Can the King be Trusted? The Vision of Psalm 73

“The book of Psalms contains not only the merry shouts of Israelites clapping their hands and making a joyful noise to the Lord. It contains also the groans and the pleas of the sick and the frightened and the dying. I had known that before. Now, I realized it for the first time.” (Stephen Broyles, The Wind that Destroys and Heals: Trusting the God of Sorrow and Joy, p. 21).

The Horizon of Psalm 73

Described as “the most remarkable and satisfying of all the psalms” [1], or a “microcosm of Old Testament theology,” [2] Psalm 73 is strategically placed within the canonical Psalter. Though hard to imagine in the face of the evidence, older scholarship virtually dismissed any notion of design to the book. Rather that scholarship focused on the origins and “setting in life” of individual psalms.  Some of that scholarship was, and is, very insightful but it dismissed the overwhelming evidence that the book of Psalms has been “put together” deliberately and purposefully. There is in fact a progression in the Psalter. When read carefully and attentively we even get the feeling that sometimes the various psalms are "talking to each other." 

The book articulates Israel’s worldview  (i.e. the biblical worldview) as powerfully, and brilliantly, as any book in Scripture. In short that worldview is 1) Yahweh is the Creator God who is the Redeeming King, 2) God has called Israel into a relationship with Yahweh as a graced kingdom of priests worshiping God on behalf of the world, and inviting the world to worship 3) that God’s kingdom is filled with justice, mercy and shalom - hesed is the law of the kingdom  4) and finally that God will defeat the challengers and usurpers of his reign (thus his law) in this world.  Israel’s worldview and faith is anything but simplistic as it is revealed in the canonical Psalter.

The journey getting to Psalm 73 through the Psalter is like a journey over the Alps and through Death Valley.  It is intense and calls for openness.  The introduction to the Psalter, Ps 1, declares a certain world confessed to be true.  I believe Psalm 1 was specifically, and intentionally, created to be the door through which the rest of the book was to be read, sung, and understood.  This means that Psalm 1 was created AFTER all the rest had been gathered and was confessed only after the storms have been weathered. Thus Ps 1 is not naïveté but a confession of faith refined in fire about how the world really is ... about what the Truth is. 

But the world God’s People live in does not correspond to Psalm 1, it is Fallen and Rebellious. We learn that as soon as we read Ps 3. There is no deception in the psalter thus there are two books of Psalms prayed through before we arrive at Ps 73.  Many do a lot of lamenting the dissonance between "out there" and "in here."  Psalm 73 shows a person, who I take to be representative of the entire people of God, who is serious about the values of Psalm 1 but had been the victim of injustice one to many times.  He/she questions whether God’s kingdom is real, whether God’s justice is real, whether having faith in Yahweh is worth the trouble.   But 73 stands at the head of Book III, almost literally the half way point in the book, and refocuses the people of God on what faith really means.  So Brueggemann is correct, I think, when he writes, “in the canonical structuring of the Psalter,  Psalm 73 stands at its center in a crucial role … I propose it is central theologically as well as canonically” [3]. It shows us how to integrate Psalm 1 in our theology.

The Psalm is structured in the following manner

I. Contested Claim (v.1)

II. The Protest and Evidence against the Claim (vv. 2-12)

III. Is it Useless to Follow the King (vv. 13-14)

IV. I Saw the Truth (vv. 15-20)

V.  Faith Refocused: Yes! God is Good and Worth Everything (vv. 21-28)

Verses 2 and 17 are the hinges of the Psalm.

The Contested Claim: The King is Good to Israel

“Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart” (v.1)

The RSV/NRSV repoint the Hebrew text to yield the reading “God is good to the upright” rather than “Israel.” Westermann argues this is necessary because the Psalm is about an individual but that is a mistaken understanding in my view [4].

But verse 1 is the thesis and conclusion of the Psalm.  It points back to Psalm 1 and affirms the truth of that worldview.  But it is a conclusion that that has been arrived at only through the valleys of the next several verses and the previous 70 psalms.  It is not naïve faith but tested and tried. The King is good to Israel.  Israel is not just an ethnicity here but is nuanced by “those who are pure in heart” likewise tying in to Psalm 1. Purity of heart means that the inner attitude actually coheres with the outward word or action. Jesus said his amen to this (cf. Mt 5.8).

The Protest and Evidence against the Claim

Israel’s faith has mettle. Israel’s is honest faith. The gathered people of God acknowledge that what they claim and what they experience is in profound tension.  No not tension, they are in conflict! In fact the next several verses are a full scale attack upon naive faith.  The world claims that God is not King, his will does not rule, and that he is irrelevant at best.  The experience of people “out there” does not cohere with the Faith confessed.  That is the crises! The verses, 2-12, recognize and confess the conflict and its power on the believing community.

“But as for me, my feet had almost stumble;

my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious/jealous of the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (vv. 2-3)

Clearly echoing the language of Ps 1, and contrasting its claim, the wicked are so prosperous that those serving God are “jealous” or “envious.” To the point of even “slipping” away so as to join them. The disciple has nearly fallen away because (as we shall see) the wicked have it so well.   This is “protest” language. Our faith is shaken in the justice and, therefore, the reign of God. They have it made.

The “wicked” described here, it must be noted, differs markedly from laments regarding the ubiquitous “enemies.” There is nothing in the psalm to indicate that the original writer is being attacked.  The language of verses 2-12 is that of observation, experience and even meditation.  Almost like in Ecclesiastes ...

“They have no pain;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are …

People turn and praise them

and no fault is found in them.

And they say, ‘How can God know?’ …

Such are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches. (vv 4, 5, 10, 12)

These are the reasons for the confession and protest in v. 2.  We almost stumbled asking ourselves the real question: Is it useless to serve God with a clean heart? What is the point of “being on God’s side?” The counter story affirms that it is just not worth it.

These observations are so realistic. Any Christian that claims that walking by faith is either “self evident” or “easy” is a false teacher and a deceiver.  Biblical faith acknowledges the struggle and the challenges of living by faith.  The Holy Spirit honors that honesty by “canonizing” it!

Is it Useless to Follow the King?

The testimony of countless suffering disciples bears heavy upon Psalm 73.2-12.  The nature of the evidence to subvert the claims of v.1 seems “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Case closed.  God is unreliable. Or he is just not there.  When “we” (i.e. the people of pure heart, the people of God, those actually seeking to live what is claimed) see the “facts of the case” – none of which are in dispute – the temptation to throw in the towel is powerful indeed (v.2). Thus the community, through its representative, does in fact sing in guttural tones …

“All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

For all day long I have been plagued,

and am punished every morning.” (vv. 13-14)

What!? We thought the righteous were planted like a tree and the wicked were like “chaff!” To live a life in view of the Kingdom of God is an absolute waste of time. Contrary to Ps 1 it is in fact the wicked who are at peace and it is the righteous who are blown away like so much waste. 

