Bible notes for 25th December 2014 to 25th January 2015 by Rev Stuart Gunson

Christmas Day: Luke 2: 1-14 (15-20): The Birth of Jesus

 

The ordinary and the extraordinary

Luke is sets his birth story about Jesus into a real world/context:

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Time (reign of Augustus/Quirinius, governor of Syria))

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Place (Bethlehem)

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Family (House of David)

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Context:

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Registration

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Busy city

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Making the best of it: There is no indication that this heavily pregnant woman was turned away by an unsympathetic innkeeper. Simply Mary and Joseph did the best they could - they found somewhere that would serve their purpose.

The birth of Jesus was as ordinary as it could be given the circumstances, and read v 7 again; there is real tenderness here.

 

The world is still very ordinary: shepherds are doing what shepherds do.

Then the extraordinary breaks in:

Bright lights, angelic voices, a proclamation: a first hand experience fortrhe shepherds and a second hand (story told) experiences for Mary and Joseph and ‘all who heard it’ (v19).

 

And responses to this extraordinary.

The shepherds feel compelled to follow up the revelation. They are impulsive. We are not told of any arrangements they made for the security of the sheep, we can only speculate as to how they knew to go to find a particular manger in Bethlehem. They knew it was ‘of God’.

‘All who heard’ were amazed. You are told about something that has happened, your imagination is captured, but you don’t really understand it. The words ‘awe and wonder’ spring to mind!    

Mary treasured and pondered! She kept her thoughts to herself. How many times would she call that moment to mind as ‘her little boy’ matured, ministered and was unjustly put to death on a cross.

 

Dec 28: Luke 2: 22-40 Jesus Is Presented in the Temple

 

According to the law:

The ordinariness continues. Mary and Joseph do what is expected of them: the child is to be ‘designated as holy before the Lord’, named and circumcised; the mother is to be purified and sacrifices are to be offered.

 

This story combined with last week’s story resonates with Jesus own words in response to a trick question about paying taxes: “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to god the things that are God’s.” The registration of the family in Bethlehem is according to the civil law of the occupying forces, this registration in the temple at Jerusalem is according to the religious law of the people of God. For people of faith, there is often a tension between what they must do according to the law and what their faith response demands of them. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of ‘this world’ are often in tension one with another.

 

There were two significant others in the temple, and they are both prophetic voices:

Simeon was ‘guided by the spirit to be there’. Doesn’t that open up a whole subject?  Are we in the right place at the right time because we just happen to be there, or is there some divine hand guiding and directing?

Anna was there because she was always there!

 

Both Simeon and Anna responded to the scene of this young couple and baby doing what was customary in their own particular way. The way Luke tells it Simeon comes first. This is ‘just what I have been waiting for’ he says. And in two verses of blessing (34 and 35) he summarises the future life of Jesus. Did Mary add these words to her ponderings? Did she, at the foot of the cross, remember this piece of prophecy? Anna, an old woman, just seems to know something! That often happens to people, they get a sort of feeling about things and seem to know that there is something special going on that they don’t fully understand, and they just have to say what is in their minds.

 

Two extraordinary responses within an ordinary scene!

 

Jan 4 Matt 2: 1-12 The Visit of the Wise Men

 

Following a star

 

The star in this story has two functions

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A sign that something of importance had happened

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A sort of cosmic sat. nav. for the last stage of the journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem,.

The sign was that ‘king of the Jews’ had been born. There is no more natural thing for these wise men to do than to go to Jerusalem expecting to pay homage to him at the court of King Herod. There was no new king in Jerusalem, and clearly the city in general and Herod in particular are unsettled by the suggestion. Herod seems to guess what is going on because he specifically enquires about ‘the Messiah’.

Now Herod conceives a plan and attempts to make the wise men complicit in carrying out the plan which is set out in its dreadful detail in the verses that follow this passage. The star enables them to complete their journey and fulfil the purpose of the visit before deceiving the one who had tried to manipulate them.

 

It is the diligence of the Magi that stands out from the story:

They are diligent in

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Their identification of the sign: as observers of the heavens, they would have seen something different.

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Their interpretation of the sign: this required the experience of their learning coupled with imagination and inspiration.

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Their response to the sign: they were not just content with the sign, but needed to confirm it.

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Their enquiry of Herod and his court: they enlisted the help of those with more local knowledge than they had.

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Their following of the star: they persisted in order to bring their quest to completion.

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Their response to the Christ Child

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And their response to that small voice that said … ‘don’t go back to Jerusalem!’

 

Jan 11: Mark 1: 4-11 The Baptism of Jesus

The age of grace begins

In the hymn that begins “When Jesus came to Jordan…” Frederick Pratt Green writes: “So when the Dove descended on him, the Son of Man, the hidden years had ended, the age of grace began.”

In ‘the hidden years’, God had been understood as law giver and law administrator.  In how many stories in the Old Testament do we discover that God is understood as the one who applies the law: discerning behaviour as right or wrong, making a judgement, pronouncing sentence and executing punishment? Then, when time has been served, there is the act of restoration.  The hidden is now to be unhidden in Jesus Christ; God’s nature is to be revealed as one of grace. John the Baptist is to be the messenger that Isaiah had described, the bringer of good news! The good news is ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins’

 

This phrase can be examined in two ways:

Does repentance bring about the forgiveness of sins? This is mercy!

