Lenten Devotional 07: Unbearable

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Scripture reading: Lamentations 1:1-20

Jerusalem has fallen; naked and despised she turns her face away (586 BC/BCE). The author of the book of Lamentations evokes the pain of the people of Judah. This biblical poetry captures the grief of death, unlike most things I’ve ever seen.

As I read this text, I imagined death, imprisonment, rape, desolation, humiliation, self-loathing, and the greatest of sorrow. I felt the primal urge to cry out in a mix of terror and rage. Why the intensity? I’m not a Jew, it wasn’t my holy city that was destroyed, I’ve read worse, I’ve seen worse, I’ve experienced nothing of that magnitude, and I’m (at most) two thousand five hundred ninety eight years removed from Jerusalem’s exile into Babylon. What’s the big deal?

The poetic stanzas of our pericope are as raw and gritty as the worst parts of life; indeed, the pain it expresses is at the heart of all human sorrow. I hate piety and I hate sin (in the sense that I’d rather pretend it wasn’t real) but then people die, love turns to hate, people suffer, and no one seems to care about anyone more than they care for themselves. Some people look at the world and say, “God’s not real,” and/or, “there’s no such thing as sin.” The primal emotion that I feel as I read this passage of scripture (which I admittedly don’t like feeling) is twofold.

First, if one has ever felt, like life just kicked their world out from under them, they will know what I felt reading Lamentations 1:1-20. One who’s had to experience the death of one (or many) loved ones knows what it is to lament. Nothing feels right, no words sound right, everyone looks at you differently, and your sorrow is not received well. And, if you’re like me in those seasons, you can’t bear looking at God without questions; nor, can you look at yourself because you don’t like what you see and what you feel.

Second, how, is this not a reason to lament? How is this anything but the result of brokenness? I’m not the holy saint telling sinners to get their act together; I’m the sinner telling the sinners: this is why redemption is real, this is why we need the grace of a loving God, this is why we repent, this is why we are baptized, and this is why we eat and drink at the Lord’s table. We are prisoners to the sin nature (v. 14). The emptiness, bitterness, self-loathing, and grief are incomprehensible. We are like bums, tossed a dime, left to rot; stripped of our self-importance. We are like Jerusalem, fallen into the control of Babylon; prisoners, slaves, paid laborers – the system owns us – this is the hegemony of the human will. Only the work of God can restore us from brokenness.   

Lord, God, we confess we are sinners, broken, and desolated, like the people of Judah. We rely on your promise to restore us. Forgive us, O Lord, of this brokenness we call sin, the pain we call reality, and the self-destruction we call the happenings of life – which make us cry out! Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and deliver us from evil. For you are Lord and you alone do the work of redemption. In the name of the one and only God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lenten Devotional 06: Prostitutes Called, "Children of the Living God"

Monday, February 27, 2012

Scripture reading: Hosea 1:1-11

Don’t you just love it when God calls people whores? If you haven’t read the selected text, I bet you will now. Forget the marriage imagery (v. 2) there’s more to this story than prophets marrying prostitutes.

The Northern kingdom of Israel is about to fall (vv. 4-6). King Jeroboam II (meaning, “the people will contend”) has led the people of Israel to contend the Lordship of God. This is a violation of the Lord’s covenant with the people of God (Deut. 6:4-5). Hosea (meaning, “salvation”) is told to marry the prostitute Gomer (meaning, “complete”). Recap, we’ve got a king whose name has a meaning of contention, a prophet whose name means salvation, and a whore whose name means complete. What’s going on here?

What happens next is even better! Hosea and Gomer have kids: first, Jezreel (“God sows”); second, Lo-ruhamah (“no mercy”); third, Lo-ammi (“not my people”). The fate of these three carries a heavy message. The Israelites (under their king) have contended against YHWH. Blood will be shed, no mercy will be given, and the people have lost their God (vv.4-9). There are consequences to breaching a contract and breaking the law. Enter, the divine curveball, those heavy sentences are met with a promise – reconciliation.

YHWH makes it clear that the broken covenant should mean total and lasting destruction, but the fallen people will hear the words, “Children of the living God,” as they are reconciled with God and the people of Judah (vv. 10-11).

There is hope in this story. My friends, we are the prostitutes, we have contended against the Lord, we have shed the blood of the complete (I’m getting to the hope, I promise) as people we violate God’s covenant because it’s in our nature, but the nature of God is grace. Where our sin is great, where we invite no mercy, where God has a covenantal right to deny us, and all of this might be fair expectation – God keeps the covenant – and grace fulfills the expectations. This is the hope of the book of Hosea, this is the hope of Israel, and this is the hope of all God’s people.

Lord, God, as your grace is justice over condemnation, so may we show grace to the people who wrong us. May your scriptures teach us that retribution is not the final word and that you reconcile the fallen, the prostitutes, the idolaters, the sinners, the betrayers, the cheaters, the liars, and all humans through your grace. Lord, give us the courage, the wisdom, and the strength to give grace to all the people we harbor ill feelings for; just as you have given grace to them and to us. In the name of the Holy Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.    