Again I want to call attention the anguished honesty.  This is in fact lamentation. It is mourning. It is confession that the world is absolutely messed up and contrary to the torah of God.

If we do not embrace the honesty of the faith of Israel then the power of these Spirit words will be lost on us.  

"I" Saw the Truth

Beginning in verse 15 we have a turning point. The reason for the turning point is given in v.17.  Just when we see the people of God ready to renounce allegiance to the King, to walk away from faith and join the wicked, something amazing happens. The psalmist confesses the power of being identified with the church.  The power of belonging! Identity is found with the group and the beginning step of resistance to the Story of the World is being firmly rooted in the community of believers.

“If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way,’

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.”

The sense of belonging is a powerful motive.  It is in, and among, the “circle of your children” that the dawn of just what Truth really means begins to set in.  The wicked really are chaff. They really are nothing but hot air. They really are destined for the garbage heap.  How did “I” come to see this truth?

The truth was seen and ascertained through the memory and the participation in worship with that circle. Worship confronts the false claims of the counter story.  Worship pulls the veneer off the face of wicked. Worship refocuses the eyes of God’s People in order to see “the rest of the story” [5].  The people of God confess clearly the ground for renewed faith. 

“it [thought of the wicked] seemed to me a wearisome task,

UNTIL I went into the sanctuary of God;

there I perceived their end.”

Sometimes we disciples have very narrow tunnel vision. Scripture is replete with exhortation to have “eyes to see” and “ears to hear.” The training for such seeing and hearing is before the throne of God in prayer and praise.  Worship, like the canonical Psalter, is functionally eschatological. Psalm 1 is true because we know the End! Psalm 73.1 is true because we know the End (by eschatology we do not mean just denying the claim of premillennialists!). The book of Psalms, as Walter Brueggemann observed, in its “final form” is “highly eschatological in nature. It looks forward to the future and passionately yearns for it.” In worship the circle of children experience the future in the present.  The Hebrews Preacher testifies to the eschatological nature of the assembly in 12.18-29.  Worship is not simply a matter of songs sung, instruments played or not played, or those mundane things we expend such great energy upon.  Rather worship is about what the community discovers in Psalm 73 – communion with the King.  In worship we have something that the wicked cannot dream of or imagine.  They are excluded from it by the very nature of things.  Only the “pure in heart” can “see God.” Verse 17 is the saving moment in the life this disciple.  He did not find the answer to the problem of the wicked rather he found fellowship with God among his people. Communion changes what we deem to be "the Truth."

Faith Refocused: Yes! God is Good and Worth Everything

The last section of the psalm the community confesses its dismay over almost falling for the “truth” of the false counter story. The psalm confesses that in our jealousy and bitterness that we had actually become a “monster with you” (v.22). Bitterness is devastatingly revealed in its ugliness. The believers had assumed a monstrous disposition toward the King. God the King is truly merciful. Some of the most powerful and poignant words in all the Bible flow from the person enmeshed with the communities worship …

“Nevertheless I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me with honor.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I

desire other than you,

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.” (vv 23-26)

These are among the “most powerful, daring and treasured” words in the whole “Old Testament” according to Brueggemann. So radically altered is this person’s (i.e. = church) worldview because of the encounter with God in worship that all the old problems of the wicked, the claims of the world, and his own weakness (his flesh is still weak unlike the wicked!) are judged to be nothing.  No riches. No health. No position. No prosperity. Nothing at all! All that is required is God himself.  He is the only necessity of life. The Truth, the real Truth, has been embraced.  This is the renewed faith of the psalm.

Just as in Job there is no solution offered. What is offered is Presence. What is offered is God himself. What the psalmist discovers in the assembly of the children before the throne of God is simply communion with God. Everything else is trivial in perspective. God is good because he gives Israel himself!God is good to the faithful because he brings them, through his grace, into fellowship with him. Reorientation and refocusing takes place through communion with God in worship. Here the truth that the world cannot fathom, appreciate, understand, or even “see” is given freely and graciously to Israel. Resolution consists not in answers but in Encounter, not in rationality, but in letting ourselves to unravel before him. 

As noted above these rich verses take on power precisely because they were not, and are not, arrived at without going through the heat of Death Valleys. This is the confession of the people of tried faith, of people who have faced the mocking, jeering crowd. It is the faith of those who have heard the evidence but have been with God.  It is the faith of those who have chosen to bear the scandal of the King. 

Taking It All In, the Scope of Ps 73

The placement of Ps 73 is hardly accidental. Opening up Book III it provides sort of a summary what the community has learned through the first 72 psalms. What is that lesson? Blessedness is not material prosperity (though that at times comes) but with the assurance of God’s gracious Presence in the midst of his community and in our lives. Israel shall not be moved precisely because it is rooted in the Presence of God. [6]

Psalm 73 affirms what Paul confesses in Romans 8.37-39

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors  through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In the light of the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah - who read, breathed and prayed the psalms, including Ps 73 - our faith is victory because of his faithfulness.  Psalm 73 calls us to have a faith oriented to the “End.” That is the goal of God’s creative and redemptive work.  Through our worship, celebrating the Lord’s Supper is but one example, we begin to live the “End” in the present.  Through this orientation we do indeed confess the truth of Psalm 73 and the whole Psalter ...

1) God does in fact Reign.

2) We do in fact belong to God.

3) No experience separates us from the reality of God’s Presence.

4) Blessedness means to live in dependence upon God and in community, not upon ourselves.

5) Renewed faith and correct “seeing” come through Encounter with God in Worship.

6) Yes! Got is Good to Israel!! He can Be Trusted!!

Notes:

1] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary (Augsburg, 1984), 115

2] J. Clinton McCann, Jr, “Psalm 73: A Microcosm of Old Testament Theology,’ in The Listening Heart (ed. Kenneth Hoglund; JSOT 1987), 247-257.

3] Walter Brueggemann, “Bounded by Obedience and Praise: The Psalms as Canon,” JSOT 50 (1991), 81.

4] Claus Westermann, The Living Psalms (Eerdmans 1984), 134

5] Brueggemann, “Bounded by Obedience and Praise,” pp. 85-86.

6] John Goldingay, Psalms Volume 2: Psalms 42-89 (Baker Academic 2007), 417-419.

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Image of the Invisible God: Meditations on Col 1.15-20, Pt 5

for in him all the fullness

was pleased to dwell

and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself

All Things

whether on earth or in heaven

by making Shalom [peace] through the blood of his cross.