Is repentance a response to the forgiveness of sins? This is grace!

Psalm 103 says ‘God is merciful and gracious’; one of our hymns (The Kingdom of God is justice and joy) includes a verse that begins with ‘The kingdom of God is mercy and grace’.  We can explore mercy and grace with the technique of ‘compare and contrast’ and somewhere in the answer, we may find ourselves saying: Mercy is about God responding to our repentance by granting forgiveness.  Grace is about us responding to God’s love by determining to live in his way. There isn’t much in it, or is there? Of course it doesn’t have to be an ‘either/or’, but we can test the difference between the two by asking the question: is it easier to be merciful (to respond kindly to someone saying ‘sorry’ to us) than to be gracious (to assure the other person that our love towards them does not depend on them saying ‘sorry’).

 

Look at our services of baptism and confirmation: they begin with the gifts of grace, then a profession of faith, then the act of baptism and finally the response of promises.

 

Jan 18: John 1: 43-51: Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

First impressions

This encounter between Nathanael and Jesus draws a contrast between the first impressions each makes on the other.

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Nathanael’s is based on some sort of prejudice. There is something about Nazareth that doesn’t resonate with Nathanael and he has dismissed Jesus as irrelevant because of it.

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Jesus’ is based on observation of the person, and the first impression is that here is an honest man. The second is hidden in the phrase ‘under the fig tree’: Micah’s (4: 4) vision of the universal reign of peace has everyone sitting ‘under his own vines and fig tree’. So Jesus views Nathanael as a man whose ambition is peace.

Jesus’ response, based on his discernment, challenges and defeats Nathanael’s prejudice!

 

When people are asked for their judgement on a subject they respond in two ways:

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Impulsively: they make the first statement that comes into their head and then quote the evidence that supports their statement. Even when they are clearly prejudiced or even obviously wrong they defend their position fiercely.

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Reflectively: they quietly consider the evidence before them, weigh it up, and even then their judgement is cautious and their response allows them some room for manoeuvre.

 

There seem to be many who have misconceptions about the life of faith and/or about ‘the church’ that crystallise into prejudice against the call to discipleship. There is plenty of material in the public domain to feed that prejudice. The challenge to every Christian is to live in a way that provides evidence of the loving, caring, reconciliatory way of living that Christ himself advocates. This is how prejudice is confronted and reflection is encouraged, and the work of the Holy Spirit is fed.

 

Jan 25: Mark 1: 14-20 The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

Responding to the call

Jesus carries on where John left off! In Matthew and Luke the ministry of John and Jesus have some overlap. In Mark, the story is set out in discrete steps: John preaches, Jesus is baptised, Jesus goes into the wilderness, John is arrested, Jesus ministry starts and followers are recruited.

 

People don’t just leave their place of work, their families and their security on an impulse; or do they? We don’t know how little or how much exposure those first four disciples had to Jesus and his teaching. We don’t know how much or how little heart searching they had or whether they had discussed this vocation with the family. What we do know is that they responded to the call to repent and to believe the good news. The telling of the story makes the response decisive, they walked away from their past. Is this what ‘repent’ means?

 

The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near: we’re back with the Frederick Pratt Green Hymn (from Jan 11): The age of grace has begun.

This is the good news: God loves you with a ‘ceaseless unexhausted love’; believe it!

 

As the disciples engage with Jesus, they can begin to understand what ‘the kingdom has come near’ is about. Back to hymns again: “The kingdom of God is mercy and grace, the lepers are cleansed and sinners find place, the outcasts are welcomed God’s banquet to share and hope is awakened in the place of despair;” the ministry and message of Jesus in a nutshell!  In this Ebola epidemic in West Africa, volunteers are putting themselves at risk to care for the dying, to nurse the sick, to contain the virus. (Is there something about saving the world in here?) Wherever a hungry child is fed, a lonely person comforted, a homeless individual given a bed for the night, the kingdom of God is come near.

Repentance has a lot to do with change. Humankind is challenged to envision a world which is changed: a world that embraces the nature of God as revealed in Jesus Christ; then’ here and hereafter the Kingdom will grow’.

Bible Notes on Mark for Advent 30th November to 21st December 2014 by Barrie Morley

November 30th - Advent Sunday     

The RCL gives preachers a challenging Gospel passage for Advent Sunday this year.

Mark was written during the 'Jewish War' which, in time was to see the sacking of Jerusalem and the ruin of the Temple.  Almost certainly some of Jesus words here refer to that event, almost 2,000 years ago.   Talk of trauma for refugees must ring  bells for the many displaced people in the Middle East this Advent time.   But this passage has become a happy hunting ground for those who only look for predictions of the return of Christ.   The problem is which of these words have already been fulfiled, and which are yet to be?

