The King Shall Come

One week to Christmas day, this being the first year that I don't feel that the shopping season is driving me to get there. The "prayer manual" I have been using is soaking me in Scripture four times a day, mostly the psalms, which has been a constant source of readjustment and refocusing, even if it is only for a few minutes. And, every now and again I come across something that really catches me off guard, like yesterday's hymn:

The King shall come when morning dawns, and light triumphant breaks;
When beauty gilds the eastern hills, and life to joy awakes.

Not, as of old, a little child, to bear, and fight, and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun that lights the morning sky.

The King shall come when morning dawns and earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn, the day shall ever last.

And let the endless bliss begin, by weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong, and truth shall be extolled.

The King shall come when morning dawns and light and beauty brings:
Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray, come quickly, King of kings.

Greek

I have never seen this before, or heard it sung. Does anyone know of a recording of this that I could get ahold of?

But the words grabbed me right away. What a wonderful precursor to next Sunday's celebration. Especially the line: "Not, as of old, a little child, to bear, and fight, and die..." Next Sunday we need to remember, as N.T. Wright so astutely points out in Matthew for Everyone,

"At the heart of the Christmas story in Matthew's gospel is a baby who poses such a threat to the most powerful man around that he kills a whole village full of other babies in order to try to get rid of him...Whatever else you say about Jesus, from his birth onwards, people certainly found him a threat. He upset their power-games, and suffered the usual fate of people who do that." (p. 14).

And while Jesus as a baby was already a thorn in the side of the power-holders of his day, Christmas is also a time to remember not just his first advent, but to renew hope afresh in his second. We say, "Come quickly, King of Kings!"

But crowned with glory like the sun that lights the morning sky....

Simple and Humble Thing - Part III

"...understand that your life's welfare eternally depends on your need, and for this reason and this reason alone you should love him"
I think the first thing here is indisputable as a believer in God - our welfare does eternally depend on our need. Our need to be in right relationship with God and others, to be made whole as persons, and to participate in the redemption of creation entire.

Yet I think that the second point is a mistake. If I love God only because he meets my greatest need, then I think this a lesser love. Like my three-year old boy, I would hope that he comes to love me not just because I meet his needs, but because we have a deep and growing relationship where we delight in each other. Surely this is true in our relationship with God, even if he is the one to whom we owe everything. If I told my wife that I loved her purely because she meets my need(s), I think she would be disappointed. Surely I love her because of who she is, not just what she does for me? I love her because we take great delight in sharing life together. Because she is the joy of my heart.

Would not God want our love because we come to know him more deeply and are in a growing relationship with him? Just as a marriage is fueled by intimacy, powered by love, and grounded in joy, so too is our relationship with our maker.

Psalm 42:1-2
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

Didn't Jesus criticize the crowds in John 6 because they followed him purely out of a desire to fill their bellies, rather than recognizing that he truly is the Bread of Life?

I would like to think that my reasons for loving God are far more than just having my need(s) met. This may have been the case at first, but haven't I moved beyond that now? We have a history together. I have enjoyed God's faithfulness, comfort, security, and hope, and love for most of my life now. I look forward to being with Jesus, seeing him as he is, and becoming like him.

Psalm 27:4
4 One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

The Simple and Humble Thing - Part II

Kierkegaard said that "The simple and humble thing is to love God because you need him."

I think this is true, and explained a little of the reason why in my previous post. It seems to me that the basic response of love for Jesus that occurs at the moment a person becomes a follower of Jesus is simply because they have realized that they need Jesus. One does not become a follower of someone if they have no need of that person or what that person can provide. So, being a follower of Jesus firstly involves a simple and humble realization that one desperately needs Christ. And out of this flows a love for this wonderful person who is able to so completely meet that need as no one else can.

Those who came to Jesus because they needed him were never turned away, the same has always been true for God. How else could Jesus say "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me shall never hunger, and the one who believes in me shall never thirst"? Food and drink are our most basic needs, without them we expire very quickly. Jesus claimed that he is the great need-meeter, the abundant food-provider, the real and lasting thirst-quencher. And we love him for it. After Jesus spoke those words, a great many of his followers decided that Jesus was a lost cause, yet when he asked his closest companions about whether they would leave too, Peter spoke for the group and said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe that you are the Christ, the son of the living God." (Jn. 6:67-69).

So recognition of our greatest need, and of the one who alone is able to meet that greatest need completely, is the start of our relationship with the need-fulfiller. And the natural outcome of such a beginning is love for that person. Without love, there is something seriously amiss. To encounter grace and not feel gratitude is to misunderstand one's great need, and to take for granted the provision of that need. No, this would not be right at all. The correct response is gratitude, and love, for the one who has delivered us from the crushing weight of our need, since he alone could do it, and he alone chose to do it.

