Scroll down for past studies in this series.
Last Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++
Proper 29
With the Collect from last Sunday, we are reminded why this study is important. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer collected his thoughts about living with the Bible and wrote them out to be included in the first Book of Common Prayer:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
SETTING YOUR BIBLE PLAN:
Our 45 essays since January, 2015, based on the Sunday readings used weekly in most Christian Church worship, were designed to bring Scripture to life in your life and for you to share with others by reading full Bible texts aloud. This approach is different from many classes studying the Bible book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by verse.
The WDRG Study does not choose the single Bible books at random. Choices are the “stars” of Scripture appointed for the seasons of the Church Year. To personally give you depth of understanding, our featured Lectionary Year B texts of Mark, Acts, I and II Corinthians, Ephesians, James, and Hebrews have been examined.
SETTING THE SEASONS:
Next Sunday is the last of Year B. Lectionary Year C begins the following week. Our church calendar is not tied to the secular calendar that will begin anew on New Year’s Day January 1, 2016. What makes the seasonal changes most obvious in worship comes with the visual change in the colors used for vestments and hangings. What makes this confusing in our minds is that church changes seem to conflict with our secular calendars. Understanding how and why Christian celebrations ebb-and-flow from year-to-year enriches our understanding of our worship.
SETTING HUMAN CALENDAR EVENTS:
The critical place for Christians to start is with fixed dates not varying from year-to-year. All are based on human life events that are referenced in our Bible.
Christmas Day, December 25 is our anchor point. Celebrating The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ comes at the end of the pregnancy begun nine months before on The Feast of The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to The Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25. Both fixed calendar dates can occur mid-week, but The Annunciation often gets overlooked in current worship, because most years it is the only feast in Lent and can actually be moved to a date other than March 25.
On December 28, The Holy Innocents are remembered, as the Bible tells of the Holy Family fleeing for safe refuge.
The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in keeping with the traditional Jewish “bris” or circumcision, occurs on January 1, which also yields to the secular New Year’s Day. While The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple is not tied to the birth events, it reflects the Jewish tradition of “bar mitzvah,” and is echoed in our Christian confirmation.
Biblically, the joint human pregnancies of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth are celebrated when they meet on May 31 for The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Elizabeth’s child comes on June 24, The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. The boy cousins’ birthdays, set a half-year apart at solstice times, provide a delightful teaching reflection. John, as days lessen in length, forecasts the coming of the light into the world, with the birth of Jesus initiating the renewal of longer days progressing from dark, dismal cold to bright, glorious spring warmth.
SETTING HEAVENLY CALENDAR EVENTS:
Christian calendar movable dates shift from year-to-year based on the calendar placement of Easter. This most Holy Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox on March 21. Connected here are Ash Wednesday, Lent, Ascension Day, and The Day of Pentecost.
For more details and discoveries, examine the tables and rules for finding Easter Day and Movable Feasts and Holy Days from 1900 to 2089 in the BCP on pages 880-885. This helpful source locates holidays on multi-year calendars and provides impressive trivia to share.
SETTING YOUR TIME FOR GOD’S TIME:
As the saying goes, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Making resolutions from day-to-day, year-to-year can become reality when you make God’s time your time. Life, thanks be to God, is always re-creation.
This 1544 portrait of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer attributed to Gerlach Flicke can be seen in London’s National Portrait Gallery.
With the Collect from last Sunday, we are reminded why this study is important. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer collected his thoughts about living with the Bible and wrote them out to be included in the first Book of Common Prayer:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
SETTING YOUR BIBLE PLAN:
Our 45 essays since January, 2015, based on the Sunday readings used weekly in most Christian Church worship, were designed to bring Scripture to life in your life and for you to share with others by reading full Bible texts aloud. This approach is different from many classes studying the Bible book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by verse.
The WDRG Study does not choose the single Bible books at random. Choices are the “stars” of Scripture appointed for the seasons of the Church Year. To personally give you depth of understanding, our featured Lectionary Year B texts of Mark, Acts, I and II Corinthians, Ephesians, James, and Hebrews have been examined.
SETTING THE SEASONS:
Next Sunday is the last of Year B. Lectionary Year C begins the following week. Our church calendar is not tied to the secular calendar that will begin anew on New Year’s Day January 1, 2016. What makes the seasonal changes most obvious in worship comes with the visual change in the colors used for vestments and hangings. What makes this confusing in our minds is that church changes seem to conflict with our secular calendars. Understanding how and why Christian celebrations ebb-and-flow from year-to-year enriches our understanding of our worship.
SETTING HUMAN CALENDAR EVENTS:
The critical place for Christians to start is with fixed dates not varying from year-to-year. All are based on human life events that are referenced in our Bible.
Christmas Day, December 25 is our anchor point. Celebrating The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ comes at the end of the pregnancy begun nine months before on The Feast of The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to The Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25. Both fixed calendar dates can occur mid-week, but The Annunciation often gets overlooked in current worship, because most years it is the only feast in Lent and can actually be moved to a date other than March 25.
On December 28, The Holy Innocents are remembered, as the Bible tells of the Holy Family fleeing for safe refuge.
The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in keeping with the traditional Jewish “bris” or circumcision, occurs on January 1, which also yields to the secular New Year’s Day. While The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple is not tied to the birth events, it reflects the Jewish tradition of “bar mitzvah,” and is echoed in our Christian confirmation.
Biblically, the joint human pregnancies of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth are celebrated when they meet on May 31 for The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Elizabeth’s child comes on June 24, The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. The boy cousins’ birthdays, set a half-year apart at solstice times, provide a delightful teaching reflection. John, as days lessen in length, forecasts the coming of the light into the world, with the birth of Jesus initiating the renewal of longer days progressing from dark, dismal cold to bright, glorious spring warmth.
SETTING HEAVENLY CALENDAR EVENTS:
Christian calendar movable dates shift from year-to-year based on the calendar placement of Easter. This most Holy Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox on March 21. Connected here are Ash Wednesday, Lent, Ascension Day, and The Day of Pentecost.
For more details and discoveries, examine the tables and rules for finding Easter Day and Movable Feasts and Holy Days from 1900 to 2089 in the BCP on pages 880-885. This helpful source locates holidays on multi-year calendars and provides impressive trivia to share.
SETTING YOUR TIME FOR GOD’S TIME:As the saying goes, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Making resolutions from day-to-day, year-to-year can become reality when you make God’s time your time. Life, thanks be to God, is always re-creation.
This 1544 portrait of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer attributed to Gerlach Flicke can be seen in London’s National Portrait Gallery.
November 9, 2015 Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 28
All’s well that ends
well. That thought is something that applies this week in multiple ways to
the WDRG Study. In our wanderings through the Letter to the Hebrews, as it
has been the designated epistle for our Sunday readings in the final weeks of
Lectionary Year C, we’ve talked about angels and shared some visions of them
Angels, as messengers of God, something we are all charged to be, will
remain in our thoughts as reminders of our God-given duty through the rest of
the 2015 secular calendar year.
CLOSING
THE BOOK:
Before you leave
Hebrews, take an hour of time this week to reread all of it aloud, or, at
least, to skim it silently to remember sections you want to savor fully for a
final ingestion. A skilled author
put these words together in a powerfu l way that deserves to be taken seriously
as great wisdom. Once you have absorbed the whole of Hebrews, you are
ready to receive the instructions this writer wants you to take to heart and
use as the basis of your life…your Christian life of continuing Jesus’ work in
the world.
Take special
time this week to listen carefully and thoughtfully to the instructions in
Chapter 13. While they were written nearly 2000 years ago, the impact for
us today is clearly stated, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and
forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, NRSV) This book of glory, reflecting the
majesty of God, ends with practical advice for living well every day.
COMPLETING
THE CANON:
The Letter to the
Hebrews, probably dates to the second or third generation after the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus. However, Hebrews did not really fit any of the
categories used by those trying to make order out of the earliest Christian
writings. It was not truly a letter, like those of Paul. It was not a
story of the life of Jesus, as told in the gospels. No known or famous
person could be identified as its author. Yet Hebrews had great
beauty in the way it described the reasons humans were empowered to live a
Christian life. It even included a guidebook to follow in leading this
life, so it must be considered important.
For two hundred years,
compiling lists of NT texts depended on what was known and what was available
from place-to-place throughout the world of the early Church. The final
decision on works to be included in the Christian Bible was made in the letter
of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, at Easter 367. This.letter
set in place the 27 NT books in our Bibles today. Though it had appeared
on several earlier lists, Athanasius’ decision, because of his importance as a
Church leader, guaranteed that the Letter to the Hebrews would become a
critical, accepted, and permanent source for Christians to use in their lives.
MOVING
AHEAD:
While we leave the
Sunday lectionary use of Hebrews now, look forward to cuttings of this text
reappearing on important holy and feast days, as well as again in the Sunday
lectionary next year. Don’t dismiss the Letter to the Hebrews because at
first exposure it seems long and complicated. These rich words, buried
deep within the NT, hold the essence of the Christian faith that can undergird
and mold our lives. Hear them!
“Now may the God of
peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the
sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant make you complete in everything
good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing
in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21, NRSV)
This
bevy of angels greets you as you enter the Bosque Center residence hall, the
setting for the annual fall retreat of the Women of the Diocese of the Rio
Grande. Mark your 2016 calendar to share lively learning and spiritual
strengthening on the weekend of November 17-18.
November
2, 2015
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 27
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 27
The WDRG Study encourages you to
read Bible texts aloud, so that their meaning becomes embedded in your
thoughts. Hearing was the way the word of God was transmitted and
Christianity expanded, within the early congregations established by the
followers of the twelve disciples as well as Paul and company. Few people
actually could read; even fewer could write. The only way the good news was
spread was by word-of-mouth. All the books of the NT we have today were
originally passed on verbally.
WRITING NT WORDS:
As first-hand human memories began to fade and expansion outside the Holy Land began to grow, the spoken words
were written down, so that they would not be forgotten and could easily be shared. Paul’s seven epistles (I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, I and II Corinthians, Philemon and Romans) were the first post-resurrection thoughts placed in written form. They were dispersed to the congregations forming and growing throughout the Mediterranean area.
The earliest texts were incident-specific, suggesting ways to cope with occurring problems. As Paul, in Romans, reached the end of his writing career, he set out theological thought that was expanded by later NT authors in other letters, sermons, and essay-like treatises. The gospels and Revelation were created in the second and third generations of NT writers. Since the lingua franca of the Roman trade world was Greek, the NT texts were all originally written in Greek, yet dotted with occasional Aramaic and Syriac/Hebrew words. Every Bible text we use today is a translation of a translation (that is, Greek to Latin to English).
TRANSLATING NT WORDS:
When one steps away from the actual texts of the Bible and delves into the world in which they were written, interesting things come to light, confounding and mystifying the reader. Beware…depending upon the translation, one can easily feel anger beginning to seethe within. Where are the women???
Women were there in the beginning of Christianity. Women were followers of Jesus in Galilee. Women in the very first Christian communities outside Jerusalem were acknowledged by Paul. Women were very, very important in the birthing (certainly a job for women!), nurturing, and growing of Christianity, from the early life of Jesus, through the inspiring of groups spreading the message across 20 centuries, finally arriving in our daily lives.
The Letter to the Hebrews challenges us to consider women and words. Generally, the accepted early Greek text uses male terminology, echoed in English translations from the King James Version (KJV) through the Revised Standard Version (RSV). However, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) commingles male and female translations, making the resultant meaning more acceptable to the new, evolving sensibility of gender use.
NAMING NT WORDS:
In exploring Hebrews, we’ve avoided noting that the language and imagery in the text are almost entirely masculine. Of interest is that Jesus Christ is the only NT person mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews along with a longish list of OT male names. For OT females, only Sarah, the barren, and Rahab, the prostitute, are named. What is going on here?
Remember, in the Letter to the Hebrews, all the names, except for Jesus Christ, are really outsiders, not important hierarchy people. Certainly, Sarah and Rahab, by description, belong in the outsider category. Remember, too, that from all available possibilities, the writer of Hebrews carefully selected people with qualities exhibiting superlative faith. Chosen were true believers, who faithfully lived in relationship with God.
Near the end of Hebrews, the author of this magnificent Bible book selected Sarah and Rahab to be role models for all of us. Gender does not matter to God. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that God is looking for faith, fidelity, and service. Neither worldly importance nor gender bias should limit us. God, in return for life and love, merely wants pure faith.
WRITING NT WORDS:
As first-hand human memories began to fade and expansion outside the Holy Land began to grow, the spoken words
were written down, so that they would not be forgotten and could easily be shared. Paul’s seven epistles (I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, I and II Corinthians, Philemon and Romans) were the first post-resurrection thoughts placed in written form. They were dispersed to the congregations forming and growing throughout the Mediterranean area.
The earliest texts were incident-specific, suggesting ways to cope with occurring problems. As Paul, in Romans, reached the end of his writing career, he set out theological thought that was expanded by later NT authors in other letters, sermons, and essay-like treatises. The gospels and Revelation were created in the second and third generations of NT writers. Since the lingua franca of the Roman trade world was Greek, the NT texts were all originally written in Greek, yet dotted with occasional Aramaic and Syriac/Hebrew words. Every Bible text we use today is a translation of a translation (that is, Greek to Latin to English).
TRANSLATING NT WORDS:
When one steps away from the actual texts of the Bible and delves into the world in which they were written, interesting things come to light, confounding and mystifying the reader. Beware…depending upon the translation, one can easily feel anger beginning to seethe within. Where are the women???
Women were there in the beginning of Christianity. Women were followers of Jesus in Galilee. Women in the very first Christian communities outside Jerusalem were acknowledged by Paul. Women were very, very important in the birthing (certainly a job for women!), nurturing, and growing of Christianity, from the early life of Jesus, through the inspiring of groups spreading the message across 20 centuries, finally arriving in our daily lives.
The Letter to the Hebrews challenges us to consider women and words. Generally, the accepted early Greek text uses male terminology, echoed in English translations from the King James Version (KJV) through the Revised Standard Version (RSV). However, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) commingles male and female translations, making the resultant meaning more acceptable to the new, evolving sensibility of gender use.
NAMING NT WORDS:
In exploring Hebrews, we’ve avoided noting that the language and imagery in the text are almost entirely masculine. Of interest is that Jesus Christ is the only NT person mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews along with a longish list of OT male names. For OT females, only Sarah, the barren, and Rahab, the prostitute, are named. What is going on here?
Remember, in the Letter to the Hebrews, all the names, except for Jesus Christ, are really outsiders, not important hierarchy people. Certainly, Sarah and Rahab, by description, belong in the outsider category. Remember, too, that from all available possibilities, the writer of Hebrews carefully selected people with qualities exhibiting superlative faith. Chosen were true believers, who faithfully lived in relationship with God.
Near the end of Hebrews, the author of this magnificent Bible book selected Sarah and Rahab to be role models for all of us. Gender does not matter to God. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that God is looking for faith, fidelity, and service. Neither worldly importance nor gender bias should limit us. God, in return for life and love, merely wants pure faith.
This winged female figure from the 6th century BCE is from the collection of
the Louvre in Paris. It reminds us that angels were important in the
ancient world, before the Letter to the Hebrews opened with extolling angels
and ended by empowering human beings.
