The One Year Bible: The Greatest Gift and The Last Enemy

 I was never a big fan of Paul.

I found him cranky and his opining on some topics, like marriage for example, always made me cringe. But I think I'm coming around.  I've really enjoyed his first letter to the church at Corinth.  The passages from Ch 12-15 are especially rich and I want to reflect on some the highlights.

Love > Gifts

The gentleman on the right, my father-in-law, Bill Leen was 1 Corinthians 13 personified. He was a quiet man, one who may not have ever done a miracle or preached a sermon but who had what mattered most: Love

1 Corinthians 12 and 14 provide crucial context for the famous "love" chapter 13.  In chapter 12, Paul discusses the value of the different spiritual gifts--prophecy, teaching, healing and miracles, speaking and interpreting in unknown languages and so on.  He notes that not everyone has the same gifts and each should be valued as an important contribution to the life of the community of faith.  But Paul concludes that there's something even more important than all the religious talents.  This sets up Chapter 13.  Love is not a spiritual prize that some lucky Christians are endowed with.  Love is the highest goal that every believer should strive for, and it is one of the few aspects of mortal life that will carry on through eternity.   Furthermore a lack of love invalidates all other spiritual gifts--something we Christians seem prone to forget.  Prophecy, faith, miracles, tongues--all of it is of no value if we are not patient, kind, humble, polite, easy-going, hopeful, lovers of truth and justice.  Paul clarifies what Jesus meant when he said many will come to him at the last day, crying "Lord, Lord, didn't we do all these great things in your name" and the response will be a shocking "And you are?"  Christian activity is good so far it goes--but it is no substitute for love.

Tongue Tied

Once Paul has established love as foundational to Christian faith, he returns to the topic of spiritual gifts within the church. Chapter 14 focuses primarily on weighing the gifts of tongues vs prophecy. It's a fascinating chapter, particularly for one coming from a faith tradition that doesn't give much consideration to the gift of tongues and views the Spirit of Prophecy as shorthand for one specific White lady.  I was always taught the tongues referred to in the New Testament simply meant the early believers were able to speak in foreign languages without having to learn them.  Its not uncommon for Adventist missionaries to ask for prayer that they might be given the "gift of tongues" so that they can quickly learn the language of their target people group. 

But there's very little in the New Testament seems to support the Adventist interpretation of tongues.  The closest we get is the statement in the second chapter of Acts that everyone in the diverse crowd heard the disciples speaking in their own language. But the way Paul describes the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14, it doesn't sound like he's referring to being blessed with multilingual talent. On the other hand, I don't get the feeling that the practice of speaking in tongues in charismatic faith traditions really follows Paul's guidance either. I can't speak with authority here since I'm only somewhat familiar with charismatic Christianity.  But if speaking in tongues becomes a test of whether one has "received the Holy Spirit" or not, if it becomes primarily an emotional expression of ecstatic spirituality with little concern given to making sure that the expression is not disruptive and can be translated, than our Pentecostal siblings are no closer to what Paul is calling for than the emotion-averse Adventists are. 

 Paul is seeking order, not chaos.  Even the seemingly patriarchal instruction that "women should not speak" in church is very clearly in reference to a specific time, place, and culture not a timeless principle.  Paul sums it up in vs. 40 : "So my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy and don't forbid speaking in tongues."  I've never been to a congregation like that, but at least vs. 40 is easy enough: "But be sure that everything is done properly and in order."

The Last Enemy

It's funny that when you Google this quote, it is often attributed to J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter novels, because it is featured in the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  But Rowling lifted that powerful promise from a much older Book!

Paul's strong defense of the resurrection is so beautiful to me and fills me with so much hope.  The resurrection is the foundation of our faith.  Without it, Paul points out, our faith is essentially useless. "If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to pitied than anyone in the world."  Like many, if not most religions, Christianity is primarily concerned with cheating death--or more definitively, defeating death.  "The last enemy to be destroyed is death," he says in vs. 26. Paul presents Christian belief as rooted in the resurrection. Not in "hell avoidance", not in "here's a motivation to be a good person"--those themes don't appear in Paul's reflection on the hope of eternal life. Instead, Paul declares that just as one man, Adam, ushered in death for all of humanity, one Man, Jesus, has made resurrection available to all.

