The Story #15: A Joseph Psalm October 9, 2009
Posted by joejames in Bible Study, Biblical Application, Biblical Interpretation, Discipleship.Tags: Israel, Liturgical Formation, Psalm 57, Psalms, The Story, Theology
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Steve Ewart, our Sunday AM Teacher for “The Story” has been leading us through some reflections on psalms each week. The Psalms are so appropriate because they provide the liturgical resources necessary to Israel for telling the Story of “God with His people”
The following is Psalm 57. It is considered a Joseph Psalm in the Great Tradition.
Psalm 57
New International Version
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam . When he had fled from Saul into the cave. [a]
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills {his purpose} for me.
3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness.
4 I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts— men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my feet— I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
The Story #13: Insignificant October 2, 2009
Posted by joejames in Bible Study, Biblical Application, Biblical Interpretation, Discipleship.Tags: Abraham, Christianity, God, Israel, Old Testament Theology, Power, Theology, Theology of the Cross
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Chris Harrell made a great point in his sermon last week. It took 20 years from the time God chose Abram to the time he had a son, Isaac. Then it took generations upon generations before Israel became a “people” group. Even when they grew in numbers and got some power, along would come a prophet that might say something like:
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
” ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes. [a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, O Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
So, just when the people of God got some fame, some power, some influence, some wealth…. some significance in the world, God would take Israel down a notch – sending them spiraling back to a small and insignificant people (sometimes called a remnant or a “stump”)
And this is how God chooses to work in the world. He saw it fit to set his redemption plan in motion (a plan to redeem all creation, no less!) through an old, barren couple, Abram and Sarai. Then he saw it fit to patiently extend that plan through a family or a small people group. Then he saw it fit that they remain weak, and small, powerless.
Why does God do this? Why does he desire his people to be seemingly insignificant in the world? So that the world will see these people and know the God they worship. He wants the people of the world to see Himself, the one true God, when they gaze upon his followers.
And this is the God we worship. The God of the cross. The God that triumphed over evil with suffering. The God that chose a towel to serve under, instead of power to rule over. The God that could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free. The God who has the power to coerce and rule in might. But instead he chooses to love his enemies even to death on a cross. And there, there on the cross, hung the God we worship. A seemingly insignificant man, from an insignificant lineage, of an insignificant people group, started with an insignificant family.
Now – shouldn’t we think twice as disciples of this God-man, Jesus, before we try to rule the world with power and might?
The Story #12: YHWH’s On the Move, So Leave Your Family… September 30, 2009
Posted by joejames in Allegience, Bible Study, Biblical Application, Biblical Interpretation, Church as People, Discipleship.Tags: Abraham, Faith, Genesis, Old Testament, Theology, YHWH
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What does a reader of scripture do with Genesis 12? You know… the part where YHWH calls Abraham to leave his family and go to the place God was preparing for Israel to grow as a set apart people. Troublesome situation don’t you think?
And this is the point. Allegiance. Do you get up and leave all you know, your family, your friends, your home, your land, your country, for YHWH?
And this YHWH whom the people of God follow is on the move. He is an alive and moving God. And he is also a gathering God. So as he lives and breathes and moves, he gathers a people for himself. So, naturally they live and breathe and move with him. And this takes… well, faith. Do we have faith to follow this God?
You never know where He may lead you.
The Story #10: In Poetic Praise To the God of the Flood September 25, 2009
Posted by joejames in Bible Study, Biblical Application, Biblical Interpretation, Discipleship, Prayer.Tags: Art, Genesis, Poetic Theology, Poetry, Psalm 104, Psalms, The Flood, Theology
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“The Story” is a 9 month series at the Southwest Church in Jonesboro, AR. We are reading the bible through, from beginning to end, as a church family. My series “The Story” here on this blog is nothing more than my wonderings and wanderings about that journey. Hope you will join the conversation
Psalm 104 seems strange to us on the surface. Praising God because of the Flood? Yet, He is worthy of our praise. And the Jews found deep expression through the artistic form of praise called “Psalm”. More than that, they found that praising every attribute of God is central to telling the whole story of God. It is no surprise, then, that they found artistic beauty in the naming the God of the Flood. The question becomes for us, “Can we learn and train ourselves in the language of the Psalms? Can we find expression to praise him when we may even doubt His goodness? Can we join voices with the saints from early Jewish community, to lift up the God who saw it fit to destroy a hurting and violent world, and begin again?” Let’s begin with Psalm 104:
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers, [a]
flames of fire his servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys. [b]
19 The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 These all look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works-
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD. [c]
Story #8: One More Reflection on Creation September 25, 2009
Posted by joejames in Bible Study, Biblical Application, Biblical Interpretation.Tags: Creation, Discipleship, Frederick Aquino, Genesis, Gnosticism, Participating in Creation, Spirituality, Theology
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“The Story” is a 9 month series at the Southwest Church in Jonesboro, AR. We are reading the bible through, from beginning to end, as a church family. My series “The Story” here on this blog is nothing more than my wonderings and wanderings about that journey. Hope you will join the conversation
Frederick Aquino (boy, is that a theologians name or what) is a theologian and Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Abilene Christian University. I was recently listening to a lecture he gave in 2007 called “Seeing Christ in Creation”.
Aquino began by talking about gnosticism. What a term. Something we really no little about. It’s like the Dead Sea Scrolls… we simply do not know much about them. But one strand of thought stands out pretty clearly to us in gnostic belief. Namely that “matter” is inherently evil. Gnostics believe that the world, the earth, the “creation”, and especially the body or “flesh” is inherently evil. This is clear in their assertions that the goal of Spirituality is to detach ourselves from what is “real” or tangible and just be “spiritual”. But such a disembodied spirituality is false. Jesus was real, and not inherently evil. The world is real, and not inherently evil.