The 'Second Advent' is very important.  This season is much more than a time of preparation for Christmas, but what can we say as we deal with the confusing picture language of this week's Gospel?   What we CAN say is this.  'in the beginning God....and in the end, God.'    This is the message of the Bible.

POSSIBLE PREACHING TOPIC

Jesus speaks here of a time of trauma.   Modern times produce great distress for so many people.   Let's not get tangled in the intricacies of this passage, but let us hold to its message and the message of the Bible.   'In the beginning God....and...in the end....God.'  This is Advent Hope. 

December 7th - Mark 1:1-8

'To begin at the beginning' intones Richard Burton at the start of the radio play 'Under Milk Wood.'

   

'The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.' writes Mark in the opening words of his gospel.  'Listen, only you can hear'   continues Burton in Dylan Thomas's play.  You are a secret observer and listener to twenty four hours of life in Llarregub.  Mark too is dealing in a secret.  He shows us that the value and true identity of Jesus and his message is a secret.  The Priests and doctors of the law miss theirsgnificance.  So do the the crowds, and even the disciples.  Even at the Resurrection, the first reaction of the disciples is of fear and astonishment rather than belief. (Ch 16: 8)

AND YET....the reader of Mark is in on the secret of Jesus true identity, and the value of his message.

Mark tells us plainly what it is in the opening words,  'Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'   In Thomas's play we see an open public day in the life of one small seaside town.

Perhaps the link for us this Advent is that now, just as in Mark's time the value of Jesus and his gospel are there for those who will look and listen, but now as then the majority of people in our culture and time miss the true worth of Jesus and his message.  

   

POSSIBLE PREACHING TOPIC

What does it mean in our time and culture,  to be one of a minority who are in on the secret of who Jesus is and what he does?

December 14th - John 1:6-8, 19-28

The RCL now follows its usual pattern of introducing readings from John's Gospel around the Christmas and Easter seasons.   'John the Forerunner' is a traditional Advent topic.  He represents (as Jesus himself said) the height of the Old Testament witness.  There may have been an almost rival discipleship movement to that of Jesus for a time (see Acts  18: 24-19: 7).  However the Gospel of John has no doubt that John the Baptist was no more than the messenger of the coming Messiah.

POSSIBLE PREACHING TOPIC

John preached a demanding, no compromise message.  In our liberal, multi-cultural age, how do we live in the light of John's witness and the more important witness and example of Jesus Christ?

What in the Old Testament do we learn from and live by?  What do we sit more loose to in the light of the revelation of Jesus?

December 21st - Luke 1:26-38

Only Matthew and Luke give us details of the birth of Jesus.  For Luke the Gospel is  'Good news to the poor.'   The shepherds, a low status class of people, are the first to hear the good news, and they receive it whilst out..and working a night shift, ..'Out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night.'

Whereas Matthew has Jesus pronouncing  blessings on the poor in spirit,  Luke is more direct in his version of the Beatitudes...'Blessed are the poor.' (Luke 6:20)

So here in today's passage a peasant woman from an unfashionable village is chosen to the mother of the Lord.  Later in this chapter comes Mary's song of praise the Magnificat, praising God for reversing the social status of society then and now.

POSSIBLE THOUGHTS FOR WORSHIP

• Explore how the poor are blessed and used by God.  'The humble poor believe.'  C. Wesley. 
• Are their spiritual blessings that only the humble or the poor can receive?
• What here and now, on earth in 2014 is the Good News to the overlooked unfashionable and poor? 

Sources 

• Cranfield, C.F.D., The Gospel according to Mark.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959
• Barclay, W., The Gospel of Mark.  St Andrews: St Andrew Press, 1954
• Hooker, M., The Message of Mark.  Peterborough: Epworth Press, 1983
• Hargreaves, J., A Guide to St. Mark's Gospel.  London: SPCK,  1965
• Martin, Ralph P., Mark: Evangelist and Theologian.  Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1972
• Leaney, A.R.C., Cambridge: Black, 1958.  

Mark's World and Our World: A Further Introduction to Mark's Gospel Revised Common Lectionary Year B by Rev Barrie Morley

MARK THEN AND NOW 

Those dedicated and hard working people, Local Preachers in training often say that the hardest subject for them to come to terms with is Exegesis.  But it is one of the most important parts of preaching..  What is the point of simply repeating what Paul said to a new church in Ephesus in the first century when addressing a congregation in the UK 2,000 years later?   The words remain the same down the centuries, but  the world has changed, and our task is to dig out the golden nugget of eternal truth and allow congregations to 'cash' it here and now.    For example can we simply quote,  'Slaves be obedient to your masters', or 'Wives obey your husbands?' without putting those words into the context of British culture in this twenty first century?    And if we need to do more than simply quote it without question, then how many other Biblical texts and concepts need careful examination and exposition to ring bells for congregations today?