All Saints, Oct. 26
Don’t you wonder if the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews even could have dared to imagine that this text would be important enough to be a formative part of the new relationship with God that was coming into being? And that 2000 years later, this new way of being would be called Christianity? There is value in your hour of reading aloud this full NT book and letting your mind conjure up the meaning behind the magnificent words and concepts presented. Thinking on this is an appropriate reminder for our coming Sunday with readings that offer us a bit of a break in our learning about Hebrews.
PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE:
Across the centuries, Bible inspiration has charged people to come face-to-face with the comforting reality of the constant presence of a God who offered love enough to share living an earthly life from birth to death. From the Bible comes the account of this story and of the adventures of those who lived their own lives, passing God’s story onto others. Through the years, through generations of women, men, and children, the thoughts of God as constantly alive in all our lives have been told and retold. Who told you? Who will you tell?
Every year on November 1, we celebrate this miracle of transmission of God’s love on All Saints’ Day. And it gives us a chance to pause to reflect not only on our inheritance, but on who and what a saint is.
The word “saint” simply means “holy”. Since we are all made in the image of God, we must also all be holy. To be a saint does not mean being “good” or “bad”, but that we are all totally caught-up and nestled in the abundance of God’s love. We are all “saints”. And we are all part of a long procession of saints.
Awareness for us of this fact goes back to the very beginning of Christian Bible writings, including those of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. In the early NT formation, in the first hundred years after God chose to live among us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can reconnect with the righteous existence given humanity in Genesis. With the NT, we are reassured to know and share the rest of the story.
ANNUAL OPPORTUNITY:
On All Saints Day, the great Communion consecration prayer begins with this proper preface:
For in the multitude of your saints, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses, that we might rejoice in their fellowship, and run with endurance the race that is set before us; and together with them, receive the crown of glory that never fades away.
These words are a roadmap for us. All Saints’ Day is a Principal Feast of the Church to be celebrated joyfully every year, as we go forward “on our way rejoicing” to “show and tell” all people we encounter that God’s love is openly available to each and every one of us. Hebrews makes it clear that all of us are called as messengers of Jesus, our great high priest.
This year, you might make an effort to see your place in Christian history, as you share All Saints’ Day with others who are waiting to be reassured that the strength of God’s comforting love is open to them. Pass on the good news of the Bible as the writer of Hebrews urges you. Living with the love of God made obvious to us in Jesus Christ is all that it takes to be a saint.
Twenty-second Sunday after
Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 25-Oct. 19
While
scholars believe the Letter to the Hebrews was not written by a Hebrew to
Hebrews, it cannot be understood, if it is separated from the Jewish tradition
that forms the fertile ground for Christianity. Last week, thanks to the
possibilities that the text of Hebrews offers us, we were able to trace the use
of Midrash through the thought processes of Judaism into our Christian usage.
Midway through your hour of reading Hebrews aloud, another inheritance from Jewish and Christian tradition becomes important. The writing style changes from forcefully laying out theological concepts to reinforcing ideas presented by peppering them with identities of people from the OT.
While the NT is filled with names and deeds selected from OT scrolls, most people we encounter in the texts are the central characters in the drama of humans interacting with God. These inhabit the childhood stories we are told and remember, in their simplicity, as adults. However in Hebrews, people and plots are given a bit of a different twist.
PEOPLE IN PERFORMANCE:
Let’s look at the cast of characters the author of Hebrews uses. Early on we encounter Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Aaron. They are often referred to in other NT books, so we have grown accustomed to them.
The writer of Hebrews decides to give a starring role to Melchizedek drawing from the limited OT references to him in Genesis 14:18-20 and Psalm 110.4. Expanding these scriptural references, later Jewish commentators enlarged the Melchizedek story about his importance. The writer of Hebrews draws on these embellishments to strengthen his point about the human contrast to the priestly priority of Jesus.
The additional roles outlined are listed in Hebrews 11. Some are obvious; some are not. Males you will spot are Abel, Cain, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Esau, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel. Since only two females are named, Sarah and Rahab, through them, we are able to discern, because of their lack of power, a possible reason the writer of Hebrews made the choices we read here.
Most lists of Bible people are hierarchical. Hebrews does not highlight high priests or kings. Expected OT inclusions do not happen; surprising ones do. Leaders are not recognized here. Names included have a part in important stories, but from an outsiders point-of-view. This is not a list of heroes, but rather of ordinary people, who acted through their faith in God to fulfill the belief that what they were doing was in the service of God within the community.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
What does this have to do with being a Christian 2000 years later? It is actually good news. The text of Hebrews gives us comfort and permission to merely be and to live in our place in God’s community. While we should honor all our earthly leaders, we should remember, that the only high priest we have is Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews makes it obvious that we all have a valuable part in God’s community. What is expected of us? We are cast in the role to further the mission of Jesus Christ, the High Priest. We do that by being God’s messengers or angels passing on the good news.
Midway through your hour of reading Hebrews aloud, another inheritance from Jewish and Christian tradition becomes important. The writing style changes from forcefully laying out theological concepts to reinforcing ideas presented by peppering them with identities of people from the OT.
While the NT is filled with names and deeds selected from OT scrolls, most people we encounter in the texts are the central characters in the drama of humans interacting with God. These inhabit the childhood stories we are told and remember, in their simplicity, as adults. However in Hebrews, people and plots are given a bit of a different twist.
PEOPLE IN PERFORMANCE:
Let’s look at the cast of characters the author of Hebrews uses. Early on we encounter Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Aaron. They are often referred to in other NT books, so we have grown accustomed to them.
The writer of Hebrews decides to give a starring role to Melchizedek drawing from the limited OT references to him in Genesis 14:18-20 and Psalm 110.4. Expanding these scriptural references, later Jewish commentators enlarged the Melchizedek story about his importance. The writer of Hebrews draws on these embellishments to strengthen his point about the human contrast to the priestly priority of Jesus.
The additional roles outlined are listed in Hebrews 11. Some are obvious; some are not. Males you will spot are Abel, Cain, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Esau, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel. Since only two females are named, Sarah and Rahab, through them, we are able to discern, because of their lack of power, a possible reason the writer of Hebrews made the choices we read here.
Most lists of Bible people are hierarchical. Hebrews does not highlight high priests or kings. Expected OT inclusions do not happen; surprising ones do. Leaders are not recognized here. Names included have a part in important stories, but from an outsiders point-of-view. This is not a list of heroes, but rather of ordinary people, who acted through their faith in God to fulfill the belief that what they were doing was in the service of God within the community.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
What does this have to do with being a Christian 2000 years later? It is actually good news. The text of Hebrews gives us comfort and permission to merely be and to live in our place in God’s community. While we should honor all our earthly leaders, we should remember, that the only high priest we have is Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews makes it obvious that we all have a valuable part in God’s community. What is expected of us? We are cast in the role to further the mission of Jesus Christ, the High Priest. We do that by being God’s messengers or angels passing on the good news.
To learn more about this sculpture, visit blog.britishmuseum.org and type in 'Barlach’s hovering angel' in the search box. Near the end of the page, click on BBC Radio 4 series for a 15 minute oral history of the sculpture.
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Year
B) +++ Proper
24
“So then, Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-10, NRSV)
Rediscovering and rethinking this text created a serendipitous diversion in my quiet week of starting the healing of my unexpected shoulder fracture. With an accidental misstep on our new garden walkway, my whimsical mind did not let the wisdom from my stumble escape me. Tripping ourselves by ignoring connections with scripture is something anyone can easily do, when trying to fit Bible words to everyday life.
TEXTS THAT FLOW AND GROW:
Having spent an hour reading all of the Letter to the Hebrews aloud, you have been nudged by the writer of the text to reflect on how all parts of the Christian Bible…the OT, NT, and the Apocrypha…are connected with each other. Not all Christians over the centuries have been aware of this amalgamation. Even now, some Christians continue to follow in the heretical footsteps of the 2nd century Marcion of Sinope, by giving lesser status to any Bible texts not in the NT.
When, as Christians, you see all the parts of your Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, as being connected and intertwined, you will be able to begin experiencing the Letter to the Hebrews in a newly enriched way. Doing this credits an important Jewish tradition behind the scholarly exposition of Bible texts. It is called Midrash. Thoughtful reading of Hebrews gives us multifaceted examples of Midrash, providing us with the key to understanding other NT writings.
IN THE BEGINNING:
You are probably not aware that you have been doing Midrash all your Christian life. The dramatic beginning of the Letter to the Hebrews opens with familiarity. Compare it to Genesis 1:1-5. This is Theology 101 for Christians and Jews with a basic scriptural understanding of God.
The sacred Bible for Jews is called the Torah or Law. It is the Pentateuch, or the first five books credited to Moses as author. The Torah is the center of all Jewish belief. All the other Jewish Bible texts, including the Prophets and Writings, found in OT parts of a Christian Bible, flow from and are commentary on the Torah. Midrash, meaning thoughtful inquiry, is the catch-all description Jews give this commentary form. Keeping Genesis 1:1-5 in mind, you will spot important secondary Midrash reflective texts in the OT including Psalm 19:1-6; 33:6, Proverbs 8:22-31, and the Wisdom literature.
Jews today continue the Midrash method for understanding Bible texts. Christians, who originally sprang from this tradition, mostly are unaware of this progression of reading, reflecting, and rephrasing scripture. Christian practice has evolved into commenting on texts through sermons or studies, like this WDRG one.
NEW CREATION:
In the growing Christian world around the Mediterranean in the 1st century, when the NT texts were being written, the sacred scrolls used as sources were those of the Greek Septuagint translation from the Hebrew dated about 250 BCE. As was the custom, the tradition of Midrash was used to explain the meaning of the Torah and other Bible texts to both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Early Christians, doing Midrash commentary, wove Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all creation, into NT compositions.
Read John 1:1-5. Read Hebrews 1:1-5. Both are Midrash on Genesis 1:1-5. The writers of both John and Hebrews, using the traditional commentary practice of the 1st century, were determined to convince their audiences that everything, from the beginning, was, is and will be God’s creation. And, that Jesus Christ was in that beginning of everything. In the last half of the 1st century, the writer of Hebrews began with what may be the earliest Christian statement of the theological concept of Christology, by clarifying that Jesus Christ was in the beginning.
Today, Midrash for Christians is not just in the Bible. You echo the voice of Genesis, John, and Hebrews when you say the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
“So then, Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-10, NRSV)
Rediscovering and rethinking this text created a serendipitous diversion in my quiet week of starting the healing of my unexpected shoulder fracture. With an accidental misstep on our new garden walkway, my whimsical mind did not let the wisdom from my stumble escape me. Tripping ourselves by ignoring connections with scripture is something anyone can easily do, when trying to fit Bible words to everyday life.
TEXTS THAT FLOW AND GROW:
Having spent an hour reading all of the Letter to the Hebrews aloud, you have been nudged by the writer of the text to reflect on how all parts of the Christian Bible…the OT, NT, and the Apocrypha…are connected with each other. Not all Christians over the centuries have been aware of this amalgamation. Even now, some Christians continue to follow in the heretical footsteps of the 2nd century Marcion of Sinope, by giving lesser status to any Bible texts not in the NT.
When, as Christians, you see all the parts of your Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, as being connected and intertwined, you will be able to begin experiencing the Letter to the Hebrews in a newly enriched way. Doing this credits an important Jewish tradition behind the scholarly exposition of Bible texts. It is called Midrash. Thoughtful reading of Hebrews gives us multifaceted examples of Midrash, providing us with the key to understanding other NT writings.
IN THE BEGINNING:
You are probably not aware that you have been doing Midrash all your Christian life. The dramatic beginning of the Letter to the Hebrews opens with familiarity. Compare it to Genesis 1:1-5. This is Theology 101 for Christians and Jews with a basic scriptural understanding of God.
The sacred Bible for Jews is called the Torah or Law. It is the Pentateuch, or the first five books credited to Moses as author. The Torah is the center of all Jewish belief. All the other Jewish Bible texts, including the Prophets and Writings, found in OT parts of a Christian Bible, flow from and are commentary on the Torah. Midrash, meaning thoughtful inquiry, is the catch-all description Jews give this commentary form. Keeping Genesis 1:1-5 in mind, you will spot important secondary Midrash reflective texts in the OT including Psalm 19:1-6; 33:6, Proverbs 8:22-31, and the Wisdom literature.
Jews today continue the Midrash method for understanding Bible texts. Christians, who originally sprang from this tradition, mostly are unaware of this progression of reading, reflecting, and rephrasing scripture. Christian practice has evolved into commenting on texts through sermons or studies, like this WDRG one.
NEW CREATION:
In the growing Christian world around the Mediterranean in the 1st century, when the NT texts were being written, the sacred scrolls used as sources were those of the Greek Septuagint translation from the Hebrew dated about 250 BCE. As was the custom, the tradition of Midrash was used to explain the meaning of the Torah and other Bible texts to both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Early Christians, doing Midrash commentary, wove Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all creation, into NT compositions.
Read John 1:1-5. Read Hebrews 1:1-5. Both are Midrash on Genesis 1:1-5. The writers of both John and Hebrews, using the traditional commentary practice of the 1st century, were determined to convince their audiences that everything, from the beginning, was, is and will be God’s creation. And, that Jesus Christ was in that beginning of everything. In the last half of the 1st century, the writer of Hebrews began with what may be the earliest Christian statement of the theological concept of Christology, by clarifying that Jesus Christ was in the beginning.
Today, Midrash for Christians is not just in the Bible. You echo the voice of Genesis, John, and Hebrews when you say the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
This detail of angels on Jacob’s Ladder by artist Donald Jackson is in
the Pentateuch’s Genesis text. Copyright 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Used
with permission. All rights reserved This detail of angels on Jacob’s Ladder by artist Donald Jackson is in the Pentateuch’s Genesis text. Copyright 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
View this illumination and see for yourself the magnificent seven volumes of The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition at your Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque.
Twentieth Sunday-no study due to an injury to the author of these studies.
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 22
As our WDRG Study moves to what the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) calls The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, we must bring several presumptions into bright light. First, almost all scholars today do not believe that this letter to the Hebrews was written by Paul. And, as we move through reflecting on our reading of the text, you will find from an historical perspective, that this letter was most probably not intended even to be directed to the Hebrew-speaking Jewish Christians.
ASSUMPTIONS ACROSS THE AGES:
Beginning with an unknown author writing to an unknown audience, the text of the Letter to the Hebrews was, nevertheless, revered by early Christian readers for the beauty of its language and the interesting unveiling of its theological content. Oft discussed and strongly questioned, Hebrews was one of the last of the 27 books accepted into the NT Canon, fixed by Christian leaders about 350 CE.
Thoughtful examination continued across the centuries. In 1522, Martin Luther, a great Bible scholar with language expertise, completed his NT translation into German from the Latin Vulgate, the church’s choice, augmented by existing Greek texts with which he was familiar. In presenting his translation, Luther gave priority to Bible books he felt were worthy as “wholly holy.” Books he disputed were Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation.
The NT book that took the brunt of Luther’s exclusion was our recently studied Letter of James. Reading it aloud makes you aware of the mastery of language used in James, as wisdom was detailed for living a life in community in the service of God. Why James was called mere “straw” by Luther, is one of the great mysteries in the history of the Bible. This demeaning distinction also was used by Luther when he replaced Hebrews, judging it with utter indifference.
