Desperately Seeking SPIRIT-uality: Connecting to God's Refreshing Spirit

This post dates way back to the turn of the Millennium. I received an invitation from Jerry Rushford (on the recommendation of Tom Olbricht) to teach at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. Lots of water has gone under the bridge since 2001, and my own thinking has matured and gone through the Valley of Achor, yet I hope that the direction of my thinking then continues to point in the right direction. I might say things slightly different now than then and I pray my depth is deeper now but overall I still believe this presentation. This presentation at Pepperdine was what I would call "soundings" and I invite you to ruminate upon them in that "spirit" as well.

Desperately Seeking SPIRIT-uality: Connecting to God's Refreshing Spirit
Pepperdine University Bible Lectures

Opening

On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which brought the USA into World War II. While most anguished that night over the loss of life and the prospect of an arduous road ahead, one man perceived things differently. This man had been fighting a war for three years already. This man had watched France fall in lightening speed. This man had endured Nazi bombers blasting English cities. This man for three years had not slept peacefully. But ironically that all changed on December 7. This man saw Pearl Harbor not as defeat but as victory. On December 8, 1941 this man wrote these words,

"So we HAD won after all! I had studied the American Civil War ... American blood flowed in my veins ... I thought of a remark ... that the United States is like a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate! Being saturated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."

That man's name was Winston Churchill.

The mere presence the USA in that bloody war convinced Churchill he had already gained victory. The United States had done nothing, as of yet, but he slept the sleep of the saved and thankful. In the midst of the chaos of England, the news of Pearl Harbor was the news of power, not weakness, to Churchill. The day of infamy was a day of victory simply because that "gigantic boiler" was now pumping on England's behalf.

I can identify with Churchill. I stand before you today not as a spiritual master but as a pygmy. I stand as one, who for so long, who felt as if I was meeting the onslaught of forces beyond my stamina ... alone! I stand before you as one who has often had that fitful sleep of uneasiness. But one day, much to my joy, I "discovered" that boiler much more potent than the mighty United States was on my side ... God's Refreshing SPIRIT.

First Move: Non-SPIRIT-ual Confessions

I grew up in North Alabama Churches of Christ. In fact I cannot remember when I did not go to "church." My dad led a wonderful and godly example of quietly reading his Bible every night sitting by his bed. He often had some study books (Nave's Topical Study Bible, Unger's Bible Handbook, Strong's and even Josephus!) spread out as he delved into God's Word. That image of my dad has remained vivid in my mind to this day. In my family we prayed especially at meal times. I went to college and got a BS in Bible, went to graduate school for the MA and MDiv, I have been preaching for years and I cultivated those practices. Bible reading and praying in gratitude for the blessings the Lord provided for me, Pamella, Rachael and Talya.

Be that as it may ... in all honesty we were not giants of prayer or spiritual discernment. Prayer was more a perfunctory matter than a vehicle to intimacy with our Abba. I confess that I did not have a SPIRIT-ual relationship with God, his Son, or his Spirit. This became apparent to me around 1998 when a sister asked of me two things. She wanted me to

1) teach her to pray
2) teach her to worship

She said she wanted to have a "deeper relationship with God." I freely confess that I would have been much more comfortable is she would have asked me to teach her to study the Bible.

"Relationship with God" had always been viewed suspiciously in my neck of the woods. That was a Baptist phrase. I was accustomed to speak of "being a member of the church." I had a "relationship with the church" ... not God, Jesus and certainly not with the SPIRIT himself.

I again confess, sadly now, that this sister caused angst in my life. My religion was almost completely cerebral ... it was a head faith. I loved God, Jesus and even the Spirit though the he made me nervous. Something was awry!

As Robert Richardson cautioned in that Restoration classic of spirituality, Communings in the Sanctuary, "it is this religion {i.e. of the head/intellect} that inspires that spiritual pride which dogmatizes in matters of opinion and that intolerant bigotry which persecutes in matters of faith" (p.24) ...

This relationship talk could be just a smokescreen for shoddy bible study. Indeed, spirituality (or piety as spirituality is sometimes reduced to) has been, at times, disparaged by some significant leaders in Churches of Christ. R. H. Boll, for example, was renown in his day as man of prayer. But in the eyes of his nemesis, R. L. Whiteside, this made him suspect. Whiteside, commenting directly on Boll's spiritual demeanor, chides "when a man boasts {something Boll did not do btw} of his honesty, veracity, piety and devotion ... well anybody but dupes become suspicious" (Christ and His Kingdom, pp. 23f). I can relate to RLWs words because I have believed them and lived them.

Signs of the Refreshing SPIRIT

But the simple questions of that dear sister would not go away. Like a poltergeist floating around my noggin I began to come to grips with the terrifying fact that though I had been baptized, and took the Lord's Supper routinely, and deeply studied the Bible ... I did not know how to pray, and though I was a Christian I had precious little "relationship with God, Christ or his Spirit." I was comfortable talking about God but I was not comfortable communing with God.