Lenten Devotional 04: YHWH Alone

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-25

For the Yahwhist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, priestly writers and final redactors of the Primary History (Genesis-Kings) the text of Deuteronomy is the centerpiece. The core of the book of Deuteronomy is in these words, “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone” (6:4, NRSV).

Why does the passage revere YHWH as God alone? The Lord has rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and will fulfill the promise made to their ancestors; by bringing them into the land of promise. In the same way, Christ is God alone, having rescued all of humanity from the bondage of deception’s curse on our will, and has fulfilled the law. All are given the grace of God’s promise (by way of the cross, in the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) many will receive it, some will reject it, and the rest is a mystery of God.

“The LORD is our God, the Lord alone.” Only by the work of God, are the promises of God fulfilled.

In YHWH alone we receive the land of promise; one of milk and honey (vv.1-3).

YHWH alone, we love; by YHWH alone, we do all things (vv. 4-9).

YHWH alone, gave us everything, and YHWH alone we shall not forget (vv. 10-15).

The promise of YHWH alone, we shall remember, and not challenge (vv. 16-19).

The covenant of YHWH alone is, “our lasting good” – YHWH alone, we revere –

And, by YHWH alone we are justified (vv. 20-25).

Lord, you are God alone, “hallowed be your name;” for, you are the LORD alone. All thanks be to you for the promise you made and kept for the Israelites. All thanks be to you for the promise you made for us (through the cross event) that has been fulfilled in death and resurrection. We remain in the hope of Christ’s resurrection; for, resurrection is our promise, by the work of the LORD alone. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Gender of God: What if God is Female? (Part 3 of 4)

If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 of, “The Gender of God: What if God is Female?” 

What if God is female?

Honestly, who would have thought so much complexity could arise from referring to God as he? God transcends gender. There is a theological function and biblical context in the use of gendered language. The Godhead (Trinity) is the basis for reconstructed use of gendered language. Biblically, God is portrayed as Father and by the masculine pronouns. One might contest this hermeneutically (which was addressed earlier in this discussion). One may contend that masculine language for God emanates from a male-dominated biblical culture. Nevertheless, there is a redemptive hermeneutic (interpretation) in this biblical language and it should not be ignored.

In reality, God’s fatherly depiction (when understood properly) is meant to present an alternative image of what a father should be. It is not the distorted portrait of a father that has already been discussed. God the Father is loving, forgiving, just, redeeming, and gracious. God is the father to the fatherless (Ps. 68.1-10). God steps in as the surrogate father to the abused and abandoned. Redemption is the champion argument in favor of God as father. One is redeemed in Christ’s work of the cross (death and resurrection). This is the promise of God.

As the divine, God transcends gender, but it is evident that language is important. What if God is omnigender? What if God is female and male? The Godhead is three persons and one God. The Holy Spirit takes on two forms in biblical language, feminine (Hebrew) and neuter (Greek). But, linguistic gender (he, she, masculine, feminine, and gendered language) and physiological gender (whether one perceives God as a male or female being) are different matters. These distinct definitions have, unequally, influenced the interpretation of divine gender issues.  

The discussion continues, “The Gender of God: What if God is Female?”(Part 4 of 4).

The Bible Says, but What if Mine Doesn't?

Exegesis is not for the timid or the lazy. What do we do when our two major English formal translations (NASB and NRSV) have very different content? In Proverbs 11, there is a verse that could alter interpretation of the whole passage depending on which translation we use. Why were the versions different? In the passage at hand, the NRSV uses an ancient Syriac Greek manuscript. Conversely, The NASB, NIV, KJV, and other English translations rely only on the Hebrew Massoretic Text. However, this is not a case of majority rules.

Many of us have heard the phrase, “The Bible says,” but what if yours or mine doesn’t say something? In the case of Proverbs 11, v.16 has the ability to change how we read the rest of the chapter. Not to worry, there’s nothing wrong with the Massoretic Text (Hebrew). But, there’s nothing wrong with the Syriac Greek text either; in fact, it may predate the Hebrew in this case.  

Hebrew based translation: “A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches” (Proverbs 11:16, NASB). 

Greek based translation: “A gracious woman gets honor, but she who hates virtue is covered with shame. The timid become destitute, but the aggressive gain riches” (Proverbs 11:16, NRSV).

As you can see, these two versions of the same verse are a more than a little different.

           

Honestly, the main reason that the Greek manuscript could change the meaning of the chapter’s context is that the NRSV uses the word timid, which means hesitant and/or afraid; whereas, the word lazy might make more sense (as used in the Good News paraphrase). The flow of parallelism in Proverbs 11 and elsewhere is very important to its interpretation. English translations of Proverbs using the Massoretic or Greek text don’t tell us that one Bible is right and the other Bible is wrong. Instead, they tell us that we need to ask questions as we read the biblical text in any translation because there is always more to good exegesis than, “The Bible says….”