Category: Bible

It’s All About the Context

Published by mhelbert on April 6, 2020

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know that I am absolutely passionate about the Bible.
I love reading it and studying it.
Mostly because of the huge impact that this little collection of myths and stories has had on the history of the world. I think that it is quite safe to say that no other single source has driven so much of our culture and art, as well as our treatment of one another and the world itself, as the Christian scriptures.

So, what animates my desire is to look with open eyes and listen with an open heart to find out what these ancient texts may really say to us in the 21st century. How may they inform our own lives and culture? And, perhaps more importantly, how can we faithfully critique the beliefs and understandings of those who have engaged them in the past?

As I look around at the way that religion in general and the Christian view in particular, I see a lot of chaos. There is a tectonic fault that has appeared over the centuries that threatens to send a temblor of unprecedented magnitude through the culture.
The source for this threat, I believe, is in how we seem to accept former understandings and interpretations today as if they were, in fact, gospel truth.
Spoiler alert:
They’re not.

While I could go back to the 2nd and third centuries to show how things began to come off of the rails, today I just want to focus on a slice of history.
About 500 years ago there was another tectonic shift in theological understanding. Although the shift began in the 15th century, it came to fruition in the Reformation of the 16th. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and a bit later Thomas Cranmer, revolted against the abuses of the Medieval Roman Church. And, rightly so. Change was desperately needed.
These people rethought what it meant to follow Jesus more authentically than what the Church of Rome allowed.
As far as I’m concerned, the Reformation was a good thing.

FOR THAT TIME!!!

However, what was good in 1520 is not necessarily good in 2020.

That brings me back to where I started today.
So much of the Church, especially the Protestant variety, still holds to the ideas and reflections of those 500 year old white guys. And, they do so uncritically.
I think that is a really, really bad thing to do.
I just need to look around at all of the abuses, terror, and genocide that has been inflicted on people in the name of this Old Time Religion to know that it is indeed flawed.

One of my professors in seminary mentioned that she thought that, perhaps, we were ripe for a new Reformation.

I agree. With my whole heart, I AGREE!

We have more information and scholarship available to us than those old reformers had.
We can now put Jesus and Paul and Peter and the rest into a context that must inform the way that we view the ancient texts that they, and many, many others, were responsible for creating.
Earlier theologians, like those mentioned above, but also going back through Aquinas and Augustine and others, did not have the resources that we do today. They wrestled with the texts in a context where Neo-Platonism and the philosophy of Aristotle were used to try and make sense of a Bible that was created by people who lived and breathed a completely different worldview.
It was a lot like how we say that they were comparing apples to grapefruit. Not gonna be a good fit no matter how you slice it.

Today’s scholarship has begun to ask better questions of the texts. And, subsequently, has been able to offer better interpretations to us.

As I lead Bible studies, I always try to hammer home the idea that Context is Everything.
Scholars over that last few decades have been able to provide this context for us.
The information available enables us, that’s you and me, to view the words of of the Bible with a more critical eye. We can better understand who wrote the texts. To whom were they written. Why did the writer record these specific words to these particular readers?
This IS Context!
This IS what we need to get a better grasp on what these stories and letters and poems and myths might give us something that is useful for us.
Now.
In this Place.
In our Culture.

What I am finding out is that the Church is, indeed, in need of Reformation.
The Church needs to step up and do the same hard work that those earlier reformers did.
We must reflect theologically on these Ancient Texts so that they can be, as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.”
If the Word of God is, in fact, living, then we must seek to revive it in our day.

Or else, it will atrophy and die.

And, that death will take us down a road that I don’t think we want to.
Especially, since many churches in our culture are already showing us where that road leads.

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Passionate About the Scriptures

Published by mhelbert on January 13, 2020

I think that I wrote somewhere that I am really passionate about the Biblical text. Studying them rates as one of my all time favorite things to do. Part of why I find these ancient texts fascinating is the significance, for good or ill, that they have had on the cultures of the world. These words are not confined to one specific group of people or particular region. Unlike, say, the Hindu Vedas or Upanishads which are located pretty specifically in South Asia, the Christian Bible has influenced virtually every culture and people group on the planet.
That reason, alone, is enough to cause one to want to know more about it
Who wrote these texts?
To whom were they written?
When were the composed? Compiled? Redacted?
What’s so important about the words in these 66 books, poems, laws, narratives, stories, and myths?

