The pain of saying goodbye
It was Labor Day and I was flying out of an Okanagan airport. I noticed that one of the security personnel looked distraught She said to me, "I hate the end of holiday weekends, especially Labor Day." Then she went on to give her reason.
Labor Day for her was a time of separation. All too often, she witnessed the tender moments surrounding the departure of children from split families returning to their maternal homes after spending a few summer weeks with their fathers. Invariably the fathers were in tears as they escorted their children past security and lingered with them as long as possible in the departure lounge. The woman at the security gate was witness to this pain - the pain of saying "goodbye" - and she could hardly bear it.
I don't like standing at the station waving goodbye to the people I love; nor do I enjoy looking back and seeing beloved people and places disappear over the horizon. Yet my life, like yours, is marked by departures and goodbyes. Death, brokenness and changing circumstances make it inevitable. There are people and things that must be left behind. For instance, we can't live at home forever. In some manner we must set our faces toward a new day.
Discipleship - following Jesus Christ -is made more difficult for me by a persistent desire to hang onto the familiar and the beloved.
A great preacher once gave this title to a sermon: "The expulsive power of a new affection." His thesis seemed to be this: we are only able to "let go" when drawn by a greater affection. Eventually, everything is left behind. Only one thing remains: the healing, restoring and embracing love of God.
This love, enfleshed in Jesus the Christ, calls us to faith and hope in the face of all goodbyes. In and through Jesus, we long for a new life - indeed, a new heaven and a new earth - where sin is overcome, brokenness is left behind, hearts are healed, relationships are mended, and God's will reigns among us.
Marlin B, Aadland
Used by permission of Canada Lutheran
The case of the missing Sabbath
A few years ago, some people in a US west coast city conducted a revealing experiment. Two groups of drivers were involved. They were to drive a prescribed course through the city. Group A could drive as fast as they wished but had to obey stop signs and lights. Group B had to obey all restrictions. The results were startling. The time differential over this lengthy course was a matter of seconds, statistically insignificant. Yet the mental state of the drivers was anything but similar There was a high level of agitation manifested by those who could drive "flat out" ,but had to sit at interminable stoplights.
This anecdote is a long slow curve toward an argument in favour of stoplights; or, to put it another way, "crazy" drivers (and pedestrians) need some kind of Sabbath. It's God's gift to "speeders."
I submit to you that we are indeed a generation of "crazy" people. We drive "flat out" only to drum our fingers at the next red light. Some of us are wedged in a time vise (or vice) and don't know how to get out of it.
Somewhere along the way to modern civilized existence we junked the "Sabbath." A day of rest and renewal was deemed to be expendable; it was highly non-productive. Why, hours could pass by without buying or selling; that cannot be.
The Sabbath - whether Sunday or any other strategic pause - has ultimate meaning. At the heart of it lies the assumption that God has something to say about human history and ultimate meaning. We are not "masters of our fate." Even Bill Gates' personal computers can crash
A Sabbath-less people may well conclude that other folks can be regarded as commodities, to be bought and sold; time becomes a problem instead of a gift; the providence of God gives way to earning power and the survival of the fittest and meanest. I become the generator of self-importance, and therefore anxious, restless and devoid of peace.
The Sabbath points in the direction of sanity and true humanity. It says "let God be God" and "let humanity be human." It can turn possessivness into the stewardship of life, with all its categories - family, community, church, creation, time, etc. But what will anxious "pedal to the metal" people give for inner peace?
The terrible (as in awesome) reality is that God has already gifted us with the twin graces of creation and redemption. Yet we may act as if none of this is true. We can deny death when it is all around us and in us; instead, we try to create life - diversions, amusements, power, control - when it has already come to us wrapped in the flesh and bones of the one called Jesus.
The Sabbath is a sign of both God's judgment and liberation: " I am the one true God; I make all things new, my kingdom has come, is coming and will come."
Lord Jesus - in spite of all our kingdom building, may your kingdom come among us. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear - perhaps at the next stoplight.