There has been a major shift in Paul’s melody since the first half of his song. Those "lyrics"  focused upon Jesus’ cosmic work as Creator, and the grace that brings to us.  Now the tune is cosmic work of Christ as Redeemer. This pairing, “creation” and “redemption,” is something Paul gets from his Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).   Both creation and redemption strike the cord of God’s cosmic, eternal, unending love! Sing Psalm 136 to see how the Bible turns these themes into almost a mantra.  God’s world began in an act of creative love (Genesis 1-2).  Yet God’s creation was vandalized by Sin (Genesis 3-11). Think of the most beautiful “THING” you can imagine. Multiply that beauty by a billion. Now you may have some notion of the Art of God in creation.  Now imagine that beautiful THING with the most disgraceful GRAFFITI … this is sort of like the Vandalism of Creation by Sin.

Paul strains at the notes in this new hymnic verse because the Cosmic Christ reaches out with even greater love (if that is possible!!) to win back, to restore, to renew, to repair, to undo the Fall of All Things! of All Creation! 

The scope of the Gospel of the Cosmic Christ is breathtakingly beautiful.  It is stunning in fact.  Why? Because the One who created all THINGSrefuses to give up on all those THINGS. The conflict that has inhabited God’s creation since Genesis 3: the hatred, the mistreatment, the oppression, the loneliness, the racism, the vandalism of creation, the sexism, the selfishness, the plain ugliness of evil …  Jesus in, and through, his own material physical body (1.21) made of the very THINGS he had created … reconciled it all … resolved the conflict, brought redemption and SHALOM through that body of flesh for the purpose of redeeming not only his own human body but EVERYTHING in heaven and earth, visible and invisible that he had created.

Through Jesus, the Image of God, God brought about peace {shalom} between himself and all that has been created. This includes you, me, us, what is above, what is seen and what is not.  The lyric of Paul is simply breathtaking. It leaves me speechless.

Musings: How big of a gospel do you believe in? Is the Gospel beautiful?

Prayer

Ask God to give you eyes to see the universe, and everything in it, as something that Christ created and for which he died … and for which he conquered death for. God open my eyes.

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Image of the Invisible God: Meditations on Col 1.15-20, Pt 4

He is the beginning

the Firstborn from the dead

so that he might come to have first place in everything

With the beginning of this new verse, Paul begins to point in the radical new direction of redemption and renewed creation.  To say that Jesus is “the beginning” here does no refer to Creation which was the refrain of the previous verses.  Rather Jesus is now seen, not as Creator, but rather the one who has participated in the most common human trait across every race in the world – death.  But Jesus did something that is not common, he did not stay dead. A new reality has begun.  The new age has broken in because Jesus, the Creator, has conquered the grave (one of those “dominions” … Revelation 20.14). Jesus came back and is thus the “Firstborn from the dead!”  This is Resurrection.  Easter. The new Age of hope.  The Future is Now in Christ’s Resurrection from the dead.

Do you want to know why Jesus is Lord? Do you want to know why Jesus has “first place” in “everything?” Do you want to know why Jesus is not second to George Bush, Barak Obama, Buddha, Mohammad, Bobby Valentine … or even you? There is one simple reason according to Paul. That reason is Mohammad when he died, and he did die, remained dead.  When Confucius died, and he did, he turned to dust. If Bobby Valentine dies, he will remain in the grave. Because he is dead.  Jesus is first and foremost for the simple fact of history (not make believe) that though he did die – he did not stay dead! This is what makes Christ different, unique, and in a category that none can touch.  He was killed on the cross.  That is a fact! On the third day the earth shook and the gates of death were destroyed by the Image of God! That is almost unbelievable.  And what is more is that because of Jesus’ resurrection Bush, Obama, Muhammad, Buddha, and Bobby Valentine … and you … will also be raised from the dead one glorious day. 

God created the cosmos through the Cosmic Christ.  When the world became vandalized the creator became its one chance of hope … Thus Jesus died to save what he made.  Through his resurrection he brought the future into the now.

MUSINGS: Do you believe what Paul sings? Is Christ “first” that is supreme in everything? What in your life have you not surrendered to Christ.

Prayer

Father God, grant me insight through your Holy Spirit into the magnificence of your Christ. Grant that my faith will grow into unshakable faith in the bodily resurrection of your Son, Christ Jesus. Help me Father to truly make Jesus the Lord of my life as he is already the Lord of the universe.  Take any part of me not surrendered to him and make it his. Defeat me when I resist his direction and claim to be First in all I say, do, or think.  Amen.

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Image of the Invisible God: Meditations on Col 1.15-20 #1

For the next few days I will be offering a series of short meditations on the Christ Hymn in Colossians 1. It is my prayer that they be helpful ... 

He is the IMAGE

of the invisible God

the firstborn of all creation (1.15)

Facebook. YouTube. Pinterest. Tumbler. Instagram.  How many followers? How many “likes?” Ours is a culture, more than ever before, that is obsessed with the word “image.”

We all post on at least one of these social media outlets most of us more than one, and some probably all of them. We want people to see that we have an interesting life.  That we have it together. That we have our mojo on. That we have our game together. What we do not do is post bad pictures of ourselves.  We avoid those certain angles.  We untag ourselves in those pix that a friend graciously put online that are funny but uncomplimentary.

The Bible tells us that God is just as concerned about his “image” as we are of ours. The images that so many have of him do not actually come from his own Facebook account. People often tag him in a status or picture that is not him at all.   The false pictures show up repeatedly in the “Old Testament” when people would create images of God.  God calls such false pictures idolatry.  Thus Israel was forbidden making images of the Lord in any fashion or any form.  We did not listen and kept making false pictures of God.

God’s reply to all humanity is this: If you want to know who I am, if you want to know what I look like, if you want to know how I think … here is the “image” of myself so you can know.  That image is Christ. 

He is the IMAGE of the invisible God.  When God took his iPhone or Droid and took a picture of himself and posted it on FB, or istagram, what was uploaded was Jesus. What this means is that what you know about Jesus you also know about God. Jesus, as the Image of God, tells you what God is like.  Pictures of Jesus are “images of God.”

Musings: Recall the IMAGES of Jesus that you know.  Write down those images.  What do those images tell you of God? 