READING HEBREWS ALOUD:
It will take you an hour of to read aloud the text of Hebrews in full. In this first week, give yourself the gift of time to overview this Bible text. Such a preview will help you to enjoy hearing the weekly Sunday readings, as you will be able to fit them into the context of the total letter. And, again, we are faced with the presentation of the content in a way allowing us to question whether Hebrews is a letter, a sermon, or a random collection of nascent theological ideas, as we enjoy lessons from this Bible book until Thanksgiving in our Sunday lectionary readings.
Hebrews is not an easy book to read aloud. It is also very difficult at times to get a grip on the complex language and the theology it is stating. You may want to follow the breakdown used by the great NT scholar Raymond E. Brown* to allow you time to reflect on or the ponder these sections:
ntroduction (1:1-3) and Superiority of Jesus as God’s Son (1:4-4:13)
- Superiority of Jesus’ Priesthood (4:14-7:28)
- Superiority of Jesus’ Sacrificial Ministry and of the Heavenly Tabernacle, Inaugurating a New Covenant (8:1-10:18)
- Faith and Endurance: Availing Oneself of Jesus’ Priestly Work (10:19-12:29)
- Final Exhortation ( 13:1-19) and Conclusion (13:20-25)
MEETING ANGELS:
One of the most important descriptive nouns sprinkled generously throughout Hebrews is the word “angel.” An angel is God’s messenger. People should never take angels lightly or speak of them casually. Angels surround us all the time. When we carry the message of God in our thoughts and actions, we become angels. As messenger angels we are called to receive and transmit God’s love to all we encounter.
The famous quote (“entertained angels unawares”) that originated with the writer of Hebrews (13:1-2), voiced by so many witnesses over the centuries, merely hints at the unexpected joys we will receive when we are open to encountering and entertaining angels without expectation or knowing. Read, hear, reflect and be strengthened by the words of the Letter to the Hebrews. This message, written 2000 years ago, enriches your life today, as angels surround you; and as you are to be a messenger angel carrying God’s love to others.
Winged beings serving as messengers date back to ancient history. These two wall adornments date between about 874 and about 860 BCE. They can now be seen in the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth; they originated in Assyria (Iraq) in the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, 888-850 BCE.
*Brown, Raymond E., An Introduction to the New Testament. The Anchor Bible Reference Library. Doubleday. 1997.
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 21
Before we bid farewell to our study of the Letter of James, you may want to take a final 20 minutes to reread it once more, aloud, in totality. For five weeks in Lectionary Year B, the words of James have been read in short cuttings for Sunday services. The way the lectionary works, this group of readings will recycle around in 2018.
WHY WE USE READINGS AS WE DO:
Thomas Cranmer placed a lectionary in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, the first prayer book in English called “common” because, thanks to the advent of printing, it could be available to all English-speakers who could read. Anglicans now had a plan, held in common, for having direct contact with God’s Word and the prayers surrounding the use of it. With the BCP, the use of holy books no longer were the property of church hierarchy or monastic establishments. They belonged to everyone.
The Reformation Century, thanks to the explosion of printed material available for those who could read, created a demand for knowledge about God and the Bible that spread across the Christian world. Translations into local languages, that could then be printed for larger and larger masses, meant Christianity could grow in a way that could touch everyday people.
Though we take the printed Bible and BCP for granted now, their availability to great numbers of people occurred only about 500 years ago, for only three-fourths of the 2000 passing years, since the resurrection of Jesus. Printing accelerated possibilities. Christianity had a growth spurt.
LECTIONARY PLANNING:
Because there is a great mass of scripture to be read through lectionary use, the Bible has been organized into readings for Sundays, holy days, special days, and everyday days. (This ordering can be found in your BCP on pages 888 through 1001.) To make the week-to-week Sunday readings less overwhelming and more understandable, they have been separated into three years, each with a focus on a synoptic gospel, which tells of the life of Jesus in parallel ways.
We are now in Lectionary Year B, where readings from Mark predominate. Last year, in A, Matthew got the focus. Beginning in this year’s Advent, Luke will come to the fore during Year C. So, at the end of every three year Sunday lectionary cycle, you will have encountered the perspectives of three gospel writers telling the same story to three different ancient audiences. There is joy in the discoveries we make in encountering the readings over the prescribed three-year cycle. And as the cycle recycles, and our life advances, each re-reading, each re-hearing, enriches our faith more.
LECTIONARY SHARING;
With the BCP lectionary, Cranmer presented the model that is used to plan church and personal readings. The lectionary Episcopalians use now is called the Common Lectionary because, in an international response to the horrors of WWII, there was an ecumenical renewal of the shared resources across much of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church began the 1970 liturgical year with a new trial-use lectionary that, after fine-tuning, was accepted by the Protestant Consultation on Church Union in 1974. The result established a group of readings to be shared throughout Christendom. This means that on any given Sunday, in most Christian churches around the world, we will be united in hearing the same Bible passages read.
What an opportunity this is for you! Open up a conversation with a family member, friend, or neighbor, who worships in a different building, and share your understanding of the good news of the Sunday scripture readings with them. Wondering where to begin? Just ask. And plan to listen intentionally to the words every coming Sunday. Your personal faith conversation will become alive, as you share mutual Bible thoughts with others.
LAST ADVICE FROM JAMES:
As you end your rereading of James, and we say goodbye to his wisdom for this lectionary go-round, reflect thoughtfully on his final words. You, and hopefully, your neighbor, will hear them in church this coming Sunday. (James 5:13-20)
James tells us about prayer, stating his thoughts for his time. In the busyness of your life, think again about the words of James for our time. Read James in your Bible; listen intently on Sunday. And once more, hear James tell us to pray, and pray; because God is always listening.
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 20
James is an interesting letter, or is it a letter? It does not have the basic structure that letters take; and it is not written to a person or designated place. It is destined from the very beginning to go to an extensive audience, shown by the phrase "twelve tribes" symbolically lifted from the OT. In the mind of this writer, evidently, the tribes were scattered away from the Christian base in the Holy Land.
In the multiple copies published to those in the then known world, we might consider James to distribute, perhaps, the Bible's first “email send list”. Addressed in the world of antiquity manner, “to whom it may concern,” means it has widely directed relevance to ancient readers, and also, to all of us today.
TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING:
James is not limited in the scope of its content either, as are the letters of Paul, with their problem solving urgency. Paul lived in a time in which the final days were always perceived as mentally present. This letter, written by someone we will call James, covers a broad theological scope. James, because he no longer felt the need to solve an immediate crisis problem, could begin to tackle the issue of “what we believe.”
In thinking about the demands Paul faced, remember to keep in mind that, in the case of the Corinthian correspondence, the two long letters existing in our Bibles are probably composites of many short letters. Unfortunately, probably more letters to the community at Corinth have been lost for all time, as fragile objects seldom survive for centuries.
THE BIG PICTURE IS A’COMING:
The Greek-speaking writer of the letter of James is someone who knew the Hebrew Wisdom tradition that produced Proverbs and the other books of advice about living that were available to readers from 250 BCE on, in the Jewish Greek Septuagint. The themes covered were also part of the general ethical information circulating, in both Jewish and Gentile populations,in the period between 60 and 80 CE, the time scholars presume a person called James wrote this epistle.
Because the content of this letter is broad in scope, scholars classify it as “general.” In the Sunday snippets being read in this part of the Season of Ordinary Time, we really do not experience its full expanse. So, take twenty minutes of your time to reread James aloud, again, in full. Observe the wealth of sermon-like ideas. The instructive OT thoughts found in the original Hebrew, translated into Septuagint Greek, on into Latin, and finally into English, are as important to us today as they were to James’ readers.
CURIOSITY IS A’STIRRING:
While this general letter is only for community-wide consumption, as indicated in the NRSV with “brothers and sisters” and other, less inclusive, translations as only “brothers," it is nevertheless extraordinary in its personal touch. Each of us is called “beloved,” or "beloved brother,” singly or as a whole Christian group; and we are told that we are in a direct relationship with God. Don't miss the underlying point: While this is NT content, it is also a true reflection of the OT. Humans are made in the image of God from the beginning;and it is always important to remember that.
POSSIBILITIES ARE A’HAPPENING:
James is a wonderful Bible book to share with other people. This text offers sentence after sentence of ideas that beg to be discussed. Take this opportunity to ask others to join you in thinking about the text of James. How do you do that? Open the door! Pick a moment in any pause of a conversation and merely say, “I’m reading something really fascinating, and I would like to know your thoughts about it.” Toss out a comment or two from James. Then, listen. Connection has begun. You’ve opened the Bible. Thoughtfully, gently, lovingly share some of the words of the Letter of James.
Pass James on, and others will pass James on and on. You become the good work of James. And you will be continuing to do what Christians have done for 2000 years..
James is an interesting letter, or is it a letter? It does not have the basic structure that letters take; and it is not written to a person or designated place. It is destined from the very beginning to go to an extensive audience, shown by the phrase "twelve tribes" symbolically lifted from the OT. In the mind of this writer, evidently, the tribes were scattered away from the Christian base in the Holy Land.
In the multiple copies published to those in the then known world, we might consider James to distribute, perhaps, the Bible's first “email send list”. Addressed in the world of antiquity manner, “to whom it may concern,” means it has widely directed relevance to ancient readers, and also, to all of us today.
TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING:
James is not limited in the scope of its content either, as are the letters of Paul, with their problem solving urgency. Paul lived in a time in which the final days were always perceived as mentally present. This letter, written by someone we will call James, covers a broad theological scope. James, because he no longer felt the need to solve an immediate crisis problem, could begin to tackle the issue of “what we believe.”
In thinking about the demands Paul faced, remember to keep in mind that, in the case of the Corinthian correspondence, the two long letters existing in our Bibles are probably composites of many short letters. Unfortunately, probably more letters to the community at Corinth have been lost for all time, as fragile objects seldom survive for centuries.
THE BIG PICTURE IS A’COMING:
The Greek-speaking writer of the letter of James is someone who knew the Hebrew Wisdom tradition that produced Proverbs and the other books of advice about living that were available to readers from 250 BCE on, in the Jewish Greek Septuagint. The themes covered were also part of the general ethical information circulating, in both Jewish and Gentile populations,in the period between 60 and 80 CE, the time scholars presume a person called James wrote this epistle.
Because the content of this letter is broad in scope, scholars classify it as “general.” In the Sunday snippets being read in this part of the Season of Ordinary Time, we really do not experience its full expanse. So, take twenty minutes of your time to reread James aloud, again, in full. Observe the wealth of sermon-like ideas. The instructive OT thoughts found in the original Hebrew, translated into Septuagint Greek, on into Latin, and finally into English, are as important to us today as they were to James’ readers.
CURIOSITY IS A’STIRRING:
While this general letter is only for community-wide consumption, as indicated in the NRSV with “brothers and sisters” and other, less inclusive, translations as only “brothers," it is nevertheless extraordinary in its personal touch. Each of us is called “beloved,” or "beloved brother,” singly or as a whole Christian group; and we are told that we are in a direct relationship with God. Don't miss the underlying point: While this is NT content, it is also a true reflection of the OT. Humans are made in the image of God from the beginning;and it is always important to remember that.
POSSIBILITIES ARE A’HAPPENING:
James is a wonderful Bible book to share with other people. This text offers sentence after sentence of ideas that beg to be discussed. Take this opportunity to ask others to join you in thinking about the text of James. How do you do that? Open the door! Pick a moment in any pause of a conversation and merely say, “I’m reading something really fascinating, and I would like to know your thoughts about it.” Toss out a comment or two from James. Then, listen. Connection has begun. You’ve opened the Bible. Thoughtfully, gently, lovingly share some of the words of the Letter of James.
Pass James on, and others will pass James on and on. You become the good work of James. And you will be continuing to do what Christians have done for 2000 years..
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 19
Labor Day, falling in the midst of our sudy of the Letter of James, connects our secular lives in unexpected ways, with the message the writer of this Bible text is determined that every reader or listener receives. Consider this coincidence a serendipitous situation that is sure to put a smile on the countenance of the God we sometimes imagine as human.
In celebrating Labor Day, we are honoring the changes that were occurring in the late 19th Century to improve the often inhumane demands on the lives of everyday workers. Fledgling American labor organizations, struggling for compassionate worker rights, first had celebrations that ultimately led to Congress, in 1894, creating a legal holiday on the first Monday in September of each year. Now, however, Labor Day is simply a holiday from work. The meaning of what it is to effectively “labor” has almost disappeared.
ACTS OF WORK
With much of the Letter of James, we are given a new opportunity to challenge ourselves with questions that, otherwise, we might take too much for granted. What is work? How do we think about work? Why do we work?
In the 20 minutes it will take you to read James’ text aloud, you encounter the voice of a leading Greek-speaking Christian, who wants you to know how truly important you are in making order and peace in God’s world. Paul’s epistles urgently laid the foundation for living in faith in every aspect of our existence. James’s words, from a generation after Paul, challenged us in this time to make faith active in our lives, through doing God’s good work.
ACTS OF FAITH
So, rereading the Letter of James on Labor Day can be considered a good use of God’s gift of time to us. A secular holiday, or any regular day, becomes a holy day, with the awareness that all time is a gift from God to be used in God’s service. We, like James and all who follow Christ Jesus, are called to act in faith and faithfully, taking God’s word and making it active in the world.
ACTS OF FAITH BECOME WORKS
As you muse on the words of James from 2000 years ago, rejoice in knowing that his thought pattern has been passed on to us by sacred poet Jane Laurie Borthwick (1823-1897). As a member of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland, Jane actively lived her faith through writing and doing social and mission work.
One of Jane’s poems was set to music in 1918 by Thomas Tertius Noble (1867-1953), an English organist transplanted to New York City’s Saint Thomas Episcopal Church. There, in addition to living his faith by continuing to compose sacred music, he founded a choir school for boys, following in the Anglican tradition.
Today, the words of James, combined with the hymn of Jane and Thomas, can inspire us to examine how our own faith can be converted to godly action. The title of their hymn tells us how. Ora Labora means “pray and work”. Find it on page 541 in our 1982 Hymnal, and listen to a beautiful rendition on YouTube.
Come, labor on.
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain
while all around us waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say,
"Go work today."
Come, labor on.
The enemy is watching night and day,
to sow the tares, to snatch the seed away;
while we in sleep our duty have forgot,
he slumbers not.
Come, labor on.
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear!
No arm so weak but may do service here:
by feeblest agents may our God fulfill
his righteous will.
Come, labor on.
Claim the high calling angels cannot share:
to young and old the gospel gladness bear.
Redeem the time its hours so swiftly fly
the night draws nigh.
Come, labor on.
No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
till the long shadows o'er our pathway lie
and a glad sound comes with the setting sun:
"Servants, well done.”
The 1998 Hymns of Heaven and Earth recording of Ora Labora sung by Saint Clement’s Choir, Philadelphia under conductor Peter Richard Conte, is available for download purchase at amazon.com.
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 18
.One of the joys of looking at the NT, the way the WDRG Study does, comes with the unexpected discoveries made, as we move from text to text. The Bible is not a book you can judge by its cover. It is 27 books that form an unusual library within the outside covers. And it was all written in the first 100 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remarkably, the Bible has survived numerous onslaughts of abuse and misuse over the 2000 years since the writing of it began.
