I Peter 1:17-23 May 8
1) God judges impartially. That is good news in our days of identity politics. Patty McKinnon, Indianapolis attorney, quotes Frank Mansell of John Know Pres at Easter: "If you fear God, you fear no one else." OK, except fear in this passage is closer to revere. I am at a loss why we don;t change the translation to something closer to the meaning.
2) live as strangers-the verb is sojourning/travelling 9 as an alien?) recall that Hebrew ethics is concerned for the resident alien, the traveller as well. this may well pick up on diaspora Judaism, or a sense of not fitting in the world as a Christian, a sort of psychic "exile" as we used to hear a lot from denominational offices that drew on Brueggemann's image.This theme gained traction in the 1980s (Elliot and others).
3) v.18 is a weak translation futile is all right, an ineffective, feckless, groping. My beef is with inherited part- this is closer to the old ways, the traditional ways, but has the sense  of being stuck in a rut, maybe even the lifeless or dead hand of the past would be closer to the mark. gold=perishable so blood=imperishable
4) notice the background of the lamb image here
5) v. 20 is a beautiful construction-Sentences like this made scholars wonder how an illiterate, in all likelihood, fisherman, could write like this, so they doubted that Simon Peter actually wrote this. Notice also the nice balance of the dawn of the ages and the current end times. It then goes on to have Jesus be our catalyst toward god, although the translation believe in God (NIV) may be better have confidence in God (RSV) or trust in God (NRSV). I am struck by the phrase confidence in god, especially with its latin root of faith/belief.
6) v.22 often get shorts attention.
7) what is the imperishable seed. to me the word of God sounds  like a catalyst or  an instrumentality

Ps. 116: 1-4, 12-19 Again context matters. Reading this psalm after Easter takes on a wholly different character than someone who has been at  death's door due to illness.
1) Sheol is the grave, the abode of the dead, a shadow realm like Hades when Hercules enters it.  Sheol  and v. 3 is an invitation to the Holy Saturday Easter nexus. Easter shines light on the descent into hell, and the descent makes Easter dawn all the brighter. recall that the reformers made the move of starting the descent into hell, of being god-forsaken/abandoned at Gethsemane. Barth, von Balthasar emphasized the descent. alan lewis did great work, in my view, on Holy Saturday in that posthumous work. Lauber has recently published his revised dissertation on the topic, and miracle of miracles, I can follow a theology dissertation.
Much fuss is being made over Rob Bell's Love Wins. I haven;t read it. I would say that few practicing theologians imagine hell as a literal fire and brimstone place. Not long ago, the Vatican basically endorsed von Balthasar's view of hell as the place of being God forsaken, a place more of being without the source of being, or the chaos of formless existence.
2)

We should note that thanksgiving is the mode of the last section, obviously. Waht sort of thanksgiving prayer did Jesus utter after the harrowing of hell? A good spiritual practice would be to rewrite this part, or to use it as a structure to write out a thanksgiving in one's own life. thanksgiving does not come naturally, nor easily to some of us, so practice makes it a more integral part of spiritual life.

John 20:19-31 May 1, 2001

John gives us Pentecost early. Jesus breathes on them, gives life as Adam received it. Receive holy spirit/breath/holy life force/itself. then they are to forgive. Forgiveness is living in Easter light. Easter is lived out as a community of forgiveness. Too often the church seems to expect us to know what this is and how to work with it. The Tuesday class is devoting two classes to the topic. This is a good example of Peter's living hope. Jesus appears and says hello/shalom or could it indeed by peace. Forgiveness offers peace in relationships; it allows them to live. Jesus is giving them the authority of rabbis to say what is forgiven or unforgiven as permissible or impermissible. After the footwashing, Jesus gave the command to love one another. To love, to forgive is an Easter sign; forgiveness is love in motion when love is threatened by hurt. Forgiveness revivifies relationship. A friend of mine sent me a prayer from a Methodist bishop. notwithstanding its doubtful pedigree, it had something I liked. Its refrain was Easter us, making Easter an imperative verb. Easter us into forgiving.

We then move right into disbelieving/unbelieving/not believing Thomas. Thomas does not doubt as we would use the word.  The church is guilty of using a poor translation to be an excuse for people to ask questions of the faith. Tillich spoke of doubting as an element of faith, not its opposite. As finite beings, we cannot be certain of the reality of being grasped by the infinite. Indeed what we call faith, he calls a "narrow castle of certitude: (Courage :76) It reminds me  a bit of a a Woody Allen character who says that god regards him a sthe loyal opposition.
 