  

PrayerThought

End your time this morning thanking God for the Images of himself that he has given us in Jesus.  Commit to the him that you will spend more time looking at his Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler and Pinterest accounts.  They have the names: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

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For the Needy will not Always be Forgotten - The Psalms and the Poor

Welcome to a New Year (2013).  May the Lord of Israel grant us shalom as we wait for final redemption to appear.  As I write the nation of which I live (USA) has descended into virulent verbal war over guns, not just any guns but assault rifles, large magazines (the kind with bullets not words), and even types of ammunition.  I grew up with guns, I like to shoot them, and I respect them.  I find the tone of this "discussion" is unbelievably base (from both sides) and you would think that heaven depends on this ugly debate.  But as much as I like guns I refuse to let that issue become my purpose for being.  Can you imagine beloved, what would happen in the United States if we were as insanely passionate about genuine biblical justice and shalom as the Bill of Rights? For those out there that speak so pervasively about the pattern (I think they frequently have a make believe pattern like Alice in Wonderland) but are deathly silent on the real pattern of concern for the poor as a matter of kingdom obligation in Scripture.  So my first blog of 2013 is not about guns but about the real pattern - the pattern of neighborly love - of caring for the poor, seeking shalom for all God's creation, and living out God's justice. The Psalms (a book an elder once said to me "It is a shame Psalms is in the Old Testament there are some good passages in there") reveals the heart of God's concern ... through worship.

Worship and Justice

I take my title from Psalm 9.18, "For the needy will not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor will not die forever." In Churches of Christ (I will generalize here) we have been raised on a diet of worship that has focused primarily upon mechanics. Is it lawful to sing during the Lord's Supper? Is it according to the pattern to have one or multiple cups? Are worshiping falsely (= in vain) if we use a pitch pipe or a rhythm guitar (no to the former and yes to the latter!).  These, and similar questions, that have consumed our corporate thinking are issues of mechanics.  Zeal for them has often let us believe that our Gatherings were "in spirit and truth" if we abstained from these innovations.  But we have failed to see that none of these questions actually bring us back to Scripture and its vision of worship.  Biblical false worship castigated in the prophets focused on the lack of implementation in Israelite daily life of the vision of God's world of shalom encountered in their holy assemblies. Thus when Yahweh rejects Israel's worship in Amos 5.23 it is not because God really hates harps as some zealously imagine [1].  The text reads

"Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." (5.23-24)

Yahweh has already rejected their worship (vv. 21-22). But Amos is not telling us God is opposed to Israel's worship because of harps nor is he opposed to the "songs" being sung.  What songs are those? Almost certainly the songs sung are what becomes part our book of Psalms - songs of the kingdom! Rather what is nauseating to the Lord, is the failure of the worshipers to appreciate the connection between their Gathered worship and neighborly love ... i.e. justice. Vain worship is in fact possible!  But it is not simply a matter of "mechanical instruments of music."  Vain worship is leaving the assembly without a commitment to spread the love of God to those around us.  Worship demands our (my) involvement in cultivating the vision of the world that is proclaimed in and through worship.

What "Songs" Were Offered

Amos mentions the "songs" that God rejects.  God loves David's lyrical poetry but he felt about Israel daring to sing such music the same way many Evangelicals would about Madonna singing "Mary Did You Know!" The chasm between the lyrics and the life of the person singing is rightly appalling. I will return to Pss 9-10 below but here is a sampling of the lyrics offered to God in prayer and Gathered worship ... [2]

"O LORD, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
from those to strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who 
crush them" (35.10)

"Happy/Blessed are those who consider the poor;
the LORD delivers them in the day of trouble.
The LORD protects them and keeps the alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up the will of their enemies.
The LORD sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you all their infirmities" (41.1-3)

"Father of orphans, defender of widows,
such is God in his holy dwelling;
God gives the lonely a permanent home,
makes prisoners happy by setting them free" (68.5-6, JB)

"Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
O LORD, make haste to help me!
Let those be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life ...
Let those who love your salvation
say ever more that "God is Great!'
But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay" (70. 1-5)

"Give the king your justice, O God ...
May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
and give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor ...
For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the week and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood (i.e. life) in his sight" (72.2-4; 12-14)

These, and many more, kingdom songs of Israel were rejected by God.  Not because they used harps to sing them nor because the theology is "this worldly."  Rather they were rejected precisely because the Israelites did not live the words they offered to God as their sacrifice of praise. These ancient hymns invite both Israel of old, and us today, to believe in a certain kind of God and a certain kind of world in which he is King. Daring to enter the gracious Presence of Yahweh and singing the songs of his kingdom is an act (yes act - I know that some of my friends don't like that word) that commits us to implement the vision of justice and shalom not only for ourselves but for our neighbors - so they too may have justice and shalom in God's world.

But we often do not hear these ancient kingdom songs. There are multiple reasons for this. First in our religious tradition the Hebrew Scriptures as a whole have mostly been mined for three purposes if at all 1) messianic prophecy; 2) polemical use in debates on the mechanics of worship listed above; and 3) occasional character studies of such people as Joseph, Hannah, Samuel and David.  Second because these texts were not among the "good passages" in the Psalms the elder mentioned - he liked Ps 23 - they did not become part of our functional canon.  But the loss of the "Old Testament" and the laments or cries for help in the Psalms from our daily prayers and our theology is "costly" [3].

Loosing the Songs of the Kingdom

But God does not want these songs of the kingdom lost. What God desires is for the vision of these psalms to become the pattern of our life as we live for him in in a fallen world full of injustice. It seems there are at least three serious costly consequences in our communal and personal lives when we either rarely sing/pray these psalms or never encounter them at all:

1) We silence the voice of the victims of injustice both in Scripture and "life" and thus have no "ears to hear"

2) We fail to have "eyes to see" and thus do not recognize injustice and those performing it - indeed we may end up siding with the oppressors

3) We are robbed of the opportunity to pray for and commit ourselves to the pursuit of God's kingdom and righteousness in our lives and his shalom in the world [4].

Constant exposure to the Story of God in the wider canon and the singing of the songs of the kingdom remind us that God is the God of the poor.  Through constant exposure to the songs Israel sang, but did not live, we come to embrace the vision that David Lipscomb grasped with clarity.  That vision is captured in this radical statement by the then editor of the Gospel Advocate:

"The poor of this world were the chosen vessels of mercy, the especially honored and blessed of God. They, as a class, constitute his elect."

Rather than a few isolated texts of "whiners" as WASP's may be tempted to look at the voices in
the Psalms, we come to embrace them as the voices of God's elect (to use DL's words).  Even if I, or you, have never experienced the poverty, the pain, the suffering, the humiliation of our humanity that many do, God in his wisdom and grace is giving us the opportunity to identify with the victims in an act of neighborly love and make their prayers our prayers and the concerns of their lives the concerns of ours.  Israel, perhaps, found it more profitable to be on the side of winners rather than the losers.

The Needy Will Not Always Be Forgotten

"But the LORD sits enthroned forever,
he has established his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble ...
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion ...
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted ...
For the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever ... (9.7-9, 12, 18)

I began with Psalm 9-10 and I want to return here. This psalm, or song of the kingdom, gives us a special window not only on the victim but also to the purveyor of injustice. We have a lyrical portrait - from the perspective of the victim - of the ones seeking gain anyway then can get it (See 10.4, 6, 11, 13). What emerges from this song sung in Gathered worship is the picture of one who is self-centered and believes he answers to no one for his economic choices (this is common in the Psalms see Pss 3.1-2; 14.1; 42.10; 53.1; 64.5-6; 73.11; 79.10; 115.2).  In fact what is being described sounds very much like business as usual in most corporate contexts.