I firmly believed, by this time, in God's saving grace and I believed in the indwelling Spirit. I proclaimed we were saved by God's grace through faith (to the best of my ability). But now, I suspect, that I misunderstood the PURPOSE of my salvation.

I believe, now, that God did not send his Son simply to remove the stain of sin. He did do that. But the goal, the reason, was not simply to forgive sin (though he does that praise his name). Rather Jesus shed his blood so that we (I) could have restored communion with God. The goal of salvation was not the removal of sins. That was a means to the goal. The telos was restoration of communion, the restoration of fellowship ... Restoration of intimate intimacy.

We all believe that we will be in God's Presence in the eschaton. But now I believe we have that glorious fellowship NOW ... the goal of our salvation. We have that through God's refreshing Holy Spirit. Many of our Fathers understood what I did not clearly. To quote from Robert Richardson again,

"To establish and maintain this communion is the great end of religion. To unite the soul to God; to erect in the human heart a living temple for his abode; to secure the enjoyment of that Divine presence which is the earnest of eternal blessedness: these are its noble and exalted aims -- its truest, holiest purposes. And oh! how intimate is that fellowship to which we are thus introduced by the true and living Word ... As sons to a compassionate father, we approach him to hear his words; to rejoice in his power, wisdom, and love; to cast our cares upon him and to repose in the faithful assurances of his unceasing favor" (Communings, p. 45)

Interestingly, it was from walking with giants of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement like Robert Richardson, James A. Harding and K. C. Moser that I felt God seeking my heart as well as my brain. I began to see that SPIRIT-uality was not simply being good or even pious. SPIRIT-uality is nothing short than the Holy Spirit himself God's communion and operation in our lives. And slowly (and I mean slowly) I began to learn that it is ok to "walk with the Spirit."

Signposts of God's Refreshing Spirit

This notion of communion with God, I believe now, one of the central unifying themes of all Scripture. God created us for communion. God recreates us through his Son for communion. God wants to be with his creation! That is why he sacrificed his Son. That is why he sent his Spirit.

There are many texts in the canon that point to this theme and goal. However three that have come to mean so much to me are two from Paul and one from Moses.

1) Ephesians 1.13-18; 2.18,22 (know him better; access through the Spirit; know hope)

2) Ephesians 3.14-19 (strength and knowledge of the depth of Christ's love through the Spirit)

3) Exodus 24.1-11. (God's gracious Presence ... I want to eat and drink in his Presence, I want to "see God")

{In the Pepperdine presentation I spent significant time with each of these important, and in the case of Exodus unknown texts}

Plugging into the River of the Refreshing Spirit

SPIRIT-uality is not works righteousness. It is not a new legalism. It is not a means to manipulate God. Rather SPIRIT-uality is a gift of grace from the Holy Spirit. I take Paul as my guide on this point. "SPIRITUAL" is used as an adjective at least 24x by Paul. This is so important and we must grasp this point. Spiritual does not mean mental, an internal disposition or some such notion. Paul's use of SPIRITUAL as an adjective means BY, OF, FLOWING OUT OF, COMING FROM God's Refreshing Holy Spirit. SPIRITUALITY is the product of or Fruit of God himself in the Person of his Spirit. God's own Spirit conceives and forms the life of Christ within us. Our spirits are formed by THE SPIRIT ... that is what we seek.

Thus when I called this class "Desperately Seeking SPIRIT-uality" I mean desperately craving to be caught up in God's rhythm of grace for life. I mean surrendering to the raging current of the River of the Spirit. I mean coming to know, to be known and to see God as the elders of Israel did and as Paul says in Eph 1.

I share the following suggestions that have been helpful to me. If I had to answer that dear sister today these are things I would share with her. There is nothing original or revolutionary here ...

First. Ruminato. "to consider, to meditate upon, to ingest and chew upon." Lectio divina ... an ancient way of SPIRITUAL reading. I am convinced that no one in the restoration tradition has taught more on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a disciple than James A. Harding. From him we learn that the Spirit renews and deepens our commitment to the written word as HIS instrument. Scripture is a "means of grace" he says, a sacrament so to speak of communing with God himself. If I ever get a chance to delve more in Harding's life I would love to write a book about his theology of the Spirit. Desperately seeking SPIRIT-uality means we are committed to serious study of God's word, but as a Nigerian Christian put it to me, "we don't need any more leaders with heads full of Greek and hearts full of lust!"

Ruminato, lectio divina, is a way of reading that says "if I took this passage seriously what would I have to change right now?" What a dangerous question to submit to the Refreshing Holy Spirit ... we may not like the answer!

This is a way of reading in which we "savor the word" {at this point I have written in the margin that Billy Wilson, a keynote speaker, used a chocolate illustration}. The word is like a delicious lozenge we carry in our mouths all day. 