Marlin B, Aadland
Used by permission of Canada Lutheran
Let God be God
There's a lot of talk these days about the renewal of the church. Some folks are disturbed by the statistical significance of diminishing church attendance. Others point to a collective malaise, an apparent lack of interest in the mission of Christ's church. We can add to this the concern about financial cutbacks faced by national church bodies and the lack of credibility in the church and its clergy - fed by scandals and an apparent sell-out to the culture of the day.
Almost overnight, those of us in the middle class have become uneasy. We're not quite as secure as we once were. Our institutions are failing us; our children are less well-off than we are. Our job opportunities - our very careers - are fragile and fleeting.
One of the enduring gifts needed by God's people is self-criticism - the ability and willingness to assess soberly the state of the church and our personal lives. One would hope that this woulld lead to repentance, a turning around where this is necessary, and with this conversion a clearer vision and a renewed call.
Yet, if we omit God from this equation, the "cure" could be worse than the disease. It seems that the solution to spiritual malaise and institutional rigor mortis is all too often grounded on a renewed focus on the human condition. We scan the news and conclude that this world is a terrible place, filled with murder, greed, insecurity and hopelessneess.
We are apt to conclude that if we sharpen our technology, improve our methods and simply try harder, the church will rise to new heights. We agree about the need for a deeper spirituality - unless it involves radical change. We are drowned in the waters of baptism, yet we refuse to die. At times I prefer giving CPR to the old Adam and Eve instead of taking the call of God seriously.
And here's the rub: a preoccupation with a renewed people -without God-is idolatry.
A "renewed" church can be just as idolatrous as any other human pursuit unless it is grounded in the radical call of Jesus: "Follow me."
"Let God be God" lies at the heart of our Reformation inheritance. "I am the Lord your God" is both law and gospel; it leaves no room for idols but gracious space for a dying and rising savior.
A renewed church and enlightened Christians cannot be ends in themselves. Spirituality in the hands of the old nature is but another golden calf. Increased membership (and offerings) left to itself confuses success with the cross of Jesus.
We, as Lutheran Christians, are gifted. We are privileged to hear a life-giving Word - Christ himself - who comes to us in down-to-earth forms like preaching, water, bread and wine.
I know in my heart of hearts that my greatest need is for God - the one who gave us Jesus; the God who raised him from the dead; the God who gives himself to us: "The Body of Christ given for you."
In a primary sense, my sin is not against creation, humanity or myself. I have sinned against God. That's the horrific tragedy. That's the issue. That's where everything begins and ends.
In the face of this sin - which makes this sin loom evn larger - I hear another voice, heard and told. A voice that turns me inside out and right side up. This voice alone gives us words to speak, songs to sing and a life of living sacrifice in a world God loves so much.
This Word alone creates community, opens up areas of freedom, enables prophetic speech and makes possible the conversion of an idolatrous world.
God, help me to let you be God, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Marlin B. Aadland
Used by perssion of Canada Lutheran
The last word
The story is told of an Orthodox priest in the pre-glasnost days of the Soviet Union. He stood in a long lineup of priests who had volunteered to preside at an Easter sunrise service. These gatherings were banned by the state. Previous volunteers had disappeared, never to be seen again.
This priest knew the risks , but led the faithful in a Resurrection service. As predicted, the state had him arrested and he was hauled away. But he pleaded for one last word - one opportunity to say fartewell to those beloved people. Reluctantly they granted him one statement.
A hush fell over the large congregation. They waited for the one last word. Finally, the silence was broken as the priest shouted his farewell message: "Christ is risen!" And the congregation, as if it had been rehearsing for a thousand years, responded with one voice: "He is risen indeed!"
The priest was taken away; the crowd dispersed quietly. Everything seemed to return to normal. But the messenger had spoken; the last word had been announced. And it was a word of soaring promise, life and hope.- "Christ is risen!"
This celebrative word bracketys everything we say and do. God's resounding "yes" to the life and death of Jesus means that, in Christ, our sins are forgiven and our hope is fastened to God's own creative and promising word.
Surely our own response is: " Yes, Christ is risen - for us, for the world"
Let us tell such good news in the face of all that hurts and kills. For God has the last word. Amen.