Several times a year we travel between the East Midlands and North Yorkshire.  I have come to realise that the best way for us to go, is over the mighty Humber Bridge.   The twin towers of that beautiful piece of engineering not only link Hessle with Barton on Humber, or even Yorkshire with North Lincolnshire.  They bridge two regions,  the Midlands and the North.    Just so when we prepare our sermons we stand on one bank of a river of time and ask questions like,  'Why wrote this?'  'When?'    'Under what circumstances?'   'To whom?'    Only then can we stand on the opposite bank of the river of time and begin to ask 'What kind of people will hear this today?'  'What are their "issues"?'  'How do those ancient words apply to todays world which is both different and the same?'  When we do that, we have begun to achieve an exegesis, and can then hope to share that golden nugget of truth in a way that might be helpful  to people today.

SO over the next twelve months we can dig deep into the oldest of the Gospels, the foundation for two of the others, and try to discover Mark's world, Mark's people, Mark's purpose.  Only then can we begin to think of the different people, in a different time, culture and place who will hear it today.    If we go through this process (which can be both fascinating and tedious),each time we preach or listen to a sermon, then Mark's word can come alive in our century just as much as it did in his. 

MARK'S WORLD

Many believe that this oldest of the canonical gospels was written around 80AD, probably in Rome, at a time when Jerusalem had been sacked by a Roman army and the temple reduced to ruins.  (See Dr. David Palmer's article).    This growth was mainly among Gentile people.  many of them were slaves and near the bottom of the social heap.  As the military and civil authorities began to understand that Christianity was a separate faith from Judaism, the followers of Jesus were losing the protection given them when they were seen as simply a branch of the Jewish faith.  Now the threat of persecution was in the air.  The exciting but testing atmosphere was heightened by questions about the promised return of King Jesus to reign.  Eighty years after Christ's death, and around thirty years after the earliest of Paul's letters (Thessalonians) revealed that people were on the tip toe of expectancy, Christ return to reign was still no more than a hope. 

Into these situations Mark composed his Gospel.   It seems to be aimed at those who taught new converts, (Pastors and teachers?) and evangelists who were working to spread the faith among others, and to strengthen believers in difficult times.

OUR WORLD

As we bridge the river of time from Mark's world to ours we find enough similarities to make us excited and bring his gospel to life today.

• Just as the old faith, Judaism (-see Palmer) had suffered a severe setback, so now in the Western world, Christianity has experienced decades of decline.
• HOWEVER, this provides a fallow field for evangelists to bring a Gospel which sounds 'new' that is, the Story is no longer known as it was say two generations ago.  To those who have never really heard the story before the Gospel can sound new and exciting Good News.
• Now as then there are difficulties and sometimes even dangers in following the way of Christ.   Britain is now proud to be secular, religion is often seen as being a cause of conflict and harm in society, and there are restrictions on Chistian life style and worship. (e.g. Sunday work times and worship time can be incompatible).  Christian symbols and public prayers are forbidden in certain places.  
• Disappointment and apparent delay continue as we still wait for the Kingdom of God to fully come.
• One of the most fascinating aspects of Mark's gospel is the veiled identity of Jesus.  WE are told in the first verses who Jesus is, but throughout the book the Jewish leaders do not recognise who he is, and his own disciples lack faith and misunderstand that his mission must invlove suffering.   The Messiah, (the one chopsen and anointed by God) ends up dying on a cross.  

The original manuscripts of Mark end (Ch 16: 8) not in strong faith and joy, but  with disiples 'in fear and trembling.'

    

Today as in Mark's time the Lordship and reign of Christ are not obvious.  The way of Christ involves suffering, and it takes faith to see the man on the cross as God's Annointed.

Mark wrote a Gospel, , NOT a biography of Jesus of Nazareth.  In other words he provided material for Teachers and Evangelists.  Therefore we as preachers should be able to use his work in the way he intended - to help create and nurture Christians.

With these links between Mark's gospel in HIS time and in OURS, we turn to the Gospel readings for the season of Advent.

Introduction to Mark's Gospel Revised Common Lectionary Year B by Rev Dr Graham G Palmer

Mark

By Rev Dr David G Palmer

Introduction

As a Supernumerary Minister of the Methodist Church, I am pleased to be invited to supply my introduction to Mark’s Gospel. 

I offer here an artwork and some notes of mine. The artwork itself has been produced at Double A0 size for exhibition purposes and is now one of a series that I have had reproduced and miniaturised in charts, jigsaws, mugs, mouse-mats, place mats and greetings cards in an attempt to stimulate and renew interest in the church in a serious study of the New Testament Books. 

The artwork, if you are looking at it on screen, can be enlarged electronically, of course. 

If my notes are too short for you here, there are my books and my website with its fuller presentation of this article, under ‘Samples’: www.davidgpalmer.co.uk.

Rev Dr David G. Palmer, Church Gresley, October 2014

Mark's Gospel

Mark’s Gospel was likely written in Rome soon after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of its temple in 70 CE. The need for ‘Good News’ had to be met, and quickly. The return of the victorious General Titus with his spoils from Jerusalem’s temple, coupled with the news of the annihilation of most of the inhabitants of both Jerusalem and Judea, signalled (as it was thought then) the end 
of the Jewish faith. The ‘Mother Church’ of the new Christian Jewish sect (linked with the temple and keeping to the law) was gone too. Someone elsewhere, therefore, had to make sense of these cataclysmic events. Christians were everywhere scattered around the Roman Empire. Now they were adrift. It was they, in the first instance, not ‘the world’, who needed this Gospel. 