I would like to recommend ruminating on images of God like Father, Husband, Lover, Mother ... get caught up, and even lost, in these metaphors and watch how the Spirit nourishes your soul.

Second. Prayer. I have learned that prayer is easy to begin but difficult to develop. But over the last few years I have discovered that the Spirit has provided a magnificent "prayerbook" for the saints. Since 1997 I have been not just studying and ruminating on Scripture but I have begun to pray the Bible. The Psalms of course are a treasure trove but they are not alone. Here Scripture is not a means to doctrinal precision but an instrument bearing our spirit to the Holy Spirit. Nothing, I believe, can help us plug into the river of the Spirit more than simply praying his word back to him. We will find even in the Story itself prayer warriors like Moses himself who engaged God in wrestling prayer through Scripture.

But I have discovered that the saints in Scripture are not the only prayer treasures providentially preserved by the Spirit for us. I have discovered, ironically, the value of God's church, the community of disciples down through the centuries. You will recall Paul's words in Eph 1 and 3 about the role of the community in discovering the riches of fellowship with God. Does that mean only the living saints? Clearly not! Have we not inherited a wealth of SPIRIT-ual riches? I confess that I did not think so in years past ... I had that opinion by the way with practically NO knowledge of that heritage. But today I do believe so.

Many Christians have written down their prayers. These prayers are not inspired like the Psalms. Yet they are often incredibly helpful, amazingly rich and ... inspiring! Their faith in the darkness, I claim as my own. Their courage and boldness in the face of satanic onslaught, I claim as my own. Their words rising to the throne of God like sweet incense ... have become mine.

{At this point I referred to specific examples of earthy, earnest, SPIRIT-ual prayer. Manasseh's Prayer of Repentance. Tobias' prayer for a God-centered marriage. The church's prayer to glorify God in Te Deum. Etc.}

Some of these great prayers of the past have been preserved in books like The Prymer or The Book of Hours. These are wonderful tools to cultivate a river of the Spirit into the mundane tasks of life. Through some we are daily focused upon the Incarnation, death and resurrection of our Lord. Our prayers become centered in the rhythm of grace rather than our individual whims.

I have found that these resources have enriched my prayer life tremendously. They have not by any means diminished spontaneous prayer. Rather I have found that I have found a disposition towards prayer that I credit the work of the SPIRIT for. Perhaps this is something like what Paul meant when he urged us to "pray IN the Spirit."

Third. Sabbath. This is a strange suggestion to the ears of us in Churches of Christ. Sabbath is not simply a saturday but a period of rest and cessation of activity to enjoy the things of God. George MacDonald once wrote that sleep is God's contrivance for giving us the help he cannot get into us when we are awake ...

The sabbath principle is one of the finest examples of the rhythm of grace. Here GOD works and we simply "let it be." When I stop my work nothing essential stops. The world goes on. It is both humbling and liberating to know that the burden of the care of the world does not depend upon me. Evening and Morning is the biblical rhythm beginning in Genesis 1. God is working before we are created or rise from bed and he continues to work when we return to sleep or rest. In our lives we are graciously invited to join in his work in the power he supplies through his own Spirit.

Taking a break, a sabbath, allows us to slow down and let the Spirit give us rest and perhaps a "tune up."

Concluding Remarks

I am still a spiritual pygmy. But I do believe that God has blessed me in profound ways over the last few years through his Refreshing Spirit. I have lots of flesh yet to crucify but I join Churchill in saying, by God's grace of the SPIRIT-ual, I now sleep the sleep of the saved and the thankful.

Read More

With a Book ... Communion across the Page

For those out there that are Civil War buffs as well as disciples of the prince of peace I want to call attention to Mark Noll's The Civil War as a Theological Crisis. Noll is one of the foremost historians of religion in its North American contexts and has done us all a huge service in this small (200 pages) and very insightful work. The Civil War was for all intents and purposes a religious war in many ways akin to those in Europe. The religious dimensions of the war have often been minimized and even downright denied by much 20th century scholarship. Noll explodes this myth and does it soundly. Of particular interest to those who take following Jesus seriously, Noll's chapter on "The Crisis over the Bible" is worth ruminating on at great length. Put this one on your to read very soon list.

Over the last decade Thomas Cahill has become one of my favorite writers. His "Hinges of History" series has been a delight to read, entertaining and informative. His Mysteries of the Middle Ages and the Beginning of the Modern World is larger than his previous volumes and it is beautifully and lavishly illustrated. I love it for the medieval art alone! People were not as dumb in the "dark ages" as popular mythology would have us believe. Again one can not read through this period of history and not at the same time learn something of the ways of God's ever flawed people in this world.