But in worship we confess that Yahweh is in fact King "enthroned forever ... upon his throne for judgment" (9.7). Merely by confessing his Lordship, we deny the life and the values of the oppressor.  Those with illusions of power and self-control imagine, we confess in the kingdom song, are deluded because we declare "But you do see!! (10.14).  We side with the King in our worship.  We confess to a reality that is not seen nor believed by the powerful. In in the world of worship we cast aside our unwitting embrace of oppressive values - even economic values - that take away the dignity of our neighbor. We sing the songs of the kingdom of remembering the poor and then we become the living words of the song in flesh and blood.

Final Thoughts

We end where we began. Worship and justice cannot be separated in the biblical pattern. True worship results in lives that are sound and Spiritually healthy in the Pauline sense. True worship is about a vision of the God who is King. In our Gathered worship we are reminded that Yahweh calls for more than a melody emanating from our vocal chords. He demands that we "do justice" (Micah 6.8). The poor will not be forgotten.  The victims of those "who can" will not be erased from the story.  The widows shafted by corporations is seen by God. The children living on the street cold and hungry do not fall between God's cracks. The "aliens" who are used and abused to avoid paying taxes or a fair wage have the King's ear. Because we dare to come into his Presence, sit at his Table, read his Scriptures, and sing his songs ... then they better have ours.  Our singing of the songs of the kingdom lead us to be the one's who answer the Lord's Prayer - we live his will on earth as we see in the vision of heaven in worship.  When that happens the poor will never be forgotten among God's people.

Notes:

1] See Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah: Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1987), 353-356 on the text and context.

2] For fellowship with the poor as a "means of grace" see my book with John Mark Hicks, Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding (Leafwood, 2006), 93-109.

3] See his rich essay "The Costly Loss of Lament," JSOT 36 (1986):

4] For an outstanding look at the Psalms as "Hope for the Poor" and the toxic consequences of silencing certain texts see J. Clinton MCann's "The Hope of the Poor: The Psalms in Worship and Our Search for Justice," in Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship, ed. Carol M. Bechtel (Eerdmans 2008), 155-178.

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Christmas is Made for BOOKS!! A 2012 Reader's List

"Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed." - Anne Rice

"We read to know we are not alone" - C. S. Lewis

"Books are to be called for and supplied on the assumption that the process of reading is not a half-sleep; but in the highest sense an exercise, a gymnastic struggle; that the reader is to do something for himself." - Walt Whitman

 "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." - Frederick Douglass

I am frequently asked about books and reading material. This year's Christmas list of the top ten books to get and read consists of works I have read this past year and have recommended to various people. My list will be eclectic this year with a few old numbers and current hits.  Each, and all, of these books are worthy of your attention and will bless your walk with the Lord as we seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.

The book Christmas tree is in my office. It includes Homer, Taylor Branch, Martin Heidegger, Robert Burnham, Ernst Troeltsch,Walter Brueggemann, Dava Sobel, A. A. Milne, Alexander Campbell, Peter Gay, Gregory of Nyssa, W. F. Albright and a few others who would never be associated except in my book tree.  :-) 

1) Randolph Richards & Brandon O'Brien, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. This is probably the best work on biblical interpretation on a popular level of the year. Not just another book on theoretical foundations or why parables are not epistles.  This work introduces non-scholars to the "hidden" cultural assumptions in Scripture that shape its meaning is profound ways. The chapter on collectivism (communalism) vs "individualism" alone is worth the price of the book.  This emphasis in Scripture is completely missed by most American Evangelicals and radically distorts our vision the Christian faith.  While not a flawless work the authors have done a marvelous job of bringing Western, modern, post-Enlightenment believers to breath the air of the Eastern, ancient, pre-Scientific of the Bible. This work opens our eyes as Westerners to the world of biblical people and shows us how to "enter in." The prose are lively and the illustrations are clear and contemporary and make for a great read. Bible reading is at its most fundamental level a profoundly cross-cultural experience. We cannot but be more informed Bible readers by digesting this book.

2) Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin ed & annotated by Henry Louis Gates & Hollis Robbins. I first read Stowe in the late 1990s, revisited a couple years ago and have just finished it again as part of a larger project. In the last few years there has been some discussion whether it should be the quintessential American novel. If you have never actually read this classic (classics are "classic" but often not read) perhaps you should find out the reason why it was in fact the best selling book of the 19th century after the Bible and why - unlike the Da Vinci Code - it actually changed the world.You may be amazed that old Uncle Tom is nothing like the stereotyped "Uncle Tom" you have heard ... I will be posting a blog on Uncle Tom's Cabin and its use of Scripture in the next day or two.

3) Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God  Truly one of the great little books in the world. Small in size but St. Bernard is a feast for the mind and the heart. Each page, even paragraphs, have the potential of leading to hours of reflection. This is a book that must be eaten.

4) Mirsolav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response . Volf is one of the premier theological thinkers of the present age. He is Conservative and Evangelical and interested in taking the Christian faith into the public square. This is an incredibly important book which is surprisingly easy to read. Volf seeks a position that can foster the common good of peace in the world and yet honor the true differences between Islam and Christianity. He does argue, and I believe convincingly, that Christians and Muslims do in fact worship the same God - that is if monotheism is true.  This does not erase serious differences between the two in fact Volf does not mash us all together in one big happy family. However we can live peacefully ... from a Christian point of view ... in a pluralistic world. You will be challenged, you will think deeply, you will argue with Volf I promise you, but if you listen I believe you will be enriched and blessed for having read this stimulating book.

5) Sara Gaston Barton, A Woman Called: Piecing together the Ministry Puzzle Where do you come down on women preaching? It really does not matter to be blessed by this work.  Anyone who has, in their soul, felt that God has led them to a vocation in life will be enriched.  Barton takes us on a wonderful journey, though uniquely her own it is also one that I have shared as a minister of the word. This is one of the most recent books I've read and I confess I could not put it down. I had the whole book read in a single night. I, of course, made annotations to affirm my "amens," occasional "hmmmmmm" and even one or two "I'm not so sure."   The book sort of lures you into the narrative and takes the rarefied air of exegesis and theology and places it within the incarnation of a single woman wanting to serve God with all her heart ... and mind.  Suddenly we see that exegesis and theology actually have real life implications. It is a wonderful and even loving book. This is a book you should read though.

