Year Wrap Up

Hi Class

Thanks for an enjoyable year of study. Sorry we didn't quite make it through to Revelation! We'll just finish up Philippians this Sunday, May 22 then take a break until Fall.

I have appreciated your commitment to the group; your wonderful, honest questions and insights; and how much we have learned from the Scriptures together because of your openness and energy.

We will reconvene the second week of September, and make a run at completing the New Testament by Christmas!

In the mean time, let us keep looking up and ahead for the blessings God has in store for us. Please hold one another in prayer through summer, perhaps with this attitude: "But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining on toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

God bless you!

Pastor Dan

Paul's Epistles

We are now in the Book of Ephesians. This letter may be an adaptation of a letter to a specific church intended for general circulation. In it Paul offers his beautiful vision for the whole of creation unified and blessed in Christ.

Last Sunday our class considered Paul's citizenship metaphor in chapter 2. We shared about how our families came to be citizens in America. We learned that our families came from many and diverse places, all, presumably, looking for new opportunity and richer lives in the New World. However our memories and awareness of this are thin; we all wished we actually knew more about how it must have felt to become a citizen of a new country. Yet this is the very awareness Paul addresses in helping new Christians understand how they belong to a new citizenry and one household under God, through Christ.

Today I found an article in "Alive Now" magazine that I think is very worth sharing with you, on this topic. The article is written by the Rev. Larry Jent, a United Methodist pastor. The title of the piece is "Dangerous Words".

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"Welcome one another, therefore, just has Christ has welcomed you." - Paul of Tarsus, Jewish citizen of Rome, Christian Apostle to the Gentiles; in Romans 15:7

These are dangerous words: welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Forgive, and it will be forgiven you (Luke 6). Love as you have been loved (John 15).

Once in a while we are privileged to meet someone who lives by that golden rule -- who gives with the same measure they have received from Christ. It seems to me that the folks who are best at this are generally those who feel Christ's love in a fresh way. People who have recently found the power to get clean and sober are able to see hope for anyone. People who have recently been healed are quick to offer powerful words of healing. Those who have been alone a long time -- and have recently found a home for their souls -- are very, very good at inviting others to come home.

In America, we tend to have very short memories. We believe we have always been here. Things have always been like this. Our culture grinds down our memories. Most of our families are newcomers. Most of us came without a prayer. We found our way in this land because people welcomed us . . . and we have forgotten all of that. God called the people to remember their roots. "My father was a wandering Aramean." So begins the Jewish credo. "We were strangers in a strange land -- slaves to Pharaoh -- but God brought us out to freedom."

If only we could remember how our families were welcomed; our lives would be filled with gratitude and wonder. But be careful: for we might also be called to care for strangers -- just as others have cared for us.

See you in class!

Pastor Dan

I Corinthians wrap up

Our focus the last few weeks has been on Paul's discussion of specific questions submitted to him by members of the Corinthian church. Regarding gifts of the Spirit (Chapters 12-14) in evidence in that congregation, Paul's main point is to remind people of the purpose of such gifts -- for the good of all. Higher gifts are those which more obviously benefit the body of Christ and are less prone to individual exercise and losing a sense of how they benefit the common good. This is consistent with his emphasis on coaching a very diverse congregation toward cooperation, flexibility, and unity.

Last week we focused on Paul's logical thinking about the importance of belief in resurrection (chapter 15) We might infer from his discussion that there were those, even in that early time of the church, who de-emphasized or even disdained a belief in resurrection all together. From Paul's point of view -- remember he encountered the RISEN Christ in his conversion experience -- belief in resurrection is so critical that without it all Christian practice and belief becomes meaningless. In particular, he argues that the extent of suffering he and others endure for Christ makes no sense whatsoever if there is not the promise of exalted life afterwards.

This week we will skim II Corinthians and look ahead to Paul's letters to Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae.

Dear Paul: I'm getting married . . .

Chapter 7 in I Corinthians reads rather like a modern advice column. Paul gives his advice, believing a lot of it is just his opinion, on the complexities and complications of marriage in the culturally diverse and confusing environment in Corinth.

We were, once again, impressed by Paul's thoughtfulness, gentleness, and even-handedness in treating a sensitive topic. He seems to be speaking here not just to men, but with an awareness of the feelings of women. It is clear he is speaking kindly to people in the Corinthian church who have questions about how to conduct themselves in marital relationships where culture and custom clash.

In Paul's view, love and marriage are complicated for a Christian, not just because of the distracting heat of sexual passion but because of the risks and work required to be married and raise a family. He himself seems thankful and content with the relative simplicity of being single, and though he would wish this state upon others, he concedes that celibacy is not for everyone. "Better to marry than to burn"!

He is also sensitive and gracious concerning questions about marriage between Christians and non-Christians, unions which, perhaps, were even then becoming more common in an increasingly pluralistic world. Rather than taking a hard line and prohibiting people with different beliefs from marrying, he suggests that the Christian in the relationship provides a blessing to his or her mate and children.

Throughout his discussion we assume a rather modern dynamic: that spouses and children are free to make their own choices about their beliefs, rather than being bound to those of the husband and father.