Sometimes it is interesting to hear about what others think about certain books or authors. One author that has been influential in my "scholarly" development has been Gordon Fee. His book, with Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth changed forever how I read the Bible. Fee's works are some of the preeminent examples of not only what scholarship is but what faith scholarship must be. So it was interesting to me to come across this short interview with him on who he finds to be stimulating. Enjoy. Blessings and Shalom.

Read More

Jonah #10: God's Heart & Struggle with Israel & Us (Can the Church Be Saved?)

"Victory is the LORD's!" (Jonah 2.9, REB)
"Deliverance belongs to the LORD." (Jonah 2.9, The Bible: An American Translation)

Jonah 4.4-11: Can the Church Be Saved?

"But Yahweh said:

Is it right for you to be angry?"

For Jonah had left the city and had sat down east of the city. There he had built himself a shack/tabernacle and had sat down in its shade until he would see what might happen in the city. Then Yahweh-God appointed a goad to grow. It grew up over Jonah to provide shade for his head, in order to pry him out of his wickedness. Jonah rejoiced greatly over the goad. But God appointed a worm, just as dawn was breaking the next morning. It attacked the goad and the bush withered away. And as the sun rose God appointed a burning east wind. Then the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he became terribly faint. So he begged that he might die, and he said:

“I am better off dead than alive.”

But God said to Jonah:

“Is it right for you to be angry because of the goad?”

Then Yahweh said:

“You feel sorry for the goad, which you have neither cared for nor nurtured, which grew up within one night and perished away within one night. Should I then not feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there live more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know how to distinguish between the right and the left . . . and much cattle.. (My Translation)

God Speaks to the Dove

When we left the Dove (=Jonah/Israel) in our previous blog (Jonah #9: The Wrath of the Theologian) there was a hush that fell upon the text. Job desired to put God in the dock but Jonah actually did. When Job exhausted his complaint the voice spoke from the whirlwind. And it is God that breaks the silence in the Story of Jonah! What happens in vv 4-11 seems to take place within the forty days ... its like the minstrel is saying "in the meantime ..."

Just a few questions to probe the story. The city has repented. God has repented and extended his "hesed" at the "drop of a hat." Jonah knows that God has granted life ... but Nineveh does not. What is he waiting for? Why doesn't he share the good new? How long will the humans and animals go without food or water?

As the Dove steeps in his wrath, Yahweh breaks the silence. The Silence does not arrest Jonah from his death, will the voice of the Lord? "Is it right for you to be angry?." Something has changed in the story. Up to this point any word from the Lord has concerned Nineveh now the God of Steadfast love (hesed) goes out to the "elder brother" (so to speak) and pleads with Jonah about Jonah's life. God has done remarkable things with the cracked pot Dove: he has saved the pagan sailors, he has delivered the Ninevites, he even was able to rescue Jonah once ... but here in chapter four the Dove's life is in the balance and it is not certain that God will be able to save him. The Lord of Hesed is battling for the soul of his people, that they (Jonah), may live rather than die. The question that comes screaming from the minstrel's song is not the Lord's ability to give life but whether Jonah can live with God as he is! Whether the nature of the God of the Creed (4.2) is to grievous a scandal for the People to bear. The Dove is willing to put Yahweh in the dock but he refuses to admit his need for repentance and grace in the presence of the Lord. Can Jonah do what Nineveh has already done? Will Jonah refuse to enter the kingdom of heaven even as he shuts the door on those who seek to enter (Mt 23.13ff). Will the pagans sit at the table of hesed while Jonah stays outside?

Jonah Flies off the Stage

The Dove's response to Yahweh's impassioned question is to fly away! Rather than engage the Lord Jonah flees to the East of the city. Here he constructs a sukkah. This is one of those words the Singer loves to pull out of his hat. While the word quite literally means a shack or lean to, it is also the word that Israel's worship tradition uses for the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles (Lev 23.42-43; Neh 8.14-18; Deut 16.13, 16; Zech 14.16,18,19).

There is delicious irony here! Yes, Jonah literally built a tent but in the eyes of the narrator he built a tabernacle! The Feast of Tabernacles/booths is one of the great festivals of the Lord. Israel celebrated their time of wandering when God delivered them by his hesed. They gather before the face of the Lord to celebrate. During Tabernacles the Torah is read again to the people (Deut 31.12-13). Sukkoth then in Israel was a time of renewing and consecration to the covenant of love (see Neh 8.13ff and Ezra 3.1-7). Interestingly enough another part of the cluster of ideas around Booths is Israel's welcoming inclusion of Gentiles in the festival!! Strangers, pagans, aliens were all welcomed (Deut 16.14). Booths extends the hospitality of Yahweh himself to those outside the covenant. The delicious irony is that the Dove is stewing in wrath towards God's self-proclaimed hesed in his sukkah outside the Gentile city that is "great to the LORD!" We have a reversal of the festival of booths! We have a subversion of the calling of the people of God to be a blessing to all nations. And it is they that "forfeit the grace that could be theirs!!!" (Jonah 1.8).