6) Edward J. Robinson, I Was Under a Heavy Burden: The Life of Annie C. Tuggle. My friend Edward Robinson continues to do a yeoman's task of resurrecting the history of African-American Churches of Christ.  This small biography, however, combines excavation in black history and women disciples of Christ. Here is the story of tragedy and triumph, of struggle against racism and sexism, of finding security in the Lord in the face of abusive marriage and divorce. While engaged in the struggle in her own life Tuggle sought to be a blessing to all around her.  She is one of the unsung heroes of the Churches of Christ.  If you want to be motivated by a cross-bearer then this is a book you should read.

7) Thomas Chatterton Williams, Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture  Williams is a "young" secular writer engaging in a work of "cultural criticism" while at the same time bearing witness to the power of the influence of a father in the lives of sons or daughters. I have personally given out eight copies of this book to different people.  If only we could learn to engage in the kind of reflection Williams has done with the additional lens of the kingdom of God.  This is a wonderful book and I pray it bears much fruit.

8) N. T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God  Wright needs no introduction to most of the readers of this blog, he is (IMHO) simply the foremost NT theologian of the present era. But Wright has never been content to remain within the ivory towers of academia rather he believes scholarship must serve faith.  And we find that in this book.  A revision of his earlier work The Last Word this title includes two new chapters and applications. Outstanding work that holds much promise for our use of the Bible in our fellowship.

9) Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer that Changed My Life and Just Might Change the World. Richard Stearns is one of my heroes. He was successful by worldly standards (i.e. wealthy). Yet he found himself struggling with how his faith actually made any difference in the real world ... honestly it does not make any real world difference for some believers. Now the president of World Vision he challenges us to see the real "hole" in our gospel of comfort, gospel of success, gospel of "me," and embrace the massive amount of biblical teaching on changing the world and addressing poverty.  Easy to read but one of those books that will demand a response as you engage it. 

10) Alister McGrath, Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith. McGrath has been, over the last 10-15 years, one of my favorite authors. He is a man with not one but two PhDs.  One is in microbiology and the other in theology.  I had been reading McGrath for years and profiting from his historical and theological studies before I knew that he was actually a former atheist.  This work is now one of a number McGrath has authored on the subject of apologetics.  In this one he looks at our cultural situation and helps understand that apologetics and evangelism are not necessarily the same thing. One valuable aspect of Mere Apologetics is the recognition we live in a postmodern world. This work sees itself in line with C. S. Lewis' classic Mere Christianity and it is evident that McGrath has absorbed much of Lewis's legacy.  This is a good book and I believe you will be blessed through wrestling with it.

Bonus Books.  For me, one of the most fascinating books I read this year likely will never become a best seller.  That book is Larry Hurtado's The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins. This book is not simply about textual criticism though it clearly has relevance for that.  Rather Hurtado suggests that early Christian mss are witnesses to a Christian culture and that culture sheds light on the nature and history of early Christianity that is overlooked and even outright neglected by both NT scholars and church historians.  What do the texts themselves tell us about the people who made them and read them? Why did Christians adopt the codex so early and so universally? Do the texts testify that early Christianity was an integrated community ... that is one that was in contact with itself in various parts of the world.  The surprising answer to that is yes!  A wonderful chapter is on the phenomena of the nomina sacra in early Christian texts.  This book is a unique window into the world of Christianity in the second and third centuries and probably even the first.  I loved it.

Don't forget my own books if you are looking for a stocking stuffer :-).  Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James A. Harding and also A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Sacred Encounter.

Tolle Lege,
Bobby Valentine

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Daniel & the Life of Faith

A few thoughts on the Book of Daniel that emerged from reflecting early this morning ...

Every person who has been baptized into Christ has been born again by God's grace. Christians, therefore, exist in what may be called a state of grace or a state of salvation. Because we believe the testimony of God's Spirit through Scripture and his witness to our spirit, we know we are his.

Yet every person who is, by grace, in Christ also knows that Satan has not put a "Do Not Disturb" sign around us. Rather he has hung a Bull's Eye on us in order to destroy us. Christians know more than their critics that living a godly, holy and Spirit-filled life is a struggle. Paul even compared it to warfare! So we look for resources to live a life of faithfulness before God.

The stories in the book of Daniel were written precisely to help God's people face the assaults that come from a hostile and pagan world - the attacks of the Enemy. From the book of Daniel we learn two important truths about discipleship: we must have a strong sense of identity and we must have integrity.

Daniel does have a strong sense of identity. He knew that he belonged to God. In chapter one he refused to "defile himself" which meant he did not allow himself to be put under obligation to a pagan king (1.8). In chapter nine Daniel prays to Yahweh, this prayer reveals his deep roots in the story of Israel with God. Daniel knew if he was not only to survive in a worldly, pagan environment he needed a strong sense of "who he was and whose he was" - identity. His identity was rooted in and derived from the God of heaven.

Daniel also had a strong sense of integrity. His integrity was that of faith. From reading the book of Daniel we see this young man was a student of Scripture and a prayer warrior. Twice this man of God is indebted to Jeremiah (2.36-38, cf. Jer 27.6-7; and 9.2-3, cf Jer 29.10) and frequently uses language from Ezekiel. Daniel's faith had integrity. He knew he would not be able to live faithfully without constant feeding upon Story of God in Scripture. When he needed insight or strength, Daniel had God's word imprinted on his heart due to his habit of meditating upon it.

Daniel's integrity is also seen in his prayer life. Few characters in the Bible are said to have prayed as often as Daniel. He prays in ch. 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12. The reason Daniel was put in the dungeon with wild lions was because of his commitment to prayer.

Daniel, who was kidnapped from his homeland as a youth, was taken to a strange land, a land of a different language, different values, and different religion. It would have been easy for him to throw in the towel on living as a resident alien for Yahweh - but he didn't. We live in a world very similar to the world of the book of Daniel. We are exiles in a foreign land. But if we have a strong sense of identity, we are God's people and have integrity to spend time to be nourished by Scripture and prayer, I believe we will live lives full of faith for God our King.

Do you know who you are? Do you have integrity before God? - the questions of the Book of Daniel.

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Fiddler, Tradition, & God's Word

Tradition. It is something each one of us values and shares. We have national traditions and we have family traditions. It is a national tradition to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and cookouts. It is a national tradition, for many, to place flowers on the graves of soldiers on Memorial Day. With these traditions we pass on certain values to our children that we want them to have. We want them to value freedom and recognize the cost of it. And these are worthy values.

In our families we have traditions. We have traditions around Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. We might cook a turkey a certain way, do certain things on vacation, enjoy certain pastimes - all traditional. And there is nothing wrong, per se, with these traditions in the least.