Thomas now sees what the disciples saw-as he missed the first appearance (why?)? Jesus is no mere spirit, as his body bears the open wounds left from the crucifixion. The past is no illusion; Jesus bears its scars.  Although Jesus moves through doors, his appearance has a palpable reality.  This risen Jesus is aware of what happens here, not distant or removed. Jesus has a talk with Thomas. Jesus doesn't pout or withdraw but engages Thomas where he is, but Jesus does not forget his words. Jesus doesn't criticize him or correct him about some trivial mistake, doesn't complain about him. Forgiveness doesn't wipe away the scars of the past, but it does make them bearable.

Forgiveness could well be the early church's sole resource and maybe ours as well.This passage breaks the third wall with the ending, as we who believe but don't get to see Jesus, are directly addressed. John includes us. Notice that Jesus does not criticize Thomas. One of the things we do constantly that may well require forgiveness is criticize people. Indeed here Jesus gives him precisely what the has asked for. He doesn't say that Thomas has not lived up to his expectations; he doesn't shame him or ;lay down guilt; he is not trying to assert superiority. He accepts him for who he is. David Augsburger has the insight that we resist forgiveness because we do not want to lose the edifying feeling of being one up, one above in the moral realm. It's that cloying sense of someone saying I forgive you for a transgressio, but then bringing it a lot. We're across the river from Missouri, the show me state. We are all tempted to be from Missouri in religion. Thomas would like to see his skeptical nature so honored. If you are the sort who looks for empirical proof in faith, look not to speculation, but to the reality of Christian lives here and now. Learn to embrace the new life with forgiveness.

Tuesday 4/26 Forgiveness


Define forgiveness.

What is not forgiveness?

Should forgive and forget be linked?

How do you know when you have not forgiven?
How do you know when you have forgiven?

Are some things unforgivable? Like what?

When someones asks for forgiveness and you respond with, it's no big deal. is that helpful or not to the process of forgiveness? Is it harder to ask for or to receive forgvieness?

what is the longest time it has taken for you to forgive?

I realize that the readers of this verge on perfection, but when has it been necessary for you to be forgiven for a wrong?

How does forgiveness keep from becoming excusing behavior?

Is is helpful to follow the Baptist notion of love the sinner, hate the sin?

What do we mean in the Lord's Prayer when we say forgive us our debts...?

What are some movies that deal with forgiveness? Books? TV shows? Songs? (I immediately think of Don Henley of the Eagles, The heart of the Matter.)

Acts. 2:14-, 22-32 Ps. 16, I Peter 1:3-9 first cuts

As many of us are reminded when they look at the calendar, the lectionary shifts away from OT after Easter for a while. we do still get a psalm.
Acts

1) If you are so inclined to research,  some good work has been done on speeches, rhetoric, in Acts. to get a good sense of a comparative religion approach see the recent award winning book by Luke Timothy Johnson on Greco/Roman approaches to religion. Let's say that this was written 50-60 years after the death of Jesus. What reactions would Luke wish to see, what reactions could there be to Peter speaking in this way?
2) Notice though, that this is packed with a series of Scripture citations.For instance the oath to David is Ps.132:11
3) Some folks wonder if vv.22-4 are a little catechism on Jesus. If so, what are your early memories of learning in the faith?
4) Next is a classic example of how a reading such as Ps 16 gets transformed in an Easter context.
5) Do you think the psalmist was predicting the resurrection?

 

I Peter 1:3-9
  At the outset, I admit that I am not as aware of this epistle as I should be.

 

1) The use of diaspora puts us in a Jewish context, i would think. However, the theme of exile/homelessness could apply toward economic, political, and indeed spiritual conditions as well.

for a while, we have endured the metaphor of exile being applied to the state of  cultural church disestablishment, for instance, and minority voices will use it withing a particular setting to emphasize their estrangement: right or left wings within the church for instance-notice some rare words for instance newly begotten (my translation) in 3, reserved/kept is closer ot preserved-v. 5 shield has the sense of being in a fort or garrison-v7 proved genuine- comes from metal testing-

2) what is this inheritance in heaven?
3) Notice that it does not promise a rose garden-trial/temptation/testing will continue
4) I don;t do well with the refining of character image to expose the gold beneath-how about you?
5)

Ps. 16 has great images for path/ the way, if you are looking for a sermon with geographic imagery.
1) It is cited as the early church used it as a way to come to grips with the meaning of resurrection.

2) I would think v. 2 was important after the ascension. think of Jesus scaring Peter in John 13's footwashing where he says that Peter will have no part in him without the ritual.