NAMES IN THE NT:
In our digging into the background of the Letter to the Ephesians, we learned that despite what earlier tradition ascribed to it, Paul did not write it. Scholarly experts say so. They also tell us that the only author of any NT book who can be identified for certain is Paul. And they tell us that there are only seven letters that can be authenticated to have been written by him.
Do your math. This means there are 20 NT books by authors who cannot be determined. Many people are unaware of this. In fact, if you mention in general conversation that 20 of the NT books have unknown writers, you may even provoke a violent argument. The clash comes because over the evolution of the Bible, errors of truth deliberately or accidentally invaded the world of human transmission and translation. Rather than considering this a problem, accept it as a new opening to greater Bible riches.
JAMES THE WRITER:
Who is this person writing the Letter of James to us? The NT introduces five different men named “James.” Our writer makes no claim to be any of them. The common name “James” is NT Greek for the Hebrew name “Jacob,” the patriarch of the OT twelve tribes of Israel.
James, of our letter, is not the brother of John and son of Zebedee, who is called “James the Great.” He is not “James the Less,” the son of Alphaeus mentioned in Acts. He is not “James the Just” from the non-canonical Coptic Gospel of Thomas, or even one of several people called “James” who wrote other books in antiquity that never were accepted into the Canon of Scripture.
The most credible non-writer of our letter, among the many persons named “James,” would be James the brother of our Lord. (Matthew 13:54 and Mark 6:3) His kinship and his Jerusalem leadership, described in Acts, would make him the perfect, believable authority for any book in the NT. But this native Aramaic-speaker of Galilee was not educated to write splendid Greek, to think in broad theological terms, or to have the long life necessary to survive and encounter the situation addressed in the Letter of James. This James’ brother, the Messiah, gave the name “James” unquestionable credentials which might lure others to attach that name to their work; and maybe, that even happened with this letter. Across the mists of time, we will never know.
CANON CANDIDATES:
In the world of antiquity, there were no standards for plagiarism, nor were there copyright laws. Even today, the stronger the references cited, the more impact one obtains for work done. Remember, texts included in the Bible have importance because of the thoughts they convey, not because of their author.
Think about this…consider that Jesus did not write things for us. He lived! Words we have from him were collected and written down decades after the fact. None are direct quotes. There were no reporters with recording devices lurking in Jesus’ crowds. Red letter Bibles are merely helpful in reminding us what others remembered and thought Jesus said. And to make certain that the critical messages of Jesus were preserved and transmitted into the future, the best guarantee was to borrow the authority of others…like James, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
JOURNAL WITH JAMES:
In the next month, take 20 minutes to read the whole Letter of James aloud. Do that several times. James’ beautiful language is uplifting. Read it. Share it. Make reminder notes about it. James encourages us to put Paul’s message of love into action. As Jesus did, what we are to do with God’s love, is to live. That is what James tells us
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 17
Rereading the whole of the letter to the Ephesians means that you will never again think of this NT book in a superficial way. First encounters with any Bible book can leave one wondering what is really going on in the text, and why it was ever chosen to be included in the Bible.
Next Sunday, in the Year B Lectionary for the Season after Pentecost, we will all hear the last of eight cuttings lifted from Ephesians. We’ve been fortunate in the last two months of Sundays, that actually more than half of the full text of this short book has been publicly read aloud for all to hear. And, unlike many other designated Lectionary selections, all of these from Ephesians were read in the order that they appear in the text. We’ve been presented a condensed version of this NT book.
SUGGESTIONS FOR AT-HOME BIBLE READING:
So, give yourselves the gift of 25 minutes of time, and reread Ephesians aloud in full. You will find what you are doing becomes special fun and exposes deeper meaning, if you share your reading with another person. As you read, listen, really listen, to the way the words sound and what you hear that gives them meaning. When you finish, pause, pray and let your thoughts flow.
Our lives are secure when we are open to letting them rest firmly in the Bible. Years of Christian heritage tell us that what we believe must be rooted in scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. For the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, Thomas Cramner wrote a collect you may want to use for your personal Bible study:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Using the words collected into this prayer, as your guide for having the Bible become part of your daily life, let yourself grow beyond merely listening to the Sunday Lectionary readings into internalizing knowledge from full texts.
EPHESIANS ENDING INSTRUCTS NEW BEGINNING:
The advice of Ephesians has directed us, through the last half of the letter, to take great care to lead good Christian lives. The author’s strong admonitions in the original Greek carried nuances that changed over the centuries with each translation to become one of the 13 English versions of the Bible today authorized for use in the Episcopal Church. When the instructive words have drifted into harshness and are heard too literally, the original meaning urging us to live within the love of Christ Jesus can be lost.
The writer of Ephesians heard and understood Paul’s message, as it was powerfully communicated to those in the earliest church communities. These were days under the all-encompassing-power of the Roman Empire. As Christianity expanded, developed, and matured, the Ephesians’ author gave us a strong awareness of “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” that is the good news.
ARE WE IN Ephesus TODAY?
Near the end of the letter, in Ephesians 6:10-17, we are told to take and put on the whole armor of God. No matter what the circumstances in the world or in our lives, God always fully clothes us for all we need to live in the love guaranteed us by Jesus Christ. This is true power “on earth as it is in heaven.”
The letter to the Ephesians was written close to the end of the 1st century. The author, like us, never knew Jesus in his earthly lifetime, but his message spoke to those who chose to include it in our Bible. And when you read Ephesians carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully, God’s gift of love will empower you to live in the newness of Christian life and to pass on to others the message of good news.
Are you ready to put on your new armor?
Angels are God’s messengers. This ancient sculpture remains in Ephesus today.
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) + Proper 16
Growing up in middle-class America in the last century used to mean that “manners” were to be taken very seriously. Authors like Emily Post, Letitia Baldridge and Miss Manners tried to explain things, so life-encounters were handled with proper etiquette and interactions never became abrasive.
A similar type of presentation, a household code, occurs near the end of the Ephesians letter, in a distinctive form that would have been familiar to the reader. As early as the 4th century BCE, Aristotle, in his treatise on Politics, said “the smallest and primary part of the household are master and slave, husband and wife, father and children.” In the Greco-Roman Empire this governance idea expanded beyond the family to civil and societal power perspectives. In the late 1st century, the writer of Ephesians applied Aristotle’s three-fold power-pairings to the Christian community.
ANCIENT HOUSEHOLD CODES:
Readers and listeners in antiquity understood fully what was expected of them, with prescribed, listed duties and responsibilities. They were born, or captured, into their existence, and had no choices in their life assignments. Ancient household codes document the lives people were forced to accept to survive in their world. Life was imposed, never chosen.
The wise writer of the letter to the Ephesians knew all this. Most importantly, this author knew, totally believed, and personally lived by something more than other writers of ancient household codes. He was a Christian! The lives of Jesus’ followers meant more than mere survival within a system based on the top-down pecking order of power and property.
CHRISTIAN CODES:
The earliest Christian household code in the NT is Paul’s in I Corinthians 11:2-16. Two generations later, Paul’s followers explained Christian codes in letters to the Colossians (3:14-4:1) and the Ephesians (5:21-6:9). While the content of both later letters indicates that they were written to maturing Christian groups of people, they carry Paul’s core message of love. Love is what makes Christian codes different and life changing.
If you are confused by what you are reading about these household codes, ask yourself, “Why?” You may never have heard this approach to understanding these codes before. Personal agendas of people who read the Bible literally have narrowly modified 1st century meanings. A common spin coming from literalists is that Paul hates women, and that God puts men in charge of everything. Some literalists even suggest that the Bible okays abuse of women. Pause for a minute and ponder, where is the love of God, the good news of Christianity, in this approach?
UNDERSTANDING MISUNDERSTANDINGS:
Thus, Paul’s letters, beginning about 50 CE (or 20 years after Jesus’ earthly life), evolved in a haphazard way to meet the need of the ever-growing, ever-spreading new belief. Remember that when Paul and others were writing the NT over 2000 years ago, there was NO fixed Bible content.
The Hebrew scriptures used by Jesus and Paul were translated in Alexandria from Hebrew into the Greek Septuagint in about 250 BCE. All of our NT writings were also in Greek. But from the beginning, all Christian Bible texts were communicated more effectively when translated into the languages people actually spoke. Thus, this letter to the Ephesians, from the 1st century forward, went from translation to translation to translation. With each language change, critical nuances of meaning risked being lost or becoming obscure. Bible misunderstandings, then, are inevitable and not at all surprising.
RECOVERING MEANINGS:
When ancient household codes were written, everyone, including the early Christians, knew how they operated. Household codes were the harsh, highly regulated “manners” of their day. But, love, the unique Christian perspective for ancients, gave new meaning and true power to this view of life.
Growing up in middle-class America in the last century used to mean that “manners” were to be taken very seriously. Authors like Emily Post, Letitia Baldridge and Miss Manners tried to explain things, so life-encounters were handled with proper etiquette and interactions never became abrasive.
A similar type of presentation, a household code, occurs near the end of the Ephesians letter, in a distinctive form that would have been familiar to the reader. As early as the 4th century BCE, Aristotle, in his treatise on Politics, said “the smallest and primary part of the household are master and slave, husband and wife, father and children.” In the Greco-Roman Empire this governance idea expanded beyond the family to civil and societal power perspectives. In the late 1st century, the writer of Ephesians applied Aristotle’s three-fold power-pairings to the Christian community.
ANCIENT HOUSEHOLD CODES:
Readers and listeners in antiquity understood fully what was expected of them, with prescribed, listed duties and responsibilities. They were born, or captured, into their existence, and had no choices in their life assignments. Ancient household codes document the lives people were forced to accept to survive in their world. Life was imposed, never chosen.
The wise writer of the letter to the Ephesians knew all this. Most importantly, this author knew, totally believed, and personally lived by something more than other writers of ancient household codes. He was a Christian! The lives of Jesus’ followers meant more than mere survival within a system based on the top-down pecking order of power and property.
CHRISTIAN CODES:
The earliest Christian household code in the NT is Paul’s in I Corinthians 11:2-16. Two generations later, Paul’s followers explained Christian codes in letters to the Colossians (3:14-4:1) and the Ephesians (5:21-6:9). While the content of both later letters indicates that they were written to maturing Christian groups of people, they carry Paul’s core message of love. Love is what makes Christian codes different and life changing.
If you are confused by what you are reading about these household codes, ask yourself, “Why?” You may never have heard this approach to understanding these codes before. Personal agendas of people who read the Bible literally have narrowly modified 1st century meanings. A common spin coming from literalists is that Paul hates women, and that God puts men in charge of everything. Some literalists even suggest that the Bible okays abuse of women. Pause for a minute and ponder, where is the love of God, the good news of Christianity, in this approach?
UNDERSTANDING MISUNDERSTANDINGS:
Thus, Paul’s letters, beginning about 50 CE (or 20 years after Jesus’ earthly life), evolved in a haphazard way to meet the need of the ever-growing, ever-spreading new belief. Remember that when Paul and others were writing the NT over 2000 years ago, there was NO fixed Bible content.
The Hebrew scriptures used by Jesus and Paul were translated in Alexandria from Hebrew into the Greek Septuagint in about 250 BCE. All of our NT writings were also in Greek. But from the beginning, all Christian Bible texts were communicated more effectively when translated into the languages people actually spoke. Thus, this letter to the Ephesians, from the 1st century forward, went from translation to translation to translation. With each language change, critical nuances of meaning risked being lost or becoming obscure. Bible misunderstandings, then, are inevitable and not at all surprising.
RECOVERING MEANINGS:
When ancient household codes were written, everyone, including the early Christians, knew how they operated. Household codes were the harsh, highly regulated “manners” of their day. But, love, the unique Christian perspective for ancients, gave new meaning and true power to this view of life.
Take time to enjoy the reading aloud of the Ephesians household code. Listen carefully for the way the word constructions unite all relationships with God and God’s people into perfect sharing of love and of caring. Be open to love. This is the truly good news.
A woman’s portrait from a mosaic carpet conserved in a luxurious residential condo complex terraced up a hill overlooking Ephesus indicates the type of person who might have lived under household codes in this dwelling.
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 15
Now that the Sunday Lectionary readings in Ordinary Time are well into the second half of the letter to the Ephesians, there is an obvious style and substance change from the glory of heavenly anthems, in chapters 1-3, to the mundane construction of “to do” or “not to do” lists in the second half of this book. This stark shift in tone becomes apparent when the words on the printed page are read aloud. It takes only 25 minutes to bring the entire Ephesians text to vibrant life.
ORGANIZATION OF THE LETTER:
In your reading of the full text, as the beautiful, mind-grabbing prelude yields to the nitty-gritty message of the writer, don’t be surprised, if you start thinking that you have heard all of the main part of the letter before. If Ephesians is encountered only through the fragmented Sunday Lectionary cuttings, you may miss the most important themes this 1st century author was working so hard to get across to letter recipients.
In reading chapters 4-6, you will realize you have heard all of this before. The writer of Ephesians really does not have anything new to say. That’s both the point and the power of this oft-quoted book of scripture. The author’s plan is to finally, finally, finally convince you about what it takes to live as a vital, committed member of God’s Christian community.
Most people studying Ephesians will contemplate this text using the accepted Bible study route of going chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, dissecting the detail in an effort to parse out a meaning, that is assumed to be obscure and hidden. The usual micro study can bog folks down, so the macro message is lost.
CONTENT IN THE LETTER:
Yes, you’ve heard this advice before. It is scattered all across the Bible and in the secular boundaries of your own human life. It is like a broken record that just keeps playing and playing. Is it heard, or does it just get lost in the dissonance of life? The writer of Ephesians is saying it one more time, as strongly as he, or she, can. Why? Is this really necessary? Take time to ponder this.
From the garden of Eden in the book of Genesis, the word of the Lord gave human beings rules to live by—rules that were broken. Ancient Patriarch and Matriarch stories tell of individuals, clans, and countries ignoring responsible guidelines and suffering cause and effect catastrophes. Hebrew prophets reiterated cautions over and over before crises were confronted. Wisdom sages set advice into lists of memorable proverbs. Jesus, as the Son telling the message of God the Father, reset rules for humans into a new commandment of Living with Love. Assuming, as he did, that the end-time was near, Paul was misunderstood for the urgency of the strong admonitions he used to get his point across. Decades later, the Ephesian author, in his own way, followed Paul’s model to repeat the word of the Lord once again.
You've heard all these do’s and don’ts before. But have you really heard them? From the beginning of time, have God's people really listened? Instead of blowing off words like these in the Bible, consider them reminders, nudges, if you will, of wise human writers voicing the word of God.
CONNECTING WITH THE LETTER:
Because Ephesians is the shortest of the Bible books we have covered since January in the WDRG Study, and this letter's readings are spread over two months of Sundays, we have the luxury of really having time to think about why these texts are in the Bible. The brevity of Ephesians means that, with reading and rereading, we are able to get up close and comfortable with this author’s message.
In the beginning, God creates us. In love, God gives us rules to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. In Jesus, God understands us. In Ephesians, God reminds us that we are empowered to live fully in God’s love. Listen. Learn. Digest. Do. God’s love is in your life. How will you live within God’s love?
Crumbling stones surviving from centuries of life in Ephesus show us that a large city existed there in early Christian times.