In the church we have lots of traditions. Tradition in church, like family and nation, can be good. Tradition can give us a sense of continuity and identity - good values in themselves. But tradition can also be unhealthy in each of these areas when we become blind to the fact that we do indeed have tradition. Sometimes we might even mistake our tradition as the will of God and demand conformity to our way of doing things.

Traditions are nothing more than the invention of some human through the years. Each arose out of a real life need. Examples. Why do churches across the land have service at 11 am? It is pure tradition rooted in the 19th century. Farmers milked the cows and then would go to the Gathering for worship. What about songbooks? did the church of God at Corinth have any? What about a "church building?" - did the church of God at Corinth have one? What about tiny crackers and tiny cups for communion? What about "Sunday School?" According to historian Earl West, there were no Churches of Christ with Sunday Schools prior to the first decade of the 20th century. What about exclusive congregational singing? Vacation Bible Schools? etc. All of these are traditions. There is nothing wrong with any of these traditions in and of themselves. But we must always recognize the difference between the Word of God and even a good tradition. Everyone must obey God's Word but nobody has to obey a single one of our traditions! As Jesus said,

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules invented by men" (Matthew 15.8-9)

May we always value our heritage but seek wisdom to recognize that tradition is not the Word of God. May we grant freedom and love in the area of tradition.

Enjoy the video of Tevye from one of the Valentine favorites: Fiddler on the Roof.

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Sabbath: Bridge Between the Commandments (Deut 5.12-15)

Introductory Thoughts

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

The Sabbath is the center of the Ten Words as they are known in Deuteronomy. It forms a bridge from the first half to the second half of the our covenant responsibilities to God and to our fellow creatures. The Sabbath word connects love for God with our love for our neighbor. In other words it deals with our relationship with our Redeemer and our responsibility to our neighbor. Thus it forms the gracious center of the Decalogue.

The Sabbath Word is the only word that is significantly different here in the Deuteronomy than the parallel passage than in Exodus 20. Those differences should not be slighted or passed over in silence but taken in light of the purpose of these respective books.

From even a casual reading of the Ten Words it becomes apparent that God spends more time (and space) on the Sabbath than any of the other words. In this section God gives one explanation as to WHY Israel is to keep this wondrous word. At its root the Sabbath is the most humanitarian and gracious of all God’s commandments. It is vitally important to see the Hebrew perspective on the Sabbath to understand Jesus’ attitude toward it. The Sabbath is the ground of the Second Commandment, the outline of Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ ministry and many other important themes in Scripture. Sabbath should bring, if our minds are shaped by the Story of God, images of grace and love in our mind.

In Exodus the Sabbath is based on creation. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. In Deuteronomy, however, there is no reference to creation at all, instead the Sabbath is rooted and grounded in the mighty redemptive act of Yahweh of rescuing Israel from slavery . . . this is the Hebrew Bible Gospel. According to Deuteronomy we accomplish two things by honoring the Sabbath: 1) we “remember” the work of God in redeeming us; 2)we provide rest for the slaves, aliens and even animals in our care. . . . and ourselves. Redemption and Community!

What this Word Expects from Us

This Word wants those in the believing community to:

1) on a regular basis set aside our normal routine and work activities to gain respite and refreshment. This gives us freedom to relax from the daily grind;

2) that time we take out on a routine basis is set aside in God’s honor, to worship and to simply enjoy what he has done. This is an important aspect of “rest” in Deuteronomy;

3) on that day we are to recall the creating and redeeming work of God. In short we are to remember grace and love;

4) We show grace to others in gratitude for the rest and salvation that Yahweh has granted to the believing community. Toil is not our lot in life . . . the Sabbath reminds us of that.

We in Churches of Christ have had drilled into our heads that the First Day is the Lord’s Day, not the Sabbath. The First Day is Resurrection Day, this is true, but we have, perhaps, allowed a shallow understanding of what the Sabbath was all about to rob us of the grace in this word from God. I have said before, and I will say it again, it is methodologically wrong to read Paul’s debates with legalists and Jesus’ debates with Pharisees back into the Hebrew Bible. Pharisees did not exist in Moses’ day and there were no legalists in his day either . . . this is very important to remember.

The Sabbath is a gift from God to man. Jesus said that God made the Sabbath for man. The Lord’s blessing of a Sabbath is a provision to rise above mere existence. It was meant to bless us . . . not condemn us. Perversion turned it into something it was never intended to be.

As a gift of grace the primary character of the Sabbath is rest and joy. Rest from work and toil. It places in the cycle of life a provision for freedom from tyranny and the oppression of unrelenting labors. It places a check on our own driveness and increased pressure of unceasing demand to get ahead. It calls us to trust in the God who redeems.

Sabbath Eschatology

The Sabbath looks backwards to the grace of God in the Exodus . . . the single greatest miracle in history until the Incarnation of the Word. In breaking from our slavery to work (and dependence upon self), we will be reminded of God’s breaking you free . . . without your working contribution and the greater bondage to sin.

The Sabbath looks forward to our promised Rest with God. This theme is vital our understanding our promise of heaven. The writer of Hebrews states, that we Christians still honor the Sabbath, our goal is the real Sabbath . . . resting in God’s Presence (Hebrews 4).

The Year of Jubilee is an extension of the Sabbath. And this provides the food for thinking about heavenly rest in Hebrews 4. There is an old rabbinic legend that says,

“At on time when God was giving the Torah to Israel, He said to them:
‘My Children! If you accept the Torah and observe my mitvot [i.e. commands] I will give you for all eternity a thing most precious that I have in my possession.’
‘And what,’ asked Israel, ‘ is that precious thing which Thou wilt give us if we obey Thy Torah?’
‘The world to come!’
‘Show us in this world an example of the world to come,’ asked Israel.
‘The Sabbath,’ said the LORD, ‘is the example of the world to come.’”
(Quoted in Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath, p. 73)

"The World to come . . ." I think the Hebrews’ Preacher would nod in approval.

Concluding Thoughts

Regularly setting apart time for the Lord inhibits the human inclination to justify oneself by job or work. The Sabbath is a concrete symbol of God’s saving grace that redeems human life rather than humans saving themselves by work and effort. The Sabbath is a regular time to STOP striving, to STOP trying to keep up with the Jones’, to STOP trying to gain approval by our success. The Sabbath is a chance to GIVE love, time and rest . . . in the name of him who grants us gracious rest.

The Sabbath is the great equalizer, for that day is a fore taste of the Kingdom when all – great or small – are reckoned to be exactly the same and equal. There are no masters and slaves on that day . . . only Family!

There are many texts in the Hebrew Bible related to the Sabbath, find them and relish the images God puts in your mind’s eye. The Sabbath is that picture of the way a community redeemed by the blood will live both in relation to God and to each other. So I encourage us all to cultivate the spiritual discipline of taking a sabbath rest ... the Bridge Between the Commandments to Love our God and Our Fellow Creatures.