3) vv 5-6 seem to me to be worth working with for a while, and they could be productive of all sorts of ideas. I do think of how salvation in Israel had the sense of plenty of elbow room

4) At the end, what are the guideposts for the path of life? Where does it lead/ Pilgrim's Progress offers all sorts of ways to create a geography here. think also of Norris. Dakota or the Lindvall book on spiritual geography.

Matthew 28:1-10 and Is. 25:6-9

Easter is filled with our pale attempts at life's force with bunnies and their broods, eggs as containers of life, green plastic grass that does indeed seem capable of reproducing. In this account, we get an angel here as an actor and a speaker. Instead of cute,  we get a report of daunting forces of nature: apocalyptic images of earthquake and lightning ( see transfiguration). We get the shock of the new:the women are the first messengers -2X they are told to spread the word to the male disciples, as frozen with fear as the guards. Not only are they open to the message, they move and share it. As they are going to do a good thing the guards, the guardians of the established order,  are frozen with fear -why guard an empty tomb? Guards are custodians of the tomb, custodians of a corpse.
Born in a grave image from Tillich. Frankl story of the globe where loves turns the world.

The Bible has a clear trajectory in grasping the nature of God: god of the living, the god of life, not death. God is a god of open doors. I am reminded me of the president congratulating Congress that the doors were open to the great sites of our nation, but he picked the Lincoln memorial, where no doors are to be found to block one's way.The women came expected a sealed tomb but it was wide open. Easter resurrection is the great reversal a disclosure of the new age- a new world world to transform this one, to restore what was lost

2x we get basically the same message from angel and Jesus, especially to not be afraid and go and tell. I find the casual greeting form Jesus to be hilarious.(laugh track in background) Still, the usual word for greeting here literally means Rejoice.when they grab his feet that is the same word for worship/homage.

On Is.25,the new age is a banquet image.  I remember a Lutheran theologian reading  this and proclaiming with his girth, God loves fatness. I think of the New Orleans motto, let the good times roll. It is a good thing to continue Communion with a big Easter brunch. It underscores the thanksgiving and celebratory aspects of communion. Indeed, we call it a foretaste, an appetizer, for the joys of heaven in C. '67. this morning we match a spiritual banquet with a brunch banquet, an extension of Communion.

The resurrection uplifts the kind of life led by Jesus. solidarity with the dead.  Easter is a promise of a new dawn the future- (Lewis) "as we await a movement into the tearless dawn of God's wrapping up our world into the final embrace of divine love"- no more shroud, but a nice warm blanket over a safe earth. Just like we don;t know of smallpox now, or polio, one day we won;t know of cancer.(65) God's tomorrow is taking up residence in our today.

Easter is God's yes to all of us. Vindication of life itself in a new key/dimension, a real life was vindicated, so not a flight from this world but a deep abiding engagement with it. for god, on Holy Saturday, a day was like 1,000 years. God IDs with "death's defeated ." Easter is more than new birth, springtime, or renewal. it is a new creation, for only god, the god of the living, the living God,  can make a tomb a womb; only God can bring life from death, only God can make grave clothes swaddling clothes; only God can make a bier a manger.
how often to we roll the stone back on our own lives?

 

Tuesday Class 4/19

First Cut, more may follow later today. I will bring in some quotes that help illustrate the models.

 

OK we return to the issue of Holy week and the death of Jesus.

 

1) A suffering savior was not  envisioned by most people. Palm Sunday stands at that point. Within days, Jesus dies, and the early church comes to grips with that death. Like many of us in grief, we search for meaning, for some purpose in a death, especially a cruel one for one so young. The NT, in my view, combs the Scriptures to start to make religious sense out of dashed expectations and hopes.

 

2) On Maundy Thursday we will repeat the explicit linkage of the death of Jesus for forgiveness of sins. One image of forgiveness that remains in Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement/forgiveness/covering is just that. Sin is forgiven by its being forgotten, pushed out of sight. How does the cross do that?

 

If sin is an illness, how does the cross heal?

If sin is a stain, how does it cleanse?

If the issue is guilt, how doe it absolve?

If sin is to be be seen as a civil wrong, a tort, how does the cross make whole, how does it compensate? Whom does it compensate?

Instead of seeing sin as an individual issue, does the cross instead point to social sin, or if you prefer, the sins of humanity as a whole?

 

Some rare instances of the NT speak of propitiation, of appeasing wrath. How would that work?

If sin is addiction, dysfunction, how does the cross heal that? I am thinking in terms of bondage here. Ransom, used by mark, is a word for paying a price for freedom. OK, to whom is it being paid? Why the cross for payment?

Greek word for sin is missing the mark, how does the cross move u on target?

Atonement, at root, means at one-ment, making whole, I suppose. That sounds like reconciliation to me. How does the cross create reconciliation?