Now that the Sunday Lectionary readings in Ordinary Time are well into the second half of the letter to the Ephesians, there is an obvious style and substance change from the glory of heavenly anthems, in chapters 1-3, to the mundane construction of “to do” or “not to do” lists in the second half of this book. This stark shift in tone becomes apparent when the words on the printed page are read aloud. It takes only 25 minutes to bring the entire Ephesians text to vibrant life.
ORGANIZATION OF THE LETTER:
In your reading of the full text, as the beautiful, mind-grabbing prelude yields to the nitty-gritty message of the writer, don’t be surprised, if you start thinking that you have heard all of the main part of the letter before. If Ephesians is encountered only through the fragmented Sunday Lectionary cuttings, you may miss the most important themes this 1st century author was working so hard to get across to letter recipients.
In reading chapters 4-6, you will realize you have heard all of this before. The writer of Ephesians really does not have anything new to say. That’s both the point and the power of this oft-quoted book of scripture. The author’s plan is to finally, finally, finally convince you about what it takes to live as a vital, committed member of God’s Christian community.
Most people studying Ephesians will contemplate this text using the accepted Bible study route of going chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, dissecting the detail in an effort to parse out a meaning, that is assumed to be obscure and hidden. The usual micro study can bog folks down, so the macro message is lost.
CONTENT IN THE LETTER:
Yes, you’ve heard this advice before. It is scattered all across the Bible and in the secular boundaries of your own human life. It is like a broken record that just keeps playing and playing. Is it heard, or does it just get lost in the dissonance of life? The writer of Ephesians is saying it one more time, as strongly as he, or she, can. Why? Is this really necessary? Take time to ponder this.
From the garden of Eden in the book of Genesis, the word of the Lord gave human beings rules to live by—rules that were broken. Ancient Patriarch and Matriarch stories tell of individuals, clans, and countries ignoring responsible guidelines and suffering cause and effect catastrophes. Hebrew prophets reiterated cautions over and over before crises were confronted. Wisdom sages set advice into lists of memorable proverbs. Jesus, as the Son telling the message of God the Father, reset rules for humans into a new commandment of Living with Love. Assuming, as he did, that the end-time was near, Paul was misunderstood for the urgency of the strong admonitions he used to get his point across. Decades later, the Ephesian author, in his own way, followed Paul’s model to repeat the word of the Lord once again.
You've heard all these do’s and don’ts before. But have you really heard them? From the beginning of time, have God's people really listened? Instead of blowing off words like these in the Bible, consider them reminders, nudges, if you will, of wise human writers voicing the word of God.
CONNECTING WITH THE LETTER:
Because Ephesians is the shortest of the Bible books we have covered since January in the WDRG Study, and this letter's readings are spread over two months of Sundays, we have the luxury of really having time to think about why these texts are in the Bible. The brevity of Ephesians means that, with reading and rereading, we are able to get up close and comfortable with this author’s message.
In the beginning, God creates us. In love, God gives us rules to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. In Jesus, God understands us. In Ephesians, God reminds us that we are empowered to live fully in God’s love. Listen. Learn. Digest. Do. God’s love is in your life. How will you live within God’s love?
Crumbling stones surviving from centuries of life in Ephesus show us that a large city existed there in early Christian times.
The complexities of writing in the 1st century of the Common Era (CE) meant that every document written had to be really important. We seldom ponder what went into getting the words into the Bibles we use today, whether in print on paper or in pixels on an electronic reading device. We just read. Or, we choose not to read. God’s gift of freewill allows us to make this specific choice easily today. Do we take the Bible content in the NT for granted?
In the 1st century, how did people tackle the task of getting their thoughts to others to whom they could not speak directly? This was a time when few people within the total population could read, and even fewer could write. The Greco-Roman world had special professionals that we call scribes, who engaged in the business of formal writing for both the educated and the uneducated. We know that Paul knew how to read and write; and we assume he, also, used scribes.
BIBLE GREEK:
Paul’s primary language, since his youth in Tarsus, was koine Greek, the uniting language of commerce in the Mediterranean world which Alexander had conquered. Centuries later, when various regions of the greater Greek world came under Roman control, local languages remained, such as the Aramaic spoken by Jesus in the rural Holy Land and Hebrew used by the religious hierarchy branching out from Jerusalem’s Second Temple.
Greek was the language most used for 1st century Bible texts. Books of the NT were written in Greek. The Jewish scriptures most available to Jesus, Paul, and other Jews in the 1st century and quoted by NT authors were from the Greek Septuagint. To Alexandria, a learned city in Ptolemaic Egypt with the finest library of the ancient world, 70 rabbis from the Jerusalem Temple were summoned to translate the best Hebrew scrolls to serve the large Jewish population of this area, and ultimately of the entire Roman Empire. According to legend, it took the 70 rabbis 70 days to complete this massive effort.
After the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 CE, the most important Palestinian rabbis gathered in Jamnia (Yavneh) near the end of the 1st century to organize and preserve the Hebrew scriptures. This Hebrew canon of scrolls became the OT basis for Jerome’s scripture translation into Latin, that led to many later translations including English versions we use today. Content differing in the Septuagint and the Hebrew canon are the Apocrypha in our Bibles today.
BIBLE TRANSMISSIONS:
To make notes in the 1st century, scribes used a stylus to carve letters onto planks of wood spread with wax. The wax could be melted, so the writing surface could be reused. These small wood planks, drilled with holes and laced with leather ribbons, could be stacked into a multi-page notebook making a fine example of an early “codex” (rather than a scroll), creating what we now call a “book.” The largest codex extant in a museum today has ten planks of wood.
From this note-taking format, the scribe would copy the finished wording onto a piece of papyrus using black ink. This allowed the completed, resultant, longer document to be rolled and slipped into a pouch that served as a mailbag, to make its journey over Roman roads to the chosen recipient. Pragmatic Roman minds created a mail system that spread the letters we have in our Bibles.
This inscription on a stone in Ephesus shows the compact nature of ancient koine Greek letters.
BIBLE TRANSLATIONS:
People rendering modern language translations today do not have the obstacles scholars do in deciphering ancient Christian documents. Letters, either incised into wax or painted onto papyrus, were placed next to each other with no distinguishing spaces or punctuation. 1st century writers and readers knew subtleties that scholars today are challenged to recover, requiring them to have extra knowledge to separate out the nuances of ancient meaning.
Since 1st century letters were rarities, unlike the batches of bulk postal mail we all receive daily, they were handled as precious treasures. Each letter was read aloud, something the WDRG Study asks you to do. Each letter was read over and over. Each letter was copied and shared with others, who copied it again and shared it with even more people. Letters were a powerful way Christianity began to grow and spread.
BIBLE RESPONSIBILITIES:
From Paul’s I Thessalonians, the earliest NT document, to Ephesians, a letter written by a committed believer two generations later, 1st century Christians preserved and passed on the words that tell us why and how we are to live in the community that is the family of Jesus Christ. That NT letters exist for our use today means they can guide our lives, as we spread the Good News of Jesus Christ on to others. Bible letters had a long journey. Read them as treasures!
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 13
By the time Ephesians was
written, the events of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ had become
stories transmitted to second and third generations of Christians. Gone were
the direct, on-the-scene memories of the followers of Jesus who carried the
news from Jerusalem back to the ministry area of Galilee. Past were the
early challenges Paul met as he traveled away from Jesus’ homeland, to take the
message to people who were Jews, as was Jesus, living in the vital economic
hubs of the Mediterranean world. Paul’s words, that we know from his seven
authentic letters, found their most fertile soil, not with the Jews, but in the
hearts and minds of the Gentile people he encountered on his travels.
MOVING ON:
In reaching out to Jews throughout the Roman Empire, Paul met with resistance. It is always difficult to change any status quo. Jews, who had created their own comfortable lives, separated from the Holy Land, with their belief in one God, did not want any newcomer to disrupt those lives, as they had arranged them. Things were going well for them. Even the objection of the silversmiths of Ephesus occurred when their economic stability was threatened by the very idea of not making lucrative images of the city’s patron goddess, Artemis. Reforming Jews was Challenge #1 for Paul.
The greater majority of people Paul encountered on his travels away from the Holy Land were not Jews. Here is where Paul found Challenge #2. He was surrounded by what the Bible nicely calls Gentiles. Purely and simply, they were pagans and pantheists. They could not even imagine the concept of a single god. They had a multiplicity of gods for every purpose, and these gods were set in a hierarchy. The ancient Greek gods were joined by helpful, assorted local gods; and, from Augustus Caesar on, with Roman gods that even included the emperor. This was a take-your-choice world. Whatever was helpful was where Gentiles pledged their allegiance.
The difficulty for Paul was finding a way to have all the people he met know that there was only one God, and that He was a God of love. Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus empowered him. One God, the God of love, totally lived in Paul’s life. God’s love boundless. Paul tried to share it with everyone. His foundation for Christianity opened a new world for both Jews and Gentiles. It was a new life totally encompassed by a God of overflowing love.
LIVING INTO CHOICES:
Paul’s work was not easy. Those who followed in his footsteps continued to have the same challenges Paul had faced. Even today, 2000 years later, as dedicated Christians, we face these same obstacles, when we share the love of God with others. Both the comfort of the status quo and the many tempting diversions of secular lives bombard us, luring us from living fully within the love of God.
Paul built a strong Christian foundation in Ephesus. His good news fanned out across all of the part of the world that is now modern Turkey. Over time, however, the intensity of his message, seemed to have less impact. People, just as we know from the prophetic texts of the Hebrew scriptures, fell back to ways they felt provided them with an easy life.
TRANSITION IN EPHESIANS:
The writer of Ephesians echoes the voices of ancient Hebrew prophets. From the glorious language that begins the Ephesians letter, in this part of the Season after Pentecost, the cuttings for the Sunday readings (4:1-7, 11-16; 4:17-25; 4:25-5:2; and 5:15-20) all chide and guide straying people back to the true Christian life. Here is Challenge #3 for Christianity. We are confronted by these trials in our world every day.
MOVING ON:
In reaching out to Jews throughout the Roman Empire, Paul met with resistance. It is always difficult to change any status quo. Jews, who had created their own comfortable lives, separated from the Holy Land, with their belief in one God, did not want any newcomer to disrupt those lives, as they had arranged them. Things were going well for them. Even the objection of the silversmiths of Ephesus occurred when their economic stability was threatened by the very idea of not making lucrative images of the city’s patron goddess, Artemis. Reforming Jews was Challenge #1 for Paul.
The greater majority of people Paul encountered on his travels away from the Holy Land were not Jews. Here is where Paul found Challenge #2. He was surrounded by what the Bible nicely calls Gentiles. Purely and simply, they were pagans and pantheists. They could not even imagine the concept of a single god. They had a multiplicity of gods for every purpose, and these gods were set in a hierarchy. The ancient Greek gods were joined by helpful, assorted local gods; and, from Augustus Caesar on, with Roman gods that even included the emperor. This was a take-your-choice world. Whatever was helpful was where Gentiles pledged their allegiance.
The difficulty for Paul was finding a way to have all the people he met know that there was only one God, and that He was a God of love. Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus empowered him. One God, the God of love, totally lived in Paul’s life. God’s love boundless. Paul tried to share it with everyone. His foundation for Christianity opened a new world for both Jews and Gentiles. It was a new life totally encompassed by a God of overflowing love.
LIVING INTO CHOICES:
Paul’s work was not easy. Those who followed in his footsteps continued to have the same challenges Paul had faced. Even today, 2000 years later, as dedicated Christians, we face these same obstacles, when we share the love of God with others. Both the comfort of the status quo and the many tempting diversions of secular lives bombard us, luring us from living fully within the love of God.
Paul built a strong Christian foundation in Ephesus. His good news fanned out across all of the part of the world that is now modern Turkey. Over time, however, the intensity of his message, seemed to have less impact. People, just as we know from the prophetic texts of the Hebrew scriptures, fell back to ways they felt provided them with an easy life.
TRANSITION IN EPHESIANS:
The writer of Ephesians echoes the voices of ancient Hebrew prophets. From the glorious language that begins the Ephesians letter, in this part of the Season after Pentecost, the cuttings for the Sunday readings (4:1-7, 11-16; 4:17-25; 4:25-5:2; and 5:15-20) all chide and guide straying people back to the true Christian life. Here is Challenge #3 for Christianity. We are confronted by these trials in our world every day.
Take time to reward
yourself. Reread Ephesians aloud from 1:1 to 5:20. You will discover a humanity
that you did not realize you shared with Christians at the end of the 1st
century. Take time to think, too, how in your words and deeds you bring life
from this letter to “Ephesians” today. The God of love is always with you.
Here
are the remains of the immense theater in Ephesus, where silversmiths rioted
after Paul expressed disapproval over the making and selling of idols
portraying Artemis.Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 12
Reading the Bible texts
aloud, it is easy to note many differences between Paul's Corinthian
correspondence and the letter addressed to the Ephesians. The urgency of Paul’s
problem-solving appeals makes a change to sweeps-of-thought using more complex
grammar. Even Bible scholar Erasmus, in the early 16th century, noted Ephesians
had complicated sentences, in a style that was missing in Paul’s authentic
letters.
Placing Paul’s imprimatur on any letter, circulating in the early Christian world, gave it credibility. In this case, because the contents of the letter allow scholars to date it probably two generations after his life, Paul would have needed to contact the Ephesians from a heavenly perch.
With the misappropriation of authorship, the NT canon, about 350 CE, fixed Ephesians in a place where later, multiple translators and editors passed on misinformation about the writer. Today, this creates a problem, when one confronts someone speaking about controversial passages, who insist, “Paul says in the Bible …!” Sadly, this resultant narrow view produces an uninformed situation leaving no mutual ground for discussion. Sadder still, the distinctive glory of words by both Paul and later unidentified writers, is missed.
CHANGE TO BE AWARE OF:
In structure, the single letter to the Ephesians can readily be split neatly into two parts. Could it be that two separate, distinctive texts have been glued together, almost into equal parts? With the complexities of letter writing and transmission 2000 years ago, a variety of processes could have affected the words we now encounter. Letter writing was far from the instant keyboard effort of today, where thoughts are quickly recorded and get whisked off into far reaches of space in milliseconds to be forwarded and forwarded into infinity. With the Ephesians letter, there was no spontaneous delete either. Changes were made purposefully or even inadvertently and accidentally by copyists, commentators, and translators to produce the texts that we have in our Bible.
Also, with the 22 NT letters, we have only a smattering of what must have originally been more numerous pieces of correspondence. Whatever happened to the other letters Paul and later Christians must have dispatched across the 1st century? In our Bible today, we need to be aware that only uncoordinated fragments of the total 1st century Christian correspondence is included. What is missing? What do we not know? We are stuck with making the best we can with what we do have. We must never forget that we do not have the whole picture. Unfortunately, many people, who read and study the Bible today, are not aware of the complexities involved in the writing,
READING RHYTHM:
It takes only about 25 minutes to read the full text of Ephesians aloud. In reading, be conscious how you give voice to the words. Feel them internally. Listen to the flow of phrases. Even in translations, from the original Greek, the way words are combined together transforms th em until they almost become lyrics for baroque music. The pulsating of the music of Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi and Telemann is set to the rhythm of human heart beat. Like this music, the phrases of Ephesians, when read aloud, set your voice into a beat making 1st century words a part of you. Let the text flow into your total body, not just your mind. You will discover that maybe, this is the reason phrases from Ephesians are scattered throughout our worship liturgy. And, in reading and rereading Ephesians, sounding the words is like welcoming with pleasure old, dear friends.