This, then, is the reason why this book’s theology of the atonement focuses on Jesus’ body as ‘the new temple’. It is a new teaching. It did not come from Paul who wrote his letters in the 50s and 60s. This is new thinking and it links the events of 70 CE with the writing of this Gospel. This book was going to be important. It would shape the thinking of the church, of itself as a discipleship movement in the world. It needed to be written well. It had, therefore, to be written to the rules of Ancient Rhetoric that pertained in the First Century [1]. These rules had to do with Idea, Structure, Style, Memory and Delivery. To get at the Gospel writer’s ‘Big Idea’ we have to understand the book’s structure. But to get at this, we first of all have to reckon with his writing style. 

The Title to this Gospel is found in the likely original opening words: ‘Beginning / of the gospel / of Jesus Christ’. It is a three-part construction. The Prologue is similarly arranged. Contrary to much scholarship on the matter, 1.2-20 describes its limits. Parsing establishes this [3]. Day One of ‘Logue’, the narrative of the Gospel, begins at 1.21. The first readers of this Gospel’s manuscript would have spotted these things. As a result they would have expected more of the same writing style throughout the rest of the document. And they wouldn’t have been disappointed! In the Greek, the first day’s telling covers a full 24 hours from dawn, through the twelve hours of daylight and the four watches of the night, to just before dawn on the following day. The writer’s choice is the Civil Day. Armed with these facts, we can go on to uncover the book’s structure.

For each of his Four Series (as my artwork presents them), the writer employs an arrangement that he adopts from the structure of Homer’s Iliad, which consists of a Prologue, a Logue (of Three Days, a Turning Point and Three Days) and an Epilogue. Each of the Series in Mark’s Gospel comprises Seven Days. They are in similar arrangement to that of Homer, ABB’XABB’, where a threesome of days, ABB’ in the telling, is balanced by a second threesome of days, ABB’, around a central day, X. The First Day, A, is introductory, the Second Day, B, is a first development and the Third Day, B’, is a second and concluding development. The overall structure of ‘four’ by ‘seven’ had meaning in the Century. ‘Seven’ represented ‘perfection’, ‘fulfilment’, or ‘completion’. ‘Four’ equated to the ‘four winds’ (for us today, the four points of the compass). The book has universal significance. 

Because we can define the Days in their Series, we can establish that the writer organised his work as a matrix which works vertically, horizontally and, at its middle, diagonally also. Take time to explore the artwork and you will see what I mean. Dualities are everywhere in this Gospel. This arrangement of this Book makes it, above all else, memorable. In an age of learning that was not based like ours on everyone’s ability to read, but was characterised by the oral-aural method, arrangement was hugely helpful [3]. Further, the Logue required both Prologue and Epilogue. Without an Epilogue no audience would have risen to leave!

In the artwork, I express the sunset of the first day’s telling and the sunrise of the last day’s telling, and I have shown the extending rays, in turn, over the different ‘halves’ of the matrix. The whole of the left ‘half’ of the matrix is about Jesus bringing the Old Covenant to a conclusion through fulfilling all its requirements. The whole of the right ‘half’ is about Jesus establishing the New Covenant. To present this Gospel meaningfully to an audience, the reader/reciter has all the help he (she?) needs. The writer enables him/her to deliver the text accurately from memory and ‘expose the speech with art of grace, dignity, gesture, modulation of voice and face’ [4].

We are thus propelled to understand the Big Idea of this book. While the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of its temple and the annihilation of most of the ‘Jerusalemites’ and ‘Judeans’ (see 1.5 for a link) is indeed very bad news, there is, nevertheless, really Good News (even in the Greek, ‘Bravo News’?) to share [5]. The Gospel tells in a fast moving and rivetingly alternating way how the sun set on the Old Covenant and rose on the New. Centring firmly on Jesus (his mission, death and resurrection), this Gospel demonstrates that Christianity is the new world religion. It is Judaism’s replacement and rightful successor! 

Notes

1. For Ancient Rhetoric, see David G. Palmer, The Markan Matrix: A Literary-Structural Analysis of the Gospel of Mark, Ceridwen Press, Paisley, 1999; also David G. Palmer, New Testament: New Testimony to the Skills of the Writers and First Readers, Fourth Ed., Ceridwen Press, Church Gresley, 2013.
2. By parsing, I mean that by subjecting the Greek text to grammatical scrutiny phrases and sentences can be defined.
3. We do, of course, see how visual messaging in our culture has become almost as important as the word.  
4. From Cicero, De Oratore, 55 BCE.
5. The eu in euangelion, the Greek for ‘Good news’, means ‘well’, ‘well done’, ‘bravo’.