 

Notice that answers to these have a lot to say of our image of God.

 

Sacrificial language gets us all hung up. Recall that it is basically away of trying to bridge the gap between the divine and human realms. How is the cross a bridge?

 

I do not know if i will be adding to this long section or not. If i do make changes, i will repost.
Ex, 12

We may well be deep into the mists of history. I was taught, before the enlightenment, that this reflects a spring festival of some sort that morphed into a ritual for Passover. After the exile, this is a festival for the new year, as opposed to an older autumn calendar. Some would cite its connection to a full moon as further evidence of a truly ancient festival. Here we get a good example of biblical stories having layers that are integrated, sewn together, and re-interpreted within a narrative framework

1) I cannot tell if this initial description is before the temple, working with it or after its first destruction. I say this as it is a household feast but also sees a congregation in play. See books such as Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews for a description of the bloody mess the temple precincts must have been for Passover in the time of Jesus. Notice the lamb is to be unblemished, only the best for sacrifice, sheep or goat.

2) I love that it takes into account family size for economy but also waste.

3) Many Jewish entrances feature a mezzuzah, a sense of a sacred entrance to the home. In the same line of thought, the blood, life blood, marks the door. It has a sense, to me anyway, similar to putting wolf bane or garlic around to keep a vampire at bay. BY v. 22 we get mention of a destroyer. Remember how DeMille imagines its tentacles creeping around in 10 Commandments. Hyssop seems linked to ritual of purification.

4) Again, I don;t  have a sense of why the whole animal is roasted but it moves smoothly into becoming food on the run, food for a journey.

5) After all these years, the ordinance proclaimed is still being followed. For me this is a double-edged passover, from death of course, but presage passing form slavery to freedom.

 

Is. 52:12-53:12-How do we keep this from becoming a glorification of suffering?

This is the last of the four servant songs. indeed it seems to serve as a template for the trials of Jesus as much as Ps. 22. Joel Marcus concludes his book the Way of the Lord with some good examination of the passage in the time of Jesus, especially its end times readings for the suffering of the righteous. He has a good chart on noticing Markan use of phrases, perhaps drawn from the passage.
1) We rush into the suffering too quickly. Contemplate, as we are told, the end of ch. 52.

2) Whom do we hold of no account that may well reveal the arm of the Lord?

3) vv.4-5 are difficult for me. How and why would this process inhere? I assume sin emphasizes the diseases mentioned in the first set. What does it do to theology to perceive sin more as a disease than a choice?
4) v. 9 clicks in frame Joseph of Arimathea, but I am also struck by linking wicked and rich.
5)

Ps. 116:1-2, 12-19 Again, please be reminded that 113-118, the praise set fo psalms were sung at major Temple festivals, including Passover. Again, this could be a hymn sung before the move to the garden.

1) cup of salvation ma have direct or more tenuous relation to the cup we now see as the communion cup. Indeed, if you are having Communion on Maundy (mandatory0 Thursday, how does this psalm fit into your liturgy?
2) do you think we have relation to the cup of wrath of which Jesus speaks?
3) of all people, Calvin did not see v. 15 as God looking for martyrs, but instead sees it as a protection thanksgiving
4) why do many of us find it hard to make thanksgiving offerings, including prayer?
5) the land of the living at v. 9 gives a good linkage to Easter.

Ps. 22 Along with the Is. passage, this seems to act as a structuring device for the events of the Passion (see Crossan, Who Killed Jesus and the article Costly Loss of lament, its restoration in at least one Montreat program and the Billman/Migliore book) . I am being lazy at this point, but I am confident that the end of the psalm had some end time relevance in the time of Jesus.It is a marvel that the words of this psalm are among the last things Jesus says. i don;t have patience with those who rush to say that ti is not really a lament, given its ending. Jesus could then have quoted that part. Further, if Jesus would pray a lament psalm in anguish, where do we get the notion that lament is not for us? Note also the sense of abandonment/absence of God at the start. for me, this Psalm points us to the concern for anyone who suffers and should not be placed only in the box labelled, atonement for sin.

1) For some media adventure, compare the psalm to Jesus Christ Superstar in the garden and moving toward the end of Jesus of Montreal.
2 Why the doubling of "my God?" (v. 1?) what seems god-forsaken in current conditions where you are right now?
3) v. 6 worm- Isaac Watts would use that line in a psalm, would we self-esteem proponents?
4) Wild packs of dogs would scare me enough, but if we apply them to crucifixion, would they not be the ones that would attack the bodies, dead or alive?
5) the ending certainly has an Easter feel to it, no?