Sadly, these questions, and the subsequent answers, are lost on a vast number of people who say that they reverence these texts. They truly seem to not know the questions to ask. Or, perhaps more concerning, they don’t want to hear the answers.
It’s far easier to let someone else do the hard work. They can then try to follow the path of those others and pretend that they are engaging The Word.
But, that’s a topic for another post.

The reason I’m writing this today is because of the study I had to prepare on this past week’s lections for the Baptism of Jesus.
We looked at Matthew’s take on Jesus trip to see his cousin, John, at the Jordan river. Jesus went there so that John could baptize him.
The story’s pretty straight forward.
John tells the people around him about the person who is coming after him who will baptize with fire. The Coming One is greater than John. In fact John said that he was not worthy to even untie the shoe of the Coming One.

Enter Jesus: stage left.

The two men talked a bit. Jesus indicated that he was there to be baptized.
John, who apparently recognized Jesus as the Coming One, balked at Jesus’ request
He told Jesus, “Whoa! No, no, no! I’m the one who should be baptized by You!”

Well, Jesus prevailed upon John so that John dunked Jesus in the Living Waters of the Jordan.
When John brought Jesus up from the water, the story says that the Heavens opened and the Spirit descended in the form of a dove and lighted on Jesus. A voice from heaven said, “Behold, this is my Son, the Beloved in whom I am well pleased.”

Now, at first blush this looks like a pretty simple story.
Right?

I’m not going to go into any detail here.
You really don’t want me to turn my inner geek loose on you.
It could get real ugly.
Or, at least pretty boring.

What I do want to point out here is that when we start to ask questions about this story, the answers aren’t quite so simple.

Here’s an example:
Why did Jesus need to be baptized by John?
Hmmm….
Did Jesus need to be cleansed from sin?
Most orthodox folks would freak out about even considering that!

As I studied this one question I found no less than 16 different possible answers.
All of them viable. All of them considered by skilled and knowledgeable scholars.
Yet, the answers were all over the place.

If one simple text, straight forward, no big issues with languages or other issues can elicit such wide variations in interpretations, how can we think that any of the other texts can be reduced to simple talking points?

The correct answer for those keeping score is,
They can’t.

That’s why it’s so important to dig and ask and dig some more.

These sacred texts have been used and abused for millennia because people refuse to ask the hard questions. Or, worse, they refuse to listen to all of the possible answers before resorting to actions that, unfortunately, have done much more harm than good in many places.

The other part of why I’m so passionate about the Scriptures is to find the treasures that are life affirming and graciously full of God’s Love that are there for the diligent to find. I hope to show myself diligent in this labor of love that I’ve undertaken.

I hope that I haven’t bored you too much.

But, hey, I’m not really sorry.

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Advent: Second Sunday

Published by mhelbert on December 6, 2019

This Sunday is the Second in Advent.
Last week I shared a bit about this season here.

In that post I explained that the term Advent comes from that Latin, Adventus, which means “arrival” or “coming.”

And, that’s exactly what we celebrate at this time of year. It is a season of preparation, waiting, and anticipation for the “arrival” of the Messiah.

But, the Advent of Jesus 2,000 years ago isn’t the only way that the Church has understood this season.

The word Adventus is the Latin translation of a Greek word used in the New Testament.
That word in Parousia.
Parousia is translated in English using a few different terms.
It is sometimes translated “Presence.”
The Apostle Paul wrote about the times when he was “Present” with the Church at Corinth.
So, it was not necessarily a religious word. It was a term that common, everyday folks would use and understand.

Another way to translate Parousia is, as mentioned above, the word “Arrival.”
Again, it can be used to talk about someone’s “arrival” at a destination.
Common word for common folks.

This time of year, though, provides us with the opportunity to understand the idea of “arrival” a little differently.

The Apostle James wrote, “

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. (Jas. 5:7-8).

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s Parousia…
Because the Lord’s Parousia is near…”

The Apostle was writing about the expected return of Jesus.
According to the writer of the book of Acts, Jesus was taken up into the clouds at His ascension.
In the same way, Jesus would return, (Acts 1:11).