Paul is also clear in this discussion about his belief in a coming radical change in the world. "the time is short", he says -- "this world in its present form is passing away." I hear an echo of Jesus' teaching about marriage -- how in the kingdom of heaven people will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

Questions remain for me. I like being married, and all that it entails. The blessed complications are part of the richness of my life. I'm glad to think that Paul would say I have not sinned. : )

Next Sunday, February 13, we will read Chapter 8, with a view toward moving quickly through the rest of I Corinthians in the next few weeks.

-- Pastor Dan

I Corinthians Chapter 5

Paul pens tough words in this chapter, in the end referencing the Law to "expel the wicked man from among you". Deuteronomy 17:7 instructs that someone worshipping another God, contrary to the requirements of the Law, be more than expelled, but completely eliminated -- stoned to death to "purge the evil" that is among the people. So one could say that Paul's solution to a bad influence is quite softened by grace. His desire is two-fold: that the body of Christ be preserved, and that, perhaps, the one expelled may change his ways and, ultimately, be restored to the congregation.

Our class enjoyed a spirited discussion about boundaries for congregational life. Some questions: are modern congregations too tolerant of behavior that contradicts a group's distinctively Christian values? What is the role of the pastor in the contemporary church in calling congregations to account and responsibility for healthy community? In what contexts would "tolerance" be a Christian virtue; or a compromise to culture and practices that are out of sync with Christianity?

My take -- hey I'm writing the blog -- : ) is to notice ALL of what Paul is saying in the context. Besides expressing dismay about the congregation's tolerance of a man's inappropriate relationship with "his father's wife", he lists "brothers" who are sexually immoral or greedy (interesting to put these in the same breath), idolaters (see Deuteronomy 17 above) or slanderers, drunkards or swindlers, as men who must be excluded from the intimate fellowship of eating together. Worth noting, always, is the patriarchal nature of the culture of the time, and how even the church back then took this for granted -- something most of us in our congregation would challenge, on Christian principle.

I think Paul's perception of the context matters a lot, as it seems to me contradictory to Jesus' own practices of welcoming "sinners" and yes eating with them. He is concerned about the health of the Corinthian church, and their slackness in paying mind to who they are. I believe forming and maintaining a healthy congregation is hard work, and the Corinthians are being, as a friend of mine puts it, "lazy thinkers".

So I conclude that Paul is not being judgmental in a self-righteous way, but rather realistic and evaluative in a way that reminds us that there must be healthy boundaries in community. And I do think that modern churches get lazy, too, and can do better at both: offering grace-based acceptance to everyone, but also keeping high expectations regarding behaviors that affect and influence everyone.

We continue our study of I Corinthians this Sunday, January 30 -- hope to see you all there!

Pastor Dan

I Corinthians Wisdom and Intelligence

New Testament Made Easy class is now beginning an overview of Paul's letters to the Corinthian church.

Last Sunday we shared conversation, experiences and insight relative to this passage:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
(I Cor. 1:18-25)

As I listened to our class discuss "wisdom" and "intelligence" I am gleaning a few insights for myself that I think are worth having and sharing.

-- A person can have high "intelligence" as a human being, achieve a high level of education and success because of this, and still be a person of humility and faith.
-- Human intellect, though, can be a stumbling block to faith, if that intellect is so insistently logical that mystery (accepting that an experience or idea is "true" though it cannot be explained in human terms) cannot be embraced.
-- Our human interpretation of facts will vary from individual to individual; but one fact we can accept in one another is that we each have a unique relationship with God. Related to this is the important observation that "fact" and "truth" are really not the same thing.

Now for a factual story, that may be true, as well . . . a man with a very logical bent set out one chilly day to determine what the temperature was. Using a high-tech thermometer he took many readings, most of them different even though the data came from the air temperature in the same immediate vicinity. Confused by the facts, he sat down in tense frustration because he could not know the "right" temperature reading. A member of his family tried to explain that the truth of the matter was simply that IT WAS COLD. I thought this anecdote has some bearing on our discussion of matters of faith. Even the details in the Bible vary; the facts as presented need to be interpreted; but the Truth remains: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God".

We meet again this Sunday, January 9, 10:00 a.m., everyone is welcome.

-- Pastor Dan

Concluding Romans Study: Exercising Faith

For the last few weeks we have read and discussed chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 in Romans, a section we summarized by the subtitle "Exercising Faith". This seems an appropriate summary in light of the the Apostle Paul's very physical, athletic sense of himself and the imagery he employs in his Epistles.

If the first part of the book dealt mainly with human relationships with God, these chapters are most practical in their application to human relationships in light of our standing with God. A principal theme is that judgment of others in any form is God's territory and out of bounds for us. Yet we have new boundaries to explore. In Christ we need to go beyond our comfort zone of mere non-condemnation to an expansive, active acceptance and sacrificial love toward others.

Paul's gracious tone is wonderful to discover in this book. Many of us have felt beaten about the brain and heart by quotations from Romans employed mainly to sort out, judge, control, and condemn others. My view of this book is changed and renewed by our study together. I will always be deeply grateful for this growth and change in my perception of Paul.

Though much of Romans remains quotable in terms of basic Christian beliefs and practices, I have a new favorite passage which I commend to you:

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
-- Romans 15:5-7

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Next up: Introduction to I and II Corinthians, Sunday December 12.

-- Pastor Dan