Marlin B. Aadland
Used by permission of Canada Lutheran
A third place (b)
I read somewhere that everyone needs a "third place." For a student, it's a place besides school or home, a place where you can hang out. You have no need to put on airs. There is no need to fulfill particular expectations or assignments - you are simply there. And people seem to like you , or at least accept you, just the way you are.
Adults need a "third place" too. It's not that home or work can't be places of enrichment. But you still are expected to assume a role: supervisor, worker, wife, husband, etc. And sometimes the demands are downright overpowering and debilitating.
Homes, schools and places of employment need a "third place." Too often our lives are measured by dubious increments of success, or the lack thereof. As the calendar is flipped over, we are reminded of a whole string of obligations and deadlines. At times we don't feel equal to the task. All this can make folks feel afraid, lonely, angry, unappreciated, even crushed.
A "third place" takes in people of all shapes and sizes. You can take off your shoes, sip coffee, swap stories and know you belong. It's not as if all of this is removed from life..Someone can challenge your opinion or behaviour. But it's done in a context of a commitment to your well-being. It's not a put down but a sign you are taken seriously. There is a difference.
Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't remind me of their strained existence. But the worst is this. There is no sign of any change or hope. They can't seem to find a place to ease the pain.
I've attended a number of AA meetings. I'm impressed by two things: the need for the alcoholic to own the truth ("I am an alcoholic; I cannot manage my life"), and the community of care that responds to that admission.
In a "third place", you can name the truth about yourself and not be cast out. In fact, It may enable you to hear a larger truth: God loves you.
Could it be that wherever and whenever word and water and bread and wine are offered in Christ's name, God is inviting one to a "third place?" Here the only identity that counts is the one given to you in an outrageous act of mercy. The poor, wealthy, achievers, failures, sick and well are marked alike with the cross of Christ. Could it be that this is a place where we can hear the truth about ourselves and yet live?
A "third placer"' can be an agent of transformation, for it exposes the futility of playing God or running away from bogeymen. Indeed, it is able to transform all places - home, school, work sites - into arenas of vocation and hope. It has a way of creating new "third places" where one discovers the joy of discipleship and service.
Marlin B. Aadland
Used by permission of Canada Lutheran
A third place (a)
L ong ago and far away, when I was growing up in a little town, I had favorite places to meet my friends. In the summer there was the cafe; in the winter, the skating rink. Beside school and home, this was for me a "third place."
It seems that people need a "third place" - a place other than school and home, or work and home. It's a place where you can be yourself - where you can hang out with friends. I've been in some homesl ike that, where you don't have to worry much about appearances or overall impressions - they'll like me anyway. In a society dominated by demands and deadlines, I need a place to be with friends, a place without pretence - a "third place."
Local churches may mean many things to many people. They may appear intimidating - a place from which to shrink. Or they may be places where you must assume a prescribed role. But blessed are those who find there a community that cares about you and deems you important just the way you are. Blessed are those who find a "third place."
It should not surprise us that the gospel is able to foster such a climate. After all, "while we were yet sinners... Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5: 6,8). I am inclined to believe that only those who are loved "warts and all" can begin to acknowledge brokenness, pain, need, emptiness and one's sinful condition.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer lamented the fact that church all too often was not the place where we could acknowledfge who we are- sinners. Some argue that the local pub is the more likely "third place.
Hospitality is probably an over-used term. While it is not to be confused with evangelism, it is inextricably linked to law and gospel. Places where people can afford to lower their guard, or where self-esteem games can be abandoned, need to be fostered among us.
Law and gospel describe two realities - our sin and God's grace. Both realities need to be lifted up, not in pretence, nor formally, but as truth of what our life together is all about. Even those who have been life long confessors of the faith know in their hearts that they are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That never changes.
Luther's benediction on his own life - "We are beggars, all of us" - opens the door to hospitable living, a door to a "third place."
Marlin B. Aadland
By permission of Canada Lutheran
Society Of Biblical Literature 2009 Annual Meeting
The 2009 annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature was held in New Orleans from November 20 to the 24. Approximately 4,400 biblical scholars descended on the city to participate in over 475 sessions, meetings, and panel discussions. Over the four days I attended eight sessions; I’ll report on a few that I found particularly interesting.