Jesus will return, the New Testament writers agree.
When?
No one knows except the Father who is in Heaven.

But, we wait…

expectantly…

patiently…

and prepare…

for the Parousia of Jesus.

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A Head Really Does Need A Body

Published by mhelbert on November 3, 2019

Those of you who have visited here regularly, or who know me otherwise, know that I have a really passion for the Christian scriptures.
Maybe, not for reasons that some may think.
It’s not because the Scriptures themselves tell me to love them and meditate on them day and night.
It’s certainly not because I think that all of the answers to life’s questions can be found in them. (Spoiler alert: They can’t.

It’s because they hold so much stuff in them!
And, it’s fun to search them and mine for nuggets that I can take and put in my pocket.

Like today in our Bible study at St. Barnabas.
One of the lections for today was from the book of Daniel. It was from one of the visions recorded that Daniel experienced.
There were beasts and talking horns and a great throne with a white haired Guy sitting on it. There were flaming wheels and a molten river flowing from it.
There were at least a bazillion angelic attendants around the throne.
It was all quite a scene. Something from the mind of Spielberg, maybe.
We discussed how the genre of this passage is something called Apocalypse. It was a genre used to help people who were oppressed or otherwise persecuted get a glimpse behind the curtain in order to see that God was still with them and working on their behalf. It had nothing to do with actual beasts or kingdoms or some kind of obscure prophecy that simple minds like Hal Lindsey and John Hagee could come along and exploit for their own profit.
And, it was great fun to discuss this with folks.

One of my favorite things about reading the Scriptures, though, is when the writers agree with me.
Yep! That’s pretty cool.
Today I learned that the apostle Paul agrees with me on some things.
In fact, I think that if Paul was alive today, we would agree on a lot.
After all, he was a pretty smart guy.

In today’s New Testament lection, we read from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.
He wrote about inheritances and calling and riches in glory. Good stuff!
But, what struck me was the last part of today’s passage.

Paul wrote about Jesus,

“And He put all things in subjection under His feet,
And gave Him as Head over all things to the Church,
Which is His body, the fullness of Him
Who fills all in all.”

If you read that carefully, you’ll notice that Paul seems to imply that the Church, or the Body, is somehow the fullness of Christ.
Christ appears to need the Church in order to be complete.

Now, I know that there are folks who are gonna stop and say,
“Whoa! Christ IS complete in Himself! He is Deity in human form.
He has NO NEED for anything else to complete him!”

Ok. I can get behind that.

But, what then is Paul talking about?

I’m glad that you asked that question. Because it gets right to the point where Paul agrees with me.
A Head with no body is, in fact, incomplete. A head can be a cool thing. But, actions like walking and touching and eating and such are pretty difficult without legs and hands and a stomach.
Let me paraphrase what one person said,
Christ’s love for the Church is so great that He can’t envision Himself as being complete without it somehow connected to Him, even as His own body.

We are needed and necessary to the plan of God’s redemption of the Cosmos. As I wrote before, we are co-workers with God as God establishes God’s reign on the Earth and in the Cosmos. We are not passive observers, fully fledged fellow laborers with Christ in the Garden of Christ’s redemption.

So, cudos to Paul for getting this right!
I always knew that he had it in him!

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Spirit is Spirit

Published by mhelbert on July 9, 2019

Listening to the news and current events can be disheartening.

Conflict rages all around the globe.

Corporations fight other corporations and governments in order to guarantee themselves a bigger slice of the economic pie.

Religious groups wage holy war against other religions and even factions within their own religious communities.

Conservatives and liberals line up in battle lines much like our ancestors did. Firing rounds indiscriminately hoping to hit someone on the opposite side.

It’s an understatement to say that we, as fellow inhabitants on this planet, have become polarized.

What is even more disheartening for me is the way in which those of us who chose to follow Christ are divided.

We kick and claw at one another.

“No, you’re wrong!” says one faction.

“How can you say that? The Bible is clear that YOU are in error!” screams another.

“I belong to Apollos!”

“I follow Paul!”

“No, you’re both wrong! Peter has the true way!”