Attempt to Rescue the Dove ... Again

The Lord God "appointed" a plant to demonstrate his kindness even to Jonah. God loves Jonah! Just as God "appointed" the fish to save Jonah from his death wish in chapter 1 so now the Lord appoints the goad for the same purpose. Most English translations render the text to indicate that the shade eased the "discomfort" of Jonah. But here again our minstrel uses one of his favorite words: ra'ah. Surely Jonah is uncomfortable in the blazing heat but Yahweh is attempting to "pry [Jonah] out of his wickedness/evil." Jonah rejoices in the goodness of God directed towards him and "great joy" overtakes him. We all love it when God is good to "us."

Yet again God "appoints" a worm to attack the goad and then "appoints" a burning east wind. Jonah is wroth again! Once again he voices his death wish. Yahweh backs the Dove into a corner with the pointed question "Is it right for you to be angry because of the goad." God has reduced Jonah to an absurdity! Despite it all Yahweh cares for his man.

The Dove Finally Talks to God

Here backed into his absurdity Jonah answers the Lord for the only time. "It is good for me to be angry enough to die!" He admits his anger for the only time and claims it is good. The last words in the Dove's song testified to by the narrator are these words that burst from Jonah's heart.

Though we never hear the Dove's melody again we do hear yet again the earnest plea of the Lord of Hesed. The extraordinary question of Yahweh brings the story of Jonah to a close. "Should I then not feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there live more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know how to distinguish between the right and the left..." It is as if God is asking Jonah's permission: "Is it ok if I have pity" (echoes of "Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?" {Mt 20.15, NIV}). This is a question that is put to the people of God, to the Dove, to you and me. We know God is not really asking Jonah's permission, he is trying to get Jonah to embrace the heart of God! The verb rendered "pity" or "feel sorry for" quite literally means "to have tears in the eyes" or "the eye flows on account of." It is a graphic picture of Israel's God weeping over his creation while the heart of his Own are far ... very far ... from him. Such imagery reminds us of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Lk 19.41-44; Mt 23.37; etc). But this is no revelation to Jonah, he knows that God is too loving, too forgiving, too ready to forgive even the likes of Nineveh.

The "Epic" of Jonah ends with God pleading with him. Echoing Jonah's commission to the "great city" Yahweh reveals that he is the God of all. Not only humans are God's concern but all creation. The reference to animals by Yahweh has baffled many modern Western Christians. God's steadfast love is not limited to humanity but extends to his whole creation.

The reference to animals points to the faithful nature of God. Jonah testified to God's hesed in 4.2 and it seems here Yahweh is reminding the Dove of his long ago covenant with nature. After the flood God promised "never again will I curse the ground because of humankind ... nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done" (Gen 8.21; see 9.1-17). Does Jonah want God to turn his back on his promise.

Can the Church Be Saved?

The Singer in Jonah presents us with a picture of a God who would rather be loved than feared. The Dove seems to feel that "if disobedience on the scale of a Nineveh goes cavalierly unpunished, then the idea of obedience also ceases to have meaning. God's mercy simply makes a mockery of human effort, which is why Jonah ends up in the grips of Thanatos, or the death drive" (T. A. Perry).

The singer leaves us hanging. What happened to Jonah? Did God reach the Dove? Can the people of God celebrate the king and his law of hesed? Can we let God overturn our own theology and fulfill his will in ways that are true to him and surprising to us? As we leave Jonah we are left with a sinking feeling that the Dove is lost.

Read More

Jonah #9: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel & Us (The Wrath of the Theologian)

The Wrath of the Theologian: 4.1-6

"Deliverance belongs to the LORD" (Jonah 2.9, NRSV)

Most Shocking Chapter in the Bible

If truth is to be confessed then we admit Jonah chapter four is one of the most shocking chapters in the entire canon of Scripture! Here in this chapter the blindness, arrogance, and possibly even the blackness of Jonah's heart is finally revealed. At the same time we have to confess that Jonah 4 is truly one of the most comforting chapters in the canon because of the revelation of Yahweh there.

In Jonah 4 the "Wrath of the Theologian" is on display in all its ugliness. The Dove, Jonah and the People he represents, was convinced he had the word of God understood in precisely the manner in which God intended ... every Christian that values neat and tight systems can sympathize with Jonah.

As our chapter opens the Minstrel brings together for the first and only time two words that he uses with frequency throughout the story: great and evil. He brings them together precisely when the Dove witnesses Yahweh's mercy for those who clearly do not deserve it. Such mercy becomes a great evil. If we remember the mirror, parallel, structure of the book we see that Jonah's actions are in stark contrast to the "horrible" pagan sailors in 1.16. While a yire'ah gedolah et-YHWH (a great fear of the LORD) overwhelmed the pagans in light of God's salvation of Jonah, a ra'ah gedolah (a great evil) swamped the Dove as he (i.e. God's People) witnessed the magnitude of God's gracious love! DO NOT SUGAR COAT, DO NOT MINIMIZE, DO NOT SWEEP UNDER THE RUG ... what the narrator is putting on display here. Jonah hates how God has been true to his own word yet in a way that makes Jonah look like a fool in his own eyes!! God did overturn Nineveh! Yet Jonah, God's own people, the church!!, is sitting in judgment on Yahweh himself. Let it flow over us ...

