summons the elders (whom he also addressed as “overseers”, the term for what became bishops) from the church in the region known as Asia (meaning part of what is now western Turkey, not the whole continent) and speaks to them, urging them to be pastors to the church members like shepherds with their sheep, to teach the message of God’s grace, and to watch out for charismatic leaders who might lead people astray by ‘false’ teaching.   These remain the core responsibilities of bishops and other ministers today. They all face the tricky task of balancing these duties of pastoral Care, preaching and teaching, and making a public stand against any challenge to the Church.

In Jerusalem it happens just as predicted: Paul is arrested following a mob charge that starts with a false accusation that he has brought Gentiles into the temple.  When brought before the tribune (a low level Roman official) he avoids being flogged by playing the “get out of jail card” of Roman citizenship that I mentioned a couple of days ago.

The sensitivity over who was entitled to use the Temple was nothing new, as it had been a sacred site for the Jews for centuries. Even in today’s news, there is controversy over Jerusalem because the United States wants to have an embassy there. This would apparently be seen by Palestinians as recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and therefore (though there is no apparent logic in this) denying their rights to a share of the city, in which the Temple site (now a Muslim holy place) stands.

Christianity, although regarding Jerusalem as a holy place because of Jesus’ death and resurrection there, makes no territorial claim to it.  To visit the holy city as a pilgrim must be wonderful (I have yet to do it) but it must also be remembered that Jesus called the Temple “a house of prayer for all nations”.  Jerusalem’s role now should be to welcome all who worship the God of Abraham, and to “pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6)  is a command that never ceases to be relevant.

The Bible in a Year – 5 December

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5 December. Acts chapters 17-19

Paul is often held up as the example of a great evangelist, indeed one of the greatest orators, for he was able to be (as he writes elsewhere) “all things to all people”.   Among Jews he argued as a rabbi using their scriptures (17:2,11); in the debating place among philosophers he used the dedication of an altar to an “unknown God” to start speaking of the true God who is invisible but knowable (17:23); he could quote secular poetry (17:28) as well as religious texts. Not only was he gifted in public speaking but he could work with individuals too, Romans (18:7) as well as Greeks; he could encourage individuals who only had a limited understanding of the faith but going deeper with them (19:1-7).  He could also write complex theology in his letters.   If that was not enough, he performed healing miracles and cast out demons in the name of Jesus, as Jesus had done himself (19:11-12)

But in all this he continued to face opposition from many quarters: from Jews who opposed him as a heretic, from Greeks who scoffed at his illogical claims of resurrection, and from Romans who thought Christianity a dangerous cult.  There was opposition too from the idol-makers whose livelihood he had disrupted (19:21-40).  These various groups seemed to be able to draw on a “rent-a-mob” who didn’t even know what they were supposed to be demonstrating about (19:32).

If Paul had been around today, I am sure that he would have experienced much the same.  Religious conservatives, outspoken humanists and atheists, secular authorities who don’t know what to make of faith communities, powerful lobby groups with financial interests, and crowds of demonstrators – they are all still with us, and the ever-challenging message of the Gospel still attracts opposition from them all.

Paul would also undoubtedly have been a media presence.  His Twitter account would have had millions of followers (and attracted trolls too).  He would have been delighted to have been able to set down his theology in blog posts followed by thousands rather than letters to be heard by a few dozen.   He could have argued with the Corinthians instantly by messenger apps, rather than exchange postal correspondence over a period of months.  And no doubt would have been a popular contributor to “thought for the day” on Radio Athens and a controversial guest on chat shows.

But on the other hand, how long would such conversations endure?  How much of what is spoken, blogged and tweeted today will be searchable even in ten years, let alone two thousand?  The power and longevity of the written word – whether Paul’s letters, or Luke’s record of his travels, has meant that his writings and actions have endured down to this day as an inspiration and a challenge.  Let’s hear it for @Paul_Tarsus.

The Bible in a Year – 4 December

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4 December. Acts chapters 14-16

If you have ever played the board game Monopoly you will understand the term “get out of jail free card”.  Players often find themselves sent to jail, where they must try to get out by luck (throwing a double on the dice) or otherwise pay a fine to get out.  But there are two cards that can be picked up at other times in the game that allow a free exit.

Tactically, it is best not to let your opponents know that you hold such a card, so that it is a surprise when you do.  Also, given you can only play it once, there is no point playing that card when it would only give you a small advantage – on the first or second attempt to get out, as you might be lucky with the dice.  It’s best to keep it until you really need it, on the last chance, to avoid having to pay the fine.