It seems that this thing called the Church is not only vulnerable to all of the forces of human nature, it is also quite fragile.

It breaks and fractures easily.

The broken pieces crash to the floor and scatter every which way.

It’s almost impossible to not become discouraged and lose hope.

So, I did the only thing that I could think of in order to wrap my head around these things.

I prayed.

I asked God to put those of us who follow Christ in the shadow of God’s wings. Not to protect us. But, to empower us.

For what?

I’m glad you asked!

To empower us to be the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation that the Scriptures claim that we should be. To be harbingers of the Reign of God in this world. Here. Now. Just as Jesus of Nazareth was 2 millennia ago.

Not, however, as so many people who lay claim to christianity do.

Recently, I’ve been studying Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia. In it, Paul had some interesting things to say about the state of affairs in that church. After Paul and his friends had established the young community and moved on to other places, it appears that some other folks came in to stir things up a bit. These others were, according to the text, teachers of the Jewish Law who also followed the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. They claimed that in order to be Real True Christians, the people in Galatia had to conform to Jewish rules that set them apart from other people. These so called works of the Law were male circumcision, dietary restrictions, and observation of the Sabbath and other Jewish Holy days.

The Galatians were confused. But, they listened to their elder brothers in Christ and began to embrace these requirements.

When Paul got wind of what was happening he just about burst a blood vessel. He wrote a rather pointed letter in which he called these later teachers, “Accursed!”

No, he wasn’t happy at all.

He then spent the rest of the letter explaining what the problem with these practices were and why they were so dangerous.

The underlying point to all that he wrote was, “What makes you think that what was started in the Spirit could possibly be completed in the flesh?”

To clarify, Paul’s usage of the term “flesh” in this entire letter refers to conforming to the Jewish rules of purity that those other teachers had insisted be followed.

And, to be equally clear, one of the most egregious results of following those rules is that they erect barriers that separate people from one another. And, in Paul’s argument, they can also separate people from God.

Ok, so what does any of this Paul stuff have to do with why I feel disheartened and in need of God’s empowering?

Because, many in today’s church follow the example of those Jewish teachers way back when. They say that they follow God and God’s Spirit. But, in reality they lay obstacles in the path of people who need God in their lives.

“You can’t follow God if you’re gay!”

“If you don’t stand for the national anthem, you can’t possibly be Christian!”

“Abortionist! Murderer! Not Christian!”

I could go on and on with the works of law that many people require of any Real True Christian.

That’s not what I see Paul saying to the people who were trying there best to follow the Way of Christ.

“What was begun in the Spirit must be completed in the Spirit.”

While that seems a simple statement, it requires the empowerment I wrote about earlier.

It requires people who take the idea of Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation seriously enough to realize that the rules and laws that so many people try to enforce simply have no place in the Kingdom of God.

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A Living, Vibrant World

Published by mhelbert on July 3, 2019

In May my parish Priest asked if I’d be willing to lead an adult Bible study. He had led one in the weeks before Lent. Some people seemed to enjoy that and asked if it could be revived. So, he came to me. (Scary, I know!)

I agreed to take on the project. Not so much as a ‘leader’ or ‘teacher.’ But, rather as a facilitator. I would be someone who could add context and color to the study. There was no way that I would presume to tell people what the ‘Bible says,’ or ‘this is what God said.’ That’s not study. That’s at best preaching. And, at worst, bullshit.

Anyway, as I prepared myself for this role, I spent a lot of time quietly in God’s presence. That’s a good place to be, by the way. I was considering where this study would take those of us who joined together for it.

And, I was not disappointed. God did reveal a snippet of Grace that illuminated a path that could be traveled.

For years, (and years), I had been told by those who supposed that they knew what they were talking about, that there were “nuggets” of truth hidden in the pages of Scripture. We needed to dig deeply into the text in order to find and unearth these precious bits of God’s will for our lives. It was hard work being a miner. And, the payoff, while precious, was always just a ‘nugget.’

But, in the quietness of God’s presence I saw something different.