The verses that really struck me in a way I'd never noticed before are found in 1 Corinthians 15:42-43. These verses speak hope for the little sister who only had two brief weeks of life on this earth, hope for the husband who was brought down by cancer in the prime of his life leaving behind a grieving wife and two young sons, hope for the son killed in a tragic car accident, hope for the father and grandfather who at 91 had not lived long enough for the loved ones he left behind 8 years ago today, hope for the best friend, who died without warning, to keep her promise to be "friends forever".

"It's the same way with the resurrection of the dead.  Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength."

The One Year Bible: Snippets from The Greatest Story Ever Told

 The world could not contain all the posts I could write about Jesus.  So for this entry I've selected four snippets--four observations or reflections, from the old, old story.  We've also got snippets from three songs--a CCM favorite from the 80s, a rock n' roll reflection, and old hymn that celebrates the greatest story ever told.

Secret Ambition

"Some say, "Death to the radical
He's way out of line."
Some say, "Praise be the miracle
God sends a blessed sign.
A blessed sign for troubled times."

Nobody knew His secret ambition
Nobody knew His claim to fame
He broke the old rules steeped in tradition
He tore the holy veil away
Questioning those in powerful position
Running to those who called His name

But nobody knew His secret ambition
Was to give His life away"

                                   --Michael W. Smith "Secret Ambition"

Back in the 80's this was the song--with it's dramatic drumbeat intro and urgent lyrics, Smitty was in fine form. When he belts out that "No!" near the end like a Christian Kenny Loggins, you couldn't help but be compelled. But even though it sounds dated now, there are still few songs out there that capture the challenging figure that Christ was--and is. Far from an easy, palatable Savior, this song portrays Jesus as the conundrum He was to the people of His day--a man on a secret mission that no one else could possibly know or understand.

I find it interesting that early in his ministry Jesus was keen to keep his miracles and his mission secret.  He wasn't a great evangelist. He told people to be quiet, and tell no one what he'd done. Those who figured out who He was were ordered to keep it under wraps. I began to wonder if his reticence was supposed to be a model for us to follow. Is our whole Christian obsession with evangelism wrong-headed?  But later on, Jesus became much more open about who He was and what He had come to do.  Near the end of the ministry, He was quite bold about stating who He was.  When on trial for His life, it was the one question Jesus would answer-to assert His true identity.  He opened up about His once secret ambition--to give His life away.  But even then--this counterintuitive plan of redemption was so incomprehensible that nobody knew his ambition even when He told them plainly. It wouldn't be until after His death and resurrection that the penny finally dropped for His disciples and they realized this had been the plan all along.

I eventually realized that for Jesus it was all about timing--His Father's timing.  Early in His ministry, His "time had not yet come" as Jesus explained to His mother.  But that reticence was only for a season--when the time was right, Jesus declared Himself boldly and without apologies.  We, His followers would probably do well to seek that same Spirit-led flexibility.  We need to recognize that one plan may be what's called for at a particular time, but that plan needs to be given up as the times and circumstances change.

For me Jonathan Roumie's portrayal of Jesus in The Chosen is now the gold standard for the most impossible of roles. But years before the multi-episode series was a twinkle in Dallas Jenkin's eye, this guy, Bruce Marchiano, was my go-to for imagining Jesus. He appeared in the 1993 Visual Bible film Matthew and I found his performance compelling. Matthew  is a word-for-word telling of the Gospel of Matthew and Marchiano's take on Matthew 23 is riveting.  He captures the love and anger Jesus feels so well.

Jesus on the Attack

In Matthew 23, Jesus absolutely lays into the religious leadership. It is one of the most vigorous tongue-lashings found this side of the Old Testament.  But the theme same is the same--God's deep disgust with religious playacting that poorly masks a corrupt heart.  It's sobering to consider how much of what Jesus excoriates in the "teachers and preachers" of His day still rings sadly familiar in their modern day counterparts. A couple of key rebukes:

• Spiritual showmanship: God is extremely turned off by displays of religiosity.  Whether it's flashy displays of religious symbols, or basking in titles, honorifics, and public acclaim, Jesus condemned the public honor and respect that many of our religious leaders still see as their due today.