In the Monday morning session of the International Greek New Testament Project, Professor Craig Koester of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, presented a paper entitled, Use of Internal Criteria in Editing John: An Exegete’s View. Koester raised a very interesting problem regarding punctuation. Specifically, he noted that poor choices in punctuation can lead to questions of theodicy in John 9:3-4a. The translation of the New American Standard Bible illustrates the problem: “Jesus answered, 'It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me...'” Koester pointed out that this is not in keeping with Johannine theology; elsewhere in John illness is regarded as a given. The same words punctuated differently can render: “Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents. But that the works of God might be displayed in him, we must work the works of him who sent me...’” Because there was no punctuation in the earliest manuscripts, this is a question for the one editing the text and, as this demonstrates, it is no small matter.
Matthew Novenson presented a paper entitled Marginal Annotation in the Greek New Testament Papyri. This paper represents current interest in biblical manuscripts as artefacts themselves, that is, attempting to glean information from the manuscripts about the communities who produced them in addition to what is found in the text itself. The challenge for those studying the papyri is that the Oxyrhynchus manuscripts tend not to have marginal notes. P66 has a correction and P72 has a Coptic gloss for the Greek. Professor Eldon Epp has noted that the few marginal notes likely stems from the fact that these were “used manuscripts”, not scholarly editions. Finally, marginal annotations are probably better described as “user” annotations, rather than “scribal” annotations.
Professor Harry Maier of the Vancouver School of Theology presented Pictures of Harmony: Iconography, Imperial Concord, Imperial Wives, and Ecclesial Order in the Pastoral Epistles. Dr. Maier offered photographic evidence of the Roman Empire’s ideology regarding “concord,” the harmony that results from the “right regulation of wives and children.” These household ideals are reflected in the coinage and art of the period. At the same time, 1 Clement asserts that a rightly governed church is like a rightly governed household. That same sentiment is present in 1Timothy. The dark implications of Professor Maier’s paper are that the Pastoral Epistles represent the beginnings of accommodation to the values of the Empire.
Because so many of the participants in the Society are university and seminary professors, a number of sessions will be given to the matter of pedagogical methods. An old friend of mine, Philip Quanbeck II, now professor of religion at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, suggests that art and, in particular, film might be a way to engage students in biblical texts. As an example, he offered Grand Inquisitions: Tempting Jesus and the Portrayal of the Diabolical. It is universally known that the generation currently in universities arrived there blissfully ignorant of the Bible and the stories that are at the core of much of western culture. Film could be a way to introduce students to the tradition and guide them ad fontes to the Biblical text. Dr. Quanbeck’s paper examined how art and film have treated the story of the temptation of Jesus and suggested fruitful themes for discussion.
The last session I attended was on Tuesday morning and it was a panel discussion in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Hans Dieter Betz’ commentary Galatians, a volume in the Hermeneia series from Fortress Press. The panellists included Udo Schnelle, Helmut Koester, Richard Longnecker, Margaret Mitchell, and the author himself, Hans Dieter Betz. Helmut Koester noted that Galatians was the first volume in the series written in English, that is, not translated from German. He also noted that this powerful work of rhetorical criticism has sold over 20,000 copies. Koester said that Betz wrote his commentary on Galatians at least in part in response to Heinrich Schlier, a Lutheran scholar who was converting to Roman Catholicism. That observation led Koester to reminisce about a conversation he’d had with Rudolf Bultmann. He reported that Bultmann said of Schlier’s conversion to Catholicism, “I’m not surprised. He always smoked cigarettes.” The room erupted in laughter. Dr. Betz spoke last, responding to the panellists and then carried on rather wistfully about retirement. The warm humanity of this great scholar shone through. It was a good session and a good way to end the meeting.
-John Gram
Book Recommendation
Austen, Jane and Seth Grahame-Smith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Quirk. Apr. 2009. c. 320pp. ISBN 978-1-59474-336-4. pap.