MARVEL AT THE MESSAGE:
Though Paul probably did not write the Letter to the Ephesians, a truly masterful writer did. The first half of the letter is pure prayer and praise. This is theology to throb within you. It is group-speak, written to be read aloud to a larger community of many Christian congregations
The memory of Paul was strong in Ephesus 300 years after his sojourn there, as is shown in this 4th century fresco still visible today.
Placing Paul’s imprimatur on any letter, circulating in the early Christian world, gave it credibility. In this case, because the contents of the letter allow scholars to date it probably two generations after his life, Paul would have needed to contact the Ephesians from a heavenly perch.
With the misappropriation of authorship, the NT canon, about 350 CE, fixed Ephesians in a place where later, multiple translators and editors passed on misinformation about the writer. Today, this creates a problem, when one confronts someone speaking about controversial passages, who insist, “Paul says in the Bible …!” Sadly, this resultant narrow view produces an uninformed situation leaving no mutual ground for discussion. Sadder still, the distinctive glory of words by both Paul and later unidentified writers, is missed.
CHANGE TO BE AWARE OF:
In structure, the single letter to the Ephesians can readily be split neatly into two parts. Could it be that two separate, distinctive texts have been glued together, almost into equal parts? With the complexities of letter writing and transmission 2000 years ago, a variety of processes could have affected the words we now encounter. Letter writing was far from the instant keyboard effort of today, where thoughts are quickly recorded and get whisked off into far reaches of space in milliseconds to be forwarded and forwarded into infinity. With the Ephesians letter, there was no spontaneous delete either. Changes were made purposefully or even inadvertently and accidentally by copyists, commentators, and translators to produce the texts that we have in our Bible.
Also, with the 22 NT letters, we have only a smattering of what must have originally been more numerous pieces of correspondence. Whatever happened to the other letters Paul and later Christians must have dispatched across the 1st century? In our Bible today, we need to be aware that only uncoordinated fragments of the total 1st century Christian correspondence is included. What is missing? What do we not know? We are stuck with making the best we can with what we do have. We must never forget that we do not have the whole picture. Unfortunately, many people, who read and study the Bible today, are not aware of the complexities involved in the writing,
READING RHYTHM:
It takes only about 25 minutes to read the full text of Ephesians aloud. In reading, be conscious how you give voice to the words. Feel them internally. Listen to the flow of phrases. Even in translations, from the original Greek, the way words are combined together transforms th em until they almost become lyrics for baroque music. The pulsating of the music of Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi and Telemann is set to the rhythm of human heart beat. Like this music, the phrases of Ephesians, when read aloud, set your voice into a beat making 1st century words a part of you. Let the text flow into your total body, not just your mind. You will discover that maybe, this is the reason phrases from Ephesians are scattered throughout our worship liturgy. And, in reading and rereading Ephesians, sounding the words is like welcoming with pleasure old, dear friends.
MARVEL AT THE MESSAGE:
Though Paul probably did not write the Letter to the Ephesians, a truly masterful writer did. The first half of the letter is pure prayer and praise. This is theology to throb within you. It is group-speak, written to be read aloud to a larger community of many Christian congregations
Paul
would never know, and only dreamed would be created.
Reading any Bible text, note what gives you discomfort. Ephesians has
bits of that. Knowing the “not written by Paul” origin of the letter to the
Ephesians will help us give a better “handle” on what the early Bible
organizers were hoping to do with what they included. Their Holy Scriptures
spread God’s Good News and told us how to live and share it with othersThe memory of Paul was strong in Ephesus 300 years after his sojourn there, as is shown in this 4th century fresco still visible today.
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 11
Last
week, in our 21st century world, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named 24 additional World Heritage Sites. This
is the highest recognition of international importance that can go to any
historical place. One of those new, prized selections is Ephesus, the
locale specified in the Bible to receive the letter currently under scrutiny in
our WDRG Study.
ANCIENT EPHESUS:
Let’s take a mini-tour to Ephesus, traveling together electronically to gain onsite appreciation of why this place of early Christianity is visually important today. From the ruins, remaining over 2000 years of time, conjure up the life presence that made this city important as home base, outside the Holy Land over several years, for the Apostle Paul. In the 1st century, a population of about 250,000 people made it the second largest city, after Rome, in the Empire.
The remains of Ephesus show it to have been a financially dynamic port city, first for the Greeks and then for the Romans, who made it their capital of the province of Asia Minor. It is about 350 miles from Ancyra, or Ankara, in today’s Turkey. The wealth of Ephesus was already in place, thanks to the presumed benevolent protection of Artemis, a pagan goddess whose temple was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.
ROMAN EPHESUS:
The Romans, beginning with Caesar Augustus (d. 14 CE), made vast improvements to the cityscape, with urban renewal projects that included an expanded and improved agora (public market space), extensive civic buildings, ornate public bathing facilities, efficient water and sewage systems, fine theaters, and an up-scale, residential, condo-complex terraced up the hillside to make sure all owners had a room-with-a-view. This development is currently under meticulous archaeological study, allowing visitors a peek into life of the rich and famous of Paul’s time.
Ephesus had stability for many years as a large port city, because pragmatic Romans wisely supplanted the earlier successful Greek economic culture by incorporating existing wealthy and powerful Gentile families, enabling them to become even more prosperous Roman citizens. This was a place where Paul found a comfortable enough niche, to stay for a period of three years.
What the Bible tells us about Ephesus and Paul has its primary source in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. The earliest secondary source is Luke’s Acts of the Apostles 18:23-21:14, written about 20 years later. And, the actual Letter to the Ephesians, most scholars now believe, was written about 30 years after Paul’s residence there. But, most importantly, we do know that Paul actually spent productive time living, working and creating Christian communities from here. Ephesus was a place, away from the Holy Land, where he could seek to command and control all his efforts in spreading the good news of God’s love, as evidenced in the sacrificial death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
EPHESUS FOR US:
So, let your imagination fly back across time and reconstruct in your own thoughts what Ephesus must have been like. The ruins that remain of Paul’s world today, thanks be to God and now to UNESCO, will be there for future generations of Christians to see and reflect on. (To find more pictures and information, visit (www.ephesus.ws)
Though no actual, original, physical letter written by Paul exists; and though places Paul walked in Ephesus are now in ruins; we are blessed, in our Bible, to have Paul’s thoughts readily present with us. From Ephesus, Paul sent letters that inspired Christians of his and later genera tions, including the writer of the Letter to the Ephesians. All can truly enliven us today. Read them. Share them. Paul and his followers speak to us across space and time. Their Bible message is filled with beauty in words as well as strong, definitive practical advice. Read. Listen. God loves us.
ANCIENT EPHESUS:
Let’s take a mini-tour to Ephesus, traveling together electronically to gain onsite appreciation of why this place of early Christianity is visually important today. From the ruins, remaining over 2000 years of time, conjure up the life presence that made this city important as home base, outside the Holy Land over several years, for the Apostle Paul. In the 1st century, a population of about 250,000 people made it the second largest city, after Rome, in the Empire.
The remains of Ephesus show it to have been a financially dynamic port city, first for the Greeks and then for the Romans, who made it their capital of the province of Asia Minor. It is about 350 miles from Ancyra, or Ankara, in today’s Turkey. The wealth of Ephesus was already in place, thanks to the presumed benevolent protection of Artemis, a pagan goddess whose temple was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.
ROMAN EPHESUS:
The Romans, beginning with Caesar Augustus (d. 14 CE), made vast improvements to the cityscape, with urban renewal projects that included an expanded and improved agora (public market space), extensive civic buildings, ornate public bathing facilities, efficient water and sewage systems, fine theaters, and an up-scale, residential, condo-complex terraced up the hillside to make sure all owners had a room-with-a-view. This development is currently under meticulous archaeological study, allowing visitors a peek into life of the rich and famous of Paul’s time.
Ephesus had stability for many years as a large port city, because pragmatic Romans wisely supplanted the earlier successful Greek economic culture by incorporating existing wealthy and powerful Gentile families, enabling them to become even more prosperous Roman citizens. This was a place where Paul found a comfortable enough niche, to stay for a period of three years.
What the Bible tells us about Ephesus and Paul has its primary source in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. The earliest secondary source is Luke’s Acts of the Apostles 18:23-21:14, written about 20 years later. And, the actual Letter to the Ephesians, most scholars now believe, was written about 30 years after Paul’s residence there. But, most importantly, we do know that Paul actually spent productive time living, working and creating Christian communities from here. Ephesus was a place, away from the Holy Land, where he could seek to command and control all his efforts in spreading the good news of God’s love, as evidenced in the sacrificial death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
EPHESUS FOR US:
So, let your imagination fly back across time and reconstruct in your own thoughts what Ephesus must have been like. The ruins that remain of Paul’s world today, thanks be to God and now to UNESCO, will be there for future generations of Christians to see and reflect on. (To find more pictures and information, visit (www.ephesus.ws)
Though no actual, original, physical letter written by Paul exists; and though places Paul walked in Ephesus are now in ruins; we are blessed, in our Bible, to have Paul’s thoughts readily present with us. From Ephesus, Paul sent letters that inspired Christians of his and later genera tions, including the writer of the Letter to the Ephesians. All can truly enliven us today. Read them. Share them. Paul and his followers speak to us across space and time. Their Bible message is filled with beauty in words as well as strong, definitive practical advice. Read. Listen. God loves us.
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Year B) +++ Proper 11
In most Bibles printed in English, the Table of
Contents shows that the New Testament begins with the four gospel biographies
and the historical Acts of the Apostles. Those are followed with a different
literary form, the letter. The actual content of the NT letters varies, with
direct memos, personal letters, sermons, and even a fantastical, apocalyptic
adventure story filled with symbolism that some generations, long after the
original one, have used to control agendas most often having nothing to do with
God’s love, grace, freedom, and forgiveness.
BOOK ARRANGEMENTS:
The order of NT letters or epistles follows a general
format that is also found with the OT prophets—the lengthiest texts, or fattest
scrolls come first. It’s an interesting bit of biblical trivia to know that
the OT prophets and NT letters are arranged in order of a diminishing number of
total words. Size was thought to be more distinguishing than content.
The NT result is that the most important, longest
letter, is Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Another trivia factoid is, that while
Romans is the letter placed first in the NT, biblical scholars agree it was
probably the last one written by Paul. In addition, Paul is the only writer
of any of the NT texts who actually can be identified as being an author. The
writers of all the other NT texts, with names attached to them, are unknown.
People named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John may or may not have written gospels.
Using significant names for authors gave documents credibility. Unfortunately,
with 2000 years of history obscuring biblical origins and no original Bible
documents existing, we will never know for certain most details surrounding
actual Bible beginnings.
TABLE TITLES:
Look at the book names in the NT Table of Contents.
Beyond the seven authentic Pauline letters, you will see claims of Letters from
Paul to the Ephesians, Colossians, Timothy (two letters), Titus, and a second
letter to the Thessalonians. While Paul influenced the content of each of
these , unknown authors borrowed his credibility to get their messages across. These
letters, like all of the other NT content, came into existence much after
Paul’s life.
LETTER DIFFERENCES:
For eight weeks in the WDRG Study, we will be reflecting
on what the Bible calls the Letter from Paul to the Ephesians. It will take you
about 25 minutes to read it aloud in full. By reading all the content in a
single setting, you will spot some really obvious differences from those you
encountered in your earlier reading aloud of I and II Corinthians. Paul wrote
those. People inspired by Paul wrote Ephesians, using Paul’s name to
carry authority to those who would read it.
Scholars know this because sentence structures in
Ephesians are more complex, words used to the Ephesians are beyond Paul’s
vocabulary, content has none of the problem-solving urgency of the seven
letters written in the decade from 50 to 60 Common Era (CE), and church
gatherings are more complex than the small groups cited in the Corinthian
correspondence. Fully reading NT letters aloud is one way differences become
obvious, even in translation. Hearing only lectionary snippets masks the
details that show the broad richness of the letter traditions in the NT.
EPHESUS AND PAUL:
phesus was a center of strong early Christian growth and
activity. It was Paul’s home base for several years. Since Paul was there on
site, he had no reason to write letters to the people with whom he could talk
face-to-face. Because of the location of the city, it offered Paul the
convenience of routing letters easily to the Christian communities he had
nurtured earlier in Corinth, Thessaloniki, Philippi and the region of Galatia.
Caesar Augustus, in 27 Before the Common Era (BCE),
made Ephesus the proconsular capital of Asia in charge of most of western Asia
Minor. As such, for a time, it attained importance, second only to Rome, in the
Empire. It was a major commercial center with a port on the Aegean Sea
connecting with the vast interior land that is now Turkey; and it is one of the
seven cities mentioned in The Revelation to John.
READING AND REREADING EPHESIANS:
Beginning with your reading aloud this week, you will
encounter some of the most beautiful, hymn-like language in the NT. Savor it
all at once. Read it a second time, and note the non-Pauline concerns. In
Ephesians, your reading will put you in close touch with the life of those in
the generation after Paul, who were beginning to envision what the Christian
Church could become. What do you think it says about today?
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B), Proper 9
This week we are completing our study of the Corinthian Correspondence in the Bible. This ending does not suggest that we are closing the book on our connection with the many fragments of letters that have been gathered together into I and II Corinthians. It means, because we have read these two Bible books aloud in full, we have had the opportunity to time-travel ourselves back to the beginning of the Christian world, just twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
PAUL’S PRONOUNCEMENTS:
The first, written-form, recorded Christian voice is Paul’s. In reading his letters in full, you must have encountered many, “Oh, that is where the Bible says that!” moments. By setting familiar cuttings in their context, you have had the opportunity to sense the deeper meaning behind them. Paul’s good news is still totally relevant to our lives today. He tells us how to welcome Jesus into our lives and spread God’s good news of love to others.
This week, take review time to meander through both I and II Corinthians. Because you now know the text situation in total, you will find deeper meaning in favorite passages you hear in the short Sunday Lectionary bits. What riches Paul has passed onto us!
Reflect on I Corinthians 10:15-17; 11:23-26; 12:4-13; 13:1-13; 15:1-11, 58; and 16:13. Ponder, too, II Corinthians 3:17; 5:17-21; 9:6-8 and 13:11-13. No matter what translation you consult, nor the passage of twenty historic centuries, Paul’s words are timeless. Listen! Paul is speaking directly to you.
CHRISTIANITY IS A PROCESS:
From Jesus to the disciples, as well as to Paul (the apostle stunned into true understanding of the risen Christ) the spreading of the good news is always a challenging work-in-progress.
On Saturday, the bishops of the Episcopal Church chose a new leader for the next nine years. Then, laity and clergy delegates of the House of Deputies approved the election of Michael Curry, the Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina to succeed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on All Saints’ Day, 2015. The earthly action at our General Convention is blessing-in-action based on Paul’s inclusive understanding of the Church. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Surrounded by delegates from the Diocese of North Carolina, Bp. Curry is cheered by the General Convention. —Photo by the Rev. Brian Winters.