Invitation to Stop, Reflect & Retrace Our Steps

Our singing Minstrel drops the bomb on us so to speak in 4.2. For the first time we are told why the Dove flew. Two things happen as the verse opens that take us back. First, Jonah explains his flight quoting the heart of Israel's Gospel creed ... it is as if the narrator says "Now go back and reread 1.1-3.10 in light of 4.2!" Second, Jonah's prayer "Is this not what I said while I was still in my own country" ... has strong linguistic and verbal echoes to Israel's rebellious cry in Exodus 14.12 to Moses, "Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt." Yahweh follows up such rebellion with the Exodus event itself and in Jonah 4 God is still trying to deliver the saved people out of the land of slavery. Yahweh attempts to save the Dove! He's already saved the Pagans!

Before the narrative gets to Yahweh's attempt to save the drowning Dove (as he saved him from himself and the sea in 1.17 [2.1, Hebrew]) the writer lets the hammer drop! The Message captures the volcanic reaction in the Dove ...

"Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, "God! I knew it - when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!"

My own translation through verse 3 reads ...

“Oh, Yahweh! Was not this exactly what I thought while I was still in my own country? This is WHY I at first wanted to flee to Tarshish. For I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, patient and abounding in love, who regrets the evil. So then, Yahweh, take my life from me! I am better off dead than alive!”

It nearly takes our breath away! But our Minstrel isn't asking us to judge Jonah ... he is saying we are Jonah! Jonah, like Israel at the moment of salvation itself (i.e. the Exodus), rebels. Moses confessed "you have been rebellious against the LORD as long as he has known you" (Deut 9.24, NRSV). Are we still?

The narrator has shown us that Jonah is thoroughly "sound" in his biblical theology (1.9; 2.9). Jonah is immersed in the liturgical worship tradition of church and says a pious sounding prayer constructed out of the words he heard at church. Now the minstrel has the Dove confessing intimate knowledge of the very core of "Old Testament" faith - the "Apostle's Creed" of Exodus 34.6-7!! How many times have we confessed the infinite grace of God in prayer, in song, and sermon and then decide we are in control of the "grace nozzle"?? All to often I suspect. The author sings that Yahweh is not constrained by our understanding of his doctrine ... thus the Theologian is Wroth!

Jonah, like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, like many that Gather in buildings with A.D. 33 emblazoned on the corner stone, still does not grasp the depth of his own rebellion against the Lord nor his need for grace because of it. Three times the author has told us the Dove was fleeing from the "presence of YHWH" (1.3 {2x}; 1.10) and yet while Jonah was in the fish not a word of repentance and now in a place that corresponds to the fish Jonah still has not a word of repentance. It is hard to repent when we are convinced of our own rightness.

Rather than repent Jonah uses the creed to accuse God. In quoting the creed Jonah accuses God of four things:

1) of being gracious & merciful
2) of slowness of anger
3) of Hesed (steadfast love)
4) of repenting of punishment

The great text of Exodus 34.6-7 is hard to overemphasize in importance in Israelite faith. It is given in the context of the gross adultery of the Golden Calf to Moses. This self-revelation of Yahweh becomes the basis of hope in Israel and is referred to in whole or part around 25x in the rest of the Hebrew canon. See for example: Ex 34.6-7; Num 14.18; Neh 9.17-31; Psa 86.15; 103.8; 145.8; Joel 2.13 and Nah 1.3. The book of Hosea can be viewed as an extended meditation of hesed, the heart of the Israelite creed (see Ps 136 too).

That Yahweh is gracious. That God is merciful. That the Lord of Israel is loving and merciful is NOT a new teaching to Jonah! He says he knew (yada)! As we have many times sung Amazing Grace so Jonah had praised God for his hesed in his pious psalm in chapter 2. But here it is the historic, concrete, manifestation of God's grace to "objectionables" that is the object of Jonah's wrath! He has grace and hesed quantified, objectified and above all controlled.

Church, do we hear the scandal of these verses? What had always been the basis of praise, thanksgiving and appeal for forgiveness is now turned by Jonah into complaint and accusation against the Lord himself. He hates the fact that the Lord abounds in such unbridled love. That God's grace might extend to even Nineveh. He would, if he could, prevent this loving kindness of the Lord from flowing so freely. He would prevent God from being who he is! What God claims to be! All in the interest of protecting the integrity and reputation of God of course. Shades of the Grand Inquisitor interrogating Jesus ...