Far from being a dark, dirty mine from which we needed to crawl into in order to find a bit of blessing, I saw the Scripture as a vast, living, and vibrant world. It was a world where the sun shone brightly on fields of ripe grain. There were trees laden with fruit just waiting to be picked and eaten. Birds were flying in the sky. There were mountains and oceans. It was a world where we could pick the grain for food, or distill it for our happiness and enjoyment.

This IS the world of Scripture. This IS where the Spirit of God dwells. This is the world that I wanted to open to those who came to listen.

So far, the study has gone well. I think. At least the same people keep coming back every week. ;o)

I hope that together we can develop a passion to wander in this Living World of the Bible. A passion that will make us better readers of it, for sure. But, also will allow us to pick some fruit and sit under a tree in God’s World.

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Innit Cool?

Published by mhelbert on June 27, 2019

Since June 2 I’ve had the opportunity to lead an adult Bible study at the church I currently attend. The priest here had started a similar study in the weeks before Lent. It was set aside as we all entered into the Easter season. It happened that several people thought that the study should be resurrected, (pun intended). So, Fr. Alex asked me if I would be open to help. So, here we are.

We are currently following the Revised Common Lectionary reading for each Sunday. Fr. Alex stated that it might be helpful to take a closer look at some of the passages that would be read that morning. So often these are simply read during the service without a great deal of reflection. This Bible study could help to provide tools with which they could reflect more fruitfully.

That all sounds ok.

I’m glad to help out with this. Especially, since I have the training and education to take on this role.

As we started things I knew that at some point Fr. Alex and I would touch on a common text. And, we would have divergent ‘takes’ on that text. I wondered how the folks who sat in on the Bible study and listened to Fr. Alex’s sermon might hear those different views. And, how I might address them.

Well, this past Sunday we did just that. We both spent time on the same passage from the Gospel according to Luke. And, yes, we looked at the passage from two distinct perspectives.

The text was from Luke 8:26-39. It’s the story of a man who was possessed by many demons. He lived among the tombs in the region of the Gerasenes on the eastern end of the Sea of Galilee. The story tells of how he could not be restrained by any means as he ran naked through the tombs. When Jesus and his disciples showed up, the man confronted Jesus and begged Jesus to not torment him. Jesus asked his name. The man said, “Legion,” for many demons dwelt in him.

The story goes on to state how “Legion” begged Jesus to send them into a local herd of pigs, who subsequently ran down a slope into the sea where they drowned.

Now, there’s a whole lot in this passage. People a lot smarter than me have argued about who the man was; where exactly did this happen; why pigs?

Fr. Alex shared from the pulpit how this passage demonstrated a clear political message that would have resonated with the original hearers of the story. He explained how Roman troops, who at the time occupied Israel and the surrounding territories, could be assembled in a group of about 6,000 soldiers called a Legion. Also, around this time a particular legion known as the Legio X Fretensis occupied Jerusalem and had on their banners the image of a boar.

You can begin to see where Fr. Alex was drawing similarities between the story and actual events.

His point was that the people who heard this originally would have understood the references and seen the story of Jesus overcoming the evil forces brought by Rome and “bringing justice into the midst of human suffering.”

He then reminded us of a message he gave on Pentecost Sunday in which he explained how we, as the Body of Christ, are the very hands and feet of Jesus in our world today.

If we are that, then we have the obligation and task to be the bringers of justice and deliverance to the oppressed people that we encounter. He cited the grave humanitarian catastrophe that is currently happening on our southern border. He challenged us to consider how we might each respond to the mounting injustice.

AMEN! Preach it!

But, then…there was my take on the story.

You see Fr. Alex had been inspired to share his liberationist understanding by news articles during the week that exposed what was happening to people. People made in the Image of God. People for whom Jesus gave his life.

I, on the other hand, was inspired by another of our Sunday lections. This one from Is. 65:1-9. The first couple of verses in this text reveal God desperately seeking God’s own people. God cries, “Here I am, here I am,” to people who ignore God. Isaiah wrote that God was sitting at the city gates with arms outstretched. This would have been how a beggar acted.

Certainly not God.

Yet, here we have an image of God revealed as a servant in order to help the people God so loved. I saw God allowing Godself to be seen and known by a people who had no interest.

The bottom line there was that God DESIRED to be seen and found. God was open for business. Come on in!