Yet I think there is more to this than Kierkegaard's assertion that need alone is necessary and sufficient for our love. He said:

No, you should understand that your life's welfare eternally depends on your need, and for this reason and this reason alone you should love him.

This is where I think we need to dig a little deeper. Is there more that could be said?

The Simple and Humble Thing

I was rereading Kierkegaard last night and came across this interesting thought:

The simple and humble thing is to love God because you need him. It may seem so lofty to love God because he is so perfect, it may seem so selfish to love him because you need him, yet the latter way is the only way in which you can in truth love God. Woe to him who would make bold to love God without needing him! The one who most deeply recognizes his need of God loves him most truly. You should not presume to love God only for God's sake. No, you should understand that your life's welfare eternally depends on your need, and for this reason and this reason alone you should love him. (Provocations, p. 300)

I see an element of this in my son, who has taken to saying "I love you" on a rather frequent basis to his parents, sometimes to the point where it almost gets annoying. Now, we understand that he is still learning what that phrase means. And to a 3-year-old mind, who really knows? But at the heart of it I think he certainly knows that he needs us, and that is a big part of why he loves us. As he grows older and becomes less dependent on us I would hope that this love would become something deeper than just an outflowing of his need for us. But I suspect that a certain part of that will always be there. After all, we are designed to need parents, even if - for whatever reason - we may not enjoy an ideal relationship with them.

As for my relationship with Becky, I need her. As my wife, I need her. Not in an unhealthy parasitic way, but because I have committed my life to her and she to me, we are bound together in such a way that our lives no longer function independently. That need is deep, and I can remember aching when I am without her for an inordinately long period of time. And I think that is perhaps the way it should be.

Now, with God I think there are some strong parallels here, and Soren is expressing something quite profound. The reality is, we owe our very being to God, and we therefore need him at the most basic of levels. But more than that, when we become followers of Christ we are joined to Christ, and our need becomes something far deeper. Something that overflows into love and gratitude, and hunger for God and his presence. We need the joy that only he can provide, we need the eternal kind of life that God alone gives. We love God because of these things. Because he first loved us, and because of that love for us, he gave...everything...

Wednesday - Second Week of Advent

The Concluding Prayer of the Church

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, not be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Some reflections on my first week's experience using a prayer book. My church tradition has always emphasized spontenaeity in prayer. It seemed more "spiritual" to pray what was "in one's heart" rather than reading a prayer, especially one that someone else had written.

Yet I am finding great release, liberation even, in being freed from the same - tired - phrases and "heart-desires" that I always seemed to come back to again and again. It opens me up to new ways of looking at Scripture and prayer. And it allows me to concentrate on what is being expressed in the prayer rather than trying to put together the words myself, while still enabling me to "jam" on the written-prayer if I feel like it.

Preserve me with your mighty power...and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose...this day...and always...

Monday, Second Week of Advent

Vespers Hymn

Once he came in blessing, all our ills redressing;
Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us, hope and freedom gave us.

Still he comes within us, still his voice would win us;
From the sins that hurt us, would to Truth convert us:
Not in torment hold us, but in love enfold us.

Thus, if you can but name him, not ashamed to claim him,
But will trust him boldly not to love him coldly,
He will then receive you, heal you, and forgive you.

One who can endure, a bright reward secures.
Come, then, O Lord Jesus, from our sins release us;
Let us here confess you till in heaven we bless you.

Jan Roh

We are working through an Advent calender with our three-year-old son again this year, and it has been exciting to see him be captivated by the whole thing. Not one of the candy/chocolate ones, but a nativity picture where each door opens to a verse from either Luke or Matthew. He is enjoying the story being told in this way, but also the challenge of counting how many doors we have opened on the picture!

I like the second verse from the hymn above, "Still he comes within us, still his voice would win us from the sins that hurt us, would to Truth convert us: not in torment hold us, but in love enfold us." It reminds me of the liberating intent of the work of the Spirit of Christ in us. It reminds me of the need to listen to his voice, that I might not be hurt by sinning against God or other people. And also not hurt others by sinning against them, because that seems to always be part of the same thing.

Saturday - First Week of Advent

From The Divine Hours (p. 321-2), by Phyllis Tickle:

The Vespers (Evening Prayer) Psalm

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing to your name, O Most High.
But the LORD is enthroned for ever; he has set up his throne for judgment.
It is he who rules the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity.
The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble.
Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.
Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion; proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.