This strange belief allowed gnostics to understand that God did not create the cosmos, because tangible “creation” was bad – and, they supposed, that God wouldn’t create something that is innately bad.
And I wonder, do we share this gnostic sentiment today? Do we think that all things tangible are bad? Do we dichotomize flesh and spirit, church and world, creation and heaven, as if they are so radically separated? They are not. In the creation narrative one thing is clear. God, out of his infinite love, created. And he chooses to participate in the goodness of such creation. Do we choose to participate with God the creator in such a tangible creation? Or do we suppose what he has created is somehow bad?
Easter & Lenten Thoughts February 20, 2009
Posted by joejames in Discipleship, Ethics, Freedom.Tags: Easter, Lent, Lived Theology, Resurrection, Theology
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Growing up in the Stone-Campbell heritage, I have missed much of what other Christ-followers have experienced during this Lenten season each year. Because of that, I am sad to confess, I haven’t reflected deeply on the meaning of Easter, until last year.
But since then, I have become convinced that this is the liturgical and sacramental season that the world cannot afford for us to miss. (In my own estimation, this is much more important than Christmas – especially since Christmas has been so effectively co-opted by the empire’s corporation).
I plan on posting several thoughts beyond what I’ll share today on the significance of this event, but these are my initial reflections.
(1) Easter is about more than death and resurrection. Easter is about slavery and freedom. Some “theologians” like to make everything in the gospels about death and resurrection. For example – some teach that the Sermon on the Mount is meant to convict one of one’s own sinfulness. Therefore, Jesus lived the Sermon faithfully for us, and died in our place for failure to live up to that high-calling, atoning for our sins.
But this is not permissible, and such theologies must be confronted. Jesus came to set free his people, the lost sheep of Israel. It is my understanding that Jesus was the highest ethicist, and an incredible social diagnostician. In other words, as Creator of humanity, world, and society, he perfectly understands what has held us (his people) captive and what has enslaved us. More than that, he understands how to be the people, polis, community, world, etc. that he has created us to be. Such understanding should inform, not just our reading of the Sermon on the Mount, but ground our theology of death, burial and resurrection.
The Passion of Jesus, is more than atonement for sin, deeper than salvation from judgment, beyond here-after hope. It’s meaning and implications extend into our own context and offer deliverance today, in time and history, in the flesh, here and now!
How? Our gentle King unmasked the empire, all empires (Luke 4:5-7), and showed them for who they are – false story tellers, anxiously searching for power, money, and control; demanding our allegiance and cleverly seeking God’s approval for their violent border expansion and defense. But Jesus showed that powerlessness, weakness, gentleness, love, and silent obedience disarms and redeems the slave and slave-owner, the captive and the captor.
And we are called to join up with this way, this peculiar community, to practice our faith in this “Way” – this journey to the cross and exercise in trust that the Father will vindicate. Atonement is important, and even central. But atonement is meaningless without the freedom from slavery it makes available.
(2) Easter is about a King and Kingdom, not about how resurrection fits into our systematic theology. Another way of saying it is, Easter is about a peculiar kind of Politics embodied and envisioned by a peculiar kind of King, rather than a system of belief about biblical and historical events.
Even more particularly, Easter is a story of the Father’s vindication of this peculiar King and his peculiar politics. And we are now (through participation in the Lenten season with it’s “acts of righteousness”, sacraments, and practices) part of that story – citizens of that peculiar society with it’s counter-cultural ethic and politics.
What does this mean to me? It means, for me, that the Father has underwritten what the Son has done. He has signed-off on the Son’s obedience to faithfulness and vindicated Him – exalting him to the right hand of God, making the kingdoms of the world his foot-stool. He has seen the kings of earth and their kingdoms – he has seen how the kings rule with an iron fist, using fear, violence, lust, anger, and greed as weapons to control their citizens. He has seen the Son rule gently and non-violently, and make himself the servant of all his own citizens, setting them free to be what God created them to be. He has seen all this, and has vindicated the Son - underwritten His Way!
And this restores our faith and trust, giving us the meta-narrative, the story of all stories, to shape our way forward. And forward we must go, being salt and light – showing the world the peculiar Way.
A system of belief, or mental ascent to historical circumstances could never be for us what this Easter season is.
(3) Easter is a journey with Christ to the cross, and then to share in his vindication. Easter is not a season of perpetual re-enactment of what once took place, rather it is a time of much needed story telling, inviting and re-inviting us to share in this story of death and resurrection.
A servant is not above his master. If I suffer, so shall you.
Take up your cross and follow me.
These are calls to join up with exactly what Jesus is doing. Calls to participation in peculiar kingdom activities.
This may seem subtle, but upon greater reflection it is of great significance. For if the disciple merely reflects upon Easter as an historical event, and views year after year the re-enactment of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection from afar, then she has missed yet again an opportunity to be grafted into God’s story, into Israel’s story and participate in the death and vindication of the Son.
I struggle internally with who suffers the most, when we fail to join that story each Easter Season. On one hand, my journey has lacked the companionship of this Easter Story, and I know from experience the disciple suffers from failing to join up with Jesus’ journey to death and resurrection. But the watching world, I think, suffers more. The kingdoms of the world so desperately need us, the possessors of the true narrative, to show them how to be the world it was created to be. To show them how to lay down their lives. To show them that poverty is riches. To show them that love triumphs over evil. To show them that to die is gain, and to live is Christ. To show them that suffering is sharing in Christ. To show them that violence is not the way. To show them that fear of death is the empire’s only weapon. To show them the way.
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I am sure I will have much more to say over the coming weeks about Easter, but I write today to encourage your own and my own participation in this Lenten season.
“Follow me.”
– Jesus