In the song the Minstrel sings, the Dove has subverted not only the very mission God created Israel for but has also attacked the message itself. Here in the song Jonah is the Anti-Abraham who argues with God not in order to save a city full of "wickedness, rebellion & sin" (from the creed!) but to protest its deliverance. In this melody Jonah is the Anti-Nehemiah who confesses not only his sin but the sin of his fathers and praises God for salvation flowing from the creed ... our Jonah never confesses and embraces wrath instead of gratitude. Most shocking of all Jonah is the Anti-Moses quoting the self-proclamation of Yahweh himself to Moses not to intercede on behalf of a rebellious people but to complain and accuse!

Gasping in Silence ...

A world where Yahweh is King and hesed is the law of the land is ... well it is a world that Jonah cannot live in. Yahweh's grace is unjust so it would seem to Jonah (echoes in Matthew 20.1-16). Jonah has already tried to commit suicide in chapter 1 but the Lord of Hesed does not wish for the Dove to drown. The Lord of Hesed wishes to set the Dove free to embrace life.

So Jonah says "and now take my life." Death is preferable to the embarrassment of Yahweh's version of law and order. To hear a death wish is an unsettling thing. For a prophet, a "son of truth," it is doubly disturbing. That the Singer intends this to trouble us as it is read aloud has been recognized since before the time of Jesus himself. In the Dead Sea Scrolls "edition" of Jonah there is a pause here for the reader. In the Masoretic text there is a setumah preserving the more ancient tradition of pausing at this point of the story. We are meant to gasp and linger in silence over the implications of the Dove's actions!

Pause and reflect in silence as the story expounds Ex 34.6-7 even in the life of Jonah the Dove. God's compassion in saving the drowning Jonah and sparing Nineveh. God's patience and love ... patient with Jonah and loving Nineveh. And his readiness to forgive "at the drop of a hat" by pleading with Jonah and canceling Nineveh's sentence. Perhaps we should just end this blog here.

Oh the Depth of Jonah. Oh the Wrath of the Theologian. Oh the wonders of his Hesed.

+++++++++++++++

I want to thank my friend Jason Benson in Milwaukee, WI for calling my attention to this painting of Jonah ... I plan on calling more attention to it in our next ...

Read More

Crystal Ball Tell Me ...

Crystal Ball Tell Me What I want to know ... what is coming up on Stoned Campbell Disciple Blog.

I have not been busy this week with a few future blogs. I don't think I have ever actually done this before but I would like to offer my readers a sort of "preview" of what is coming down the road for my blog. So lets look into the Crystal Ball and see what it reveals ...

First. I have two more Jonah posts (with a possible third) in the next couple days. One is called "The Wrath of the Theologian" and the other "Jonah's Self-Defense."

Second. I have never done a blog like this planned one and I am really hesitant about it. I want to do blog on divorce and children. I have ministered to divorced couples for many years but in the last 3 yrs this has become very personal. I want to explore the dynamics of Parental Alienation Syndrome and what we as parents (especially fathers) and ministers can do about it. This may turn into more than one blog ...

Third. I recently finished reading the Hendrickson reprint of the 1560 Geneva Bible. I was caught by the placement of the Prayer of Manasseh after 2 Chronicles. In this blog I hope to write about the history of this historic Bible.

Fourth. I have read and am doing more digging on Bruce Morton's Deceiving Winds. I plan on doing a review and appraisal of this work.

Tomorrow back to Jonah ... Enjoy the song by Styx ...

Read More

Jonah #8: The Reading Report ... Studying Jonah

Greetings from the land of Saguaros and Scorpions. Jonah is such a richly textured work and only grows more profound with meditation. I have had several off line requests for good resources for reflecting on the book therefore I have decided to offer a short list of helpful works ... which in turn will lead to other resources. I do not offer these in alphabetical order ...

James Limburg has authored two commentaries on Jonah: one in the Interpretation series and one in the Old Testament Library series. However, for its insight, accessibility, and appreciation for the narrative art of the book the volume Jonah (OTL) would be the first commentary I bought on Jonah. Much smaller than Jack Sasson's (I'll mention more on him in a moment) which is actually a plus. Limburg offers exegesis of a passage based on the Hebrew text but knowledge of Hebrew is unnecessary to read his work (all Heb is tranliterated an does not "clutter" the text). He looks at a passage first in its narrative context and also in a wider canonical context and closes each section with theological reflections. Several appendices trace the story of Jonah in the first several Christian centuries; in Rabbinic literature and finally in Islamic literature. I would not preach or teach Jonah without this work.

Limburg also has a fascinating essay in Bible Review 6 (August 1990): 18-25 entitled "Jonah and the Whale Through the Eyes of Artists"

Hans Walter Wolff delivered a series of lectures called Jonah: Church in Revolt that are rich. Wolff was the first to peel the blinders off my eyes to the wonderous depth of Jonah. Wolf believes that the Psalm is a secondary addition to the book so omits it in his exposition. Most contemporary scholarship accept the unity of the book ... but with that caveat Wolff is nothing short of profound.