Similarly, at least to me, in the Gospel text my mind zeroed in on Jesus’ encounter with the possessed man. Jesus said,

“What is your name?”

Wow!

Here was a man who was obviously tormented. He had been chained and tied. He lived among the dead. He was naked and cast out.

And Jesus looked into his eyes and asked, “Who are you?”

Jesus, like God in the Isaiah text, made himself vulnerable to someone who was in desperate need. Someone who was potentially violent. Someone who had been cast aside and rejected.

Someone who was made in the image of God and for whom Jesus was willing to give His life.

Yeah, Fr. Alex and I came at the same text from two very different places and came to two different conclusions.

But, are they really that different?

Fr. Alex saw the text and gave us an actionable charge. As a pastor, that’s what he’s called to do. He energized us to get involved to help however we can with time, money, prayer.

I came to the text as a contemplative and revealed, I believe, a piece of God’s heart that will also lead to action. Albeit, a different flavor. I desire people to see, feel, touch, and know God intimately. To live and experience God’s deep love for all of the Cosmos. Then, to share that with others. Perhaps, especially with those who are suffering at the hands of a strong oppressor.

So, different takes on the same text. Both speaking God’s Word to those who can hear.

Innit Cool?

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Love Your Enemies, Or Love God?

Published by mhelbert on June 20, 2019

It should really be a no-brainer. In fact, it seems that if you love God you will necessarily love your enemy.

Right?

For anyone whose home isn’t in some cave deep in the jungle that statement would ring true. But, for those of us who live and breathe in the U.S. things are a bit more nuanced, to say the least.

I spend a lot of time reading blogs, essays, and news reports from various sources. (Admittedly, Fox News is not one of them.) These pieces cover subjects from climate change to koalas with VD.

There is one topic that seems to garner a bit more than its fair share of coverage. That is, White Evangelicalism.

What is this, you ask?

White Evangelicalism is the broad umbrella that folks use to cover White conservatives who share some kind of Evangelical faith in God. These are the folks who voted overwhelmingly for Donald “Pussy Grabber” Trump. Some polls show that a good 83% of these people who profess to follow Jesus of Nazareth voted for him.

White Evangelicals are largely conservative politically and socially. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. I respect their right to make those choices and will go to the mat with anyone who would try to take that right away. However, many of these people go well beyond simply supporting conservative causes. These others actively work to deny the rights of others to express themselves in a like fashion.

People like Steven Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church. Pastor Anderson is vocally anti LGBT. His hatred for LGBT people has gotten him banned from several countries in Africa and Europe.

There’s Robert Jeffress of First Baptist in Dallas. He is a noted supporter of Mr. Trump and other hard-line, nationalist conservatives. In his mind it seems that there are only two groups of people, White Evangelicals and Everyone Else. Everyone Else is, well, you get it. He and others whom historian John Fea refers to as Court Evangelicals have an agenda that seems to desire an American theocracy with White Evangelicals at the helm. No other solution to what they see are the ills that plague this nation is possible. For them it is a zero sum game where any gain by Everyone Else is necessarily a loss for White Evangelicals. Period. End of story. This causes Pastor Jeffress and others like him, say, Franklin Graham, Jim Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jr., and others to view Everyone Else as enemies to be vanquished.

So what? Who really cares what a bunch of crotchety old white guys think, anyway?

Well, me for one.

Yeah, I consider myself part of Everyone Else. But, that’s not why what these people think or say. The thing that bothers me is that they spew their hatred for Everyone Else in the name of Jesus. And, I’m sorry, that doesn’t cut it. These people don’t get a free pass to hate others in the name of a Person who hated no one.

So, a few days ago as I was praying I had to confess to God that I felt that these people were enemies of the Gospel. That also made them my enemies. This was hard for me to say. After all, I lay claim to faith in God through Christ. Just like many of those White Evangelicals do. Shouldn’t I consider them my sisters and brothers? After all, not all siblings get along real well. But, they’re still siblings none the less.

Well, maybe. I supposed sisters can grow up in a way that will alienated them from their sisters and brothers. They could technically become ‘enemies.’