PAUL’S LETTERS AND OUR MISSION:
When challenged by reading Paul’s strong call to action, how do we take his words to heart? How do we rejoice in the community of the Church? How do we share the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with others? Where do we start? Paul, in II Corinthians 3:2-3, writes out our directions:
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."
Let your thinking become clear with the 2005 commentary on II Corinthians 3:3 that Roman Catholic theologian John Shea explains in An Experience of Spirit: Spirituality and Storytelling:
“I never saw him. I never heard him. I never touched him. But there were those who did. And they told others, who told othe rs, who told others still, who eventually told me. And now, in my turn, I tell you. And you, then, can tell others. And so, you see, there will never be an end to it.”
Begin!
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
A common rumor seems
to be floating around the world about Paul and women. One hears often that Paul
really did not like women.
However, in reading pure Paul, the seven letters that scholars have determined that Paul actually wrote, there is no evidence that this is the case. So, clear your mind of this misplaced assumption, whenever you read aloud, on your own, the texts of I Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, Philippians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon. In the WDRG Study, you have been asked to read I and II Corinthians in full. In doing so, you have been introduced into the world of remarkable women who, with Paul, made a difference in the earliest stages of Christianity.
TRANSLATION TRIALS:
Across the centuries from Paul’s time, the truth undergirding the Bible text rings true. But the problems occur in the details created by human beings. When Paul refers to a group of Christians, he does not see differences between women and men. All are equal in Paul’s eyes and in God’s.
Unfortunately, through the years, Paul’s Greek evolved in translations to create a gender specific problem. In referring to a group, most English translators call them brothers, brethren, or rarely, brothers and sisters. This serious distinction depends on the perspective of the translator. But the spin-off results of translations goes far beyond what choice of words are used, and how they, intentionally or not, are abused. Wander around the Corinthian correspondence with more than one Bible translation. While all are thoughtfully done, the NRSV has the most inclusive Pauline language, giving proper honor to women.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE WOMEN GONE?
Beyond finding a place for women within the Christian group, what happens to all the women over the first 100 years, as belief becomes religion? Paul, because he is writing with the urgency of the moment, and in answer to specific questions and situations, uses names of individuals sparingly. His writing tends to handle women and men in a simple, job descriptive way. However, one assumes, from the selective cuttings usually read in Lectionary snippets, that Paul favored men over women.
The “evaporation" of women is countered when Paul’s actual seven Bible letters are read in full. While Paul does name men more frequently, a discerning study of the texts indicates that they were most often traveling companions or trouble-shooting junior executives.
Women are noted by Paul as present in critical places where the birthing of Christianity actually began. Paul’s groups did not have church buildings to meet in. The earliest Christians gathered informally in homes, shops and even on river banks. Start-up groups tended to be friendly and small. The people responsible for the hosting logistics are not named. Can you guess who they were? Read carefully, and you will sense the women. Of course this legacy carries over into churches today.
PAUL’S RECOGNITION LIST:
Both Chloe (I Cor. 1:11) and Prisca (I Cor. 16:19) were leaders in the Corinthian community. Paul’s Philippians letter tell us about Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3). And, the last and longest letter Paul wrote tells us once again about Prisca (Rom. 16:3) and her spouse, along with Mary (Rom. 16:6), Junia (Rom. 16:7) and Tryphaena and Tryphosa (Rom. 16:12). The person entrusted with the vital responsibility of carrying Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome was Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2). Women mattered to Paul.
WOMEN AFTER PAUL:
Most often, books of the NT are studied as separate, individual documents. Something fascinating happens when the post-Pauline letters, written by others, are read in the order in which they probably were written. The WDRG Study will consider several of these letters in the months ahead.
Over the writing time of the NT, as the organizational structure of Christianity was developing, the specific mention of women begins to fade away. Only in the last 50 years of NT scholarship has there been an effort to recover the role women played from the beginning of the Christian Church.
So, as you read and work with Paul’s writings, discover for yourself the women who, from the very beginning, were responsible for the successful spread of the message of God’s love, as evidenced in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We owe them thanks for the work they did and the inspiration they offer. How will we carry forward their work?
The row of women saints in this mosaic on the wall of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, are wearing rich attire that would have been appropriate for the wealthy women of Corinth in Paul’s time a few centuries earlier.
However, in reading pure Paul, the seven letters that scholars have determined that Paul actually wrote, there is no evidence that this is the case. So, clear your mind of this misplaced assumption, whenever you read aloud, on your own, the texts of I Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, Philippians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon. In the WDRG Study, you have been asked to read I and II Corinthians in full. In doing so, you have been introduced into the world of remarkable women who, with Paul, made a difference in the earliest stages of Christianity.
TRANSLATION TRIALS:
Across the centuries from Paul’s time, the truth undergirding the Bible text rings true. But the problems occur in the details created by human beings. When Paul refers to a group of Christians, he does not see differences between women and men. All are equal in Paul’s eyes and in God’s.
Unfortunately, through the years, Paul’s Greek evolved in translations to create a gender specific problem. In referring to a group, most English translators call them brothers, brethren, or rarely, brothers and sisters. This serious distinction depends on the perspective of the translator. But the spin-off results of translations goes far beyond what choice of words are used, and how they, intentionally or not, are abused. Wander around the Corinthian correspondence with more than one Bible translation. While all are thoughtfully done, the NRSV has the most inclusive Pauline language, giving proper honor to women.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE WOMEN GONE?
Beyond finding a place for women within the Christian group, what happens to all the women over the first 100 years, as belief becomes religion? Paul, because he is writing with the urgency of the moment, and in answer to specific questions and situations, uses names of individuals sparingly. His writing tends to handle women and men in a simple, job descriptive way. However, one assumes, from the selective cuttings usually read in Lectionary snippets, that Paul favored men over women.
The “evaporation" of women is countered when Paul’s actual seven Bible letters are read in full. While Paul does name men more frequently, a discerning study of the texts indicates that they were most often traveling companions or trouble-shooting junior executives.
Women are noted by Paul as present in critical places where the birthing of Christianity actually began. Paul’s groups did not have church buildings to meet in. The earliest Christians gathered informally in homes, shops and even on river banks. Start-up groups tended to be friendly and small. The people responsible for the hosting logistics are not named. Can you guess who they were? Read carefully, and you will sense the women. Of course this legacy carries over into churches today.
PAUL’S RECOGNITION LIST:
Both Chloe (I Cor. 1:11) and Prisca (I Cor. 16:19) were leaders in the Corinthian community. Paul’s Philippians letter tell us about Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3). And, the last and longest letter Paul wrote tells us once again about Prisca (Rom. 16:3) and her spouse, along with Mary (Rom. 16:6), Junia (Rom. 16:7) and Tryphaena and Tryphosa (Rom. 16:12). The person entrusted with the vital responsibility of carrying Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome was Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2). Women mattered to Paul.
WOMEN AFTER PAUL:
Most often, books of the NT are studied as separate, individual documents. Something fascinating happens when the post-Pauline letters, written by others, are read in the order in which they probably were written. The WDRG Study will consider several of these letters in the months ahead.
Over the writing time of the NT, as the organizational structure of Christianity was developing, the specific mention of women begins to fade away. Only in the last 50 years of NT scholarship has there been an effort to recover the role women played from the beginning of the Christian Church.
So, as you read and work with Paul’s writings, discover for yourself the women who, from the very beginning, were responsible for the successful spread of the message of God’s love, as evidenced in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We owe them thanks for the work they did and the inspiration they offer. How will we carry forward their work?
The row of women saints in this mosaic on the wall of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, are wearing rich attire that would have been appropriate for the wealthy women of Corinth in Paul’s time a few centuries earlier.
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
In reading the
fragments of correspondence that the first Bible editors sewed together to form
Paul's I and II Corinthian letters, one is overwhelmed with the variety of
topics covered in what, at times, seems to be a disorganized pair of documents.
Paul's writing is filled with the pressure of the great immediacy he felt.
He urged his converts to stay within the Christian boundaries giving them
freedom to live every minute of life fully.
LIFE TIME OR END TIME:
The Corinthian Correspondence was written about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The earliest Christians believed that Jesus was the long expected Messiah who would usher in God's final triumphant day. This unknown limitation for life caused tension for them. In their expectation, they anticipated they would be part of a new world creation. This coming time, like Genesis, would be good. But, they were caught-in-waiting for an unspecified moment that they believed would come in their lifetimes. Their belief was that they would be part of a truly better, God-given life.
COSMOPOLITAN CORINTH:
The Christian hope stood in stark contrast to the everyday life occurring in Corinth. This double seaport region was an ancient World Trade Center. As such, it was a glitzy, glamorous locale in the 1st century Mediterranean world.
The upper, wealthy, economic classes lavished themselves with obvious flamboyance, centering on impressing others with their power and importance. These ostentatious masters of the "lifestyles of the rich and famous" built upon layers of human subordinates, who were often slaves with even lower slaves. Individual human value came only in what the least of them could do at the orders of others. No one was ever truly free. Even those at the hierarchical top were enslaved by a hunger for more power, prestige, and many extravagant possessions for living, all fostered by ever-ready human slaves.
Paul entered this secular, God-less world, with a message of God's love. His Christian converts turned their backs on, and left behind, not only the worship of many gods, but also a life of gamesmanship built on putting down other human beings.
On the surface in Corinth, for all to view, was the race to outdo everyone else in ostentatious worship of whichever pagan god they randomly chose to pay homage to. Corinth had numerous pagan gods for all occasions and needs. Corinthians were fickle people. Loyalties waned as Corinthians determined, from among the many gods, the one that would benefit them the most in their aspirations. Instead of being people made in the image of a loving God, Corinthians made their gods to fit their own personal, cloying needs.
One way a Corinthian could climb the social ladder to power and affluence, was to put on the biggest public feast possible with extravagant sacrifices to one of the many gods. In an agrarian world, this meant providing lavish meat sacrifices at a local temple to a carefully chosen, appropriate deity, with all possible pomp and circumstance. Such indulgence caused an overflow of the massive public sacrifices offered to the god. Then, the excess would be doled out to the masses waiting to be impressed by the supreme munificence of the donor.
FROM GENTILE TO GENTLE:
This manipulation of people motivated Paul into action. Following up on his personal formation of communities in Corinth, he wrote reminder letters with guidelines to be followed. We read these as I and II Corinthians. We follow Paul’s directions and know his words well. (I Corinthians 10:14-17 and 11:23-34.) Paul intended his writings to be explicit directions for the people of Corinth, whom he loved as valuable children of God.
We hear, 2000 years later, what Paul says when we open ourselves up to consider our own personal world. What do we value? Who do we share life with? How do we relate to others? How do we live and love?
Paul’s guidance in his Corinthian Correspondence, placed in our own setting, has intense meaning today. Are you ready to hear Paul’s words? I and II Corinthians are truly letters of love.
T
(c) Women of the Rio Grande & Elaine Wilson 2015
LIFE TIME OR END TIME:
The Corinthian Correspondence was written about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The earliest Christians believed that Jesus was the long expected Messiah who would usher in God's final triumphant day. This unknown limitation for life caused tension for them. In their expectation, they anticipated they would be part of a new world creation. This coming time, like Genesis, would be good. But, they were caught-in-waiting for an unspecified moment that they believed would come in their lifetimes. Their belief was that they would be part of a truly better, God-given life.
COSMOPOLITAN CORINTH:
The Christian hope stood in stark contrast to the everyday life occurring in Corinth. This double seaport region was an ancient World Trade Center. As such, it was a glitzy, glamorous locale in the 1st century Mediterranean world.
The upper, wealthy, economic classes lavished themselves with obvious flamboyance, centering on impressing others with their power and importance. These ostentatious masters of the "lifestyles of the rich and famous" built upon layers of human subordinates, who were often slaves with even lower slaves. Individual human value came only in what the least of them could do at the orders of others. No one was ever truly free. Even those at the hierarchical top were enslaved by a hunger for more power, prestige, and many extravagant possessions for living, all fostered by ever-ready human slaves.
Paul entered this secular, God-less world, with a message of God's love. His Christian converts turned their backs on, and left behind, not only the worship of many gods, but also a life of gamesmanship built on putting down other human beings.
On the surface in Corinth, for all to view, was the race to outdo everyone else in ostentatious worship of whichever pagan god they randomly chose to pay homage to. Corinth had numerous pagan gods for all occasions and needs. Corinthians were fickle people. Loyalties waned as Corinthians determined, from among the many gods, the one that would benefit them the most in their aspirations. Instead of being people made in the image of a loving God, Corinthians made their gods to fit their own personal, cloying needs.
One way a Corinthian could climb the social ladder to power and affluence, was to put on the biggest public feast possible with extravagant sacrifices to one of the many gods. In an agrarian world, this meant providing lavish meat sacrifices at a local temple to a carefully chosen, appropriate deity, with all possible pomp and circumstance. Such indulgence caused an overflow of the massive public sacrifices offered to the god. Then, the excess would be doled out to the masses waiting to be impressed by the supreme munificence of the donor.
FROM GENTILE TO GENTLE:
This manipulation of people motivated Paul into action. Following up on his personal formation of communities in Corinth, he wrote reminder letters with guidelines to be followed. We read these as I and II Corinthians. We follow Paul’s directions and know his words well. (I Corinthians 10:14-17 and 11:23-34.) Paul intended his writings to be explicit directions for the people of Corinth, whom he loved as valuable children of God.
We hear, 2000 years later, what Paul says when we open ourselves up to consider our own personal world. What do we value? Who do we share life with? How do we relate to others? How do we live and love?
Paul’s guidance in his Corinthian Correspondence, placed in our own setting, has intense meaning today. Are you ready to hear Paul’s words? I and II Corinthians are truly letters of love.
T
his
photograph, made in 2012 by Mark Cartwright, shows the setting today that was
the Agora or market place serving the 800,000 inhabitants of the area in Paul’s
time.
(c) Women of the Rio Grande & Elaine Wilson 2015
Third Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
Rereading the two letters to the Christians Paul had gathered together into a community in Corinth can be truly a challenge. While the Bible gives us two Corinthian letters, scholars say the two, we have in in our printed Bibles, are probably fragments of at least seven letters. Somewhere between writing and printing, parts of the correspondence were lumped together to form two, rather long letters.
When reading the Corinthian correspondence aloud, it becomes obvious that many subjects are being tackled, and the flow of the words is not smooth. This is true of all of the seven letters experts agree Paul actually wrote.
TONS OF TOPICS
Topics change so frequently, the letters are almost like trying to set an afterthought outline on a term paper written by student with attention deficit disorder. (Maybe because I have ADD, I love struggling with what Paul wrote, by reading and contemplating it over and over.)
A trivial thing I take delight in is something not used with frequency in our world today. It was a stylistic convention in Bible times. Contrasting words are used together to make a point. Paul uses this technique with abundance.