Friedemann W. Golka's contribution to Revelation of God: The Song of Songs & Jonah (International Theological Commentary) is right there with Limburg and Wolf. The work is especially sensitive to the theological argument being put forth.

Philip Cary's Jonah in the Brazos Theological Commentary is another nuanced work worthy of the depth of Jonah.

Finally (of the commentaries) Jack Sasson's work in the Anchor Bible series is a detailed discussion of everything in Jonah. Sasson ancient historian and has valuable insight. His work is not in tune with the narrative art of the work but still a good book if you are going to go the extra mile.

Other Works:

T. A. Perry's The Honeymoon Is Over: Jonah's Argument with God bristles with insight. Perry is a fine Jewish scholar with specialties in literature. This is not a commentary but a series of studies of the narrative and rhetorical art of Jonah and how that affects the theology of work.

Sheldon Blank, "Doest Thou Well to Be Angry? A Study in Self-Pity" Hebrew Union College Reveiw 26 (1955): 29-41

A. Hauser's, Jonah: In Pursuit of the Dove," Journal of Biblical Literature 104 (1985): 21-37.

B. Halpern & R. E. Friedman, "Composition and Paronomasia in the Book of Jonah" Hebrew Annual Review 4 (1980): 79-92

These last three are fairly technical works but worth delving into for serious engagement with the inspired text.

Enjoy,
Bobby Valentine

Read More

Jonah #7: God's Heart & His Struggle with Israel (Symmetry & Irony )

"Salvation comes from and belongs to the LORD" (Jonah 2.9, BV)

Frequently in this series of essays on Jonah, I have stressed that it is a work of exquisite art. And it is. The artistic nature of the book not only makes it such an enjoyable read but also serves the interest of the kingdom of God.

The book of Jonah has four chapters with a total of forty-eight verses. These four chapters divide themselves into two parallel sections ... each mirroring the other showing once again the author's theological interest. I will attempt to show the mirror structure of Jonah below ...

Chapter One . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Three

Call (Arise, Go, Cry) {v.2} . . . . . . . Call (Arise, Go, Cry) {v 2}

Jonah arises - flees . . . . . . Jonah arises - goes

God acts - storm . . . . . . Jonah acts

Sailors call on gods . . . . . . Nineveh believes

Captain identifies 'elohim's power behind storm . . . King seeks 'elohim's will

Sailors seek YHWH's will

Sailors pray to YHWH (lest we perish) . . . . . Nineveh prays to 'elohim (lest we perish)

Storm evaporates . . . . . . God relents

Chapter Two . . . . . . . . . Chapter Four

Jonah saved . . . . . . . . . . Jonah angry

Jonah prays . . . . . . . . . . Jonah prays

God responds . . . . . . . . . . God Responds

The symmetry and structure of the book of Jonah help us see that the actions of the sailors and the Ninevites are practically the same often with the same language used. The actions of Jonah in chapter 1 helps us understand his action in chapter 4 too. And consistently the pagans are portrayed in a favorable light whereas Jonah is consistently portrayed in an darker hue.

The symmetry and structure of the book helps us see other literary tools used by our artistic minstrel. Irony and role reversals abound in the book. One of the most interesting is the question implied in Jonah's name! In 1.1 we read "The word of the LORD came to yonah son of 'amittay." The name 'amittay is constructed from 'emet. Here is delicious irony the author loves ... at the beginning of the book the Dove is identified as a Child of Truth or a Child of faithfulness!!! If Jonah/Dove also has representational value for the people of God then it is Israel that is designated the children of steadfastness or children of truth. With that in mind for the name: Jonah the Son of Truth/Jonah the Son of Faithfulness how do we come to see the Dove in the rest of the story?? Does the Dove behave in a truthful and faithful manner? Irony indeed.

As pointed out above the author consistently paints the "enemy" in an exemplary fashion. Who are the people of Truth? of Faithfulness? The Dove? or the Pagans who respond to God ... even when they don't know his name? This should remind us, if we are paying attention to the heartbeat of the biblical narrative, of a Story that Jesus told one day in which he used dramatic role reversals too. The author of Jonah uses the bitterly hated Assyrians as his foil to rudely snap the People of Truth from their blindness and Jesus uses the equally hated Samaritans to the same effect. Each story in some way forces us to ask the question: what are the boundaries of God's love and care and our own hedging of it.

The author of Jonah holds up the mirror in our face as the people of the Lord and forces us to ask what it means for us to be the sons and daughters of faithfulness, of truth. Is being the Dove a child of truth simply a matter of doctrinal precision? Jonah knows his bible and he knows his doctrine but he certainly comes off looking poorly against the hated pagans. So what about us?

Read More