For all those sensitive souls who love Jane Austen and especially for those who don’t, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is unreservedly recommended.
It is available at Chapters and at http://www.amazon.ca/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347
-John Gram
A good summer for old books
This summer provided special treats for people who love Biblical manuscripts. The available pages of Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest (around 350 AD) and most complete Bibles in the world have been photographed and made available online (http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/manuscript.aspx). In celebration of what is called the "virtual re-unification" of the manuscript, scholars from England, Europe and North America met in London at the British Library on July 6 and 7 for the Codex Sinaiticus Conference. The key-note speaker was Professor Eldon Epp and other speakers included Harry Gamble, David Parker, Emanuel Tov, Klaus Wachtel and David Trobisch.
The papers were of uniform high quality. I will report on a a few matters that I thought were of particular interest. Harry Gamble talked about books and readers in the 4th century. His paper explored the questions of the manuscript's provenance and for whom it was copied. Because Sinaiticus and Vaticanus are nearly the same age and share similar generous proportions, some have argued that they share a common origin. T.C. Skeat went so far as to suggest both manuscripts came from Caesarea, that they were part of the order of Bibles that Constantine gave to Eusebius. Prof. Gamble pointed out that this is unlikely since Sinaiticus and Vaticanus have different content and the books are in a different order. That would be unlikely if they came from the same scriptorum. The origin of Sinaiticus is probably Egyptian and perhaps specifically Alexandrian. As to the question of the Bible's ownership, Prof. Gamble noted that Sinaiticus is lacking in aids to readers and lectionary apparatus. Further, the lines of the columns are short and difficult to read in a public (ecclesial) setting. Prof. Gamble suggested that Sinaiticus had been commissioned by a wealthy Christian. That such books were privately owned is attested to by John Chrysostom and Jerome.
Dr. Klaus Wachtel of Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster talked about the correctors of Sinaiticus. Of real significance was his fascinating assertion that the work of the corrector known as "Ca" ought to be given the same attention as the original text itself because he is a witness to an old form of the text, at least as old as Sinaiticus itself.
On July 8, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham hosted a celebration of the Mingana Collection online (http://www.vmr.bham.ac.uk/) in the "Virtual Manuscript Room." With the funding of Edward Cadbury (of chocolates fame), Alphonse Mingana made numerous trips from Birmingham to the Middle East and Egypt in search of manuscripts. The collection contains more than 3000 manuscripts in Arabic, Syriac, Persian and Greek. The Syriac manuscripts number 662 which, according to Samir Khalil Samir, SJ, gives the collection a ranking of third in importance behind the British Library and the Vatican.
Scholars associated with the International Greek New Testament Project gathered on the July 9th to examine a manuscript from the Mingana Collection known variously as Gregory Aland 713 and "Peckover Greek 7." The pleasure of this occasion was enhanced by the fact that we had the 900-year old manuscript in the room with us.
GA 713 is a 12th century parchment manuscript with the four Gospels. The photograph above was taken by Mr. Tom Pattie and shows the manuscript open at the end of Luke on the left side and the titloi for the Gospel of John on the right. The manuscript is of particular interest because of a variant reading it has at Matthew 17:26. The passage is concerned with the question of the Temple tax. Beginning at verse 25: When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?" (26) "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. GA 713 expands this verse to add: Simon said, “Yes.” Jesus said, “Thus you give to them as a stranger.” This variant comes from Tatian’s Diatessaron. According to Dr. David Taylor of Oxford University, the “stranger” or “alien” of this reading refers to the wandering ascetics of the earliest Christian church.
It was a very good summer for old books.
-John Gram
12th Century Rebus?
The above image is from G/A 2106, a 12th century commentary manuscript. The scribe is continuing the commentary on the Gospel of John and, in this image, is quoting John 4:35 where Jesus says, “Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and the harvest comes'? Look, I say to you, lift up your eyes and see fields, that they are white for harvest.” The second line in the image reads, humin eparate tous but where we would now expect to read ophthalmous (eyes), the scribe has instead drawn two cartoon eyes. Perhaps the abbot had a sense of humour.
-John Gram