Revised Update 1/09/12

This morning I had two emails asking if I could recommend a book or two on the Sabbath day. I will recommend three in descending.

1) The first book I would read on the Sabbath is Abraham J. Heschel's The Sabbath. Heschel was a very insightful Jewish biblical scholar. His small classic on the Sabbath simply changed the way I understood what this day was all about. Read this before anything.

2) Anything by Marva J. Dawn will challenge you and bless your heart and your mind. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly is no exception. She makes a nice compliment to Heschel.

3) Wayne Muller writes in a way that reminds me of Henri J. M. Nouwen and is a feast for the heart. His Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest I have found to be a wonderful guide to spiritual thinking.

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Communion and Prayer: The Fellowship of the Saints

Many people in the last decade and a half have felt their lives lacking something of a "spiritual" nature. We went to "church" on a routine basis but that did not seem to fill the void. I was one of those people. My religious background had prepared me quite well for defending some doctrinal propositions and equipped me for fairly good "bible study." Coming from my background, though, I rarely thought of my journey with God in terms of "relationship" but more in ritualistic terms such as "being a member of the Church" (as I used to put it).

One day, it was 1997, a lady in my congregation came to me and asked me to teach her how to pray. This was a most unusual question for me - isn't that a great irony! Up to this point in my journey prayer was simply something I did . . . a command to fulfill. As a result I can testify that my own prayer life was quite superficial. To be honest I was of no help to this dear sister . . . however she caused me some serious angst. I read in Scriptures of God's People having dynamic "relationships" with God. They were quite conscious of his Presence in their lives.

In my own journey I discovered that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit that I had inherited (based on a certain school of philosophy known as Lockean) made "experiencing" the divine Presence a virtual impossibility. But the more I read the scripture the more I realized that something was not right . . . God did want me to experience his gracious Presence.

Through great passages like Exodus 24.1-11 and Ephesians 1 and 3 I came to see that "communion" is one of the central organizing themes of Scripture. God created us for communion (i.e. relationship and intimacy) and God redeemed us to restore the communion (i.e. relationship and intimacy) that had been lost. The Cross was not and is not an "end" but a "means" to the goal . . . that is intimate, rich, deep, restored communion with the Almighty.

Communion though implies "community." Indeed it demands it! Again, through Bible study I have come to a much more dynamic view of God's Family, the church. In fact God's Church/Family is the greatest "thing" on planet Earth. Paul in Eph. 1.18-19 tells us of God's "riches" concentrated among the saints and in 3.14ff he tells us of a family that is in "heaven and on earth." In the past I had pretty much limited God's church (drastically) to a few "sound" Churches of Christ but this passage (others helped) rewrote my entire ecclesiology. God's family was hardly limited to my "local" fellowship but was cosmic in dimension and transcends not only cultural barriers but also the barriers of history. We have fellowship with God's Family, even those who have gone on before. Paul makes it quite clear that it is together (i.e. in communion!) with "all" the saints we experience, know, God's amazing love and Presence. Of course Hebrews 11 and Revelation reflect this deeper and more "mysterious" notion of communion.

Because of my new found respect and appreciation for God's Family, I have determined that they can be a blessing to my life. How? Through prayer. Perhaps one of the biggest changes in my theology is that I now believe in joining the saints in worship . . . especially prayer!

There is an unbelievably rich heritage of prayer among the saints. I began to pray the Psalms in the mid-1990s but now I also incorporate the prayers that many saints have written down through the ages. I join them, I appropriate their words and make them mine. I did not know how to pray on many occasions (through the dark days of my divorce is but one example) and many of these saints . . . nameless ones . . . have providentially given me a treasure of which I can never repay. Now I feel as if I have plugged into the rhythm of grace and flow with the river of the Spirit.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Seeking Asylum in the Savior: A Brief Review

I recently received a book titled Seeking Asylum in the Savior: The Road to the Cross is not a Cul-De-Sac from its author Steven Clark Goad. I want to begin this brief review by thanking Steven for his kindness for the book and also thank him for helping us to reflect on our Lord in a powerful way.

Seeking Asylum is a work of devotion in more ways than one. The work is devoted to helping Christians focus on Jesus in a more concentrated way and it is also attempting to help disciples become imitators of the one they confess. Steven is a great word smith and he paints some really moving pictures through the book.

Seeking Asylum is divided up into eight chapters: Our Awesome Savior; The Savior Who Blesses; The Savior Who Understands; The Savior Who Weeps; The Savior Who Creates; The Savior Who Smiles; The Savior Who Frowns; and The Savior Who Gives & Forgives. Each of these chapters is made up of short essays that sort of touch on the main theme in that chapter. If you are familiar with Jim McGuiggan's Jesus, Hero of My Soul the pattern is similar.

Some of the images are captivating, Steven has a spiritual gift for story-telling. I love verbal portrait of "my Lord with sawdust in his hair and calluses on his hands" (p. 22). Or picture of getting over our narcissism in "The Church of Goad" (pp. 124-126). Or evangelism as "one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread" (p. 186). Another short chapter that I have already referred to my classes is "What Kind of Church Is This, Anyway?" One of my favs in the book "Is it Ok to Ask Why" (pp. 96-99) is one every parent, Sunday school teacher and preacher needs to drink deeply from ... the Bible is literally filled with the question of "why." Steven is writing healthy stuff here.

I had only one "footnote" I added to the book and it came near the beginning. In an outstanding chapter, "The Power of the Resurrection" (pp. 30-32). Steven writes, "The power of the resurrection testifies that souls are saved!" For the record I am with Steven in calling attention to the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is absolutely central and needs more and more and more emphasis. We need to talk about the resurrection on more than Easter. Yet "salvation" is so often understood in Evangelical circles in terms that flirt with either neo-gnostic or platonic understandings. The resurrection of Jesus is promise from God that my own body will be saved not simply my soul. Paul speaks of "the redemption of our bodies" not the salvation of our souls in a Platonic sense (Romans 8.9-30, esp. v.23) The resurrection of Jesus is God's promise that he has not abandoned creation. Now Steven does not deny any of that. He statement just participates in a way of talking that encourages Christians to believe all that matters to God is something we cannot see ... and of course I know Steven does not believe that.

Overall I think Seeking Asylum in the Savior is a book that can help us do just that. Its memorable pictures and humorous way of commenting on the Christian life will help us steer clear of any journey stopping cul-de-sacs. I suggest the best way to encounter this book is not to simply read it all the way through in one setting. Rather I recommend reading one chapter a day with a friend or spouse and mull over the story. I believe by the end you will indeed find yourself finding a safe place with Jesus on the grand adventure we call discipleship ...

Shalom
Bobby Valentine

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