Bible Notes for 19th October to 16th November 2014 by Barrie Morley

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE CONGREGATION AT THESSALONICA

Introduction 

When Paul, the missionary apostle,  brought the gospel to Europe,in response to a vision of a man from Macedonia saying' Come over and help us',  he was able to work first in two strategically important cities, Philippi, (see the lectionary readings for the last few weeks) and then Thessalonica.  Thessalonica was a mega city, and capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.  Paul soon ran into the opposition that dogged his work, (on this occasion from Jewish opponents of his proclamation that Jesus was the Christ), and had to move hastily on to Beroea.   His two letters to the new church at Thessalinica are both encouragements and also an attempt to correct some wrong ideas about the Parousia or Second Coming of Christ.  In particular the question of what happenes to believers who have already died, before the return of Christ.  Questions about the future life, the triumph of God, a proper understanding of the future reign of Christ are always relevant.  Down the years they often have often moved higher up the agenda of many believers during a time of renewal or revival in the Church.

Another reason for Paul's two extant letters was to encourage this new congregation in the face of serious local opposition.  Dr. Ivor Jones (1) believes that this opposition was of the sort which often follows people who convert from a majority faith practised in their local setting.  Paul uses the Greek word Thlipsis which can be translated 'pressure' or 'affliction' or 'emotional/mental distress', several times in his letters to Thessalonica.     According to Acts  17, a great many 'god fearers' i.e. Gentiles interested in the Jewish faith, had abandoned their interest and turned instead to the faith of Christ. 

There may also have been anxiety in the Thessolonican assembly over the coming judgement of God - especially as some of their number had already died, before the expected return of Christ.
Pressure, difficulties, even persecution are tragically common for Christian minorities in parts of the world today, not least the Middle East, and here in the U.K. we know 'pressure' from the unthinking assumptions about life style, and a lack of understanding of the Christian minority which the secular majority often display.  

The Thessalonian letters are particularly important because they are believed to be the earliest of Paul's New Testament writings, and offer a glimpse of the issues which the earliest Gentile Christians faced.  

FOR WORSHIP AND PREACHING. 

It might be helpful to keep in mind Paul's themes of coping with pressure,  fear of judgement,  what the final triumph of Christ means when we preach and worship.  If different 'pulpit voices' can identify these themes week by week it will offer some continuity of teaching in Groups/Circuits/Benefices week by week.  Almost certainly todays believers will be facing their own pressure and distress, and the doubts which go with them.

October 19th - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 

Before we look at any problems which the congregation at Thessalonica may have had, it is worth noting the appreciation and affection Paul shows them in the first part of his letter.

This congregation accepted the Gospel despite 'affliction' and showed great faith, hard work, and steadfastness.  We get the impression that Paul found the Thessalonians a forward outpost for the spreading of the message of Christ.

POSSIBLE SERMON MATERIAL.    How steadfast are we in our difficulties?  How focused on spreading the Christian message?

October 26th - 1 Thessolonians 2:1-8  

Paul assures doubting Thessalonians that his work among them was not in vain, and that he and his colleagues were trustworthy ambassadors of Christ.

Sometimes Paul faced criticism from the Christian congregations he had founded, (e.g. at Corinth), and often from his non Christian opponents, as here.   In ministry I often found that people made assumptions which were incorrect, made judgements on a limited understanding of a situation, and then proceeded to judge and criticise.  The 'bruises' and sleepless nights followed.   However, few of us face the pressures which Paul faced.  Pastor H.H. Hobbs (2) noted that when Paul first introduced the Christian gospel into Europe he faced huge opposition.  Did he then return to Asia hoping to find more comfort and safety in his work?  He did not - he pressed on.   As I prepare this my mind goes to Canon Andrew White, a leader of the Christian minority in Iraq, and I am humbled and amazed at this man's courage and faithful love.   There is pressure in following Christ, and there is pressure in Christian service and leadership.

POSSIBLE SERMON MATERIAL.   Could we use this passage to challenge congregations (and ourselves) to be understanding and supportive of Christian leaders in the pressures which all true servants of Christ experience?

November 2nd - 1 Thessolonians 2:9-13 

If some of the pressure Paul was under since he had come into Europe was the charge of dodgy motives levelled at him by Jewish critics, then here in this passage he defends himself by showing how hard he and his fellow missionaries had worked.    Perhaps they had supported themselves, (Paul was a tent maker by trade), and then in the time available after that hard work, had preached and encouraged believers. 

And what was their style of work and leadership?  It was the gentle, caring work of a nurse (v7) and a father (v11). 

THOUGHT.  Is the leadership and pastoral care in our church characterised by the gentle caring style of a parent or a nurse?

November 9th - 1 Thessolonians 4: 13-18 

I remember visiting the sight of an old monastry beside the sea in Lancashire, and gazing at the empty stone coffins which had once held the mortal remains of the monks who wished to be buried, facing East, ready for the resurrection of the dead described in this passage.    We may smile at such literal interpretations of Scripture and 'quaint' customs.  Very few Christians today would worry about having their bodies buried facing East.   However the other word pictures Paul uses in this passage still divide believers.  The description of the  Lord appearing in the air, and his people all flying up to meet him, is thought by many to be either pre-scientific or at best picture language.  On the other hand, millions of believers continue to hold that it is prophecy which ought to be taken literally.  It's not so long ago that I saw a bumber sticker which read,  'in case of Rapture - please inform Police of this empty vehicle'.