EITHER/OR
By now, in your reading of the Corinthian correspondence aloud. you have encountered these opposites. In our English translations, some of them become almost tongue-twisters when read. While they provide an extra challenge for listeners, an unprepared lay reader can quickly get caught in a mind-muddle, causing the text meaning to be lost. Mastering the contrasts is worth the effort. Contrasts or paradoxes appear in all of Paul’s writing. Watch for them and smile, because this is original Paul, though translated multiple times, and he is determined to get his message across to you: Are you listening?
humanity/divinity
mortal/immortal
life/death
corruptible/incorruptible
dead/alive
power/weakness
slave/free
flesh/spirit
crucified/resurrected
wages/gift
death/eternal life
body/spirit
wisdom/foolishness
heaven/earth
old/new
mortal/immortal
life/death
corruptible/incorruptible
dead/alive
power/weakness
slave/free
flesh/spirit
crucified/resurrected
wages/gift
death/eternal life
body/spirit
wisdom/foolishness
heaven/earth
old/new
PAUL’S MESSAGE IS SIMPLE
Have fun with the twists-and-turns in the writing. Don’t take a detour or side road, or you will miss the meaning. Paul’s life itself was lived with contrasts. He was a well-educated Jew, who as a Pharisee, took commitment to religion very seriously. Paul bullied Christians to the point of being there for the stoning of Stephen, as reported in Acts.
At a most improbable moment, God made a miracle happen. Paul’s life was thrown into a contrasting new direction. Paul was overwhelmed by the awareness of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, as a personal gift of him through God’s love. On becoming a Christian, Paul directed every moment of his life to passing on Christ to others.
CORINTH BECOMES CURRENT
Corinth was a place of contrasts, too. It was actually not just an important Mediterranean seaport; it was two seaports, joined by an overland transit way, that made commerce more efficient, both in time saved, and in avoidance of rough seas between the Adriatic and the Aegean around the Peloponnese.
Location, location, location made Corinth prosperous. Its people were cosmopolitan internationalists. Society was highly stratified. People at the top were the top. People at the bottom were trash. While that may sound harsh, life was harsh for most of the people in the Roman Empire of the first century. These were times of true insecurity, physically and economically.
Paul’s Christian message was one of love for all. It was unexpected. It was shocking. In contrast to the unknown aspects of daily life, Paul offered hope and dignity for those who accepted and lived with the presence of the risen Lord in their lives. With the newness of thought this required, Paul’s reassuring love, for the community of Christians he brought into being, is the reason for the many different details covered in the Corinthian correspondence.
Because of the way Paul wrote, while the situation in first century Corinth was different from life today, the almost parental caring and love he tried to convey is a guide for us today. Paul tells of God’s love coming to us through Jesus Christ. Are we ready to accept that love?
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
In the Church Year, Trinity
Sunday begins the long Season after Pentecost. Like the Season after The
Epiphany, it is not anchored by a great Church feast. These two Ordinary Time
seasons ebb-and-flow, year-to-year, connecting the fixed calendar date of
Christmas and the floating moon-cycle date of Easter. (BCP, p. 880)
Lectionary planners solved this challenge by considering Ordinary Time as a single season in prescribing readings. So, continuity of assigned Bible texts take their own vacation time (from Ash Wednesday through Trinity Sunday) with the flow of progressive readings restarting in the long Season after Pentecost.
CORINTH REVISITED
Sunday church-goers probably are oblivious to this scripture time-out, as they encounter the readings in fragments heard in church week-to-week. In the WDRG Study, however, we now return to Paul's Corinthian correspondence, which we started last January. Since then, Mark (in Lent) of the earliest of the written Gospels, and in Easter, the writer named Luke's account of the saga of the creation of the first Christian communities, were read. Both provide us with new perspectives, as we now return to Paul's letters to the congregations he had birthed in Corinth.
Every time you reread, in full, a Bible book, new insights are gained. Over Jun e, set aside time to reread aloud, from beginning-to-end, I Corinthians (80 minutes) and II Corinthians (52 minutes) from your favorite translation. Reading Paul's letters aloud is important, as that was what was done at the time they were written. The receiver of each letter read it aloud and shared it with community members, and with all others, who would benefit from what Paul was saying.
TWO LETTERS OR TOO MANY LETTERS
A difficulty all readers of I and II Corinthians have is that the topics covered seem varied and disconnected. To scholars, this suggests fragments of many letters have been combined together to form the two letters that were accepted into the Canon of the Bible. Think of them, as a pile of very important papers you have kept, that now must be honed down to keep in a smaller space. With scissors-in-hand, in reading them over, you cut and save the parts you think are most important to keep. While this is an example from today's world, something similar may have happened in the earliest collecting and transmitting of this important correspondence.
Remember also, in all of Paul's letters, we have only one side of the story. We do not know what provoked Paul's writing. It is rather like listening today to one side of a telephone conversation, and trying to figure out what the person, you cannot hear, is saying. Unfortunately, today, it is impossible to find the other part of the missing piece, so we do not have a full understanding of what Paul was answering.
PAUL'S URGENCY FOR EVERYONE
Difficultly happens, too, in reading Paul's letters, because we encounter many different personality moods. At times, the language is harsh, almost angry. In other places, personal affection comes across. Always there is a sense of urgency. Paul wants people to get-with-it and truly live within the orderliness of God that Jesus Christ has given us. Paul’s "just do it" attitude pervades all his letters. Within the expectations of Paul's world time, now was important. Imagine that he might have had a T-shirt that said, “Jesus is coming. Look busy.”
Even today, 2000 years later, urgency is important for us, too. Living well today makes a difference for our now and our future. Consider the phrase, “Time wasted is time killed.” As it was for Jesus, human time is limited for us. Thankfully accepting, and using well, every breathing minute-of-life, supported by God’s love, is what Paul wants us to do.
God trusts us enough to let our free choice decide, if we want to live within the body of the resurrected Jesus. Every Sunday at communion, that offer is renewed within us. Will you join Paul’s urging to follow Jesus this week? God, in all graciousness leaves that decision up to each of us?
Lectionary planners solved this challenge by considering Ordinary Time as a single season in prescribing readings. So, continuity of assigned Bible texts take their own vacation time (from Ash Wednesday through Trinity Sunday) with the flow of progressive readings restarting in the long Season after Pentecost.
CORINTH REVISITED
Sunday church-goers probably are oblivious to this scripture time-out, as they encounter the readings in fragments heard in church week-to-week. In the WDRG Study, however, we now return to Paul's Corinthian correspondence, which we started last January. Since then, Mark (in Lent) of the earliest of the written Gospels, and in Easter, the writer named Luke's account of the saga of the creation of the first Christian communities, were read. Both provide us with new perspectives, as we now return to Paul's letters to the congregations he had birthed in Corinth.
Every time you reread, in full, a Bible book, new insights are gained. Over Jun e, set aside time to reread aloud, from beginning-to-end, I Corinthians (80 minutes) and II Corinthians (52 minutes) from your favorite translation. Reading Paul's letters aloud is important, as that was what was done at the time they were written. The receiver of each letter read it aloud and shared it with community members, and with all others, who would benefit from what Paul was saying.
TWO LETTERS OR TOO MANY LETTERS
A difficulty all readers of I and II Corinthians have is that the topics covered seem varied and disconnected. To scholars, this suggests fragments of many letters have been combined together to form the two letters that were accepted into the Canon of the Bible. Think of them, as a pile of very important papers you have kept, that now must be honed down to keep in a smaller space. With scissors-in-hand, in reading them over, you cut and save the parts you think are most important to keep. While this is an example from today's world, something similar may have happened in the earliest collecting and transmitting of this important correspondence.
Remember also, in all of Paul's letters, we have only one side of the story. We do not know what provoked Paul's writing. It is rather like listening today to one side of a telephone conversation, and trying to figure out what the person, you cannot hear, is saying. Unfortunately, today, it is impossible to find the other part of the missing piece, so we do not have a full understanding of what Paul was answering.
PAUL'S URGENCY FOR EVERYONE
Difficultly happens, too, in reading Paul's letters, because we encounter many different personality moods. At times, the language is harsh, almost angry. In other places, personal affection comes across. Always there is a sense of urgency. Paul wants people to get-with-it and truly live within the orderliness of God that Jesus Christ has given us. Paul’s "just do it" attitude pervades all his letters. Within the expectations of Paul's world time, now was important. Imagine that he might have had a T-shirt that said, “Jesus is coming. Look busy.”
Even today, 2000 years later, urgency is important for us, too. Living well today makes a difference for our now and our future. Consider the phrase, “Time wasted is time killed.” As it was for Jesus, human time is limited for us. Thankfully accepting, and using well, every breathing minute-of-life, supported by God’s love, is what Paul wants us to do.
God trusts us enough to let our free choice decide, if we want to live within the body of the resurrected Jesus. Every Sunday at communion, that offer is renewed within us. Will you join Paul’s urging to follow Jesus this week? God, in all graciousness leaves that decision up to each of us?
The First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday (Year B)
If you had been living in 1549 in England, last Sunday,
the Feast of Pentecost, would have been very different for you when you went to
church. You would have heard, understood and responded easily to all parts of
the service. It was in
English!
Parliament mandated all parishes must use a newly printed Book of Common Prayer. That’s right. The government was requiring worship to be only in the English language. It was new to go to church and participate completely with everyday words. Parliament legislated liturgical Latin out of use.
This new experience 466 years ago is remembered by the Episcopal Church every year on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday. The WDRG Study is sharing this historically significant event with you today.
WORDS OF WORSHIP:
The fledgling Christian communities had no set liturgy. When the people gathered, they shared memories. They celebrated together in action with love and thanksgiving. Rituals rooted in Judaism birthed our Christian heritage. Gradually, as Gentiles were incorporated into the Faith, rites took on a more formal modeling. The earliest documents, defining our religious conduct today, were the Didache, from the Eastern Church in the second century; the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, from Rome dated 215 AD; the Didascalia, from third century Syria; and the fourth century Apostolic Constitutions from Syria, which combined the earlier sources.
In the early fourth century, Constantine moved Christianity to official recognition as the Roman state religion. Liturgy gained a strong royal emphasis. Richness was added by a growing monastic discipline, and the scholarly offerings of theologians ferreted out minutiae of Christian belief and practice. Words of worship were organized first into libelli, or booklets, and then into sacramentum, with guidance and prayers for celebrating leaders to use.
BRINGING ORDER TO RITES:
The Bible is the core of worship. In the earliest centuries, told stories became the Canon of Scripture. Quickly, a tradition began to use three selections of Bible lessons in religious services. For the part of the Christian Church centered in the West, the content of the Bible was translated, from available Hebrew and Greek sources into Latin, by Jerome beginning in 382 AD. Jerome's Latin had become the common language uniting Western Christianity. As the Church expanded and engulfed other groups of people with different native languages, Latin took on an elitist, holy aura for Church use.
EMBELLISHING WORSHIP:
What was considered appropriate liturgy changed and grew. From the Jewish and Gentile pagan festivals and the seasons of the natural year, a calendar of Christian observances evolved. In addition to feasts of Our Lord Jesus Christ, days honoring saints were celebrated. Formal worship soon had the three Bible selections favored by earlier tradition and a psalm. Teaching from the Bible expanded from mere commentary to more formal sermons. In modifying existing, regional architectural styles, congregations created music and art to fill their Christian worship spaces. Gradually, over the centuries, Christians expanded ways to reflect, in worship, the glory of God. What remained constant were the expressed words of the Bible extended into words of prayer.
HEARING THE WORD:
Ordinary folk, with limited literacy, personally understood religion only in their area dialects. For non-scholarly, everyday people, real connection with the Word of God in the Bible and worship, was rare. Language became a trigger, and printing became an instrument, for positive reforming of the Church.
Wycliff, Tyndale, Coverdale and others nudged the Bible into English over several centuries until Parliament finally, in the sixteenth century, authorized official translations. With the stage set, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, under King Edward the VI, first prepared an English responsive prayer called a litany. A two years later, the very first prayer book in English made it possible for all English people to worship God with the language they spoke in common.
Cranmer’s preface to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer says it was (1) “grounded upon the holy scripture"; (2) “agreeable to the order of the primitive church”; (3) "unifying to the realm"; and (4) “edifying” to the people.
LIVING THE WORD:
The Book of Common Prayer has had many revisions, including the first American prayer book in 1789 and our current 1976 version. All have led to the common worship we experience for our time, our place and ourselves. Rediscover, by thoughtful examination, The Book of Common Prayer. The English words gain true meaning, when they become alive in your life.
Parliament mandated all parishes must use a newly printed Book of Common Prayer. That’s right. The government was requiring worship to be only in the English language. It was new to go to church and participate completely with everyday words. Parliament legislated liturgical Latin out of use.
This new experience 466 years ago is remembered by the Episcopal Church every year on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday. The WDRG Study is sharing this historically significant event with you today.
WORDS OF WORSHIP:
The fledgling Christian communities had no set liturgy. When the people gathered, they shared memories. They celebrated together in action with love and thanksgiving. Rituals rooted in Judaism birthed our Christian heritage. Gradually, as Gentiles were incorporated into the Faith, rites took on a more formal modeling. The earliest documents, defining our religious conduct today, were the Didache, from the Eastern Church in the second century; the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, from Rome dated 215 AD; the Didascalia, from third century Syria; and the fourth century Apostolic Constitutions from Syria, which combined the earlier sources.
In the early fourth century, Constantine moved Christianity to official recognition as the Roman state religion. Liturgy gained a strong royal emphasis. Richness was added by a growing monastic discipline, and the scholarly offerings of theologians ferreted out minutiae of Christian belief and practice. Words of worship were organized first into libelli, or booklets, and then into sacramentum, with guidance and prayers for celebrating leaders to use.
BRINGING ORDER TO RITES:
The Bible is the core of worship. In the earliest centuries, told stories became the Canon of Scripture. Quickly, a tradition began to use three selections of Bible lessons in religious services. For the part of the Christian Church centered in the West, the content of the Bible was translated, from available Hebrew and Greek sources into Latin, by Jerome beginning in 382 AD. Jerome's Latin had become the common language uniting Western Christianity. As the Church expanded and engulfed other groups of people with different native languages, Latin took on an elitist, holy aura for Church use.
EMBELLISHING WORSHIP:
What was considered appropriate liturgy changed and grew. From the Jewish and Gentile pagan festivals and the seasons of the natural year, a calendar of Christian observances evolved. In addition to feasts of Our Lord Jesus Christ, days honoring saints were celebrated. Formal worship soon had the three Bible selections favored by earlier tradition and a psalm. Teaching from the Bible expanded from mere commentary to more formal sermons. In modifying existing, regional architectural styles, congregations created music and art to fill their Christian worship spaces. Gradually, over the centuries, Christians expanded ways to reflect, in worship, the glory of God. What remained constant were the expressed words of the Bible extended into words of prayer.
HEARING THE WORD:
Ordinary folk, with limited literacy, personally understood religion only in their area dialects. For non-scholarly, everyday people, real connection with the Word of God in the Bible and worship, was rare. Language became a trigger, and printing became an instrument, for positive reforming of the Church.
Wycliff, Tyndale, Coverdale and others nudged the Bible into English over several centuries until Parliament finally, in the sixteenth century, authorized official translations. With the stage set, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, under King Edward the VI, first prepared an English responsive prayer called a litany. A two years later, the very first prayer book in English made it possible for all English people to worship God with the language they spoke in common.
Cranmer’s preface to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer says it was (1) “grounded upon the holy scripture"; (2) “agreeable to the order of the primitive church”; (3) "unifying to the realm"; and (4) “edifying” to the people.
LIVING THE WORD:
The Book of Common Prayer has had many revisions, including the first American prayer book in 1789 and our current 1976 version. All have led to the common worship we experience for our time, our place and ourselves. Rediscover, by thoughtful examination, The Book of Common Prayer. The English words gain true meaning, when they become alive in your life.