Paul did not play board games as we know them. But the Greeks played dice games so he knew about the balance between good luck and tactics. His “get out” card said that he was a Roman citizen, indeed he had been one since birth, as Luke explains later in Acts.  As a Jew, that was unusual, and there are many discussions online about how that came about. So people in other parts of the empire would not have assumed him to be a citizen (which gave additional rights above non-citizens). But when was the appropriate time to reveal this?

As Paul travelled around, his uncompromising style won him followers wherever he went, but also opponents.  In several places there were attempts to stop him and his companions.  Looking at those in today’s reading, first we have Iconium.  There, his opponents “with their rulers”, threatened to stone Paul and his companions (14:5).  If the rulers were joining in with the mob rather than seeking justice, they were clearly corrupt and his citizenship would have had little effect. In Lystra he was stoned again (14:19), this time by conservative Jews who had been brought in from outside.  They would not have been impressed either.

After returning to Jerusalem to sort out the question of whether gentile Christians needed  to be circumcised (fortunately, the debate went in Paul’s favour), he set out again, this time with Silas, and after some more positive experiences, they ended up in Philippi where again there was opposition.  This time they were jailed on the charge brought against them by a slave owner who claimed loss of income as a result of Paul casting out a spirit of divination from one of his slaves – probably a rather weak basis for jailing someone, even in those days.

Freed by the effects of an earthquake (which is not presented as a miracle, and the region is prone to them) they are told by the police that they can leave.  But that is not enough for Paul.  He thinks the time has come to play the card – “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.” (16:37).  “They” are the magistrates, who are forced to come and make an apology in person to Paul and Silas for treating them as slaves rather than citizens.

Was this the right time to play the card?  After all, they were already out of jail!    Paul’s motive seems, therefore, to have been more about preventing further attacks. If the magistrates realised that these Christian preachers were citizens, they would be slower to apply summary justice, and word would get around that they were not to be messed with. Paul did hold another of these cards, and the time would come to play it.  But for now, the game went on.

What is your “get out of jail” card? What would you say to someone who treated you like dirt, denying you the rights that you know yourself to be entitled to, or regarding you as worthless?  It might be your education or practical skills that shows you are not as stupid as they thought. It might be “someone you know” who can advocate for you, or perhaps a natural or learnt aptitude to charm people round to your way of thinking.  But in all these, the element of surprise is not to be underestimated.   After all, even Jesus lived an ordinary life until he was thirty, and did not reveal himself until the time was right, when John the Baptist had already done his work.

Jesus also held the card that none of us can ever hold – the “get out of death free” card.  He played it on Easter morning, and do you know what – he has given each of us a copy for ourselves!

 

The Bible in a Year – 3 December

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

3 December. Acts chapters 11-13

This passage includes Peter’s arrest, imprisonment and miraculous escape brought about by angels.  But after this incident, we hear little more of Peter, who seems to have fled Jerusalem to save his life for the time being. From other sources we know he ended his life in Rome, where Christian tradition holds that he was martyred by being crucified upside-down.

From this point on (probably about ten years after the death of Jesus), Saul/Paul and his companions become the focus of Luke’s story.  Paul having been converted to Christianity finds his ministry being drawn to seeking converts from among the gentile (non-Jewish) population of various cities in the Roman empire, of which he was a citizen and in which he could therefore travel freely.

This ministry was, importantly, recognised by the wider church: “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (13:2,3). Christian ministry of any kind, from a time-limited youth mission or charitable venture to another country, to the consecration of a bishop, is traditionally marked by the leaders (and often representatives of the congregation) praying for those being “sent out” or “set aside”. Often they will have hands laid on them, or be anointed with oil, as further symbolism of the presence of the Holy Spirit with them.

Paul could not have achieved what he did without help from his companions.  These seem to have included Luke who wrote this book, and also John Mark and Barnabas.  Barnabas, which is a nickname meaning “son of encouragement”, was particularly close to him.  He acted, according to several other New Testament passages, as a courier of money, a carrier and reader of Paul’s letters (which he may well have also written down in the first place) and may also have acted as what we would now call a P.A.

To be the personal assistant, messenger or representative of a “great” person (or even of your manager at work) is in many ways as important as being that person, if your work enables them to achieve what they could not on their own, for lack of time or organisational skill.  Not everyone can be a leader but we can all make a positive contribution to a team in the way that uses the gifts we do have.  If you can be an encouragement to them as well, as Barnabas was to Paul, so much the better.