One thing we may all agree on is that Paul is looking ahead to the New Creation, rather than a spiritual existence in heaven.  Bishop Tom Wright (3) has done much to challenge the Greek idea of immortality of the soul, and bring us back to the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, with a new heaven and, importantly, a new earth.  

The Thessalonian believers were working on an ultra short time scale. They expected the immanent return of Christ.  Therefore the  death of some of their number before this, filled them with questions and anxiety.  Paul reassures them that for both the living and the dead in Christ - all will be well.   Isn't this all we can say,  'In the beginning God - and in the end God'?   This is one of the basic messages of the Bible.  Genesis speaks of things being started by God, and Revelation points to a future where God will finally bring His plans to fruition. 

POSSIBLE WORSHIP AND PREACHING THEME.

The Thessalonians' faith and hope had been shaken by the death of some of their number.  Today our faith is tested not only by the long time scale of God's final triumph, but by the ongoing streength of evil and suffering.  Can we offer people hope, not in the how and when but in the reality of God's final triumph?

A devout Christian man, greatly used as a help to others, once strong and agile,  is now aged and ill, and trying to care for his wife.  He typifies many others whose early hope (just like the Thessalonians) is challenged by problems which come with time.  Paul's confidence that 'in the beginning God and in the end God' applies not just to the Parousia but to our own lives when problems and disappointments come and early hopes are challenged.     Can we encourage people whose faith is under pressure during today's worship?  

November 16th - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 

The Thessalonian concern with dates and times is mentioned, but Paul refuses to speculate on the date of the Day of the Lord.   Instead he encourages them to be vigilant.   He is concerned that these believers live their lives in a truly Christian way, a way which contrasts with the worst of the culture which surrounds them. 

QUESTIONS.  As time passed by some early believers began to ask,  'Where is the promise of his coming?'

How do we ourselves keep our enthusiasm for the Christian life when there seems little to get excited about?  How do we encourage others to do so?

Do we live as people of the day or of the night?

Barrie Morley    October 2014

NOTES

1.  The Epistles to the Thessalonians     I.H. Jones   Epworth Commentaries     2005

2.  1-2 Thessalonians   H.H. Hobbs  in Boardman Bible Commentary    1971

3.   Surprised by Hope   N.T. Wright

Bible notes for 7th September to 12th October 2014 by Philip Holmes

Introduction

Matthew’s gospel time and again points to Christ as the fulfilment of the Old Testament and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Israel is therefore given a prominence in this gospel as Matthew sets out how the old covenant is replaced by a new covenant. Writing to second generation Christians, Matthew organises his material in a very systematic way that would have helped the early church teach new converts (probably of Jewish origin) about the life and ministry of Jesus and how this Rabbi fulfilled the prophesies of the Old Testament. Yet it goes still further than that to include teaching for the early church. In Matthew’s account, Christianity fulfils rather than supercedes the old faith. He portrays Jesus as the means by which faith is reformed and renewed in the coming of the King of kings and the Messiah.

Matthew 18:15-20 - Refusal to listen

Hospital consultants know that it is not uncommon for people to turn up to an appointment with a partner or friend. It isn’t that we are afraid of the consultant – it is more likely that we are afraid of ourselves. When it really matters, most of us recognise that we have selective hearing. Our ears function well, but sometimes our brains filter out things that may actually be very important for us to hear – so we have the insurance of a second pair of ears to help us understand fully what has just been said and its implications for our lives.

Jesus knows that people only fully appreciate part of what they hear. In this passage he acknowledges that for some relationships, it is just a matter of sitting down and mutual trust and respect will do the rest. But even within the church, it is necessary from time to time to have two or even three witnesses. There is much to be said about testing out what we think we are hearing from God with a faithful friend. Not because we don’t trust the Spirit to lead and direct us, but because we should never trust only ourselves to hear and understand. And here is the good news – if we agree together about anything we ask God for, then it will be done. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.”  v20.

Question: When did we last hear clearly about the vision God has for our church? What can we do, as part of our fellowship together, to encourage the work of the Spirit among us?

Matthew 18:21-35 - On forgiving . . .  seventy seven times. 

Most people fear being in debt. Yet some very big companies make millions on the back of people’s vulnerability. When money runs out before the end of the week, people turn in their thousands to the payday sharks and then very quickly find themselves in debt that is spiralling out of control.

In this story, the man didn’t have the means to settle his debt and the master ordered in the bailiffs to seize all his assets. Sound familiar? But how did you respond when the master hears his plea and sets him free? Was your immediate reaction: “That lucky so-and-so”? And still more indignation is to come when the same man refuses to forgive the debts of those who owe him. That’s not only unfair, it is also unethical.

Our faith rests four square on a question of debt. As the old song puts it: “He paid a debt he did not owe, I owe a debt I cannot pay”. We rarely talk about it. We are ashamed to own up to it. Yet the debt incurred by our sin is the elephant in the room. One church steward once challenged my reference to our sinfulness by saying that the congregation did not like this message being so boldly proclaimed. Yet we live in sure knowledge that God keeps on forgiving us – time and time again – and certainly beyond the seventy seven times referred to by Jesus in our reading.