Psalm 9:1-2, 7-11

I see several significant challenges here. Firstly, can I wholeheartedly give thanks to God? And tell of all the marvelous things he has done? As part of his story, I think of the deliverance of Israel out of violence and oppression, and the later promises that God made to his people to once again deliver them. Then I think of the second, and final, exodus that Christ has accomplished in rescuing a new multi-ethnic community of people through his surrender to violence and oppression. A community that I have bound myself to, out of love for Christ.

Secondly, do I really think of God as in control? As eternally enthroned and ruling over atoms, galaxies, political parties, and everything else in between. Beyond this, do I think of God as the fair judge, who will render to each person their fair due at the appointed time?

Thirdly, not only is God the fair judge, but also the merciful one who is on the side of the oppressed and outcast. He is their refuge. He is our refuge. More to the point, am I on his side? Am I also - with him - on the side of the oppressed and outcast? If not, then Lord show me that I may join you. I know this because you do not forsake those who seek you.

May we who follow Jesus all have the courage and love to proclaim your justice, compassion, and love to all. For in Jesus, whose advent we commemorate at this time, these become evident to all.

Book Review - The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology

Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology, 3d rev ed. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2001.

The first edition of this popular text debuted in 1979. Since then it has established itself as a standard introductory academic text to the New Testament from a cultural anthropology/sociology perspective. For those desiring a more gentle introduction to this approach Malina has another text, Windows on the World of Jesus, which is written at more of an intermediate level. Bruce Malina is a professor in the Department of Theology at Creighton University and has published extensively in the field of cultural anthropology, sociology, and the NT.

Malina begins wisely by outlining his key methodological presuppositions and arguing for the necessity of understanding the social system of the Eastern Mediterranean of the first century A.D. if one is to interpret and understand the New Testament accurately. He also tackles possible weaknesses in his assumptions and models and argues for why his presuppositions remain valid. Malina strongly stresses the vast cultural distance between the modern reader and the original authors and hearers, and the need to avoid reading the text in light of our own socio-cultural grid.

The book covers an eclectic range of topics, including: honor and shame, collectivistic personality, limited good, envy and the evil eye, defensive marriage, and purity rules. The chapters on honor (and shame) and the implications of corporate personality provide many valuable insights into the world of the NT. Malina argues that honor and shame are the “pivotal values” of the NT world, and his distinctions between ascribed and acquired honor are very helpful. Since I have just purchased Jerome Neyrey's Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew, I am eager to compare the two author's approaches and see how this type of view affects how Matthew can be understood.

In his chapter on collectivistic personality Malina considers the place of the person in relation to his/her social structures. He argues that the modern perception, individualistic and psychological, would have been very foreign to the group-oriented perspective of the first-century. As conclusion to this chapter, Malina presents a three-zone model of the first-century personality, illustrated by examples from biblical literature. His chapters on envy, purity and marriage are full of information to illuminate the NT text.

Malina makes good use of diagrams, and several chapters terminate with insightful comparisons of the ancient Mediterranean and modern American experiences. These comparisons are given in tabular form and assist tremendously in understanding the material covered. While not everyone will agree with some of Malina’s conclusions, he has obviously researched the material meticulously and manages to present it in an accessible fashion.

This is an excellent introduction to how cultural anthropology can illuminate the New Testament and decrease the cultural proximity of the modern reader to the world of the ancient text. Malina provides extensive bibliographies throughout the book, has included a comprehensive Scripture index and - to his credit – a thorough array of pertinent study questions for each chapter at the end of the book. This book is not easy reading in places, but it would be difficult to find a better single-volume introduction from an anthropological/sociological perspective, particularly for students taking courses in NT.

This book is going to take me a long time to work through properly, simply because it involves a complete rethink of how I approach Scripture - and the NT in particular.

The Divine Hours

Today is my first day working through the prayers in The Divine Hours. This is a fixed-hour prayer book by Phyllis Tickle that I just got a hold of, sourced through following links from Scot McKnight's blog. Here is a prayer that I will be praying three times each day this week:

Almightly God, give all of us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humilty; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This is advent, the month leading up to the church's global celebration of the arrival of God as a human being - a first-century Jew who "came to visit us in great humility." Who could not love this man? One so smart and yet so humble, so caring and compassionate, so gracious and giving, so powerful and yet willing to die for those he loved. What better time to reflect on his return, when wrongs will be put right, injustice will be overturned and recompensed, wholeness and harmony will return to creation made new, and we wil share fully in his life. But for now, we prepare our hearts and minds in expectation for his arrival, that we might be experiencing it afresh daily.

Just to clear up any confusion, with the divine hours prayers are set for three times a day, plus once more just before heading off to bed. The prayers are compilations of psalms, hymns, and readings from the Common Book of Prayer and other passages from Scripture. Not having a background in liturgy, this therefore is very new to me; I hope to try it for a month and see if it is a spiritual discipline that is beneficial.