• Presenting a twisted picture of God:  One of the worst things a Christian can do is misrepresent the nature of God's character.  It is perhaps the single most damaging thing one can do to another person's spiritual experience.  And yet this grievous sin is far more common that we'd like to admit.  From the spiritual havoc wreaked by religious leaders who abuse their followers--especially as children, to whole cultures of Christians for whom zealous missionaries have traveled over land and sea to convert only to turn their converts into twice the sons of hell they are.  I can think of one place in particular with a strong Adventist presence that has been spiritually devastated by a strong legalistic culture that was engrained in the people by the original missionaries to that place.  Jesus stern warning in Matthew 23:13-15 should give all of us eager to baptize some humble pause.

• Majoring in Minors: God is appalled by an emphasis on minor details of "proper religious conduct" while the major issues are neglected.  The sins of pride, cruelty, hunger for power and control, and selfishness run rampant in the church while we wring our hands over jewelry, the role of women, "dress reform", and yes even tithing.  It's sad when some of our leading churches are known more for the internal power struggles and church politics than for the things of eternal consequence.

• Virtue Signaling: Jesus uses the image of tombstones--clean and beautiful on the outside, harboring decay and decomposition inside to lambast those who know the right religious turn of phrase, the correct spiritual display, and proper Christian comportment but whose hearts are corrupted.

It's not surprising that Matthew 23 doesn't get preached very often. It strikes too close to home.  It's far easier to dig up a handful of verses from other parts of the Bible to condemn the "sinners" outside the fold than to consider the much darker dangers from within.

But something tells me there's probably no part of the Bible more relevant to modern Christianity than this chapter.

The Mystery of Judas

"I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world'

                                            --U2 "Until the End of the World"

Bono has said that this track from U2's seminal album Achtung Baby! is an imagined conversation between Jesus and Judas over Judas's decision to betray Jesus. For millennia everyone from theologians to rock stars have wrestled with the mystery of Judas.

It's easy to criticize Judas.  Talk about an obvious villain, right?  But when you read the gospels, that villainy isn't so obvious.  In fact we don't really know that much about Judas at all.  John tells us that Judas used to steal from the disciple's treasury--but he also tells us that Judas was in charge of the disciples finances--the CFO of the group, if you will.  It seems reasonable that the disciples must have considered him trustworthy, smart, and capable.  And even though Jesus must have known what Judas was up to, He made no move to stop him. 

We don't know why Judas decided to betray Jesus either.  We are told "Satan entered into him" but we don't know what might have precipitated this.  We also don't know why he had a sudden attack of conscience once he realized Jesus was going to be executed.  "I have betrayed an innocent man" he declares. But didn't he know that Jesus was innocent the whole time?  And what did he think was going to happen after he turned Jesus into the authorities?  We can't even be sure of the exact nature of Judas ignoble end. Only one gospel, Matthew, describes what happens with Judas after his betrayal and the account in the book of Acts is quite different from what Matthew describes.

Eyewitness Accounts

It's quite remarkable how comfortable we've become with the competing narratives of the four gospels (though I sometimes wonder how many Christians are even aware of the contradictory eyewitness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I'm guessing many assume that they surely must harmonize).  I don't mean that as a criticism.  I've always felt--as counterintuitive as it may sound--that the different accounts strengthen my faith in the truth of the gospels. The "disagreements" (one demoniac healed, or two? for example, or even the end of Judas's life.  The accounts in Matthew and Acts are so different. ) have the ring of authenticity.  You would expect four witnesses to the same incident to recall the details differently.  Whereas a carefully devised fiction would take care to make sure all the details lined up perfectly.  

Recognizing these inconsistencies is perhaps the strongest argument against being overly rigid in our understanding of "Bible truth."  If four accounts of the same story can differ on key details--details where they can't all be true, shouldn't that cause us to be a little less insistent about sticking to a single interpretation of a passage where there is only one account?

I loved reading the stories of Jesus.  They are unquestionably my favorite part of the Bible.  There's so much to explore and unpack in them.  I wish I'd blogged more of this section of my reading in the Bible. Perhaps I'll have to do a revisit after this year long journey through the Bible comes to an end. One things for sure, I love to read--and tell--the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

"I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and his glory,
Of Jesus and his love.

I love to tell the story,
Because I know 'tis true;
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story,
'twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love.

I love to tell the story,
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest.

And when, in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song,
'twill be the old, old story
That I have loved so long.

I love to tell the story,
'twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love."

                          -- A. Katherine Hankey, "I Love To Tell The Story"