Question: How shall we prepare ourselves for the day when the master requires repayment? And how much of our behaviour towards others is like the man in the story?

Matthew 20:1-16 - It is just not fair

The newspapers are full of it. Our society is unfair. Whilst we (it’s always ‘we’) work really hard, others sit at home watching daytime television. Whilst we struggle for those little luxuries in life, others have riches in abundance. We hear the message loud and clear and begin to believe for ourselves that society is fundamentally unfair.

In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, nobody stays at home with their feet up. Everyone is a worker. And yet, those siren voices prompting us to compare and contrast, to identify differences and complaints lead everyone to conclude that here is an injustice. It is the same injustice that speaks when someone in a church meeting uses a phrase like “I remember when . . .” to make a point about longevity of membership, or questions why someone has taken “their seat” in church. Our common understanding is that time served/ faithful discipleship counts for something. And of course it does! God has cheated no-one. It counts exactly the same in God’s sight as “the least of my brethren” lest we delude ourselves into thinking that God’s grace requires anything other than our acceptance and devotion.

Question: the context of this story is a vineyard – a place where fruit is in abundance. How can we re-educate our minds to value things as God does? What will it take for us to adopt kingdom principles instead of earthy values?

Matthew 21:23-32 - Wilful antithesis?

I don’t know if you have ever attempted to buy clothes with and for a teenager? Every suggestion from Mum or Dad is greeted with an antithetical response. “Don’t like that”, “O, Mum, I can’t wear that”. It seems that everything that is suggested needs to be repelled and everything that looks great gets the response from Dad “You are not going out looking like that, young lady!”

In the context of a Rabbi who is honoured and revered in Jewish society, here is Jesus meeting with people of like mind. The Chief Priests and Elders were schooled, just as he was, in the Torah and they both worship the same God. They are part of the same family. So much in common – and yet poles apart. They appear to value the exact opposite. And so the verbal game of cat and mouse ensues to the point that the Elders say “We can’t decide” v27.

So much of the teaching of Jesus has a focus on outcasts. His actions are more in the style of a prophet than a Rabbi and so the religious establishment is right to be defensive and cautious. One thing is clear: when it comes to sparring with Jesus, they seem to quickly throw in the towel fearing the knockout blow. How can one confident individual stand so strongly against the establishment of his day? Could this be an answer to the “authority” question?

Question:  There was once a saying “My word is my bond” – meaning that you can utterly trust what I tell you. Jesus lived by that same maxim. What you see is what you get. How easy do we find it to do the same within our workplace or in our meeting with others?

Matthew 21:33-46 - Here comes the servant of the king

You do your best to protect your property – a wall of loose stones to keep wild animals at bay and a wooden watchtower raised up so that there is a lookout for thieves and predators. For the Jewish leaders there was more than a whiff of “de ja vu” (see Isaiah 5:2). Not for the first time, an accusing finger is pointed at them because they assume that everything before them is theirs and forget that our lives are lived in a bigger cosmos where the creator God is control.

But, of course, it is not easy for us to see and hear these words as they did – fresh and for the first time. The killing of the son would probably mean nothing more than an escalation of the demands of the owner to those listening. It is only as these words are read with hindsight that the penny drops and the parable’s full significance is understood.

God has sent many servants and prophets to claim what is rightfully his. Now he sends his only Son who enters to confront those who have taken charge of the vineyard – and they set upon him and kill him (cf Matthew 27:25)

Question –  It is true that sometimes speaks to us – time and again – and yet we do not get the message so loud is our own arrogance and self-centredness. What messenger has he sent to you in recent weeks?

Matthew 22:1-14 - I cannot come . . .

My diary is full. There are important meetings to attend. I have been suffering with this headache. Sorry – what I really mean to say is this “I have many, many excuses and I am genuinely struggling to discern which is the best to use on this occasion”. I cannot come – or more correctly – I don’t want to attend. It’s my choice and I was trying to spare your feelings.

I have enjoyed re-watching the great political comedy with Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington screened in the late 1970’s and early eighties – called “Yes, Minister”. Since then, many real politicians have agreed that the script writers get very close to what really happens in government – it is a masterclass in how to spin your way out of trouble with a phrase that sounds plausible but which, in reality, is just another excuse.

In the parable, a much more important issue is at stake. This is not a diplomatic incident. This is not ruffled feathers that require felicitous grooming.  This is a king inviting you to come. Not unlike receiving that card in the post from Queen Elizabeth inviting you to the royal garden party at Buckingham Palace. I, for one, did not turn down the invitation!

Notice how Matthew takes the refusals very seriously: “those I invited did not deserve to come” v8. Could this be a reference to the arrogance of the Children of Israel? “Go to the street corners and invite anyone you can find” commands the king (v9) – although we should guard against seeing this as a desperate search for bums on seats. God’s command is to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19) so that all can share in the heavenly banquet prepared for all people.

Question:  How many times have you heard the voice of the Lord calling? How often does this feel like an invitation to something difficult/imposing, rather than to join the party and share food and wine with the king?