Galatians 5-Ephesians-Philippians 1
What a fascinating 28 minutes! Started off with what I often consider the Baptist Magna Carta "For freedom Christ has set us free!" I really just love that verse--because it seems that for most of his ministry Paul was fighting against individuals and groups who kept wanting to restrict the freedom and grace of God--by circumcision, by baptism, by different gifts, by different approaches to ministry. And throughout, Paul keeps coming back to say, "Christ has set us free."
Except when he doesn't!
Which is why hearing the ENTIRE book of Ephesians was such an interesting experience. After the end of chapter 3 I even jotted down the note--"Is this the real ending and someone just tacked on something additional?" There may not be a book in the entire Bible that I personally "pick and choose" more than Ephesians. Here we have those wonderful verses:
"I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers;"
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the results of works so that no one may boast;"
"I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all; the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"
But then we get those verses in Chapter 5 which are so often pulled out of context; which people try to explain away; which are just an abomination to any modern father who has daughters and hopes that they might have the opportunity to fulfill all their God-given gifts!
These passages really raise the issue of hermeneutics--the big theological word that means how we interpret scripture. This passage points out that we can't even toss out certain books! Even in the midst of a paragraph we have to listen and choose which ones really are "the word of God."
We all have a way. We all do it! The question is, are we aware? Are we consistent? How do we decide? If there is a section in the entire New Testament in which those issues arise, this is it? Sorta wonder if we really want people who have no knowledge of our faith to hear this section! But then, we have those great verses too! So how do we decide?
How do you decide?
2 comments:
Yes, another passage that makes me wonder if Paul had multiple personality disorder. I, too, love the verses about freedom in Christ, about love being the fulfillment of the law, about bearing one another's burdens, about doing good tirelessly even if we do not yet see the results, about being saved by grace and not works, about the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. Ahh. These words are like a breath of clean, fresh air, and it feels good to just take them in.
When I listened to the end of ch. 3, I had the same feeling you did, Don, that this was the end. It sure sounded like a closing. And it is after that where we get Paul's words that have been used to justify the subjugation of women and the perpetuation of slavery. There are other places where he says we are all to submit to one another, so why does he only tell wives to submit here? Why not, "Husbands, also submit to your wives"? And why not, "Masters, set your slaves free" after all his talk about freedom?!? These have to be, for me, times when Paul is writing out of his cultural bias, and what was acceptable as the status quo in his culture is definitely not for us.
I have my own biases. As you've said, Don, we all do. I try not to just pick the verses that I "like" or find "easy" to include in my own canon within the canon. Dr. Goodman told us in class that one of our tasks as theologians -- and anyone who reads scripture seriously needs to be a theologian, he said -- was figuring out our own metanarrative, the overarching theme or story through which we read all of the Bible. I've given a lot of thought to mine, and I think a pretty good summary of it is here, when Paul says in Eph. 5:14, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" I'm not trying to just pick out a proof text (although Paul sure does it a lot), but that's not an isolated or unique verse in any way. This theme comes up again and again and again. Jesus said the same thing, and most of the New Testament writers state it in one way or another, many several times. So for me, any verse that does not match up with loving my neighbor as myself, and loving God above all (the other commandment that Jesus pointed out as most important), is automatically suspect. Am I loving my neighbor if I allow him or her to be enslaved? No! Am I loving myself or my neighbor or God if I allow mine or another's gender rather than God's calling to determine how we will serve God? No! Am I loving God and neighbor when I go to battle over whose interpretation of scripture is right? I don't think so. Am I acting in love when I condemn those whose sexual ethics are different from mine? Again, I don't think so. When I come across verses, then, that espouse that kind of philosophy, those are the times when I think this is Paul's (or whichever writer's) humanness getting in the way.
Where my own humanness gets in the way is that my idea of love is undoubtedly not the same as God's. So, verses that appear to me to be too harsh don't match up with what I think of as love, but that may be a side of God's love. Those verses make me squirm sometimes, but as another seminary professor, Dr. Dickens, asked me, "So is your God just a wuss?" I have to allow for a love that doesn't always mean being nice, and that is tough for me to get my head and heart around sometimes.
Yes, Stacy! I share the same problem with wanting God to be all LOVE all the time. This section did have some of my favorite passages and the one you quoted is definitely one of them: the whole law is fulfilled in one word "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14) But just a few verses before that I also enjoyed (actually chuckled outloud) when Paul said in verse 12 "I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!" I've certainly felt that way about folks who were interfering with my efforts at educating others... yet to hear Paul say that about the circumcision squabbles is not only very human but quite funny. He is not a one-dimensional character, for sure!
And don't you love Ephesians 5:1-2? "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Very poetic, Paul - and advice I can get behind. But then he goes on to list behaviors which result in having "no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God" (v.5) and says "the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (v.6) which seems to infer that walking in love is code for good behavior. That isn't the kind of love I'm imagining in the earlier verse.
Here we go into Philippians - I can barely read or listen to many of these passages without humming along - so many verses have been set to music - and for good reason. Lots of beautiful, poetic language here as he describes his fondness for church members, emotion at being imprisoned, and reasons to be hopeful in spite of his circumstances.
I hope others are listening - I'm finding it to be anything but boring.
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