But, what I feel is different. It’s like these people are illegitimate children. Bastards born of a different lineage all together. How was I to deal with this? Should I attack them like they attack Everyone Else? No, that doesn’t sound right. Should I embrace them and engage with them with the love of Christ? That sounds like enabling. I don’t think that’ll work either. What then?

So, I prayed.

A couple of days before this I led a Bible study at the church I attend. One of the texts we looked at was Psalm 8. In that Psalm is this line: ” Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger,” NRSV. I don’t like that translation so much. Looking at the original language I think a better translation would be, “Out of the mouths of children and sucklings You have established a stronghold that will silence Your foe and avenger.” It seems that the praise of those who are the weakest and most vulnerable is capable of silencing the loud clamor of those who stand opposed to God.

I realized that I don’t need to take White Evangelicalism to task. I really don’t even need to deal with them at all. My first obligation is to praise God and live in a manner that reveals God’s heart for EVERYONE, (White Evangelicals included). By doing that and encouraging others to do likewise, the voices of the Enemy will be silenced.

Should we love our enemies? Yeah. But, that doesn’t mean that we must engage with them on their terms. Our first responsibility is to love and engage with God. Anything more is just noise.

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I Am Becoming…

Published by mhelbert on January 6, 2019

Who are You?
Whom shall I say sent me?
“I Am That I Am.
You will tell them that I Am has sent you.
I Am the One who exists at this moment.
Absolute. Unchangeable. Ever-living.
I Will Be Whom I Am Becoming.
Ever revealing My redemption.
I Will Be what you look for and need.
I Will Be Whom I Will Be.
Not yet revealed. Not yet known.”
God has been called many names. It seems that people are always looking for ways to describe that which is indescribable. There is one name, however, that was recorded as the self-identifier of God.
The short verse above is a play on that.
The name “I Am the I Am” has been the most popular. People use this to make God something that is far beyond our limited ability to understand. God simply ‘IS.’ God exists. God is wholly ‘Other.’
Yet, this God spoke to Moses as one Person to another. Intimate. Personal.
Others interpret the Name actively. “I Am Becoming,” or, “I Will Be.” This has the flavor of something that isn’t quite done growing. It’s nature is not complete. Or, has not been revealed in its completeness. This is the God that I give my allegiance to. The Living God who will outgrow any box with which we try to confine. This is the God Who may be the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But, it is impossible for me to know what that was, is, or may become.
Because God is always Becoming God.

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Published by mhelbert on December 25, 2018

The song says that this is the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”
I really want to believe that.
But, it’s so bloody hard.
It’s not hard because of all the chaos and turmoil that is churning around the globe.
Politics and the economy effect people, for sure. And, unless you’re part of the 1%, the effect
isn’t necessarily good.
Then there are the wars and famines and stuff. Those things are never good
Families break up, (or, are broken up by the aforementioned war and stuff).
The news carries stories of robbery, rape, murder, fires, floods, etc. that destroy people
and all of their hopes and dreams.
No, these aren’t the things that make this time of the year a tad less than “Wonderful.”
I think that there’s a presumption out there that because of an event 2,000 years ago we
are somehow special. We are made in the image and likeness of some Creator God that
has chosen us to stand on the necks of others. The perceptions that we, at least in the West,
have of ourselves is that we are ‘exceptional.’
But, are we…really?
There’s another story that’s told this time of year. One that may truly be exceptional. A story that was told a very long time ago. A story that should show us what it means to be human in this world. This story talks about vulnerability and danger. There is action and escape. More importantly, though, I think that the story reveals God’s heart in a way that all of the “Thou Shalt Not” commands can never possibly show.
So, let’s take a look, shall we?
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up form the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby , who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”
Take a few minutes. Read it again. Chew on it.
Where are all of the ‘exceptional’ people? You know, the ones with money, prestige, and power. Where are the governments who wage war on other nations? And, their own people. Where is Wall Street, Madison Ave., and all of the other centers of economic power?
I don’t see them. Do you?
I only see a family in a backwater town in an occupied country trying to get by.
So, how is it that so many of us simply don’t get it? We go about life day by day without a care or a clue. “We’re special!” we tell ourselves.
Are we?
No, I think not.
That family in the story was special. As are all of the other families just like them throughout the world.
This is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

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